Peregrine lunar probe predicted to burn up in atmosphere with flag of Ukraine

The Peregrine lunar probe on its way to Earth, which could not successfully complete its mission to land on the Moon, carries the flag of Ukraine on board, while it is known for certain that the apparatus will burn up in the atmosphere, Ukrainian media writes.

It is noted that the device, which is carrying various loads, including a “map of Ukraine on a metal plate,” will burn up in the atmosphere, the media reports.

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🪖 "Mom, I've got my hat on!": Russian military following a touching trend

The meme "don't forget to wear a hat!" or “Mom, I've got my hat on!” is part of Russian culture, showing how much Russian mothers care for their children. The new internet trend of posting photos proving you wore your hat in winter has gone viral in Russia, with Russian soldiers fighting in the special military operation zone no exception.

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❗️ 24 ballistic missiles were fired at targets in Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria, Iran's IRGC said

📹 Russian Tor-M2 crews protect assault units from enemy drones and aircraft in the Krasny Liman direction

After receiving a combat mission, the air defense missile system crew began monitoring the airspace. In just one shift on combat duty, several Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed.

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❗️ In the Kupyansk direction, Kiev’s losses amounted to up to 160 military personnel and three tanks, two of which were Leopard-2s, the Russian Defense Ministry said

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from Russian MoD briefing on progress of special military op in Ukraine:

▪️Russian air defenses shot down 69 Ukrainian drones.

▪️Four attacks were repelled in the Krasny Liman direction; Ukraine’s losses amounted to up to 250 military personnel and two infantry fighting vehicles.

▪️Five attacks were repelled in the Donetsk direction, the enemy lost up to 280 soldiers, a tank, and two infantry fighting vehicles. In the South Donetsk direction, Kiev's losses amounted to up to 120 military personnel.

▪️In the Zaporozhye and Kherson directions, Ukrainian forces lost up to 180 troops.

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EU to audit weapons aid to Ukraine amid concerns about 'inadequate' contributions

Brussels has initiated an audit of military aid from its 27 members to Ukraine since 2022 amid concerns about inadequate contributions. The decline in Western aid has raised unease about fatiguing solidarity. The audit, led by the EU's External Action Service (EEAS), seeks to present findings before the February 1 EU leaders' summit.

The decision to audit military support for Ukraine stems from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's recent call to tally and evaluate countries' deliveries to Kiev. “The arms deliveries for Ukraine planned so far by the majority of EU member states are too small,” he argued. Germany leads in pledges, but concerns linger about other major EU contributors.

Russia has repeatedly warned NATO countries that arms supplies to Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets. Moscow has accused NATO countries of "playing with fire" by arming Ukraine, emphasizing that such actions hinder the possibility of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.

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🇷🇺🇰🇵 Before the Russian-North Korean negotiations, Sergey Lavrov greeted DPRK Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Reception House.

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All American and British ships and warships involved in the aggression against our country are considered hostile targets by the Yemeni Armed Forces, Yahiah Sariaah, Ansar Allah’s official spokesperson, stated on Tuesday.

Ansar Allah has through its social networks released a video with a message to the US Navy.

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Zelensky meets Ukraine’s main owners investors

The Ukrainian leader spoke with Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Steve Schwartzman from Blackstone Inc. and Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio on Tuesday morning.

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The US and Britain have conducted new strikes on Yemen, targeting objects in the Al-Bayda province, a source in local authorities told Sputnik.

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What is Iraqi Kurdistan?

🔸The Kurdistan Region is an autonomous administrative area (with its own regional parliament) within Iraq with its capital in Erbil;

🔸Iraqi Kurdistan is bordered by Iran to the east, by Turkey to the north, and by Syria to the west;

🔸The Iraqi government officially recognized Iraqi Kurdistan’s autonomous status in 2005, after the American-led 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq;

🔸Erbil has its own US consulate, along with offices of a number of international companies including Exxon, TotalEnergies, Chevron, Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Marathon Oil;

🔸According to the autonomous Ministry of Natural Resources, there are 5.67 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves under its territory — around 3 percent of global reserves;

🔸Iraqi Kurdistan's oil reserves total 45 billion barrels out of the total 112 billion barrels of Iraqi oil. The Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline to Turkey passes through Iraqi Kurdistan;

🔸Officially, Baghdad and Erbil have settled all differences, including oil and gas issues on exports and income distribution. Now Kurdistan has no plans to separate from Iraq, as it attemoted to in 2016;

🔸Following a US drone strike on the headquarters of the Hashd al-Shaabi militia in Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani said on January 5 that US troops should leave the country. But Kurdish PM Masrour Barzani backed keeping a US military presence in the autonomous region in a public statement five days later.

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❗️ Hungary proposes financing Ukraine without harming the EU budget and without a shared loan; Prime Minister Orban stated that Hungary is prepared to cover its share from its own budget.

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🇪🇺 "Currently, over 800,000 Ukrainian men are in Europe. They illegally escaped, violating Ukrainian law," said Estonian conservative MP Jaak Madison, proposing to extend Zelensky's mobilization beyond Ukraine.

The notion that "the West will fight until the last Ukrainian" is becoming increasingly realistic.

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US ‘not ready’ to butt heads with Iran despite tough talk

“The United States, in general, is trying to avoid direct confrontation with Iran, and quite openly pretend that nothing bad has happened. Rather, their policy is that so long as there are no major casualties on their part, there’s no need to start a big conflict,” IMEMO Middle East expert Nikolai Surkov told Sputnik, when asked about the possible US response to the IRGC’s missile strikes in Iraq’s Erbil and Syria.

“Under what conditions is a direct war between the US and Iran possible? Only after strikes against Iran. Moreover, I wouldn’t be surprised if the strikes came not from the Americans, but from Israel,” Center for Middle East Studies director Semyon Bagdasarov said.

The Iraq strikes signal “an expansion of the geography of the destabilization of the Middle East,” with regional crises now added to by the potential “destabilization” of Iraq, expert on Middle Eastern studies Stanislav Tarasov told Sputnik.

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Biden White House wants failing Ukraine to switch strategy ‘to defense’

The Biden administration wants Ukraine to switch its strategy in the ongoing proxy war against Russia “from offense to defense,” Andreas Kluth, a columnist for Bloomberg, has written.

Ukraine botched the counteroffensive launched last summer despite the billions-worth of NATO military aid, ‘frustrating Washington.’ Hence, the regime in Kiev is to get new instructions from its ‘puppet-masters’.

Russia’s forces are “too well dug in, and the Ukrainians have lost too many soldiers and used up too much ammo,” admitted the columnist. “Offense is always harder than defense, but for Ukraine it may now be out of the question,” he noted succinctly.

The new ‘assignment’ from the White House is reportedly to be delivered by US National Security Advisor Sullivan when he meets with Ukraine’s President Zelensky on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

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Footage from social media depicting new Israeli airstrikes on the city of Houla in southern Lebanon.

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Russia Unleashes Carpet Bombing of Ukrainian Positions Using New Drones

Russian forces have started carpet bombing Ukrainian positions with the help of “Inferno” special drone bombers in a number of areas of the special military operation, the developer Rustehnodron told Sputnik.

"The Inferno drone is equipped with nine slots for dropping grenades. In the course of a combat mission, it flies over the Ukrainian trenches, opens bomb hatches and drops grenades in a series of three. It turns out to be analogous to carpet bombing in aviation. As a result, the enemy personnel gets casualties, killed and wounded. Also, the drone can effectively bomb lightly armored vehicles," a company representative said.

The Inferno carries a four-kilogram payload, which can include VOG-17 grenades, GP-25 grenades, and specially manufactured factory ammunition for dropping with fragmentation and shaped charges. The UAV has a range of five kilometers.

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❗️Putin says Ukraine's strikes on civilian targets in Russia aim to show sponsors that it allegedly can respond to Russia's actions.

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⚡️"Ukraine failed its counteroffensive. If this continues, then its statehood will be put into question," said Putin.

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