📹 Russian "Pantsir" air defense missile systems are now able to intercept "HIMARS" missiles in the area of the special military operation in Ukraine

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🇿🇦🚰 Why do residents of Johannesburg, South Africa have blue tap water?

▪️ A resident in South Africa's capital found blue water flowing from her tap and posted a video of this strange phenomenon on social media.

▪️ The water utility firm, Johannesburg Water, explained that the water in the building had probably been contaminated by copper.

▪️ The authorities have launched an investigation into the case and samples were taken for testing.

▪️ The resident later said that the water eventually stopped coming out blue and returned to running clear

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❗️Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ The Kremlin is confident in the correctness of launching the special operation; it was necessary to save people in Donbass;

▪️ Poroshenko, Merkel, and Hollande confirmed that for their countries, the Minsk agreements were a front for preparing for a military scenario in Donbass;

▪️ Putin will visit Volgograd on February 2; there will be celebration dedicated to the anniversary of the victory at the Battle of Stalingrad;

▪️ The growing involvement of the West in the conflict in Ukraine is obvious; Russia takes it into account, but this will not change the course of events;

▪️ The Baltic countries and Poland are ready to do everything to provoke further confrontation with Russia, with little thought about the consequences.

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The Iranian Permanent Mission to the UN warned on Tuesday, after the recent drone attack in the province of Isfahan, allegedly carried out by Israel, that Tehran would consider any military action by the US against Iran as a declaration of war which would be met with retaliatory measures.

🗣 "In Iran's perspective, the use of the military option at any level means U.S. entry into the war. For now Iran considers such a possibility to be weak," the mission told US news magazine.

Tehran also said that if the US "miscalculates and starts a war," then Washington would be responsible for the consequences of such a conflict "for the region and the world," the news outlet reported. In such a case, Iran will be capable of ensuring its own security and defending the country's interests, the magazine cited the mission as saying

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⚡️⚡️Turkish parliament will not ratify protocol on NATO membership of Sweden and Finland under current conditions, foreign minister says

WATCH: Russia's Su-34 aircraft perform combat actions during the special military operation

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📹 Russian FM Lavrov and Egyptian Counterpart Shoukry Hold Joint Press Conference in Moscow

Sputnik brings you a live broadcast as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry hold a joint press conference after talks in Moscow on Tuesday, 31 January.

WATCH LIVE

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🇫🇷 "We must condemn the lies of the West about Russia" — grandson of Charles de Gaulle

The ban on the broadcasting of Russian media goes against the values that France stands for, politician and public figure Pierre de Gaulle said in an interview with Sputnik.

"France is basically a democratic country where everyone can express their opinion. Silencing certain media outlets, whatever their position and whatever their role, is not in the order of things."

De Gaulle also spoke about relations between Russia and the West.

"The West does not know Russia, the Russian people and their culture well. And I think that's what we have to work on to get closer to the world. And we must also condemn the lies about Russia and the West's incorrect perception of it."

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❗️ Russian MoD’s latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️ Russian artillery hit manpower and hardware of the 114th and 104th Territorial Defense Brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkov region. The enemy's losses during the day amounted to 45 Ukrainian servicemen, one tank, four armored fighting vehicles, and a D-20 howitzer.

▪️ Russian artillery and heavy flamethrower systems hit the 25th Airborne and 95th Airborne Assault Brigades of Ukraine in the DPR. More than 60 Ukrainian troops and four armored fighting vehicles were neutralized.

▪️ As a result of a successful offensive, volunteers of assault groups, supported by operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops, and artillery, liberated the village of Blagodatnoye in the DPR. Up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen, a French Caesar self-propelled artillery system, a US-made M-777 artillery system, and a MSTA-B howitzer were eliminated in the area during the day.

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces hit units of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine in the DPR. Over 40 servicemen, one tank, two armored fighting vehicles, and two pickup trucks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were neutralized in this direction.

▪️ Two artillery ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed in the DPR.

▪️ Two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery units and two ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson region were destroyed as part of a counter-battery operation.

▪️ Operational-tactical aviation, missile troops, and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces neutralized 84 AFU artillery units in firing positions, as well as struck enemy manpower and hardware in 126 areas during the day.

▪️ Russian air defenses shot down one Mi-8 helicopter of Ukrainian Air Force in the Kherson region.

▪️ Some 381 airplanes and 206 helicopters, 2,987 unmanned aerial vehicles, 402 anti-aircraft missile systems, 7,691 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 997 combat vehicles equipped with multiple launch rocket systems, 3,970 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 8,229 units of special military hardware have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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Should F-16 Supplies to Ukraine Ever Be Considered by Any Country?

Ukraine appears confident that after some Western countries decided to supply it with tanks, it might get F-16 fighter jets as well. Recently, US President Joe Biden has made it clear that Washington will not provide F-16s to Ukraine. However, some of Kiev’s Western allies have promised to consider such a possibility.

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

'Frying Russians in Butter': Major Swedish Daily Under Fire for Spreading Hate Speech

Dagens Nyheter, one of Sweden’s largest dailies, has found itself in hot water after Twitter branded the cover of its weekend supplement as “offensive content".

The cover features a picture of Laura Swaan Wrede - the head of the Swedish Home Guard, who was interviewed by the paper - and it is accompanied by a quotation where she recounts that her grandmother used to say: "A Russian stays a Russian even if you fry him in butter."

This expression sparked outrage on Twitter, where many said that Swaan Wrede would have faced dismal consequences had the quotation been about some other group than Russians. Some pointed out that “roasting humans in a pan” amounted to cannibalism.

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OPINION: US Trying to Sell Own Weapons Under Guise of Convincing India to Shun Russian Arms

💭 Sputnik contacted Retired Major-General PK Sehgal and Dr Rajorshi Roy, an expert on India-Russia relations at the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) - India's premier defense think-tank - to discuss the real meaning of Nuland's statement regarding Moscow-Delhi ties.

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West Begins to Understand That US Provocation Lies at Heart of Ukrainian Conflict: Moscow

Western countries are gradually beginning to understand that the Ukraine crisis stems from Washington's provocative policy, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

The spokeswoman added that those states that did not intend to comply with the Minsk agreements from the very beginning should be held accountable for that.

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NATO Throws ‘Nuclear Bait’ to South Korea

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg started his visit to South Korea and Japan on Sunday, but the "gifts" he brings with him aren't good. During his trip to South Korea, he mainly discussed issues related to North Korea. He said that the visit demonstrated "the increased importance of the partnership between NATO and the Republic of Korea."

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⚡️ Biden, Zelensky to hold talks on Ukraine's weapons requests

Is There Chance of Revival? Russian Envoy Says It's Premature to Call JCPOA Dead

Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov in an interview with Sputnik expressed his opinion on the situation around the JCPOA, the IAEA Board of Governors resolution on Iran, and Iran's nuclear program.

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📹 🇫🇷 Police fire tear gas at protesters in Paris

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📹 Pierre de Gaulle, grandson of revered French statesman Charles de Gaulle, has slammed the West’s dangerous decision to deploy heavy weapons in Ukraine.

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