🇷🇺 Putin signed a decree establishing the authorized strength of the Russian Armed Forces at 2,209,130 people, including increasing the size of the army by 170,000 servicemen, up to 1,320,000 military personnel, the Kremlin said.

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🪖🇷🇺 Statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense:

▪️The increase in the number of military personnel in the Russian Armed Forces is being implemented in stages at the expense of citizens who express a desire to serve under a contract.

▪️The increase in the number of military personnel is due to the increase in threats to Russia associated with a special military operation and the ongoing expansion of NATO.

▪️An additional increase in the combat strength and strength of the Russian Armed Forces is an adequate response to the aggressive activities of NATO

▪️There are no plans to significantly increase connoscription for compulsory military service, and mobilization is not envisaged.

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

▪️The IDF said that it struck Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including in Khan Yunis and Rafah. In total, over 200 Hamas targets were attacked on Friday, the IDF stated.

▪️The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip on Friday has exceeded 109, the enclave's Health Ministry said.

▪️Israel will agree to extend the ceasefire for another day if Palestinian movement Hamas releases ten hostages, Israel's Channel 12 reported, citing a government source.

▪️Israel’s artillery shelling killed two people in the south of Lebanon, the Arab country’s Al Manar broadcaster reported.

▪️The military wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas, Al Qassam Brigades said that it has launched rocket at Tel Aviv in response to civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.

▪️Any acceptance of the Gaza children’s sacrifice would be tantamount to humanity giving up, United Nations Children’s Fund spokesperson James Elder said after Israel resumed military operations in the Gaza Strip.

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The wife of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky Elena admitted in The Economist podcast that she does not want her husband to be elected again for a new term.

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🪖 Why Zelensky's defense line is 'Mission Impossible'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's new defense line would require a lot of time and effort which the West is not eager to fund, Russian military expert and political analyst Ivan Konovalov told Sputnik.

"In the eyes of Biden, his administration and American Democrats in general, Ukraine's major task is to carry out offensive actions to create problems for Russia. They are not interested in Ukraine going on the defensive," Konovalov argued.

At the same time, Zelensky's plan is a clear acknowledgement that Ukraine is losing at this stage as it wraps up offensive and is preparing to go on the defensive, the military expert stressed.

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🇮🇱🇺🇸 Israel disregarded Washington's call to extend the humanitarian pause in Gaza since it knows the US would support Tel Aviv no matter what, Dr. Muhannad Alazzeh, former Jordan senator and international legal and human rights commissioned expert told Sputnik.

He pointed out that despite US Secretary Antony Blinken praising the truce during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel resumed the operation the very next day.

"I think the main reason for Blinken's visit was to encourage Israel to adopt new military tactics before restarting the hostility; to avoid the US department more embarrassment due to its biased position," Alazzeh said, suggesting Washington gave a silent nod to a further bloodbath.

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🎙 Join AfroVerdict as the host joins two Cabinet Ministers from Sierra Leone to discuss sustainable development in Africa, challenges in the context of the changing global power shift and opportunities in cooperation with Russia.

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🇺🇸☢️ Scott Ritter: US pushing nuclear arms race 'can only have tragic ending’

The US has steadily fallen behind Russia and China in terms of strategic competition, while still insisting on pursuing conflict with both nations in an attempt to reassert its claimed superiority. That situation is ripe for producing a disastrous outcome, an analyst told Sputnik.

In early November, a scheduled test of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by the United States ended in failure as the Air Force was forced to prematurely self-destruct the missile in mid-flight. The Pentagon said it was “due to an anomaly” during the test.

👉 Follow the link to read the full Ritter's analysis

The Biden administration plans to impose visa bans on an undisclosed number of Israeli settlers who commit violence in the West Bank, US media reports.

Israeli settler behavior in the West Bank more than doubled after the October 7 Hamas attacks, but 2023 was already on track for a record number of violent incidents. From the beginning of the year through October 1, at least 750 Palestinian structures, homes and businesses were demolished to make way for more Israeli settlements and outposts.

In an op-ed attributed to US President Joe Biden and published by US media last month, Biden threatened to take action against Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

"I have made clear to Israeli leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those who perpetrate it must be held accountable. The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including imposing visa bans on extremists who attack civilians in the West Bank," Biden wrote.

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The US court rejected Trump's request to dismiss the criminal case on his role in the storming of the Capitol in 2021.

Although Trump referred in the documents to "presidential immunity (at the time of the events) and constitutional rights," the court rejected both petitions, finding that the politician acted "in a personal capacity."

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🇷🇺 Russian paratroopers with Lancet barrage ammunition successfully attacked Ukrainian forces on the right bank of the Dnepr River in the Kherson region, destroying enemy personnel, watercraft and military equipment.

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

▪️The Israeli army reported hitting 'over 400 Hamas targets' in the Gaza Strip during the day;

▪️ Israeli forces prohibit entry of aid trucks through the Rafah crossing, Palestinian Red Crescent says;

▪️ The United States supplied Israel with 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells shortly after Oct. 7, the Wall Street Journal reported, adding that the U.S. also handed over 100 BLU-109 bunker-buster bombs;

▪️ Israel carried out an attack on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syrian state-run Al Ikhbariya television reported;

▪️ The UN mission of the United Arab Emirates has prepared a new draft resolution on Gaza, but the document has not yet been circulated in final form and the Council has not held consultations on it, a UN source told Sputnik;

▪️ The IDF said it struck the infrastructure of the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, targeting operational command centers and underground facilities;

▪️ The territory of the Gaza Strip must be controlled by the Palestinians in any case, it cannot be reduced, John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, said in an online briefing.

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The Rapira anti-tank gun destroyed a camouflaged fortification of the Ukrainian forces in the Kupyansk region.

The Russian soldiers detected the enemy fortifications with the help of drones. The coordinates of the enemy positions were transferred to the computer of the 100-mm Rapier anti-tank gun. The gunners fired a series of shots, destroying the enemy fortification. The hit was recorded by means of an objective control.

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The senior correspondent of Bild was fired for his contribution to the book "Learning to love Russia".

The editorial board dismissed 60-year-old Jurgen Helfricht from his post when it became known that he had co-authored the publication, which was published in 2018 without notice.

Bild clarified that the preface to the book was written by Vladimir Medinsky, who spoke about false and superficial ideas about Russia that foreigners spread for propaganda purposes, stressing that "such a worldview has no place in Bild."

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❗️The head of Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom Alexey Likhachev and the director of the IAEA Rafael Grossi agreed to hold comprehensive consultations on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in January-February 2024, Rosatom said.

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Russian promised grain reaches Somalia

African nations see Russia as a time tested partner and this gesture proves this trend will continue, Dr. Anuradha Chenoy, a retired professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Sputnik.

“Russia had promised that their grain deliveries to the most needy nations of Africa would continue, despite the blockades put by Western countries. In keeping with this Russia has launched free deliveries to African countries and the first of these shipments has landed in Somalia. Earlier US officials had warned African countries not to engage with Russia. Clearly, these countries are in no mood to listen,” she said.

This first shipment of free grain marks the beginning of aid for Somalia, with hopes for additional support to address the country's flood-related challenges. The World Food Program's list includes Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic, set to receive similar assistance from Russia.

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The audience gave a standing ovation to the Belarusian leader's words at COP28: geopolitical and military enmity, escalation of conflicts are "the main source of dirt on our continent".

Speaking at the COP28 plenary in Dubai, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that countries that talk about peace, a clean planet and their grandchildren "have started and are waging the most terrible war on the planet".

"How much will the slaughter in the Middle East cost? What if a war breaks out in the Pacific? It will cost trillions and trillions of US dollars. So let's spend it on cleaning up the planet. Then we wouldn't have to raise money for it.

The president also mentioned that Belarus is complying with the mandates of the Paris Agreement, but is receiving new economic sanctions and international trade barriers in response.

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🇦🇺🇬🇧🇺🇸 Australia, the UK and the US will test a new AI system that they say will help their navies detect submarines in the Pacific.

The three, which are members of the AUKUS pact, said their navies would use AI algorithms to process sonar data from underwater detection devices from America, Australia and Britain.

AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the US and the UK, signed in 2021, under which Washington and London will provide Canberra with nuclear-powered submarines, among other things.

Russia, China and North Korea have repeatedly criticized AUKUS, warning that the pact could spark a new regional arms race.

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A Palestinian doctor with Russian citizenship died as a result of an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Friday, his relative told Sputnik.

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