Why will Russia win the Ukraine Conflict? Russian soldier explains

🗣 “54 countries are involved in one way or another in the war against the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. At least 14 of them are directly involved. But Russian society, if it wasn’t shown on TV that there was a war going on, probably wouldn't even know that it was going on. This shows the power and resilience of the state itself, which is capable of waging war against 54 countries,” Vasily Vorobyov, a decorated Russian soldier, told Sputnik’s Russell Bentley (@TXDPR).

🗣 “I see that the economy has started to run better because military personnel are paid very well. That money goes to their families, and those families buy things. So the economy is running even better,” he added.

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🇷🇺 Russian military to get new deadly naval drones

The new boat drones the Russian Armed Forces are about to test in the Ukrainian conflict zone have a range of 200 kilometers and can reach a speed of up to 80 kilometers per second. Each drone can carry up to 600 kilograms of payload, explosive or otherwise.

“These characteristics are decent enough for the drones to be used against large enemy ships,” says Russian military historian Yury Knutov. “600 kilograms of explosives would be enough to sink a corvette or in some cases even a frigate.”

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🇰🇵 North Korea launched its reconnaissance satellite in order to get a clear picture of the US military maneuvers in the region and prepare accordingly, the country's Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song said.

🗣 "The DPRK’s [North Korea's] launch of the reconnaissance satellite [was done] to get a clear picture of the dire military moves of the United States so we could get fully prepared," Kim said during a meeting of the UN Security Council.

North Korea has successfully launched its Malligyong-1 military reconnaissance satellite and announced several more to follow. Following the launch, South Korea partially suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement aimed to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula. In response, Pyongyang announced its decision to restore all military developments halted under the 2018 inter-Korean military accord.

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Russia has undeniable evidence of the US participation in the supply of toxic chemicals to Ukraine, Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Kirill Lysogorsky, who heads the Russian delegation to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said.

Addressing the 28th session of the OPCW in The Hague, Lysogorsky informed the participants that Russia has undeniable evidence of the participation of the US and its NATO allies in the supply of toxic listed and non-listed chemicals, as well as their means of delivery, to Ukraine.

Russia has also information about the use of toxic chemicals by agents of the Ukrainian special services against the leadership of new Russian regions, he added.

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Exclusive | Former Western colonial powers continue to "dictate things" in a way that sometimes seems to disregard the realities and aspirations of the African people, Julius Mattai, Sierra Leone's Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, told Sputnik Africa.

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M1 Abrams tanks ‘will burn’ in Ukraine just like they did in Iraq

Ukraine’s apparent reluctance to throw the M1 Abrams main battle tanks provided by the United States into battle likely stems from a desire to avoid seeing more media reports about NATO hardware being obliterated by Russian forces, argued Sergey Suvorov, a retired colonel of the Russian army and armored warfare expert.

🗣 “Well, they will burn anyway. These Abrams tanks were burning in Iraq and in other places where they got deployed,” Suvorov remarked.

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🇺🇸 Holiday events hosted by the White House for members of the press are set to exclude certain journalists for the second year in a row, The New York Post reported, citing invitations - or lack thereof - to the events.

The White House sent out invitations to two media parties two weeks ago, the report said. However, a number of outlets included in the press corps were not invited, the report added.

Some of the White House journalist alleged that the Biden administration limits access to such events as part of a pay-to-play system, the report said. The journalist claimed that members of the press are expected to cover certain stories in order to gain access, the report said.

Another White House journalist who has attended such holiday parties for years under both Democratic and Republican administrations reportedly said that only Biden has barred him from the events.

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US Should Scrap Provocative Military Presence in Syria and Iraq

Since mid-October, the US military in Syria and Iraq has been attacked at least 73 times by Shiite militias with 62 US personnel being injured. US observers and think tanks have raised alarm over the US military's long overdue withdrawal from the region. They cite at least four reasons:

▪️ The US personnel in Syria and Iraq are an easy target for American rivals;

▪️ The prolonged US military deployment is fraught with risk of US-Iran conflagration;

▪️ Iraqi and Syrian military could thwart regional terror threats more effectively than US soldiers;

▪️ The US pull-out won't make the Middle East a dangerous place for Americans or curb US regional interests.

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🇷🇺 Serial production of the first Russian naval drones for the Russian armed forces is planned to begin in 2024, Mikhail Danilenko, the managing director of Kingisepp Machine-Building Plant (KMZ), told Sputnik.

"If they are successfully tested during the special military operation [in Ukraine], we plan to move to mass production in 2024," Danilenko said.

Danilenko told Sputnik earlier that the first Russian naval drones would be delivered to the Russian armed forces by the end of 2023 and tested in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine.

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🇷🇺 Russian Su-57 to Start Using Mini-Drones

Russia's fifth-generation Su-57 fighter has been stocked with multi-purpose mini-drones.

"Mini-UAVs which can be used for a variety of purposes have been created for the Su-57, which the aircraft will be able to carry on an external sling and in the fuselage so that they can be dropped during a flight.

"It is planned that the fighter will launch several drones at once and control this cluster," a source told Sputnik. Dozens of such drones dropped by a group of Su-57s will allow jets to break through the enemy's air defenses - by overloading them and attacking their systems - with drones and by the jet's on-board weaponry simultaneously.

The Russian Su-57 stealth fighter, also known as the PAK FA (Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation), represents a significant advance in modern aviation technology.

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❗️ After the extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas, shooting has been heard in Gaza and Israeli planes have flown over the northern part of the Gaza Strip, eyewitnesses have told Sputnik

🇺🇸🇰🇵 The Pentagon cannot confirm the accuracy of claims a North Korean spy satellite took photos of the White House, Pentagon and US aircraft carriers, a Defense Department spokesperson told Sputnik in a statement.

Earlier, KCNA reported that North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un received photos recently taken by their spy satellite of the White House, Pentagon, and US aircraft carriers at the naval base in Norfolk, Virginia.

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🇷🇺 Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a law that, among other things, tightens control over transfer pricing in foreign trade transactions.

The law expands the list of affiliated entities whose transactions are subject to control for the application of market prices. The controlling entity and its controlled foreign companies (CFCs), as well as entities controlling the same CFCs, will be considered as affiliated. Organizations controlled by individuals who are close relatives will also be considered affiliated.

At the same time, transactions that come under government control as a result of the suspension of Russia's tax agreements with certain countries are excluded from the list.

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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Latest updates on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️ After the extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas, shooting has been heard in Gaza and Israeli planes have flown over the northern part of the Gaza Strip, eyewitnesses have told Sputnik.

▪️ Al Arabiya TV channel called the latest actions by the IDF in Gaza the first violation of the truce and said that Israeli tanks were firing in the south of the enclave.

▪️ US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will discuss the situation with Hamas hostages, and assess the risk of expanding the conflict during a trip to the Middle East, the US State Department said.

▪️ Israel has released the fourth group of 33 Palestinian prisoners, reports reveal.

▪️ Hostages held by Hamas have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, among them three French citizens, two Germans and six Argentines, the Qatari foreign ministry has said. Eleven hostages freed by Hamas are already on Israeli territory, the IDF reported.

▪️ The US understands there are no Americans among the hostages freed by Hamas today, according to the White House's National Security Council Coordinator, John Kirby.

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📹 The crews of Russian Mi-28N attack helicopters destroyed Ukrainian strongholds and armored vehicles in the Donetsk direction

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Soros Funneled $15M Worth of ‘Dark Money’ Into Biden-Linked Non-Profit

A chunk of ‘dark money’ was funneled from a group bankrolled by George Soros to give Joe Biden a leg-up in his bid for a second term in the White House in 2024.

The Open Society Policy Center - part of Soros’ shady OSF network - forked out $15.18 million to a nonprofit called Future Forward USA Action, an affiliate of Biden’s super PAC.

The Open Society Foundations (OSF) of the Hungarian-born philanthropist known as the ‘face’ of Western soft power have pumped millions towards supporting Democratic political campaigns.

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🚓 Police in the US state of Michigan spent more than an hour pursuing a forklift truck that had been stolen from a school by a 12-year-old student.

During the chase, which went at speeds of 15 to 20 miles per hour (24 to 32 kmh), the young offender damaged a dozen cars, but no one was injured.

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Blast from the Past: Ukraine Resorts to 100-Old Machine Guns

Photos of the Ukrainian military using Maxim machine guns, which was invented in 1884, have appeared on social media. The gun was primarily used during the colonial scramble for Africa and World War I before being shelved in favor of more advanced weaponry.

The Ukrainian military has struggled in recent weeks to sustain its 'counteroffensive' due to an accute shortage of ammunition, numerous Western media outlets have reported. US Senator Chris Murphy warned earlier this month that in the absence of new massive aid package by the US, Ukraine could very well run of ammunition by February 2024.

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Rebirth of Fascism in Ukraine

🗣 “What happened to them? This is fascism. This is when the demon is allowed to prevail. This is not freedom and not right, this is permissiveness, which will always be punished,” Vasily Vorobyov, a decorated Russian soldier, told Sputnik’s Russell Bentley (@TXDPR).

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🇷🇺 Russia is building its policy in accordance with the realities, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on NATO's remark about preventing military escalation with Russia.

NATO considers Russia to be an enemy and was created as an instrument of confrontation and deterrence of Russia, the official told reporters, noting that the alliance is not currently abandoning these plans. Moscow understands the situation perfectly and builds its further policy precisely in accordance with these realities.

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🇩🇪 Scholz spoke today in the Bundestag about Germany’s budget crisis, with lawmakers reacting to his speech by bursting into laughter.

The speech mentioned the introduction of a state of emergency for the current year in order to free up frozen budget funds.

The chancellor assured that the budget crisis would not affect the lives of ordinary citizens, but even members of parliament, judging by their laughter, didn’t really believe him.

“It’s just a shame what we heard and saw from you today,” the head of the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, who spoke after the chancellor, summed up.

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