TV News LIES

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, has been grappling with severe stomach pain in jail that could be the result of slow-acting poison, a close ally said on Friday.

Ruslan Shaveddinov said an ambulance was called last week to the maximum security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 155 miles (250km) east of Moscow, where he is being held.

“His situation is critical, we are all very concerned,” Shaveddinov told the Guardian in a phone interview.

“We understand that the situation must have been very bad if an ambulance was called,” he said, adding that prison authorities refused to have Navalny admitted to hospital.

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Ukrainian forces continue to defend against Russian attacks in the battered city of Bakhmut, according to the military's General Staff.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russian troops will have an "open road" to capture other key cities in eastern Ukraine if they seize control of Bakhmut. He defended his decision to keep Ukrainian forces in the besieged city and in his nightly address, announced the death of Dmytro Kotsiubaylo, a celebrated Ukrainian fighter who was killed in Bakhmut.

As of Tuesday, nearly 4,000 civilians remain inside Bakhmut, according to the country's Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. She said Ukrainian workers were still working to evacuate the remainder of the population, but the current situation makes their jobs even more difficult.

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Drones that the Kremlin said were launched by Ukraine flew deep inside Russian territory, including one that got within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Moscow, signaling breaches in Russian defenses as President Vladimir Putin ordered stepped-up protection at the border.

Officials said the drones caused no injuries and did not inflict any significant damage, but the attacks on Monday night and Tuesday morning raised questions about Russian defense capabilities more than a year after the country’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Seven more people have been rescued eight days after a massive earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, but hopes of finding further survivors of what the World Health Organization called the worst natural disaster in 100 years in its 53-country Europe region are dwindling.

As a UN aid convoy entered stricken north-west Syria through a new crossing, the combined death toll rose to nearly 38,000, including 31,974 in Turkey and at least 5,714 in rebel-held and government-controlled Syria – a figure that is expected to continue to increase.

Among those recovered on Tuesday was Muhammed Cafer, 18, who could be seen moving his fingers as he was lifted from rubble in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. Muhammed Yeninar, 17, and his brother Baki, 21, were found alive in the same region.

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Ukraine troops were hanging on in battered Soledar on Wednesday as Russian leaders claimed the crucial city in the hotly contested Donetsk region would be overrun by week's end.

Ukraine Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said heavy fighting continued to rage late Wednesday against soldiers mostly from the private Russian mercenary contractor Wagner Group.

"The enemy once again replaced its units ... and tried to break through the defense of our troops and completely capture the city, but was unsuccessful," Malyar said in a Telegram post.

Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said the group's troops controlled the city and were clearing out the last of the Ukrainian fighters. The salt mining town of about 10,000 people a year ago is nearly deserted now, most of its buildings damaged or destroyed by the fighting.

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