🔊LIVE NOW: Putin holds meeting with Belarusian President Lukashenko

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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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🗣 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he is not interested in the opinions of EU countries regarding the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.

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❗️Putin's appearance in camouflage attire at a command point in Kursk signals determination to complete the operation to liberate the region in the very near future, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin.

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No mercy for mercs: What legal nightmare awaits them in Russia?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that captured foreign mercenaries in the country's Kursk region will not be treated as prisoners of war.

Article 47 of Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions denies mercenaries combatant or POW status.

Thus, mercs:

▪️cannot be guaranteed humane and fair treatment by their captors;

▪️are not protected from torture or inhumane treatment;

▪️can and will be prosecuted for taking part in hostilities, since they are not regarded as lawful combatants;

▪️are not entitled to adequate food, shelter, clothing and access to medical care while in captivity;

▪️are not guaranteed contact and communication with the outside world and are not protected from physical or mental coercion.

Instead, mercenaries taken prisoner by Russian forces can look forward to the following:

🔺Under Russian law, a mercenary caught participating in an armed conflict or in military activities faces a prison term of up to 15 years (article 359 of the Russian Criminal Code).

🔺A mercenary’s jail sentence could be lengthened even further, depending on the nature of the crimes he or she committed.

Putin also mentioned that Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoners in the Kursk region will be regarded as terrorists.

Under article 205 of the Criminal Code, perpetrating a terrorist act is punishable by lengthy jail sentences, from 12-20 years to life.

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❌ ECHR finds Ukraine guilty for 2014 Odessa tragedy

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has declared Ukraine guilty of failing to prevent the bloodshed during the Odessa unrest in 2014 and has ordered compensation for the victims.

In the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian coup, anti-Maidan activists set up a protest camp at Odessa’s Kulikovo Field. On May 2, clashes broke out near Greek Square between the anti-Maidan activists on one side and football hooligans from Kharkov and Odessa, joined by pro-Euromaidan backers, on the other.

After wrecking the protest camp, the coup supporters, along with Ukrainian nationalists, set fire to the Trade Union House, where the anti-Maidan activists had sought refuge. This deliberate act of arson by the violent coup backers resulted in 48 deaths, and more than 250 people were injured.

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😎 💪 STRAIGHT SHOOTER

"Why the hell did I come here?" Sergey Lavrov seems a bit tired of journalists and their questions.

Russia's top diplomat was caught by reporters as he arrived at the Kremlin before a meeting between Putin and Lukashenko.

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📹 Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko will sign documents and then hold a joint press conference, the Kremlin said.

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🔊LIVE NOW: Vladimir Putin holds press conference after talks with Belarusian President Lukashenko

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