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On Saturday, President Joe Biden announced the release of seven Americans who had been unjustly held captive in Venezuela for “years.”

We are returning Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jose Pereira, Matthew Heath, and Osman Khan today after years of unjustly being jailed in Venezuela. These people will soon be reunited with their families and placed right where they belong—in the arms of their loved ones—the president said in a statement.

The two Venezuelans, both nephews of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores, who were jailed in the US for plotting to bring cocaine into the nation, were exchanged for the release of the seven American captives.

The “CITGO 6,” a group of six American oil executives detained in Venezuela more than four years ago, includes Vadell, Toledo, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, and Pereira. Following the visit of two senior US government officials to Caracas in March, two Americans who had been arrested there, including one of the CITGO 6, were freed. Veteran Marine Heath was taken into custody in September 2020. In custody since January 2022 is Khan. The US authorities deemed all seven people to have been unlawfully held.

A senior administration source informed reporters on Saturday that Vadell, Toledo, Jose Luis, Alirio, Pereira, Heath, and Khan are all in “stable condition” and have been provided with medical attention as well as a “variety of support alternatives.”

According to the first senior official, Biden called each family to “give the joyful news of their release.”

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida slammed the move to sell the two Venezuelans for the seven Americans who had been unlawfully held, stating that the trade “puts Americans all around the world in peril.”

Rubio, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said on Sunday’s “State of the Union” that “it has now put a price tag on Americans.” As much as anyone, I wanted those folks to be freed, but every time you do this, others know that I can take Americans and hold them until I need anything as a negotiating chip.

“I think the swap of seven innocent American hostages for two convicted drug criminals, who just so happened to be (Venezuela President Nicolas) Maduro’s nephews, is a major victory for Maduro and, regrettably, puts Americans now in danger all over the world,” Rubio continued.

The senior administration official called the choice made by Biden and the US government to exchange prisoners with Venezuela “difficult” and “painful” on Saturday.

“As those conversations progressed, it became evident that one specific action was needed to secure the only feasible result: free Americans. The President made a difficult, hard choice and provided what the Venezuelan people had actively sought. In particular, it became evident during the negotiations that securing the release of these Americans depended on the release of two Venezuelans, Efran Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas, who are sometimes referred to as the “Narco nephews” because of their connection to Nicolas Maduro’s wife.

For the exchange, the freed Americans and Venezuelans were both flown to “a country between Venezuela and the United States.” The first official stated that when both aircraft touched down, there was virtual and physical proof “that the appropriate passengers were ready to leave” and “passengers departed on different planes than the ones they came in on.”

The insider stated that Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage problems, was among the released Americans. The official declined to go into any detail regarding Carstens’ early observations, saying only that the liberated Americans were “overjoyed” to be going home to their family.

After a clandestine US government delegation visited Venezuela in June “to discuss the welfare and safety of US citizens there,” a State Department official told CNN at the time, their release has came months later.

The Zambrano family released a statement saying they are “thrilled” to be free and can now “receive the much-needed medical care they need” in the US.

The captive family said, “We could not have made it to this joyful day without the activists and other hostage families who have so graciously been a light in darkness to get us here.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised State Department employees for “their diligent work to accomplish this conclusion” and hailed the most recent development.

“Although we are happy that these Americans have been freed from Venezuela, we still have work to do. As Secretary of State, the safety and security of Americans around the world are my top priorities, and we will keep pushing for the release of all Americans who have been unjustly detained abroad, he said in a statement.

After “a long and difficult captivity,” a spokesperson for the Bring Our Families Home Campaign rejoiced in the detainees’ release.

The former Marine who was imprisoned in Russia in 2019 and released in a prisoner swap earlier this year was mentioned. “We applaud President Biden for having the courage to make this deal and encourage him and the Administration to continue building upon the momentum that began with (Trevor Reed’s) release,” spokesperson Jonathan Franks said.

For the purpose of determining the precise borders of the Ukrainian territories that Russia claims to have annexed, Moscow will “continue discussing” with the citizens of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

When pressed to define the limits of the lands the Russian Federation has annexed, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded: “As for the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia (regions), we will continue talking with the inhabitants of these regions.”

Peskov said he “cannot answer this question at the time” in response to queries regarding the structure of these discussions, adding that it will depend on the wishes of the inhabitants of such territories. There won’t be any more referendums, he declared.

Following phoney elections held by Russian-backed officials in eastern and southern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin last week legally signed a decree annexing about 5% of Ukraine’s territory in flagrant violation of international law. The elections, which are against international law, have been derided as “a fraud” by Ukraine and Western countries.

Currently, the Ukrainian military is in charge of a portion of the territory that makes up the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Following the event on Friday at St. George’s Hall in the Kremlin, Peskov declined to comment on whether Russia will see this as its own property.

Regarding the other two areas, Peskov reiterated that as of 2014, Russia regarded the entirety of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) as being a part of Russian territory.

On Sunday, the Russian Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the agreements pertaining to the inclusion of the DPR, LPR, and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in the Russian Federation. The precise limits of the new regions are not stated in the treaties that the government has made public.

The Russian embassy in Lithuania has designated Sergey Ryabokon as “persona non grata.”

A press announcement from the foreign ministry on Monday stated that Ryabokon, the charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy in Vilnius, has been given “five days to leave the country.”

It said that Ryabokon’s “recent acts and utterances” breached the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations because they were “incompatible with his diplomatic standing” and “considered as an interference un the host state’s internal affairs.”

The statement added, “Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry also strongly protested against the decision of the Russian President of 30 September to illegally annex the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, parts of which were briefly occupied by Russia.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Lithuania has become a steadfast friend of Kiev. The heads of eight other NATO nations, including Lithuania, released a joint statement last week endorsing Ukraine’s application for membership in the military alliance. They also demanded that Ukraine receive more military assistance.

According to pro-Russian officials and propagandists, Ukrainian forces have continued their counteroffensive and moved into the Luhansk region after retaking the crucial eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman over the weekend.

Andrey Marochko, a military official of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), posted on Telegram on Monday that “the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to cross the administrative border of the LPR and obtain a footing in the direction of the settlement of Lysychansk.”

Nearly the whole Luhansk area of Ukraine is under Russian control; at the end of September, Ukrainian forces liberated the Luhansk settlement of Bilohorivka.

According to a pro-Russian journalist, military blogger, and analyst, Ukrainian forces have kept up their onslaught towards the Russian-occupied towns of Svatove and Kreminna in the Luhansk region.

Yuriy Podolyaka posted on Telegram, “It was decided to evacuate our grouping to the line of the Zherebets River, which was done tonight, in face of the threat to our grouping in the vicinity of the hamlet of Borova.

The enemy is not very active today in the vicinity of Kreminna, but the concentration of soldiers indicates that a new offensive in this direction (towards Svatove and Kreminna) should start at any moment, the general claimed.

According to a military representative for the so-called People’s Militia of the Luhansk People’s Republic, Kyiv is now moving into the Luhansk area.

“Andrey Marochko was quoted by the Luhansk Media Center as saying, “Now the Ukrainian media have began to very actively broadcast information that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have crossed the administrative boundary of the LPR, and they are gloating.

However, there are currently no administrative boundaries for the military; in fact, Ukrainian forces have entered “the fire bag” and are actively being destroyed by our forces “Marochko threw in.

According to an eye-opening article in a Russian pro-government newspaper, Russian troops in eastern Ukraine retreated from the city of Lyman due to a lack of personnel, poor communications, and “mistakes” by senior authorities.

The commanders decided to retire because they ran the risk of being surrounded and facing an embarrassing captivity, the writer, who was embedded with Russian soldiers, wrote in Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Residents of Lyman told CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh that Russian troops started leaving the city late on Friday, just as Russian President Vladimir Putin was celebrating what he claimed to be the takeover of Lyman’s location in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

The Russian soldiers had recounted “all the typical stuff,” according to the newspaper article’s author.

“There was poor communication between the various units. Nobody is aware of what is going on at the nearby positions. Our targets have already passed when you request artillery help through a complicated system of reports.

According to the article, the Russians’ retreat had a “typical” cause as well.

According to the tabloid report, “not enough soldiers, faults of the leadership when arranging the defence.”

“The so-called “500s” are contract soldiers who choose to flee battle and not engage in combat. The late arrival of the reserves, a lack of coordination among the ground forces, and outdated intelligence equipment all played a part.

The bride-to-be of this groom may have gone too far when what she said to his daughter led to the postponement of the wedding.

In order to get opinions on whether she was to blame for the wedding turmoil, his daughter turned to Reddit’s “r/AmItheA—hole” post.

Since her mother passed away eight years ago, the adolescent remarked, she and her dad have grown pretty close.

After hearing his mother talking about his daughter, a man refuses to allow his mother to attend his wedding.

I look just like her, same hair, same eyes—with the correct makeup, I resemble her exact face, the girl wrote.

It appears, though, that the bridegroom’s girlfriend didn’t enjoy the thought of his daughter looking like his previous wife.

In order to distinguish her daughter from her mother at the wedding, the groom’s fiancee requested that his daughter colour her hair.

The daughter, her grandma, and the fiancée of the groom went dress shopping one day.

The young woman chose a dress for the wedding and tried it on.

“It was an olive outfit that complemented my hair wonderfully (I’m ginger), they congratulated me, and my grandma commented that I looked like my mother because she wore that colour so often, just a tiny statement,” she added.

The bride-to-fiancee be’s remained silent at the time, but she later went to the daughter to apologise for her comment.

The girl stated, “Two days ago, my dad’s fiancée asked me if I was willing to colour my [hair] or wear a wig for the wedding.

The fiancee of the groom insisted because she didn’t want any of the wedding guests to say anything similar.

The dialogue came to an end when the adolescent firmly declined.

She told her father about it later and he postponed the wedding.

The girl left the couple’s home because she felt uncomfortable living there and temporarily moved in with her uncle.

The bride’s family was quite upset with the groom’s choice and accused his daughter of failing to comply with the bride’s request.

The adolescent added that this has happened previously and that it wasn’t the first time.

The bride and the groom’s daughter have a history of conflict.

The girl said, “She didn’t like that he offered the notion to me rather than just asking her and letting me find out/tell me jointly. She didn’t like the fact that I didn’t want to be in the wedding party, either.

She had intended to watch after her cousins while the wedding was being performed and to make a little speech to the couple.

Despite her joy at her father’s engagement, the kid didn’t feel a connection to or regard his girlfriend as a mother figure, which strained their relationship.

The adolescent continued, “I’d rather tell my dad and have him talk to her because sometimes when I attempt to talk to his fiancée about things I didn’t like or how it made me feel she treats me like a brat who wants her way.

She was reassured by Reddit users that she was not at all to blame for what occurred.

She made a highly ridiculous request because of her insecurities and jealousy toward your mother, according to one user. The wedding should be postponed for the time being because she has some issues to resolve.

Don’t allow your dad commit the biggest error of his life, someone else wrote. She will sever your relationship with your father if she is bold enough to ask you that and treat you that way.