Russian military successfully counters Ukrainian attack drones

Military personnel from the BARS-8 volunteer detachment regularly repel attacks by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the Zaporozhye direction.

In addition to air defenses and electronic warfare systems, Russian military personnel actively use layered defense and air surveillance posts.

Having discovered an aerial target, the detachment quickly “lands” it using anti-drone guns, or shoots it down with small arms fire. After clearing the munition, the drone can be used as a spare parts “donor” for similar UAV models available to Russian military personnel.

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Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister has rejected US accusations that his country was "deeply involved" in attacks by Yemeni forces on Israel-linked commercial ships travelling across the Red Sea.

"The resistance has its own tools... and acts in accordance with its own decisions and capabilities," Ali Bagheri was cited by Mehr news agency as saying.

"The fact that certain powers, such as the Americans and the Israelis, suffer strikes from the resistance movement... should in no way call into question the reality of the strength of the resistance in the region," he added.

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🪖 The Ukrainian Armed Forces have said they do not know how to mobilize 500,000 more troops, as volunteers have "run out"

"The volunteers who wanted to join the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have run out... To say exactly when mobilization will be and how qualitatively, it is difficult to say... how to implement it physically, there is no understanding," said Major General of Ukrainian forces Dmitry Marchenko in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

According to Marchenko, only 20 people will be mobilized to replace every 100 military personnel lost at the front. At the same time, he reacted positively to the proposal to lower the age limit from 27 to 25 years and attempt to extradite those who had fled the country, adding that "it is not worthwhile to fill the holes at the front with women when the mass of men are hiding abroad."

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🇷🇺 Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group:

"To understand that Russia has no intention of attacking any NATO member, but vice versa, it is entirely possible, where it is enough to look at simple arithmetic statistics from history. How many times in history have the nations, currently part of NATO, the peoples and representatives of nations now NATO members, attacked Russia? It would be difficult for me to count: starting from Alexander Nevsky and onward, both France, and Britain in the Crimean War, and many others — countless times.

How many times has Russia attacked any country currently in NATO? For example? Remember! Only in response. Retaliating in response is not attacking. Retaliating — is defending. These are different things — to attack and to defend. Russia defended itself and defeated you — those who attacked — many times. But Russia never attacked first."

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🗣 Syrian Girl about her Russia trip and impression of the Russians

"I see a resurgence of the Orthodox Church and of patriotism. People are very patriotic. They're very proud to be Russian. And they feel that their country has had enough, I would say. They've been marginalized enough by the West and they're ready to embrace the East. And the fact that they're Eurasian. I see a Eurasian pride in Russia, and an acceptance of that. And a look to the East for the future, without closing the door on the West. They want to still be friendly with the West," - Maram Susli (@syriangirlpartisan), Journalist and Think tank Analyst based in Australia, told Sputnik.

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🇮🇱 Israel's Netanyahu announces the expansion of military operations in the Gaza Strip and calls it the 'only way' to free hostages and destroy Hamas.

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Sputnik correspondent Russell Bentley (@TXDPR) gives his geopolitical year in review. Here are his main takeaways:

▪️ Russia is winning the economic war against the West

▪️ Drones and AI are changing the face of modern warfare at a dizzying pace

▪️ Houthis in Yemen pose a much bigger problem for the US Navy than most people realize

▪️ The people of Donbass still face a challenging battle ahead, but Russian troops are making progress

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🗺 US authorities have published maps of the extended continental shelf, which extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast in the Arctic, Atlantic, Bering Sea, Pacific Ocean, two sections of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mariana Islands.

The State Department claims that the borders determined by the United States do not create territorial disputes with Russia, but will require settlement with Canada and Japan.

The head of the Russian Parliament Committee on the Arctic, Kharitonov, told Sputnik that it is unacceptable to unilaterally expand boundaries on the shelf; this could lead to increased tension.

Russia is taking all measures necessary to protect national interests in this zone, and will continue to take them, Karasin, head of the international committee of the Russian Senate, told Sputnik.

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

▪️Israel's Netanyahu announces the expansion of military operations in the Gaza Strip and calls it the "only way" to free hostages and destroy Hamas.

▪️The US is impeding the establishment of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and "tying the hands" of the international community by using its veto power in international organizations, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told Sputnik.

▪️ The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck about 200 targets of Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours.

▪️Israeli strikes have killed 166 people in the Gaza Strip and injured 384 others over the past 24 hours, the Al Jazeera broadcaster reported, citing the enclave's health ministry.

▪️The number of Israeli soldiers killed in the escalation of conflict with Palestinian movement Hamas since October 7 has reached 485, the IDF said.

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Vladimir Putin's business card from the 1990s sold at an auction in St. Petersburg for 2 million rubles (21 754 dollars)

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During the unrest in Serbia, protesters attempted to break into the Belgrade administration as President Vucic addressed the nation.

The protesters tried to break one of the doors of the Belgrade city administration, broke a window, threw stones and started clashes with law enforcers. They failed to enter the building, as the entrance is protected by police officers with shields.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic addressed the nation from the parliament building, emphasising that "the law enforcement agencies are in control of the situation" and "the instigators of the unrest and hooligans will be punished".

Vucic also thanked the foreign intelligence services that warned the Serbian leadership about the attempted "colour revolution".

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Today's rally, the seventh of its kind, was organised by the opposition, dissatisfied with the outcome of the parliamentary and regional elections on 17 December. Opposition's demand is to cancel the elections and declare new ones, due to alleged vote rigging by ruling party.

President Vucic reported that only 2,490 people took part in the rally, which was claimed by the opposition as the largest ever.

❗️ Death toll from Israeli strikes on refugee camp in Gaza Strip rises to 45, report Arabic media

The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip has reached 45, the Al Jazeera broadcaster reported on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian broadcaster Al-Aqsa reported that over 20 people were killed as a result of the shelling, adding
that Israeli raids on houses in the refugee camp has left many other people injured.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has called an urgent meeting of the Serbian National Security Council

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russian gas supplies to China via Power of Siberia hit new record, Gazprom stated

"On December 23, Gazprom set a new historical record for daily gas supplies to China. China's request for gas supplies via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline again exceeded the daily contractual obligations. Gazprom supplied all the requested volumes," the company said on Telegram.

The supplies have been carried out under a long-term gas purchase and sale agreement between Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the Russian company recalled.

The Power of Siberia is the main gas pipeline from Russia to China, with a length of about 3,000 km (1,864 miles). The volume of supplies reached 15.4 billion cubic meters of gas in 2022, and is set to steadily increase until the pipeline reaches its target annual capacity of 38 billion cubic meters by 2025.

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