What awaits F-16s in Ukraine's skies?

The United Kingdom has announced it will start to train the first six Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighter jets. Western media has also claimed that several aircraft have already been handed over to Kiev.

US-made F-16 jet fighters could soon make their much-vaunted debut with the Ukrainian Air Force — but how long will they survive?

👉 Check out Sputnik's article to find out

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🇺🇸🇲🇽 US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday that the situation at the border with Mexico is an "unmitigated disaster" of President Joe Biden's own design.

Johnson made the remarks during a trip with 60 other Republicans to the US-Mexico border to "see firsthand" the unfolding crisis.

The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, comes as the Senate engages in negotiations in hopes of striking a bipartisan deal.

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Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt California State Capitol session, force lawmakers to take recess

📹 Footage from the scene showed dozens of demonstrators chanting "ceasefire now" as various flags and banners were hung within the main hall


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US-centric or multipolar world?

🌐 Ahead of elections in Bangladesh, Russia's Foreign Ministry warned Bangladesh that the US would attempt to orchestrate regime change there if the results don't satisfy Washington.

So, let's see why Bangladesh leans to the multipolar world order.

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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval rating had been dropping throughout 2023, even before the October 7 Hamas attack; however, since the surprise attack, he has shed nearly half of his remaining support.

The vast majority of Israelis want the prime minister out of office once the Palestine-Israel conflict is over. A new poll in Israeli media found that only 15% of Israelis continue to support the politician.

👉 Hit the link to get the full rundown

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Russia's artillerymen destroy Ukrainian positions in Zaporozhye region.

📹 The combat operation of the 152-mm Msta-B howitzer is carried out with high-explosive fragmentation and updated high-precision guided artillery ammunition, which destroys the enemy at distant approaches and prevents them from transferring reserves to the line of combat contact.

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The Japanese Coast Guard Turboprop plane that collided with a landing Airbus A350 was not given permission to take off, according to a trannoscript released by Japanese authorities on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Coast Guard plane and Airbus collided on the runway of a Tokyo airport. All 367 passengers and 12 crew members of the Airbus survived the crash, but five of the six people on board of the turboprop plane were killed, with the captain surviving after suffering major injuries.

The captain has said he was given permission to take off, but the trannoscript shows he was instructed to taxi to a waiting area and that he acknowledged the call.

👉 Read more, including the trannoscript, in the full article

The state of Ukraine's arms in the ongoing conflict is a clear example of a "logistical nightmare" as much of the military equipment the Kiev regime was given from its supporters "wasn't working in the first place," international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda told Sputnik.

On Tuesday, it was reported in German media that Ukraine only has a few German-supplied Leopard II tanks remaining in operation. The issue was blamed on a lack of available spare parts for repairs.

According to Sleboda, Ukraine will face similar issues when it comes to NATO-supplied F-16s, which “will soon be decorating the steps of Zaporozhye, right alongside the Bradleys and the Leopards.”

👉Read more in the full article

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🗣Kiev does not have a plan "B" in case of a shortage of Western military assistance, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

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Israel has told its allies that it was not involved in the terrorist attack in Iran's Kerman, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources.

According to the newspaper's sources, the purpose of the attack in Kerman is apparently to further increase tensions between Israel and Iran.

US officials said the US had no involvement in the blast, and said they had no indication Israel was behind it. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US had seen no intelligence anticipating violence surrounding the anniversary of Soleimani’s death.

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The US believes that the explosions in Iran look like a terrorist attack by the IS group*, a senior White House official said.

“It does look like a terrorist attack, the type of thing we've seen ISIS do in the past, and as far as we are aware that is kind of, I think, our going assumption at the moment.”

* a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia and many other states

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Mick Wallace, an Irish member of the European Parliament, proposed the abolition of NATO, writing about it on his X page.

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Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on commanders to avoid direct military confrontation with the US in the wake of the terrorist attack in Kerman and ordered that retaliation be limited to operations against Israel and attacks by "proxy groups" on American bases, the New York Times reported.

"The ayatollah had instructed Iranian military commanders to exercise "strategic patience" and avoid drawing Iran into a direct military confrontation with the United States."

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The Israeli army has dropped more than 45,000 rockets and bombs on the Gaza Strip since the conflict escalated in October, according to Gazan authorities.

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China conducts maritime patrols amid US-Philippines drills in southern sea

Chinese military has completed naval and air patrols in the South China Sea, where the Philippines and the United States began joint maritime exercises earlier this week as part of their efforts to strengthen bilateral ties.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) stressed that the "routine" patrols were aimed at "resolutely safeguarding" the PRC's "sovereignty, security and maritime rights and interests".

In recent months, tensions between Beijing and Manila have escalated over a series of confrontations in the South China Sea. In December, China accused a Philippine ship of "deliberately ramming" a Chinese vessel when the two vessels collided near a shoal in the area.

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Forbes magazine noted that since the Abrams tanks arrived in Ukraine, they have not been observed anywhere.

"It's been two months since ex-American M-1s tanks arrived in Ukraine. And two months since we've seen any evidence of the tanks."

As the newspaper notes, "it is not clear what Ukraine is doing with its 31 Abrams" and which brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine handed them over.

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South Korea and the United States conduct joint live-fire exercises near the border with North Korea

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📹 Russian reconnaissance group, backed by attack aircraft, destroyed a stronghold of Ukrainian forces.

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The US no longer has the resources to provide further assistance to Ukraine; new aid packages will require congressional approval of funding, the White House announced.

"The president has signed the last security assistance package for which we had supplemental appropriations. That's it. We need the supplemental to pass so that we can provide additional security assistance to Ukraine," John Kirby, US National Security Council spokesman, said. ​​

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US may deploy drones in Africa’s West Coast as America ‘falls back’ in fight against Islamists

In a sign of its military entrenchment, the US plans to deploy reconnaissance drones to the West African coast as part of efforts to tackle al-Qaeda and Daesh* in the region, WSJ has claimed, citing unnamed American and African officials.

•  The US may use airfields in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Benin to conduct aerial surveillance of militants’ movements and give “over-the-shoulder tactical advice” to local government troops during special operations;

•  The US military is seeking to station the drones at Ghana’s Air Force Base Tamale;

•  In Benin, the “unarmed” unmanned aerial vehicles may be deployed at the Parakou airfield;

•  The use of three Ivory Coast airfields are still being discussed.

The US’ intent to base the drones in coastal states allegedly shows that the White House believes Mali and Burkina Faso are so inundated with Islamist militants that these countries are beyond the reach of Western 'help.'

However, a Pentagon report previously revealed that despite sending forces to at least 22 countries in Africa, the US had not reached its objectives over the past two decades in disrupting violent extremist organizations.

*Al-Qaeda is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia
**Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State) is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia

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❗India categorically rejects sending artillery shells to Ukraine

🇮🇳 India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that it hasn’t exported any artillery shells to Ukraine.

“We have seen media reports. We want to categorically state that we haven’t exported any artillery shells to Ukraine,” MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in response to a question from Sputnik India at the weekly briefing.

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