The Russian president gave an extended interview to the director of Sputnik's parent media agency on Wednesday, focusing on the crisis in Ukraine, the threat of direct NATO intervention and the prospects for peace talks.

The key takeaway from President Putin's conversation with Rossiya Segodnya head Dmitry Kiselev is that those "looking for a contrite Russia, a weak Russia, a compliant Russia" won't find it in "the Russia that Vladimir Putin was presenting to the world in his interview," says former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and independent military and international affairs observer Scott Ritter.

The Russian leader has held an in-depth sit-down with domestic media, days ahead of the country's presidential election...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken at length about Moscow's confrontation with the West, in an interview with journalist Dmitry Kiselyov, the head of Rossiya Segodnya, released just days before the country's presidential election.

Here are the key takeaways from Putin's in-depth discussion.

Western 'vampire ball' is ending

Non-Western nations are striving for sovereignty and are watching with interest as Russia confronts the US and its allies, Putin stated.

Western elites have been "tearing to pieces [the] poor peoples of Africa" and have exploited Latin America and Asia for 500 years, he claimed, adding that the West remains desperate to protect its unfair advantage.

"For centuries, they got used to stuffing their stomachs with human flesh and their pockets with money. But they must realize that this 'ball of vampires' is coming to an end."

The maritime operation will not circumvent Israeli obstacles, even as Palestinians become increasingly desperate for food...

US President Joe Biden is getting hammered in the Democratic primaries. Though he has no opposition, nearly 400,000 primary voters across multiple states have abandoned him, choosing "uncommitted" instead.

The protest movement began in the critical swing state of Michigan, where more than 100,000 voters made a statement against Biden's support for Israel's war on Gaza. In subsequent primaries, hundreds of thousands more followed suit; in Minnesota alone, 20 percent of voters said they were uncommitted.

Many Democrats disapprove of this war and the president who is supporting it. Countrywide, 57 percent of Americans are unhappy with Biden's handling of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and 67 percent want a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Fifty-two percent say the US should halt arms shipments to Israel until current hostilities cease; among those who voted for Biden in 2020, that number increases to 62 percent. Even a majority of American Jews (50 percent) favour a permanent ceasefire, according to recent polling.

Biden is already paying the price for being out of sync with the Democratic base. He has to do something, and fast - otherwise, this could snowball into an avalanche. This is how movements begin and sure-fire candidacies fall apart.

Dmitry Peskov was commenting on the White House press secretary's remarks about Russia's nuclear doctrine...

Washington has "deliberately distorted" Russian President Vladimir Putin's words about the conditions under which Moscow would use nuclear weapons, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

He was referring to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's remarks about an interview Putin gave that aired on Wednesday.

While answering a reporter's question on whether US President Joe Biden had been briefed about Putin's comments, Jean-Pierre responded that the Russian leader was "restating Russia's nuclear doctrine" but went on to claim that "Russia's nuclear rhetoric has been reckless and irresponsible throughout this conflict."

Peskov described the White House's reaction to Putin's interview as an "absolutely deliberate distortion of the context," adding that "no threats to use nuclear weapons were made by Putin in this interview."

He indicated that the president was answering the journalist's questions rather than making official statements and explained that Putin "was just talking about the reasons that could make the use of nuclear weapons inevitable."

A similar attempted incursion into Russian territory ended in failure on Tuesday...

Ukrainian forces have attempted a second incursion into Russia's Kursk Region in the last 48 hours, officials reported on Thursday. A similar operation took place on Tuesday and ended in failure.

Russian border guards and military troops will not allow "Ukrainian terrorists" to enter the country, Governor Roman Starovoyt said on social media, adding that fighting was ongoing near the village of Tyotkino.

The Russian National Guard said its units, along with Federal Security Service (FSB) border guards, were "repelling an attack" in the area.

On Tuesday, several militia forces backed by Kiev tried to cross the border into the regions of Kursk and Belgorod, with the stated goal of disrupting the Russian presidential election scheduled for this week.

The Defense Ministry said Russian security forces eliminated 234 fighters, seven tanks, three Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and two armored personnel carriers while repelling the incursion.

An oil refinery near the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don has temporarily suspended operations following a drone attack, regional Governor Vasily Golubev announced on Wednesday.

Several other oil plants in Russia were also targeted by Ukrainian UAVs on the same day, in Ryazan and Leningrad Regions. On Tuesday, Kiev also conducted drone raids on refineries in Oryol and Nizhny Novgorod Regions.

According to Golubev, on Wednesday morning, three Ukrainian drones were brought down over the Novoshakhtinsk refinery after they were suppressed using electronic warfare systems.

He reported that there were no casualties or injuries to any personnel in the incident, but that the plant's operations have been paused while the consequences of the attack are assessed.

The Novoshakhtinsk Petroleum Plant, which is located around 100km from the regional capital, Rostov-on-Don, is the largest supplier of petroleum products in the area and is the only oil refinery in Rostov Region. It previously came under attack in June 2022 when a Ukrainian UAV struck a crude oil tank, causing a fire.

Also on Wednesday, Ryazan Region Governor Pavel Malkov reported that four fixed-wing drones rammed into a local oil plant around 200km from Moscow. The crash caused a fire at the facility, which has since been put out. According to TASS news agency, citing local health officials, two people were admitted to the hospital after the attack.

A Kiev-backed terrorist cell, which plotted to poison food intended for Russian soldiers on the frontline, has been busted in St. Petersburg, the Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Thursday.

The four members of the group were identified as far-right radicals and members of the 'Russian Volunteer Corps' (RDK), a militia affiliated with Ukrainian military intelligence. The conspirators were acting on orders from their leadership and on behalf of the Ukrainian government, the FSB said.

In addition to the alleged poisoning plot, the suspects were surveilling crucial infrastructure in and around Russia's second-largest city for possible future attacks, the agency stated.

All four persons were arrested and are facing prison terms of at least ten years for being members of a terrorist organization, according to the press release.

Russia has no future. The British Isles do. Long before the last serving of fish and chips has passed into gastronomy history, Blinis and Pelmeni will have been stricken from all the languages of Earth. At least, this is what Owen Matthews, the author of the book Stalin's Children, believes. Sadly, he is not alone in his ludicrous and addictive hate of all things Russia.

Spectator's View

Somebody, please stop me! Morning research has inextricably led me to another media analysis — this time on the weekly British newspaper The Spectator. The title of Matthews's story will help you understand how a geopolitical analyst can't seem to get off of Western news. "Putin may seem confident - but Russia's future is bleak," is problematic because it is entirely based on a dark fantasy. Matthews, after whining about Mr. Putin running things in Russia some more, launches into a spew about the Ukraine military operation. In his vent, the British son of Ukrainian S.S.R. parents belches a familiar Western strategy burp - the idea that Ukraine ever had any chance of winning a conflict against Russia.

It's counterproductive to hover over this "made" British journalist for long. As many in the service of the liberal elites freaked over the new multipolar order, Matthews has made the rounds for his lords and masters. During the Bosnian war, he was a mouthpiece from Budapest, Sarajevo, and Belgrade. He also ran interference in the Second Chechen War, as well as in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan - the usual places propagandist altar boys get sent. The most significant difference between Matthews and a cadre of corporate-owned contemporaries is he's one hell of a lot better at slicing and dicing the Ukraine situation. On Russia? Well, let's just say he has to play his role according to direction most of the time.

Like all the other stories we've read about Putin, the Euromaidan, Ukraine, Russia, and the state of West-East affairs, all the familiar bell tones are there. Ideas like new Russian imperialism, Russia's weak army, Putin's destroyed economy, and even a Russian brain drain exodus are there to rivet the willing idiots tuned in. I assume the Russian mafioso, former Yukos oil boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and other Western-backed privateers are the "best and brightest" to whom the Statesman story refers. The magazine's paywall prevented me from diving deeper into this latest Russophobic rant. The exciting thing here is the question that arises from observing so many talented writers being sucked into the dark wormhole of elitist illusion. Aha! You say? We are onto something much more profound than painting paid propagandists.

House lawmakers voted Wednesday to compel Chinese Communist Party-tied ByteDance to sell off TikTok within six months or face the popular social media app being banned in the US — amid elevated national security concerns and despite full-throated protests from fervent fans.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act passed the House, 352-65, easily overcoming the two-thirds requirement.

The bill now heads to the Senate and an uncertain future — with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) non-committal Wednesday about when or whether he will bring the legislation up for a vote

As many as 195 soldiers were killed in the failed operation, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ukraine has lost up to 195 troops and materiel stemming from a failed attempt to enter Russia's Belgorod Region, the Defense Ministry said in a daily briefing on Thursday.

The attackers had breached the Russian border and was moving towards the village of Spodaryushino, when it was struck by aviation and artillery. Kiev lost five tanks, four armored combat vehicles, three UR-77 mine-breaching vehicles and three military engineering vehicles, Moscow claimed.

Disturbing images circulating on Russian social media purport to show Ukrainian soldiers killed in action during the operation. According to the description in the post, Russia used a TOS rocket system against a group of Ukrainian troops. The multiple rocket launcher uses thermobaric munitions and is designed to attack military personnel in the field.