Russian air defenses destroyed two Ukrainian drones over Crimea at night, the Russian Defense Ministry stated.

“During the night, attempts by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles on facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation were stopped. Air defense systems on duty destroyed two Ukrainian UAVs over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,” the ministry said.

Earlier in the day, Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said one drone had been destroyed by air defenses, adding that no damage to infrastructure had been reported.

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The US military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hoping to develop next-generation technology capable of replacing the troubled V-22 Osprey aircraft.

The agency has awarded funds to four private companies for designs for a plane that features the Osprey’s ability to take off and land vertically.

DARPA is looking for an aircraft that can travel at significantly faster speeds than the Osprey, presumably without constantly crashing and killing US service members.

The V-22 Osprey was grounded throughout the US military earlier this month after a crash off the coast of Japan killed eight Air Force Special Operations Command members.

The aircraft has been involved in some 40 accidents since its introduction in 2007, claiming the lives of at least 53 US troops.

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📹 Russian paratroopers with Lancets shot down a tank, a truck and a self-propelled gun "Gvozdika" of the Ukrainian forces on the right bank of the Dnepr River in the Kherson region.

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🇰🇵North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has instructed the country's military to accelerate "war preparations" to counter "extreme confrontation moves" of the US and its allies in the Korean Peninsula, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.

Kim made his remarks during the second-day sitting of the 9th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Kim Jong Un also clarified the party's independent principle to "expand and develop the relations of strategic cooperation with the anti-imperialist independent countries and dynamically wage the anti-imperialist joint action and struggle on an international scale under the rapidly changing world geopolitical situation" and indicated the orientation of the country's foreign politics toward the south, the report read.

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🎖45 servicemen were awarded for courage, bravery and heroism during the liberation of Maryinka, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

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ONLY 2 HOURS FROM NOW, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will give a wide-ranging interview to Dmitry Kiselev, Director General of Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group, to discuss the most pressing geopolitical issues.

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The IDF said it had destroyed three tunnel shafts of Palestinian movement Hamas.

According to the statement, the Israeli army "located and destroyed" three Hamas tunnel shafts near Rantisi Hospital and in the nearby high school.

The statement specified that "an underground network running under the hospital and leading to the heart of Gaza City" connected the tunnel shafts. The IDF reported that the tunnels were also used as command and control centers.

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Media vs. AI: The story of the NYT suing Microsoft and the developer of ChatGPT is being widely discussed.

What are the leading publishers in the West saying?

Politico:

Artificial intelligence companies scrape information available online, including articles published by media organizations, to train generative AI chatbots.

Financial Times:

The New York Times has become the first major US media company to sue OpenAI and Microsoft over their artificial intelligence chatbots, alleging the tech companies have taken a “free-ride” on millions of articles to build the groundbreaking technology.

The Guardian:

News outlets in particular concerned that the tools will spread misinformation attributed to them and utilize their content with no incentive to click through to the original source.

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🇪🇺🤑 Germany, France, Italy, EU cast doubt on US idea to confiscate Russian assets - reports

The United States have proposed working groups from the G7 countries to explore ways to seize $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. With the support of the UK, Japan and Canada, the US proposed to prepare options on confiscating Russian assets for a possible G7 meeting around February 24, 2024.

The EU, UK and France have stressed that the money received via the confiscation would not be easily accessible and would also be insufficient to cover Ukraine's reconstruction needs. In addition, the countries noted that the confiscation of Russian assets should not occur to the detriment of providing financial support to Kiev in 2024.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that any attempt to confiscate Russian frozen assets would violate basic principles on international law and will trigger legal response from Russia.

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US President Joe Biden is changing the strategy of aid to Ukraine, according to the American newspaper Politico.

If earlier the main goal was an unconditional military victory, now the White House is considering the possibility of a ceasefire with territorial losses. The official rhetoric of the White House and the Pentagon remains unchanged, but it is proposed to shift the focus to the defense and preservation of existing territories.

The change in strategy is linked to the upcoming US presidential elections and the possible negative impact of the protracted conflict on Biden's campaign.

"With US and European aid to Ukraine now in serious jeopardy, the Biden administration and European officials are quietly shifting their focus from supporting Ukraine’s goal of total victory over Russia to improving its position in an eventual negotiation to end the war, according to a Biden administration official and a European diplomat based in Washington," the media reported.

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WATCH LIVE: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will give a wide-ranging interview to Dmitry Kiselev, Director General of Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group, to discuss the most pressing geopolitical issues.

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❗️Lavrov in interview with Sputnik & Rossiya 24 TV: The whole country, all sectors of society have worked and continue to work for victory, including in Ukraine.

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Lavrov says Russia has become significantly stronger over past year

"As a result of their sanctions and pressure on Moscow, Western countries have essentially achieved the unity of the Russian people."

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West gave Serbia an ultimatum, either join the sanctions against Russia, or face a coup - Lavrov

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❗️The United States has labeled Russia as an enemy. Hence, Moscow is set for any sort of developments unfolding, Lavrov said in interview with Sputnik & Rossiya 24 TV.

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❗️The West's strategy of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia has failed miserably - Lavrov

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russia has seen a 30 percent surge in trade turnover with China, Russian Foreign Minister stated in interview with Sputnik & Rossiya 24 TV.

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Sergey Lavrov in an interview with Dmitry Kiselev, Director General of Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group, on the use of the dollar.

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❗️Lavrov slams Zelensky’s peace plan as a 'figment of a sick imagination' - Lavrov to Sputnik

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❗️ Lavrov in interview with Sputnik & Rossiya 24 TV explains how NATO unleashed hybrid war against Russia

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