Heading towards World War III?

The Russian language will be restricted in the schools of the southern Ukrainian city of Nikolayev, City Council Executive Committee member Ekaterina Stokolias said on Saturday.

In a Facebook post, she stated that the decision was made by the committee on Friday.

“From September 1, no clubs, courses, junior classes or educational designs with the Russian language. Finally! Thank you to all my colleagues!” Stokolias wrote.

She added a drawing depicting a cat holding a heart in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The captions to the picture are “Language matters” and “Everything matters.”

The announcement in Nikolayev came as Ukrainian Deputy Education and Science Minister Andrey Vitrenko revealed earlier this month that the authorities plan to change the school curriculum in several subjects, including foreign literature, world history and the history of Ukraine. In particular, the world-famous novel ‘War and Peace’ by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, which chronicles Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, will be dropped.

“Such things will not be studied in Ukraine. Everything that glorifies the orc troops will disappear from the program of foreign literature,” Vitrenko explained.

He also said that discussions are underway about whether any Russian writers should remain in the curriculum.

In April, Ukrainian Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremen called for the replacement of the Russian language in those schools where it was still being taught by other subjects, such as, for example, the history of Ukraine, the Ukrainian language, English or math.

www.rt.com/russia/557413-ukraine-schools-russian-banned

The Pentagon is considering whether to send four additional M142 HIMARS rocket launcher systems to Ukraine, Politico reported on Saturday. The US has already pledged four such systems to Kiev’s military, but Ukrainian officials want far more.

The US announced at the beginning of June that it would send four of the HIMARS systems, each of which can fire a salvo of six rockets from the back of a truck. The US said it would provide GMLRS guided rockets with the systems, which have a range of between 32km and 60km. The HIMARS platform can also fire a single guided missile with a range of up to 300km, but the US has not yet provided Ukraine with these projectiles.

Unnamed Pentagon officials told Politico that the Defense Department was considering sending another four HIMARS systems as part of a forthcoming US aid package. The decision, which has not yet been finalized, will be “based on Ukrainian immediate needs,” one of the officials said.

www.rt.com/news/557412-pentagon-himars-rockets-ukraine

Moscow will throw its full support toward helping the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics revive their war-torn economies, Russia’s trade and industry minister, Denis Manturov, told RT on Friday.

“We have met with the heads of both republics for detailed talks over plans for economic reconstruction,” Manturov said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

According to Manturov, Russia will provide advisory support and carry out a process audit for the metal industry in the Donbass republics, as well as help the sector start shipping its output to Russia and other nations.

READ MORE: The old world is over: Key takeaways from Putin's first major speech since Russia's military offensive in Ukraine
The Construction Ministry said it would also help rebuild and manage critical infrastructure and prepare for the winter. Schools, hospitals and daycare centers, as well as housing, will be the priorities.

The Donbass republics have already signed cooperation agreements with several Russian regions. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has recently announced that 300 specialists from the city are already working to restore the water supply in Donetsk.

Meanwhile, DPR leader Denis Pushilin said on Friday that a deal had been signed to buy food and building materials from Iran. He added that Donetsk plans to sell metal, cast iron, mining equipment, fertilizer, and other goods to the Islamic Republic.

www.rt.com/business/557387-russia-rebuild-donbass-trade-minister

The new head of the British Army has issued a rallying cry to troops - telling them they need to be ready to face Russia on the battlefield.

Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, who started the job last week, addressed all ranks and civil servants in an internal message on 16 June, seen by the BBC.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine shows the need "to protect the UK and be ready to fight and win wars on land", he says.

He adds the Army and allies must now be "capable of...defeating Russia".

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He noted "the world has changed since the 24th February and there is now a burning imperative to forge an Army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle".

Gen Sir Patrick also set out his goal to "accelerate the mobilisation and modernisation of the Army to reinforce Nato and deny Russia the chance to occupy any more of Europe… we are the generation that must prepare the Army to fight in Europe once again".

www.bbc.com/news/uk-61858476

NATO member state Lithuania is now effectively engaged in “direct aggression” against Russia, senator Andrey Klimov argued in his Telegram post on Monday, citing Vilnius’ decision to stop the transit of sanctioned goods to Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad.

According to the Russian politician, who heads a commission for the defense of state sovereignty, by refusing to let certain goods pass through its territory to the Russian region, Lithuania has violated a treaty signed between Moscow and Brussels 20 years ago.

Unless the EU brings its member state to heel and forces it to respect the accord, a huge question mark would be hanging over the legal basis for Lithuania’s membership in the bloc, Klimov argued. The senator stressed that in this case, Moscow would have a free hand to “solve the problem of the Kaliningrad transit created by Lithuania by ANY means chosen by us.”

READ MORE: Blockade of Russian region a breach of international law – Moscow
Klimov went on to quote from the ‘Joint statement on transit between Kaliningrad Region and the rest of the Russian Federation’ dated November 11, 2002. The document, among other things, stated that the “parties acknowledge the unique position of Kaliningrad region as part of Russia separated from the rest of the Federation’s territory by other states.” Bearing this in mind, the signatories agreed to “make special efforts to allay both sides’ concerns with respect to the future transit of people and goods,” the senator pointed out.

The Russian lawmaker added that the uninterrupted transit from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad Region was guaranteed when Lithuania joined NATO back in 2004.

www.rt.com/russia/557466-nato-engaged-direct-aggression-russia

Ukraine will continue fighting against Russia even if it has no weapons whatsoever, so the West should speed up its shipments of arms to Ukraine or be responsible for the deaths of its troops, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said to German media on Sunday.

“If we don’t get weapons, fine. Then we will fight with shovels. But we will keep defending ourselves because this is a war for our existence,” Kuleba was quoted as saying in an interview with the public broadcaster ARD.

“The sooner we get the weapons, the sooner they are sent, the more good they will do us. If they come late, we will still thank you, but then there will be a lot of waste, and many people will have died by then,” he added.

He made the remarks during a panel discussion with political talk show host Anne Will. The list of guests on the show also included the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and several German politicians and political experts.

Kuleba said that Russian artillery outgunned Ukraine’s in Donbass 15 to 1, echoing statements that several senior Ukrainian officials have made lately. Kiev cannot win with such an imbalance of power, the foreign minister said.

www.rt.com/russia/557459-ukraine-fight-shovels-kuleba