📹🇮🇹 Earthquake leads to violent standoff at NATO base in Naples

Tension soared in Bagnoli, Naples, Italy, as hundreds sought shelter after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake. Desperate for safety, they forced open the gates of the former NATO base, only to face a locked entrance.

This sparked protests and verbal clashes with police, who worked to calm the situation.

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

▪️Ukraine lost up to 475 troops and five armed vehicles in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 55 soldiers and four warehouses in the area of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Dnepr.

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 180 militants in the Russian Vostok Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 220 militants in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 225 militants in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Russian air defences shot down four JDAM bombs, two HIMARS missiles and 147 drones.

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📊As Russian troops regain control of Sudzha and two villages in the Kursk region, check out our infographic to find out how the troops have advanced in the area over the past few days.

Sudzha was the largest settlement that Ukrainian forces managed to capture during their invasion of the Kursk region last August. They used the city as a primary logistical hub through which the Kiev regime supplied its units in surrounding villages and towns.

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❗️The proposed temporary ceasefire in Ukraine is nothing else but a temporary RESPITE for the Ukrainian military, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov said.

He added that steps mimicking peaceful actions regarding Ukraine are unnecessary for anyone.

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❗️Russia is striving for a long-term peaceful settlement regarding Ukraine that takes into account Moscow's interests and concerns, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov stated.

He did not rule out that President Vladimir Putin may offer more specific and substantive assessments of the proposal for a temporary ceasefire on Thursday.

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❗️Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov did not comment on the details of US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow, stating that both sides had agreed these contacts would remain confidential.

Here are his other statements:

▪️Ushakov reported that he conveyed Russia's position to Witkoff regarding the need for a long-term resolution in Ukraine.

▪️Russia expects the US to consider its position in future joint efforts.

▪️There is a normal exchange of opinions between Russia and the US, conducted in a calm manner.

▪️Both Russia and the US agree that Ukraine's NATO membership cannot be part of the settlement process, Ushakov said.

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🔊LIVE NOW: Putin holds meeting with Belarusian President Lukashenko

👉 Watch live in our Telegram

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🇷🇺🇧🇾 Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have begun their meeting in the Kremlin.

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❗️The US has no plan for the conflict in Ukraine, Washington is "testing the waters," Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said

Russia "cannot be pressured" on the issue of settlement in Ukraine, the US put pressure on Kiev, Lukashenko added.

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SMART STRATEGY: Why Russia needs security zone in Kursk region

With the liberation of the Kursk region coming to a close, President Vladimir Putin stressed the need to create a security zone in the area. What is it all about?

▪️The goal is to protect Kursk from long-range Ukrainian artillery strikes, David Pyne, an EMP Task Force scholar and former US Department of Defense officer, tells Sputnik.

▪️Echoing him is Earl Rasmussen, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel, who notes that the zone should be extended into the Ukrainian regions across the border, including Sumy, to ensure the security of the Kursk area.

▪️The city of Sudzha in the Kursk region that has been liberated from the enemy is located about 10 km (6 miles) from the Russian-Ukrainian border.

▪️Apart from Kiev-controlled Sumy, Ukrainian areas across the border include cities such as Konotop, Belopolye, and Akhtyrka, which are also under Kiev’s control.

Which weapons do Ukrainian forces use to attack Russian border areas?

These include Western-supplied self-propelled guns:

🔸the Caesar
🔸the PzH 2000
🔸the Krab
🔸and the M777

All of them have a range of up to 35 km (21 miles).

Also being used are:

🔸the US-made high mobility artillery rocket system, or HIMARS (range: up to 80 km [49 miles])
🔸the Czech-made multiple rocket system, or MLRS, RM-70 Vampire (over 20 km [12 miles])
🔸the Soviet-era MLRS BM-21 Grad (up to 30 km [18 miles])
🔸the Soviet-era MLRS BM-27 Uragan (35 km [21 miles])

What does it mean?

From a tactical and operational point of view, the Kursk front line should be moved at up to 100 km (62 miles) from the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Kursk area. Creating a 100-km security zone stipulates the Russian army taking control of Sumy, Konotop, Belopolye, and Akhtyrka.

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