Ukrainian military command abandons soldiers in fields full of corpses - PoW

Fields covered with soldiers' bodies unevacuated from Ukrainian positions, massive losses in units all over the fronts, corpses left even in trenches - that's how Ukrainian soldier Roman Kalinichenko, now a Russian POW, describes the situation on the Zaporozhye front.

"As I walk through the battlefield, I haven't seen a single dead Russian soldier. Our guys – plenty of them. They are lying everywhere," he said.

According to the soldier, the military command does not evacuate the bodies to avoid compensating their relatives, rather taking this money for itself through corrupt schemes.

Kalinichenko also shared the story of his fellow soldier's suicide after having opted not to fight. The unit's command attributed the suicide to battle losses.

"He was very young – 26 or 27 years old. He shot himself – didn't want to go. Do you think there was a fuss? No, there wasn't... In our 128th [territorial defense brigade], they arranged it so that it counted as combat casualties," he said.

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Watch Russian T-72B3M tanks destroy enemy in Donetsk direction

In combat operations, the 1st Army Corps use small unmanned aerial vehicles to search for targets when the enemy is using anti-tank weapons.

After receiving target assignment, the crews deliver devastating strikes on enemy firing points and strongholds.

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❗️ British PM Rishi Sunak is holding an emergency meeting

The subject is expected to be "UK and US military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen", which might involve the Royal Air Force and Navy, as reported by British media.

William Patey, the former UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Iraq, has said that the strikes could result into a conflict between the UK and Iran, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

Previously today, the US Central Command said that it recorded Houthis’ 27 attack on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea, adding the attack was unsuccessful.

In November, the Houthis vowed they would continue to prevent the passage in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea of ships linked to Israeli companies or bound for Israel until the latter's military actions in the Gaza Strip end.

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🇷🇺🇨🇫 On the night of January 10, the first ship with free Russian grain for the Central African Republic began unloading in the Cameroonian port of Douala

The Russian ship with humanitarian aid arrived at the port on December 18.

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🛢️ US reopens ports to Russian oil despite sanctions

The US imposed a ban on the import of oil, gas, and other energy resources from Russia in March 2022 as part of sanctions related to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. Нowever, specific licenses from the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have now made such imports possible.

According to the data, the US purchased Russian oil for consumption in both October and November. At the same time, one barrel of Russian oil cost the US $74 in October and $76 the following month. This is significantly higher than the "price cap" set by the country at $60 per barrel.

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US has stopped supplying weapons and military equipment to Ukraine due to the lack of budgetary funds for such programmes

"We have issued the last package of available stocks, for which we had funding to support," John Kirby, the White House spokesman, said, commenting on the issue of Washington's arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Russia has consistently warned against further arms deliveries to Ukraine, saying they would be regarded as a legitimate military target.

The West should prepare for a tough response to its attacks on Yemen, which will not take long, said Nasruddin Amer, media spokesman for the Ansar Allah (Houthis) movement, to Sputnik.

"America and all those who stand on its side are enemies and they will be dealt with based on their crimes in the region... Houthis are only targeting those ships that are related to Israel and those who commit criminal acts to protect them," said Amer.

He also acknowledged that the "US-British attack on the Yemeni navy" had resulted in the deaths of a number of Houthi supporters, but pointed out that "the West, with its battleships, must prepare for a tough Yemeni response... We did not start the war with America - it came to the region and attacked Yemen."

He said accusations against Ansar Allah that it is affiliated with Iran have no ground and it is tjust a "pretext that the West always uses, but... only Yemenis make decisions and choose their path."

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Journalist Stephen Swinford has reported that Britain and the US may tonight launch air strikes against Ansar Allah military facilities in Yemen.

The UK's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle have been notified of the government's plans to join the US in striking Houthi positions, Mr Swinford claimed.

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US reveals surveillance state nature by trying to form 'fifth column' in Russia

America’s efforts to expand its recruitment efforts among Russian graduates of US academic exchange programs may signify the return of the CIA and other US intelligence agencies to the practices of human intelligence (HUMINT), says retired US Air Force Lt. Col and former Pentagon analyst Karen Kwiatkowski.

She also notes that it may hint at expectations of “future funding for HUMINT, which has been weak for years in the US and is less costly and more easily hidden within the larger budget,” as well as pointing at “the expanded and pervasive nature of the US surveillance state, and its ability to not only track and identify but surreptitiously engage these young people among Americans.”

Most foreign exchange programs’ graduates make good candidates for HUMINT recruitment since they are “already bi or trilingual, academically smart, have excellent social IQ’s and are comfortable with and can perform well under higher than normal stress,” not to mention the prospects of them rising to leadership roles in their countries, Kwiatkowski points out.

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⚡️❗️ US and Britain have launched a military operation against the Houthi targets in Yemen, Al Arabiya reported, citing sources.

Sputnik sources reported airstrikes on the city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast and the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Strikes were carried out overnight on targets in the city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast in western Yemen, as well as in the capital Sanaa, sources in authorities in the Yemeni province of Hodeidah and the northern province of Saada told Sputnik.

"The strikes are being carried out on targets in Hodeidah," the local authority source said, with "four airstrikes were carried out on Yemen's capital Sanaa"

Earlier, Al Arabiya TV channel quoted sources as saying that the US and Britain launched an operation on Friday night against the facilities of the ruling Ansar Allah (Houthis) movement in northern Yemen.

The sources noted that the strike particularly targeted the vicinity of the port of Hodeidah. They also added that five airstrikes hit Houthi targets east of Hodeidah.

Social media publishes video of alleged explosions in the vicinity of Hodeidah Harbour.

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Pentagon confirmed the strikes on Yemen

According to the representative of the US Defence Ministry, it hit drone production centres and weapons depots.

Strikes on the positions of the Houthis were carried out from aircraft, ships and submarines, writes Reuters, citing a US official.

📹 Russian paratroopers from Novorossiysk assault Ukrainian positions near Verbovoye

Winged infantry under the cover of an armored group entered a wooded area Ukrainian units were defending. The Russian paratroopers suppressed the enemy's resistance.

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US said that as of 3:20am, they and UK have stopped carrying out strikes in Yemen, adding that they might resume the strikes if threats and attacks from the Houthis continue.

Houthis continue to launch missiles at US ships right at this time, according to media reports.

The strikes targeted more than 12 Houthis facilities in Yemen, a US official told Sputnik.

The attack was carried out with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, as reported by the Politico newspaper citing a Pentagon official.

London and Washington should be ready to pay a high price for massive strikes on Yemen, stated country's Deputy FM Hussein al-Azi.

At the same time both Republican and Democratic congressmen are expressing concerns about strikes on Yemen by a US-led coalition of countries, in response to attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by Houthi militants.

"These airstrikes have not been authorized by Congress. The Constitution is clear: Congress has the sole authority to authorize military involvement in overseas conflicts. Every president must first come to Congress and ask for military authorization, regardless of party," Democratic Rep. Val Hoyle said on social media platform X.

House Dem. Ro Khanna reiterated Hoyle’s concerns, stating Biden must seek congressional approval before involving the US in another Middle East conflict.

GOP Senator Mike Lee replied to Khanna’s statement and expressed his agreement. The US Constitution applies regardless of political affiliation, Lee said.

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Pentagon denies reports that a warship and the US embassy in Iraq were attacked in retaliation for strikes on Houthi targets

At the same time Russia has called for a UN Security Council meeting for 12 January over US and British strikes on Yemen.

US Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson is facing threats from his own party that they may remove him from his position in a situation that is reminiscence of the final months of his predecessor, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s time as House Speaker.

A group of Republicans are angry with Johnson for strike a deal with Democrats on a spending bill without including the significant cuts to spending that conservatives in Congress have been demanding.

Earlier this week, the group blocked a procedural vote on Republican pushed bills, resulting in them and Johnson entering closed-door negotiations. Johnson said he has not committed to anything but is open to hearing them out.

Now, two influential Reps, Chip Roy and Marjorie Taylor-Greene have hinted that they are open to calling for a motion to vacate again.

“If they totally botch it, we get no policy reforms, and we spend $1.66 trillion, I don’t know why we would keep him as Speaker,” Roy said in a podcast earlier this week.

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Sunak confirms UK Air Force carried out airstrikes against Houthi positions in Yemen

Sunak said that "the Houthi militia have carried out a series of dangerous and destabilising attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, threatening UK and other international ships, causing major disruption to a vital trade route and driving up commodity prices."

The UK Defense Ministry said that the country's military used Typhoon fighter jets and Paveway IV guided bombs to carry out strikes against Houthi facilities, namely a site for launching reconnaissance and attack drones in the Bani Matar district and an airfield in the Abs district.

A US defense official told Sputnik earlier that the US, in coordination with US partners, carried out strikes against targets of the Houthis in Yemen. Government sources in Yemen's governorates told Sputnik that airstrikes hit targets in the cities of Al Hudaydah and Taiz, as well as the capital Sanaa.

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❗️Lloyd Austin, the head of the Pentagon, ordered strikes against the Yemeni Houthis from the hospital, using secure communications, CNN reports.

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