🇷🇺❄️ While in some parts of Russia, citizens are trying to keep warm in -50 Celcius, in resort city Sochi, locals have turned to shamans to "summon" snowfall amid the unusual winter "heatwave".

Sochi is a popular ski resort among Russians.

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🇷🇺🇸🇾 Russian and Syrian troops restore Jirah airfield destroyed during operations (video by Russian MoD)

The airfield has been fitted with restored lighting and elements of the maneuvering area. The air traffic control post has been fitted with communication and radio facilities, designed to provide for the arrival and departure of aircraft at day and night.

The joint deployment of Russian and Syrian aircraft at the Jirah airfield allows for the protection of the border, and ensures the safety of civilians in the northern and northeastern areas of the Syrian Arab Republic.

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❗️Swedish PM says Stockholm wants to return to "dialogue" with Ankara on NATO accession

⚡️ Scholz decided to send Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine, German media reports.

In Joe & Donald's Footsteps? Classified Memos Found in ex-Veep Mike Pence's Home

A lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence has found a dozen documents marked classified in the former Trump official's new home in Carmel, Indiana.

Reportedly, the lawyer handed the sensitive government records to the FBI. It's unclear what issues the documents in question are related to and what level of sensitivity or classification they have.

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💬 "Sweden is asking to be added to NATO and it's having to basically get the approval of Turkey, a member of NATO that has its questions about Sweden hosting all these Kurdish terrorists and giving them protections and in retaliation, imagine trying to get the approval of the Turks, so you go burn the Koran in front of their embassy. Of course now the Scandinavian countries that are trying to be members of NATO will be rejected and will not have a chance to be in it. It's also clearly showing a beginning of a collapse of what we know as NATO, and the EU eventually will begin to start collapsing. This is above and beyond, of course, what people in the Muslim world are already doing. Most people in the Muslim world, just like the rest of humanity, are not consuming that much coming out of Europe and the United States. We are all consuming locally and exchanging with their biggest partners of trade being China. This is just going to accelerate. And the more the West has such kind of politicians as this lunatic, as the representatives of the quote unquote "civilization of the West", the faster the ejection of the West will be from the rest of humanity." says Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon.

🎧 Listen to more of Laith's analysis in our Fault Lines podcast: Germany Pushes Back on Tanks for Ukraine; DC Anti-War Protest; Nord Stream Investigation

🧊🇦🇶 A giant iceberg the size of London has seperated from the Antarctic ice shelf

A massive iceberg measuring 1,550 square kilometers (and 150 meters thick) has broken away from Antarctica, British scientists report.

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‼️Report: Biden may announce decision on Ukraine-bound Abrams tanks as soon as Wednesday; however, it could take either 'months or years' to be delivered

🔺 First, we discuss the disagreement between NATO allies over Leopard tanks to Ukraine
🔺 Next, we talk about the resignation of several high-profile Ukrainian officials amid Kiev's anti-corruption drive
🔺 And, John Burris joins us to discuss another wave of senseless mass shootings taking place across the US

And lots of other topics will be covered today! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

📻 Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

📹 Russian tanks under the cover of Terminator BMPT neutralize an AFU attacking infantry group on IFV (video courtesy of Russian MoD)

The advancing attacking group was uncovered in the wooded area by a reconnaissance team using unmanned aerial vehicles.

A Russian Terminator tank support combat vehicle advanced towards the militants and opened fire on the adversary.

As a result of the battle, the enemy IFV and tank were destroyed and the AFU fighters suffered losses and fled.

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What is the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank Biden Wants to Send to Ukraine?

The NATO allies waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine have rushed in recent weeks to send their most potent weapons yet to the battlefields in the Donbass: armored fighting vehicles and main battle tanks.

After reports appeared in US media on Tuesday that the White House was preparing to send dozens of M1 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs) to Kiev, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports but had nothing to announce. US Army leaders have warned Ukrainians forces are ill-equipped to operate and maintain the advanced armored vehicles, making such a venture both costly and unproductive.

However, it seems more likely than ever that Germany will allow Poland to send its Leopard 2 MBTs to Ukraine, and it’s unclear how that development will influence Washington’s thinking.

💬 "And this is another crazy moment coming out of Europe. Now they want to basically put the military force of Iran under the terrorism list. And they want to also add the president of Iran Raisi to this list. And what does this mean? It means that they're going to declare war. That's the next step. They want to declare war on Iran. So the Iranian parliament in the past 24 hours has met. They have called for reciprocatory steps, meaning that they will be declaring European military forces as terrorist organizations, which they are. They have been terrorist organizations for hundreds of years - European militaries marauding in the Americas, Africa and Asia until now. They're doing so as we see in Syria and Yemen and Libya and what have you," says Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon.

🎧 Listen to more of Laith's analysis in our Fault Lines podcast: Germany Pushes Back on Tanks for Ukraine; DC Anti-War Protest; Nord Stream Investigation

Nearly Half of New York Republican Voters Want George Santos to Resign, Poll Finds

Almost half of registered Republicans in New York agree Rep. George Santos should resign amid a slew of controversies enveloping the politician, a recent Siena College Research Institute Poll has found.

The Monday poll determined that 59% of surveyed registered voters believe Santos should resign while only 17% believe he should remain in office, and that at least 56% have an unfavorable view of the representative.

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What's Your Take on the Possible Supply of German Leopard 2 Tanks to Kiev?

Germany has been facing immense pressure from its NATO colleagues over its failure to agree to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Berlin reportedly said it would do so only if Washington approved the delivery of its Abrams tanks to Kiev.

Sputnik wants to know your opinion on the matter - feel free to take part in our poll!

DARPA AI Security Camera Defeated by US Marines Pretending to be Trees & Boxes, Book Claims

The US government may be concerned about China getting its hands on its artificial intelligence technologies, but Beijing may be thinking twice about trying to acquire them after reading about how easily a few creative US Marines defeated one.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon’s private bureau of mad scientists, was testing out a new AI developed as part of its Squad X program. The program aimed to integrate unmanned assets with dismounted ground troops by providing them with many of the resources that vehicle-based units enjoy, such as multi-directional threat detection and both increased autonomy and coordination.

Unfortunately for DARPA, the US Marines working with the program developed a cheap and easy way to defeat the AI. Fortunately for readers, it was really hilarious.

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EU's Borrell Claims Russia Capable of Destroying Satellites in Space

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell alleged hat Russia poses a threat in outer space on Tuesday, claiming that Moscow is capable of conducting cyberattacks on satellites as well as physically destroying them with anti-satellite weapons.

"In November 2021, Russia tested a kinetic anti-satellite weapon. This was an irresponsible act that not only generated dangerous debris in the space, it [also] signaled to everyone that Russia is prepared to put everyone’s satellites at risk. If they could do that with one satellite, they could do it with our satellites," Borrell said at the 15th European Space Conference.

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💬 "The more the West throws sanctions on other nations, the less of the engagement there is on the global scale with the West. Because, as you sanction countries like China and Iran - huge economies, huge populations and landmass and resources - the other third parties in the world, they have to choose either not to do business at all with these huge economies or do business with the United States, with expensive prices that are inflated. Of course, the rest of the world is choosing to do business with itself and ignore the super national legal jurisdiction that the West is trying to impose on the rest of the world outside United Nations mechanisms." says Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon.

🎧 Listen to more of Laith's analysis in our Fault Lines podcast: Germany Pushes Back on Tanks for Ukraine; DC Anti-War Protest; Nord Stream Investigation

Massive US-Israeli War Games Aimed at Iran, Top US General Suggests

Massive joint US-Israeli war games being carried out this week will include simulated bombings of Iranian nuclear sites, Israeli media has claimed.

Channel 12 news reported Tuesday that imitation Iranian nuclear sites in the Negev desert will be subjected to 100 tons of explosives. Although the outlet failed to cite a source for the claim, Monday statements from a senior US military official seemed to confirm the sentiment.

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