Israel continues to deny aid agency access

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Israel continues to block the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from bringing food and other aid into northern Gaza, the aid agency said.

Worldwide condemnation rises as Israel’s military stands accused of deliberately targeting charity staff bringing food to thousands of Gaza Palestinians facing imminent famine

A UN-World Bank report estimates the infrastructure damage in the Gaza Strip at $18.5bn in the first four months of Israel’s devastating assault.

UN Secretary-General Guterres says the Israeli attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen staff brings the number of aid workers killed in Gaza to 196 – including more than 175 UN staff. “This is unconscionable.”

At least 32,975 Palestinians have been killed and 75,577 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack stands at 1,139 with dozens still held captive.

Moscow strongly condemns Israeli airstrikes inside Syria — Russia’s UN envoy

Russia strongly condemns Israeli airstrikes inside Syria and regards them as a gross violation of the country's sovereignty, said Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya.

"The Russian Federation strongly condemns the ongoing airstrikes on the sovereign territory of Syria, viewing them as a gross violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of that country," he said at a meeting of the Security Council. "We believe such aggressive actions by Israel, which are designed to further inflame the conflict, are unacceptable and must be stopped."

The diplomat said Russia calls on West Jerusalem to abandon "the practice of provocative forceful actions on the territory of Syria" and other neighboring countries, as such actions are fraught with "extremely dangerous risks and consequences" for the entire region.

Nebenzya also added that the blame for a potential escalation in the Middle East due to Israel's strike on Iranian diplomatic facilities in Syria will lie entirely on the conscience of the US, the UK and France.

"There is no need to call on others to de-escalate and label the victims of this attack as aggressors. In this context, any possible escalation of the situation will be entirely... on your conscience," he said, addressing Western representatives of the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

On April 1, the Syrian news agency SANA reported that the Israeli Air Force struck a building in Damascus. Iranian news media said the building was an Iranian consulate. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said seven military advisers were killed: generals Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, along with five other officers

Russia has strongly condemned the Israeli attack on the consulate and requested a UN Security Council meeting on the issue. A representative of the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on reports about the Israeli strike on Damascus in response to a request from TASS.

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Russian diplomat demands probe into IOC chief’s role in politicization of sports

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
©Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/TASS

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach needs to be investigated after what he said about the politicization of sports, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

Earlier, the IOC president said in a conversation with Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov ("Vovan") and Alexey Stolyarov ("Lexus") that the organization was keeping a close eye on any political statements made by Russian athletes, and Ukraine was helping them with this.

"It is necessary to carry out an internal investigation, perhaps even an external one, because everything related to the Olympic Games is of great journalistic interest, especially in Western countries. An investigation is necessary, it is important to know exactly how Thomas Bach is using the powers entrusted to him. Why do we hear about a conspiracy from a man who heads the IOC with a certain country in order not to allow athletes from another country to participate in international sports competitions? Why do we hear words that directly point to the dream, the desire that in reality turns into a politicization of sport, from a person who swore to obey completely different values?" the diplomat said.

Zakharova also called Bach's statements "a horrific revelation, a confession of how the post occupied by him is used in contradiction to all international legal norms promoting sport in the name of peace, development and cooperation." "All of this requires a deep, thorough analysis and investigation," the spokeswoman pointed out.

According to the diplomat, "people like Thomas Bach do a disservice to the world of sport, to the Olympic movement, they not only violate, but directly contradict global Olympism."

Russia accused International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on Tuesday of taking part in a "conspiracy" with Ukraine to exclude its strongest athletes from this year's Paris Games.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the allegation after two Russian pranksters known as Vovan and Lexus published a recording of a conversation with Bach in which he was falsely led to believe he was speaking to an African sports official.

Bach said in the call that the IOC had established a special panel to monitor the media and the internet and ensure that Russian athletes who had made political statements in support of their government could not take part in the Olympics. "We have also offered to the Ukrainian side - not only offered, but asked them - to provide us with their knowledge of the behaviour of such (Russian) athletes or officials," Bach could be heard saying in English on the recording.

She added: "The relationship of IOC President Bach with the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine and its officials, and the admissions of a 'request to monitor Russian athletes' should be the subject of a thorough investigation."

Relations between Russia and the IOC have worsened sharply in the run-up to the Olympics, at which Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete as neutrals, without their flags and anthems, because of the war in Ukraine. They have also been banned from taking part in the opening parade.

Watch Russia's Tetrahedron Electronic Warfare System Being Tested in Special Op Zone

In addition to advanced combat drones, Russia is also rapidly developing electronic warfare systems to counter enemy weaponry. A brand new such system has just passed military performance tests with flying colors.

The Tetrahedron electronic warfare system is specifically designed to combat all sorts of modern first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drones and has been successfully tested in the special military op zone, Andrei Ivanov said, a representative of the developer.

"The Tetrahedron electronic warfare system is intended for covering [our] equipment against modern strike drones of various manufacturers. This is how it works – a wide-band obstacle is set up on control channels, including using offset frequencies. (This is a) simple and reliable suppressor that has passed complex testing and proved its effectiveness," he noted.

According to the designer, the system is fit to be used on both military and civilian objects. Tetrahedrons are equally capable of covering military equipment, ambulances, or public transport alike. It can also be used to protect fixed objects such as roadblocks or bus stops.

Tetrahedron systems have been successfully tested against a number of different size FPV-drones operating at different frequencies that are manufactured by independent developers.

Watch Russian Su-25 Jet Unleash Torrent of Fire on Ukrainian Positions

Su-25 attack aircraft play a crucial role in the special military operation, providing air support to Russian troops.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage showing the combat work of Su-25 fighter jets in the north of the Donetsk People's Republic. A squadron of jets carried out a sortie against Ukrainian positions, unleashed a barrage of unguided air-to-ground missiles and returned to base in one piece.

The pilot of the attack aircraft explained that they provide air support for the Russian infantry.

Su-25s are able to launch missiles at extremely low altitudes and evade enemy air defenses with sophisticated maneuvers and state-of-the-art devices that deceive heat-seeking systems by creating false targets.

Watch Russian Drone Operators Explain How They Disrupt Ukraine's Military Plans

Conducting troop rotation and resupplying units in the field has become a nigh impossible task for Ukrainian commanders due to incessant Russian drone strikes.

Previously, Ukrainian convoys could feel relatively safe deep in home territory, but the increased range of new Russian drones has quickly put an end to that.

Ukrainian troop movements are being monitored around the clock and are constantly being disrupted by drone strikes, one Russian drone operator has revealed.

“Previously, they could drive around like they were moving through peaceful cities, delivering their load and driving away,” the serviceman said, referring to Ukrainian convoys conducting troop rotation. “Since we got our hands on FPV [first-person view] drones, it became nearly impossible for them.”

'Rogue Power All Along': US Has Never Strayed From Belief It Can 'Violate Any Agreement'

©AFP 2023/VOTAVA

Last week, the US abstained from a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for the month of Ramadan, allowing a ceasefire resolution to pass for the first time. The US subsequently claimed the resolution was non-binding, even though UN Security Council resolutions are considered international law.

The United States has been a “rogue power” since the end of the Second World War, Dr. Radhika Desai, a professor at the Department of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba and director of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group told Sputnik’s The Critical Hour on Monday.

Desai described the US comments to undercut the power of the ceasefire vote as “typical US behavior,” and that “the US has been a rogue power all along.”

“Remember, the United States actually hates the United Nations. The Security Council itself was something it managed to put together with the cooperation of other major powers as kind of a limit on the recognition of the sovereign equality of all countries,” Desai explained. “The US did not create the post-world war order, the United States essentially used everything in its power… which was not unlimited, to prevent a truly equal world order from coming into being.”

Desai noted the US has always flaunted the rules of the UN system because “the rules were made by a body larger than” the US. “The United States has always considered itself free to violate any agreement it likes, which is why it is a rogue state. But what I’m saying is that it’s been a rogue state all along,” Desai explained, adding that it has violated the “world order” it helped create after World War II “many times.”

“What the US wanted in the post-world war order was to create a world which would open itself up to the entry of US corporations for their own profit,” Desai said, adding that if it was powerful enough to craft the world without its allies “it would have never needed to violate the rules.”

Desai further pointed out the unipolar world the US claimed after the Soviet Union did not last nearly as long as they expected.

Recalling how economist Jim O’Neill's famous BRICS report was published in 2001 and came only a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union, Desai highlighted how “already within a decade, the US aspiration to be the unipolar leader of the world was essentially gone.”

Instead of leading, the US has been isolated because it is acting as a unipolar leader, while in reality the world is multipolar, Desai explained. So, instead of following the rules of the UN it helped create, the US “effectively destroys the world order it created after World War II,” she said, referencing the blocking of WTO judges that neutered the organization, as well as the UN Security Council.

“The US has never got its way, and that’s what it can’t stand,” Desai concluded. “But you see, as Einstein said, you keep doing the same thing again and again and expect a different result, that's madness. Well, that madness of the United States is now reaching new heights. If anything is new about the situation, that's what it is.”

Russian Troops Destroy Ukrainian Drone Production and Maintenance Shop - MoD

©Sputnik/Stanislav Krasilnikov/Go to the mediabank

The Russian Armed Forces have destroyed a workshop manufacturing Ukrainian drones, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Moscow reported, summarizing the latest developments in the special military operation.

"Operational and tactical aviation, missile troops and artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have destroyed an aircraft armory, a workshop for manufacturing and maintaining unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as clusters of Ukrainian troops and military equipment in 152 districts," the MoD said in a statement.

Russian forces also occupied better ground in the Donetsk area in the past 24 hours and repelled two Ukrainian attacks, the ministry noted.

"The Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost more than 250 military personnel, two tanks, three armored combat vehicles and 16 military vehicles," the MoD added.

When it comes to Ukraine's military losses, the ministry pointed out that the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 140 soldiers in casualties and two tanks south of Donetsk in the past day.

In the Avdeyevka region, the Ukrainian troops lost more than 300 soldiers and a tank during the same time period, the MoD concluded.

Watch Russian T-72 Tank Pummel Ukrainian Soldiers Near Avdeyevka

A tank crew worked with operators of an Orlan-30 reconnaissance UAV to thwart a Ukrainian counterattack.

A video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense shows a T-72 tank working closely with Orlan-30 drone operators to thwart a Ukrainian counterattack attempt near the recently liberated town of Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People's Republic.

The Orlan-30 reconnaissance UAV identified Ukrainian troops preparing for a counterattack and informed the tank crew. The steel behemoth made short work of the Ukrainian soldiers.

Earlier, Konstantin Gavrilov, the head of the Russian delegation at the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, told Sputnik that the special military operation had shattered the myth of Western military superiority, with Russian tanks destroying fortified positions at a distance of 10 km.

Watch Russian Rapira Cannon Hammer Ukrainian Positions Near Kupyansk

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has published footage that shows artillery in combat action, wreaking havoc on Ukrainian positions. 100mm Rapira cannons destroyed masked dugouts in moments.

The Rapira cannon is often called a 'sniper rifle for artillerymen' due to its precision and reliability. Rapira can fire up to six rounds a minute, destroying targets at seven kilometers.

Earlier, Western media reported that Russia had boosted its production capacity to 250,000 artillery munitions per month which amounts to 3 million shells annually. The US and Europe collectively can manufacture million and a half million shells per year, leaving Ukraine outgunned.

Two Russian Tu-95MS Strategic Bombers Fly Over Sea of Japan

Two Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers have completed a routine 10-hour flight over the neutral waters in the Sea of Japan, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

The bombers were escorted by Su-30SM fighter jets, the ministry said, adding that the mission was carried out in strict compliance with international airspace regulations.

"Two long-range strategic missile carriers Tu-95MS conducted a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan. The flight lasted around 10 hours," the ministry said.

Russian long-range pilots fly routinely over neutral waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black and Caspian seas, and the Pacific Ocean, the ministry said.

The IOC is an extension of the West, not a neutral organization

FILE PHOTO: International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.
©Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP

Sports that uphold sportsmanship are only symbolic for the IOC to trick other nations into entering into the umbrella of western activities that showcase western views with cunning and intimidation behind the scenes.

Vovan and Lexus managed to unmask the real IOC, where the IOC chief said Olympic officials asked Ukraine to spy on Russian athletes.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has admitted to a pair of pranksters that Ukrainians have been asked to spy on Russian athletes online so that they could be banned from the upcoming Paris Games.

In a video-call posted on Tuesday, in which one of the Russian duo known as Vovan and Lexus impersonated an African official, Bach claimed that by sanctioning Russian athletes, the IOC is “punishing those who are responsible for the annexation.”

The IOC chief was apparently referring to the former Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye, which overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in public referenda in 2022. They followed the Crimean Peninsula, which did the same in 2014 after a Western-backed coup in Kiev.

“No Russian anthem can be played and no Russian flag can be raised [at the Paris 2024 Olympics],” the IOC president stated.

Answering a question on whether Russian athletes who support the Ukraine conflict deserved the right to take part in the Olympics, Bach revealed that the IOC has a special commission which monitors public statements by athletes in support of the government in Moscow.

“We have a special supervisory commission together with an independent company which is monitoring the internet, the media, and public declarations,” he stated.

“We also offered the Ukrainian side – and not only offered, but also asked to provide us with their knowledge about the behavior of such athletes or officials,” Bach further revealed.

He stressed that any athletes found to have expressed support for the Russian government will be banned from the Olympics.

Russian athletes are allowed to participate in the Games as neutrals in individual sports, but are barred from team events.

After the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the IOC recommended that athletes from Russia and its close ally Belarus should not be allowed to compete in international events. In December last year, the body ruled that a limited number of people from the two countries could participate in the Olympics as AINs (individual neutral athletes).

In March, the international body announced that the maximum number of Russians who could qualify for the Paris Games was 55, while Belarus is limited to 28 athletes. However, according to IOC director James Macleod, the two nations are unlikely to meet the quotas, and around 36 Russian and 22 Belarusian athletes are expected to make it to the Games.

Several top-ranking European officials, including Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, have fallen for prank calls by Russian duo Vovan and Lexus in recent months, during which the politicians revealed their thoughts on sensitive topics such as the Ukraine conflict.

It would be better for nations in the world that uphold morals and the dignity of life, values ​​that fulfill humanity's expectations, not to enter and participate in IOC activities.