❗️Russian air defenses have destroyed 13 rockets over the Belgorod Region, the Defense Ministry reported.

“On December 29, at about 11 p.m., an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack on targets on the territory of the Russian Federation using multiple launch rocket systems was stopped. The air defense systems on duty destroyed 13 rockets over the Belgorod Region,” the ministry said.

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❗️ The air defense systems destroyed two drones over Bryansk and Bryansk region and no injuries were reported per preliminary information, Governor Alexander Bogomaz said.

Earlier in the day, Bogomaz said that air defenses destroyed four Ukrainian drones in the Bryansk region during the day.

"Over the city of Bryansk and the Bryansk region the air defense of the Russian Defense Ministry is working. Two unmanned aerial vehicles of airplane type were destroyed. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties," Bogomaz wrote on his Telegram channel.

Later, the governor added that four more drones were shot down over the region. No injuries were reported per preliminary information.

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💵 Some conservative members of the Republicans party on Friday demanded their party leadership in Congress put an end to spending beyond mandated levels as they pointed to the country’s growing $34 trillion debt which they described as a “fiscal calamity”.

In its statement, the caucus reminded Republicans of their promise to the American to stop unmandated spending.

“Republicans promised millions of voters that we would fight to change the status quo, and it is long past time to deliver,” the caucus said. “When the 118th Congress concludes a year from now, with continued monthly deficits of $200 billion despite record tax revenues, our national debt will exceed $36 trillion and annual interest to service the debt will reach nearly $1 trillion. To call this ‘unsustainable’ is an understatement. It is a fiscal calamity.”

👉 Check out Sputnik's article to find out more

On 25 December, China gave zero tariff treatment to Africa's six least-developed countries. Wanna find out why and who will profit from this move? Check out #AfroVerdict's latest episode to hear a financial expert's thoughts on China's move!

https://news.1rj.ru/str/sputnik_africa/11798

Ukrainian forces shelled Belgorod, damaged civilian houses, killed one person and left four others injured. As a result, 10 private houses, two cars and the water supply system in the city were damaged, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

"As a result of a direct hit of one of the shells in a private residential house, a man was killed. Four people were wounded... Various damages were recorded in 10 private residences: windows were broken, one of the houses was partially destroyed. Two cars were also damaged... There is damage to the water supply system in the city of Belgorod," Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel.

He specified that there is a 10-year-old child among the injured, he is in a medium severity condition.

According to Gladkov, emergency crews are examining the site of damage to the water supply system, restoration work will begin after determining the location of the damage.

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“If I were in the Russian's shoes… I would basically go forward with their military advantage and impose a settlement on Ukraine through military diktat.”

That was the advice of former US diplomat and ex-senior foreign policy adviser to Senate Republicans Jim Jatras on Sputnik’s Political Misfits program Friday.

The analyst said the United States could use discussion of a “phony deal” to stall in Ukraine while they focus on other priorities such as China or Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

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Ukraine shelled the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) 81 times over the past day, the DPR representative office in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of issues related to Ukraine's war crimes said in a statement.

"Over the past 24 hours, the office reported 81 cases of fire by Ukrainian armed forces," the office wrote on Telegram.

According to the statement, one civilian was killed and another one wounded in Gorlovka. The DPR said that the Kiev regime fired 290 rounds of various ammunition.

In the previous day, Ukrainian troops launched 69 strikes.

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Ukraine ‘thinks like a warmonger’ - Russian Foreign Ministry

Moscow sees no political will for peace either in Kiev or in the West, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told Sputnik, recalling Zelensky's decree banning negotiations with Russia.

"Kiev still thinks like a warmonger and intends to continue the conflict 'until the victorious end,' which obviously means 'war to the last Ukrainian,'" Galuzin said.

"Washington and its NATO subordinates eagerly support Kiev on this, satisfying the growing military appetites of Volodymyr Zelensky's regime. All of this only delays the conflict settlement," he added.

Galuzin stressed that Russia has never refused to negotiate with Ukraine and has always advocated for a political solution to the conflict.

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British Prime Minister Sunak has trailed the Labour Party in the polls for more than a year; now a new survey of Tories finds him unpopular within his own party as well.

The poll found Sunak with an approval rating of minus 26.5 in December, meaning 26.5% more of Conservative Party members disapprove of him than view him favorably.

The Conservative Party has struggled to govern in recent years, with Sunak’s Tory predecessor Liz Truss lasting less than two months in the position and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigning after remaining consistently mired in scandal.

But Labour Party leader Keir Starmer also faces controversy, having alienated younger members of his party after ejecting former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Sunak is required to hold a general election in the UK within 13 months.

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Maine’s decision to strike former President Donald Trump from their primary ballot was made just a week after the Colorado Supreme Court made the same decision, citing section 3 of the 14th Amendment for his role in the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol.

These cases will ultimately be a telltale sign of how much autonomy the states are supposed to have when it comes to “establishing the standards of national elections”, Robert Hockett, a Cornell University professor of law and public policy, told Sputnik’s Political Misfits.

“These clause three of the 14th Amendment cases are causing so much consternation and confusion is partly owed to the fact that there just isn't a lot of precedent,” Hockett explained. “There haven't been a lot of insurrectionists who have tried to run for office, and so there's not a great deal of case law, so to speak, on this.”

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Russian air defenses destroy and intercept 32 Ukrainian drones

“During the night, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using aircraft-type UAVs on facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped. Air defense systems on duty destroyed in the air and intercepted 32 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the territories of the Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk and Moscow regions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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A massive volcano eruption in the South Pacific country of Tonga last year created near-apocalyptic conditions: a skyscraper-sized tsunami, a 15 megaton blast, and the largest lightning storm ever documented.

The violence of the explosion rivaled the force of the US’ largest nuclear detonation and rocketed a plume of smoke 35 miles into the sky.

A new research has allowed scientists to envision what took place during the eruption.

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'Ukraine lacks resources to make any progress to achieve breakthrough'

"The reality today is such that Ukraine does not have and will not have the resources, not even to achieve a breakthrough, but just to maintain the situation as it is on the contact line," Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia said during a meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday.

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Expansion of Russia’s manufacturing sector reached a record-high pace for the last seven years in December, according to data released by Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

Russia’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 54.6 in the last month of the year, the agency said. The upswing from 53.8 recorded in November marked the highest reading since January 2017.

The manufacturing surge, in turn, stimulated job creation, with the latter reaching a three-month-high level. Unemployment in Russia was at a record low of 2.9%, S&P Global said.

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Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia explains why the plans of the Kiev regime have suffered a total fiasco.

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An unmanned Ukrainian Navy boat was discovered and destroyed in the northwestern part of the Black Sea on Saturday morning, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

The detected target was destroyed using the standard armament of a Black Sea Fleet patrol boat.

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The US is considering using the South Caucasus as a springboard for opening a “second front” against Moscow, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told Sputnik.

Washington has long made no secret of its plans regarding Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, he said, adding that “all this fundamentally contradicts the genuine interests of the people of the region.”

Amid the West’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, Washington has heightened pressure on Moscow’s neighbors and allies. Thus, the Biden administration has been muddying the waters between Moscow and Yerevan, especially in the wake of the recent Nagorno-Karabakh flare-up.

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🎄 Hey, Nika here!

Sputnik's AI correspondent sends you the warmest Christmastide wishes and greetings for the upcoming New Year. Stay tuned, we have a lot of plans ahead in the New Year!

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📹 The crews of Russian Su-25 attack aircraft hit enemy strongholds and manpower in the Donetsk direction

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🇷🇺 More than 500,000 signatures in support of Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Putin have been collected throughout the country, the press service of the campaign headquarters reports

🎄 Putin congratulated the heads of foreign states and governments on Christmas and the coming year 2024, in particular:

▪️ Pope Francis, noting his commitment to the values of humanism and justice

▪️ European leaders: Viktor Orban, Aleksandar Vucic, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan

▪️ In the Americas: leaders of Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua

▪️ He congratulated Bashar al-Assad and confirmed that Russia will continue to provide all possible assistance to the settlement and reconstruction in Syria

▪️ In Asia and Africa: leaders of India, China, Vietnam, Laos, and South Africa.

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