🇷🇺🪖 Key points of Russian MoD briefing on progress of special military op in Ukraine:

▪️ In the Kupyansk sector, nine attacks by Ukrainian forces were repelled. Enemy losses amounted to over 110 military personnel, two tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles and two armored personnel carriers;

▪️ In the Krasny Liman sector, a strike was made against manpower and equipment. Enemy losses were up to 230 military killed and wounded. In the Donetsk axis more than 250 were killed and wounded;

▪️ On the southern Donetsk front, three attacks were repelled north of Priyutnoye in the Zaporozhye region, forces and equipment were struck in the Novomikhailovka area. Enemy losses amounted to up to 130 killed and wounded;

▪️ In the Zaporozhye sector, the Russian Armed Forces defeated Ukrainian forces which lost up to 40 military personnel;

▪️ On the Kherson front, the Russian Armed Forces attacked Ukrainian forces on the right bank of the Dnepr. The enemy lost more than 60 servicemen killed and wounded. A UAV control center and a field ammunition depot were also hit.

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🔥 Russian Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system crews employ barrage fire tactics to eliminate Ukrainian manpower and hardware.

To execute this tactic, the self-propelled artillery system crew constantly manoeuvres: the servicemen take a firing position, fire 5 or 6 shells, and immediately retreat to cover.

Such strikes by large-calibre artillery prevent the enemy from moving reserves and support the advance of Russian assault detachments.

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💣 Russian paratroopers destroyed enemy infantry and equipment in the Zaporozhye region using quadcopters to drop munitions.

Fighters of the “winged infantry” actively use drones to destroy manpower and lightly armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. For greater efficiency, paratroopers use two drones simultaneously.

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🇩🇪💶 German assistance to Ukraine through EU institutions accounts for “half” of the bloc’s total assistance to Kiev, and its time for other EU members to pick up the slack, Finance Minister Christian Lindner has revealed.

“At the moment, Germany pays for half of all EU aid to Ukraine. We accept the responsibility because we know what’s at stake,” Lindner said at a recent meeting of the Free Democratic Party – one of the members of Chancellor Scholz’s Traffic Light coalition.

But “it should not happen that Germany does more so that others can do too little,” Lindner added, without naming the countries he thinks aren’t pulling their weight.

Lindner’s comments offer important clues regarding the true extent of German involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, revealing Berlin’s stake to be much larger than previously assumed.

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China's export restrictions are significantly different from those imposed by the United States as they do not target any particular country or company, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

In August 2023, China imposed export controls on such rare earth metals as gallium and germanium to protect national security. In October, the Chinese Commerce Ministry also announced that starting from December 1, all graphite exports would need official approval. In December, the Chinese authorities introduced export restrictions on a number of technologies related to the mining and processing of rare earth elements.

"You can find the reasons behind these measures in previous statements and announcements released by China's competent authorities. Our measures do not target any particular country or company, which is fundamentally different from the measures deliberately imposed by the US to target particular countries and companies in the name of national security," Mao said.

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🇷🇺 Su-34 fighter-bombers attacked an enemy fortified area on the Krasny Liman axis.

The the aircraft dropper FAB-500 unguided aerial bombs with a universal gliding and guidance module.

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Claim of ‘Polish link’ in Nord Stream case designed to distract from US role in blowing up pipelines

The attack on Nord Stream “is a very difficult topic for the bloc, because factually, the destruction of this infrastructure significantly weakened Europe’s economic capabilities and left it dependent on the US energy sector. Now, Europe is forced to buy American gas and to incur huge costs because of it,” political analyst Kolchin explained, commenting on the WSJ report of alleged Polish refusal to cooperate with an ‘international probe’ into the September 2022 attack on the Russian natural gas pipelines.

“Of course, for many months now Washington has been attempting to shift all responsibility onto Ukraine. Here, the appearance of publications in US media adding credibility to a role played by Warsaw is only part of this big campaign. The United States is trying to shift responsibility from itself onto others, in this case Warsaw,” the observer said.

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Pro-ceasefire demonstrators interrupted Biden's speech in Charleston

"I understand their passion, and I've been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza," Biden said.

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Jeffrey Epstein recorded sex tapes of the US ex-President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and businessman Richard Branson, victim claims in unsealed court documents.

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🇮🇱 Israel attacked a refuge for Doctors Without Borders workers and their families in Gaza. Four people were injured, the organization said.

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

The number of people killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip has increased to 23,084, with 58,926 more injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request that Abu Dhabi pay unemployment benefits to Palestinian workers banned from entering Israel, advising him to redirect the call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Axios news website reported on Monday, citing sources.

A field commander of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement has been killed during an Israeli air attack on southern Lebanon.

Physical and sexual violence committed against Israeli civilians during the October 7 attacks may amount to crimes against humanity, two UN experts said.

Iran supports South Africa's decision to use international mechanisms and file a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prosecute Israeli officials for their actions in the Gaza Strip, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.

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The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) have enough weapons, but they don’t have enough people, - New York Times, citing the reconnaissance commander of the 117th separate military defense brigade of the UAF

Other key statements of Ukrainian servicemen:

▪️The attacks of the Russian troops were so intense in areas of the central and eastern flanks that operating close to the front line has never been so dangerous.

▪️Plots of land with an area of 100 to 200 meters always have to be conquered: “It’s something like a game of ping-pong.”

▪️Russian soldiers allegedly began to use some tricks: they play old recordings of shooting on UAVs. They want to make the Ukrainians think that they are now being attacked - they are pushing them so that the UAF will leave the trenches and reveal their positions.

▪️The use of FPV drones by the Russians makes the UAF to mainly abandon equipment in front-line zones and act on foot.

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❗️ The Russian armed forces have prevented Ukraine's attempt to carry out a terrorist attack with the use of the RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) by successfully destroying 10 rockets over Russia's Belgorod Region, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Monday.

"On January 8, at about 9.30 p.m. [18:30 GMT], an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using the RM-70 Vampire MLRS against targets on Russian territory was intercepted. Air defense systems on duty destroyed 10 rockets over the Belgorod Region," the ministry said.

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❗️ Three people injured as a result of a Ukrainian shelling of Russia's Belgorod on Monday evening, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

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French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigned on Monday ahead of the expected cabinet reshuffle, the French presidency stated, adding that President Emmanuel Macron had accepted the resignation.

"Ms Elisabeth Borne today submitted the resignation of the government to the president, who accepted it," the presidency was quoted as saying by the France 24 broadcaster.

Macron thanked the outgoing prime minister for her service.

"Madam prime minister, dear [Elisabeth Borne], your work in the interest of our nation was exemplary every day. You implemented reforms with courage, commitment and determination. I thank you with all my heart," the president wrote on X.

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🇮🇷 🇿🇦 Iran supports South Africa's Gaza genocide case against Israel, Foreign Ministry says

"We support the use of international mechanisms to legally prosecute the officials ... of the Israeli regime by law as well as the implementation of internationally recognized legal norms against ... the Israeli regime," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters on Monday, while paying special attention to mechanisms of the ICJ.

In late December 2023, South Africa filed a case with the ICJ seeking provisional measures against Israel's actions against Palestinians in Gaza, calling them a violation of the Genocide Convention.

Israel responded that Pretoria's claims had no factual basis and were an "exploitation" of the court, adding that the country was allegedly collaborating with "terrorists". The ICJ is expected to hear the case on January 11 and 12.

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The name of new French prime minister will be announced on January 9, French broadcaster BFMTV reported on Monday, citing people close to President Emmanuel Macron.

Earlier in the day, French PM Elisabeth Borne resigned, with Macron accepting her resignation and thanking her for "exemplary work."

However, some French politicians have not been so appreciative of Borne's accomplishments. Mathilde Panot, the president of the La France Insoumise left-wing group in the French parliament, said that the prime minister's legacy were 23 instances of invoking the 49.3 constitutional clause, which allows to push a bill through the parliament with no vote, and a "stained democracy."

A member of the French Socialist Party, Boris Vallaud, said that "Borne [would] forever remain a prime minister of the imposed pension reform and the immigration law in the spirit of the National Front [the former name of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party]."

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🇭🇺🇪🇺 Could Orban assume European Council presidency?

"The presence of an anti-system leader at the helm of the Council - even on an interim basis - would constitute a first anticipation of polarization within the European Union," Tiberio Graziani, a Rome-based international affairs observer, told Sputnik.

Charles Michel announced that he will run for European Parliament in June, and vacate the presidency of the European Council if elected. Under bloc rules, the presidency could be given to an official from the member state holding the Council's rotating presidency. Hungary is slated to assume the latter on July 1, making Prime Minister Orban a potential candidate to take the reins of the body.

"Orban is the one who obviously does not support a firm stance against Russia under [President] Putin, but would rather want a cooperative stance. So that rules him out," Christian Schweiger, visiting professor at the Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany, told Sputnik.

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