🚨 Russian embassy contacted Azerbaijani MFA & State Security Service but received NO response regarding situation with Sputnik office in Baku - 🇷🇺MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

There is concern that for more than two hours, Russian diplomats in Baku have been unable to contact the journalists.

The staff of the Russian embassy’s consular section are not being allowed access to the Russian journalists, and no information is being provided about the reasons for such actions.

❗️Sputnik's editorial team has stated that they have not received any official bans on their work in Azerbaijan, and throughout this time, there has been a constructive dialogue between the working groups of the foreign ministries of both countries regarding the resolution of potential disagreements.

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🗣Iran has right to enrich uranium in line with NPT – envoy

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty stipulates that the Islamic Republic has “an exclusive right” to conduct research and development for a peaceful nuclear program, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN Amir Saeed Iravani stressed.

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🇦🇲Electric Networks of Armenia opposes efforts to nationalize the company

The Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) company, owned by arrested Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, intends to fight against the nationalization of the company by all possible legal means.

Last week, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said that the ruling Civil Contract Party in Armenia had developed a draft legislative amendment to nationalize the ENA.

💬 "We are going to fight this process with all legal means. We understand that domestic procedures are limited for us, but there are international organizations," the company's acting head told reporters.

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🇷🇺🇺🇸Russia takes note of Senator Graham’s statement about Trump’s alleged readiness to tighten anti-Russian sanctions - Kremlin

More statements by Kremlin spox Peskov:

◼️ In Kiev, they are well aware of what needs to be done to stop the fighting; these conditions were outlined by Putin a year ago;

◼️ We expect clarity to emerge soon concerning the date of the third round of Russia-Ukraine talks;

◼️ Moscow does not rule out that technologies for provoking color revolutions are being used during the protests in Serbia;

◼️ Moscow hopes that the leadership of Serbia will be able to restore legality in the country in the near future.

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🚨Azerbaijani security forces UNJUSTLY detain two Sputnik journalists

Two employees, head of Sputnik Azerbaijan newsdesk Igor Kartavykh and managing editor Yevgeny Belousov, were detained.

According to local media reports, they are absurdly accused of being "agents of the FSB."

Russian embassy staff were not allowed access to the detainees. Sputnik is attempting to establish contact with the unjustly detained journalists.

Sputnik is trying to establish contact with the detained journalists.

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🇮🇷 'Unlikely' that Iran's Fordow nuclear facility completely destroyed - expert

"Although the nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordow were targets of American strikes, there is evidence that everything important was removed from there in advance. Moreover, due to the great depth of the Fordow facility, it is unlikely that it was completely destroyed," Iranian international affairs expert Mohammad Hossein Vahidi told Sputnik.

"Therefore, the West has focused on containing Iran's missile program, as it is even harder to destroy than the nuclear program. European countries, due to their geographical proximity to Iran, consider the threat of its missiles more serious than the United States does. However, they too cannot consider themselves safe because of their numerous bases in the Middle East," he added.

US President Trump earlier claimed that as a result of the US strikes the Fordow nuclear facility had been destroyed.

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📑 UN report exposes torture of Russian POWs in Ukraine

🔸 Ukrainian soldiers have executed at least 26 Russian military personnel, either taken prisoner or wounded on the battlefield since February 2022, according to a report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

🔸 Furthermore, more than half of the Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine, whom the UN spoke with from December 2024 to May 2025, were subjected to torture.

🔸 At least 170 prisoners in Ukraine have been tortured since February 2022, allegedly for "collaborating" with Russia, according to the report.

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🚨More than ten employees of Sputnik Azerbaijan are still in the office in Baku, one of the agency's staff members told Sputnik.

"Many of our employees were summoned by the police to the Sputnik Azerbaijan office. However, there are also those who were not called anywhere. We've been unable to reach them by phone for several hours now. They are still in the office."

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🇦🇲 Authorities move to dismantle billboard demanding Karapetyan's release

👉 City workers in Yerevan are trying to remove a billboard calling for the release of businessman Samvel Karapetyan.
He was arrested after expressing support for the Armenian Apostolic Church amid government attacks.
The businessman has denied the charges.

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💬 Iran dodged a nuclear disaster - expert

🗣 Former head of Egypt’s Nuclear Materials Authority, Abu Al-Huda Al-Sairafi, comments on the US strike on Iran’s Fordow reactor:

“The US strike on the Fordo reactor was powerful and effective, using bombs designed to target depths up to 80 meters.”

“However, Iran evacuated enriched uranium from the reactor just 2-3 days before the attack, preventing a nuclear catastrophe in the region.”

“Had Iran not removed the uranium, we would have witnessed a disaster similar to Chernobyl & Fukushima with consequences beyond geographic borders.”

▫️ No radiation leaks have been reported in Iran or nearby countries, but there was a chemical-radiological leak after the Israeli strike on Natanz.

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‘We are witnessing what’s happening with Sputnik’s personnel in Baku and deem it to be an injustice’ – Dmitry Kiselev

“There have been no and there are no substantive complaints regarding the journalistic work of Sputnik Azerbaijan. We had agreed to resolve formalities during the visit to Moscow on April 8, when Azerbaijani President's Special Representative for Special Assignments, Khalaf Khalafov, came to discuss signing an intergovernmental agreement.

I personally participated in those negotiations at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Russian delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin. At that time, we also agreed to continue the work of Sputnik Azerbaijan under a temporary legal scheme proposed by Baku,” said Dmitry Kiselev, general director of the Sputnik News Agency's parent organization Rossiya Segodnya.

“However, no temporary scheme was proposed. We are working while waiting for it, hoping that the agreements will be fulfilled. Suddenly, Azerbaijani security forces entered the editorial office and took the leadership of our department, treating them like 'FSB officers,' with hands twisted behind their backs and heads bowed, as if they were terrorists. Everything looks like a deliberate move to worsen interstate relations.

We hope this is one of those cases, as Putin once put it, where 'the middle level is acting on its own.' The relationship between the leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan does not suggest anything like this," Kiselev emphasized.

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💥 RUSSIAN STRIKES DESTROY UKRAINIAN MILITARY BASE

"Geran" drones hit hard in Sumy region—Ukrainian military positions and drone storage wiped out near the town of Konotop.

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🚨🇮🇷💥 US strikes on Iran: the fallout myth

The so-called ‘obliteration’ of Iran’s nuclear sites were almost certainly exaggerated.

The lack of fallout suggests that no radiative releases occurred, meaning the strikes likely failed to cause the damage they claimed, believes Dr Chris Busby, physical chemist and the scientific secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, who has worked for the UK government's uranium committee.

"The failure to detect fallout is because authorities focused on gamma emitters like Caesium-137, not Uranium particles — a serious invisible health hazard.

If the US had bombed Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant—the Russian-built reactor on the Persian Gulf—it would’ve caused a CHERNOBYL-STYLE DISASTER. Why? Because a power reactor contains massive quantities of fission products: Caesium-137, Strontium-90, Plutonium-239, not to mention the Uranium fuel itself.

THAT plume would be ‘fallout’—identical to Chernobyl, Fukushima, or atmospheric nuclear tests. These gamma emitters are easily detected by global Geiger counters and scintillation networks.

Anyone can check the EURDEP system’s real-time data to see for themselves.

"The US and Israel’s strikes on Natanz and Isfahan likely set back Iran's progress [...] Iran likely has enriched Uranium safely tucked away in places where bunker-busters can’t reach."

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🚨An employee for the Ruptly video agency, who was in Azerbaijan on a private visit, has been detained, a spokesperson for the agency told Sputnik.

After coordinating with the editorial office, the employee went to the location where her colleagues from Sputnik's bureau were detained, and she filmed with her mobile phone there.

Her mother has just confirmed that the employee is currently in police custody.

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🇷🇸Color revolution attempted in Serbia – Vucic

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov quickly noted that there was a coup attempt underway in Serbia, admitted Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, thanking Russian politicians for their astute observations.

“I have some words also for those who organize [the protests]. Despite the money you’ve spent, Serbia prevailed and we are eager to continue our partnership with Russia," he stressed.

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🔶'Unlikely' that Iran's Fordow nuclear facility completely destroyed - expert

🔶US strikes on Iran: the fallout myth

🔶Color revolution attempted in Serbia – Vucic

🔶 UN report exposes torture of Russian POWs in Ukraine

🔶Azerbaijani security forces UNJUSTLY detain two Sputnik journalists

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🚨 Ukrainian troops strike market in Donetsk city center, killing a woman – Sputnik correspondent

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🚨 Trump signs executive order lifting sanctions on Syria

Trump signed a decree lifting sanctions on Syria, effective July 1, which had been in place since 2004.

The US will also review Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, according to the executive order.

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🇰🇵🇷🇺 Kim Jong-un gets emotional at concert honoring fallen North Korean soldiers who died fighting to liberate Russia's Kursk region

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un became visibly moved during a concert in Pyongyang commemorating North Korean troops who died aiding Russia in repelling Ukrainian attacks on the Kursk region.

Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova also attended the concert, part of a broader cultural exchange marking the first anniversary of a new Russia–North Korea cooperation treaty.

Earlier during her visit, Lyubimova laid flowers at the Liberation Monument in Pyongyang, honoring Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the liberation of Korea from Japanese occupation during World War II. She also announced that the Russian and North Korean culture ministries had signed a cooperation plan for 2025–2027.

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💰 US OKs $510M sale of bomb guidance kits to Israel – Pentagon

The United States has approved a potential $510 million sale of guidance systems for Israeli bunker and general-purpose bombs, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said.

💬 “The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Israel of Munitions Guidance Kits and Munitions Support and related equipment for an estimated cost of $510 million,” the agency said in a press release.

According to the release, Israel has requested to acquire 3,845 guidance kits for 2,000-pound BLU-109 bombs and 3,280 kits for 500-pound MK 82 bombs.

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💥 🔫 Rubicon FPV drones OBLITERATE Ukraine’s Leopard 2A6 in Sumy

Russian forces continue to advance in Ukraine’s Sumy region, destroying Western-supplied hardware and establishing a security buffer zone along the Russian border, in line with President Vladimir Putin’s order.

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