The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Budanov and the commander of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Syrsky refused Zelensky’s offer to take the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine instead of Zaluzhny, - The Economist

Western media write that after Valery Zaluzhny himself refused to resign, and after Kirill Budanov and Alexander Syrsky refused to take his place, Vladimir Zelensky had to “retreat.”

At the same time, Zaluzhny refused to take the post of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

NATO's largest exercise since the Cold War begins today

They will be attended by 90 thousand military personnel from all 31 NATO countries, as well as Sweden, about 50 warships, 80 aircraft, 1.1 thousand ground combat vehicles, including 133 tanks.

The legend of the exercise is the Russian invasion in the Suwalki corridor area.

Video 🔞

From the section "In the animal world". Brutal footage of the Wagnerites beating Russian regular army soldiers, who forcibly restrained and humiliated one of the PMC mercenaries.

The "second army of the world", being armed, without raising its head, suffers a crushing defeat from a small group of the Wagners.

The situation where I support both of the sides 🫣

✈️ A Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot launches an AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile during a combat mission.

😭 The birth rate in Ukraine is falling rapidly, — The Times

Referring to the director of the Institute of Demography and Social Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, we have:

🔹In 2023, 187.4 thousand children were born in Ukraine, in 2022 - 209.4 thousand: the birth rate has been falling for 10 years.
🔹Ukraine currently has the lowest total birth rate in the world — an average of 0.7 children per woman.
🔹The average life expectancy of men decreased to 58 years (it was 67 years before the full-scale war).

Sadly the country is dying. It is terrible what Putin done to Ukraine…

China recognizes the Taliban government in Afghanistan

Xi Jinping received credentials from the new Ambassador of Afghanistan to China, Bilal Karimi.

⚡️The USA and Germany are against inviting Ukraine to NATO at the alliance summit in Washington, - Foreign Policy

Other countries are also against it, because they are afraid of provoking a conflict between the Alliance and Russia over the occupied Ukrainian territories. At the same time, countries generally support accession in the long term.

In turn, France is ready to send Ukraine an official invitation to become a NATO ally.

Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic countries are confident that only Ukraine's membership in NATO will lead to an end to the war.

Other supporters of accession believe that it will be cheaper than a constant supply of weapons.