💥 Russian tank crew destroy a temporary position of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel

After receiving coordinates from a UAV operator pinpointing a house where a group of 12 Ukrainian nationalists had gathered, the crew of a T-90M tank of the Russian Armed Forces swiftly moved into position. Using direct fire, they struck at the provided coordinates.

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Kalashnikov steps up production of pistols, universal latches, and kamikaze drones

The Kalashnikov Concern (part of the Rostec State Corporation) has summarized its work for 2023. Here are some of the key achievements:

▪️security forces received 10,000 Lebedev (PLK) pistols;

▪️production capacity of Yarygin (PYa) pistols doubled;

▪️production capacity of MR-27 and MR-43 civilian hunting weapons, as well as MR-512 and MR-654 pneumatic guns increased;

▪️production of components for S-13 unguided aircraft rockets doubled, thus ensuring timely and complete fulfillment of the state defense order for such munitions;

▪️Kalashnikov supplied Vikhr-1 and Strela high-precision air-launched missiles, as well as components and assemblies for guided artillery shells to its customers;

▪️special equipment production climbed by 45%. Kalashnikov special machinery division completed a state contract for the supply of loitering munitions and the KUB UAV ground-based launch systems. The division modernized ad upgraded this kamikaze drone;

▪️Kalashnikov launched mass production of active protection systems for the BMP-3 infantry-fighting vehicle (already adopted in service). Plus, 2023 saw the start of the serial production of new elements for dynamic protection;

▪️serial development begins for the equipment that enhances stealth technology, helping to conceal T-90M, T-80 BM and T-72B3 tanks, such systems were under further development for other types of military equipment;

▪️Kalashnikov launched batch production of two new products: the Egida fragment-resistant blankets and the Elbrus-T titanium helmets; the demand for the two grows by the day;

▪️machine tool output surged 65%.

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🇮🇷 IRGC Uses ‘Fortress Buster’ to Trounce Terrorists: What Other Ballistic Missiles Does Iran Possess?

Iran used its new Kheibar-Shekan (lit. ‘Castle Buster’ or ‘Fortress Buster’) medium-range ballistic missile during Monday night’s strikes against terror targets in Syria, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force has revealed.

First unveiled in 2022, the Kheibar-Shekan is a 4.5 ton, 10.5 meter long ballistic missile with a 1,450 km range. The missile has a 500-kilogram conventional high-explosive warhead.

The missile is just one of an array of medium-range missile in Iran’s arsenal – which includes nearly three dozen different types of home-grown ballistic and cruise missiles. Others include the Ashura, the Fajr-3, the Fattah 1, the Ghadr-110, the Kheibar, the Shahab-3 ER, and the Sejjil.

Iran also possesses shorter-range missiles, including the Fateh-110 ballistic missile, the Abu Mahdi cruise missile, the Fatah-313 and Qiam 1 ballistic missiles. The latter two were used in 2020 to target US forces in Iraq in response to the US assassination of a senior Iranian commander, and left 110 American troops with traumatic brain injuries.

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❗️ The US does not have another military package for Ukraine in the works right now as funding has run out, White House spokesman John Kirby said.

"There isn't another one in the works right now or being scheduled for announcement or delivery. We meant it when we said it at the time that that was the last one for which we had replenishment authority," Kirby stated during a press briefing.

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US seems to have lost track of 40,000 weapons sent to Ukraine

The US was unable to fully account for nearly 40,000 pieces of military equipment worth almost $1.7 billion, The New York Times (NYT) reports citing an obtained Pentagon report.

The comprehensive evaluation is based on classified data analyzed by the US Department of Defense (DoD) that was forwarded to Congress and the NYT. A redacted version was later released to the public.

The report puts the potential loss at about $1 billion of the total $1.69-billion worth of the weapons sent, though no specifics regarding the 39,139 high-risk pieces considered “delinquent” were given.

Under the US Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the supplied weaponry should have been closely monitored. Their battlefield impact, sensitive technology and relatively small size makes them sought after by arms smugglers.

The findings raise major concerns whether the arms could be stolen or smuggled at a time when Congress is debating sending even more aid to Kiev.

Numerous reports suggest that some of the gifted weapons already ended up on the black market around the world. There are also serious fears of NATO arms trickling back to the EU, fuelling a spike in terrorist activity.

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❗️ Israel has decided to allow entrance of medicines and humanitarian aid to the most war-torn areas of the Gaza Strip in exchange for delivery of medicines to the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

“Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al-Ansari, Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the success of a Qatari mediation in cooperation with the friendly Republic of France, in reaching an agreement, between Israel and (Hamas), where medicine along with other humanitarian aide is to be delivered to civilians in Gaza Strip, in the most affected and vulnerable areas, in exchange for delivering medication needed for Israeli captives in Gaza,” the ministry wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

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Germany will provide military assistance to Ukraine worth more than seven billion euros ($7.6 billion) in 2024, the German government said on Tuesday.

"In 2024, Germany will support Ukraine with military goods worth more than 7 billion euros," the statement read.

Germany, the economic powerhouse of the EU, has fallen on hard times following Berlin’s 2022 decision to join in on the US-led economic warfare campaign against Russia.

Western sanctions intended to cripple the Russian economy have backfired against the very countries that introduced them, with Germany especially suffering from the loss of access to cheap Russian energy that long has been vital for its industry.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted that Russia’s economy has become the number one in Europe and the fifth in the world based on purchasing power parity.

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Why does Netanyahu want control of Gaza’s border with Israel?

“Israel has no alternative rather than having total control over this border, because it seems that [it] has not achieved any goals in Gaza,” Mehmet Rakipoglu, a Middle East affairs specialist at the London-based Dimensions for Strategic Studies think tank, told Sputnik.

Egypt “will not allow Israel to have full control over the corridor,” Rakipoglu believes. “Egypt is the most powerful country in the Arab world in terms of military and also in terms of population. Egypt’s population is over 80 million. Until the normalization process of 1978-1979, Egypt has been on the front[line] in the fight against Israel. So it seems that Egypt has the power, has a capability to confront Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to seize the 14 km-long Philadelphi Corridor separating Gaza and Egypt on Saturday.

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

▪️The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, when the Israel-Hamas conflict escalated, has reached 24,285 while the number of injured is 61,154, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said

▪️US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan believes the risk of a full-scale global escalation of Israel’s war on Gaza has been "real" since October 7.

▪️The districts of southern Israel were targeted with a massive fire of over 50 rockets from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported.

▪️The safety of ships in the Red Sea cannot be ensured without ending the war in the Gaza Strip, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said.

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❗️ Pakistan strongly condemns Iran's missile attack on its territory, violation of sovereignty could have serious consequences, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated.

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US troops flee Syria after attacks on bases

The US is evacuating its Hemo military base near the airport in the northeastern Syrian city of Kamishli (al-Qamishli) after repeated attacks by "Iraqi resistance" forces, Iran's Tasnim news agency reports.

"Tasnim's sources in Syria report the evacuation of the US military base Hemo... in the northern Syrian province of al-Hasakeh due to repeated attacks by Iraqi Islamic resistance groups," the report said. The agency specifies that the Hemo base, located 4 kilometres west of the Kamishla airport, is considered one of the most important US bases in the Arab republic with at least 350 US military personnel. According to the agency, the base is a training center where the US military trains fighters of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF).

Last week, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Shiite "resistance fronts" in various Arab countries to "strike the enemy" wherever it is.

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❗️ Iraq has submitted a complaint to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) about Iran's "aggression" after strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

"On Tuesday, January 16, 2024, Iraq filed a complaint with the UN Security Council over the Iranian missile aggression targeting the city of Erbil and resulting in casualties and injuries among civilians and damage to the public and private sectors," the ministry said in a statement, shared with Sputnik.

The ministry added that it filed the complaint both to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the Presidency of the UNSC through the Iraqi permanent mission to the UN in New York, saying that "this aggression is a blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and the security of the Iraqi people."

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European Union leaders worry a second Donald Trump term would see the former US president negotiate an end to the conflict in the Donbass with Russia.

EU President Alexander De Croo of Belgium expressed his opposition to Trump during a speech the morning after his Iowa caucuses victory, saying, “If 2024 brings us ‘America first’ again, it is really more than ever ‘Europe on its own.’”

Trump has repeatedly advocated for friendlier relations with Russia while European leaders have opposed the country, perhaps most notably during the Ukrainian “Euromaidan” protests that paved the way for a coup in 2014.

De Croo also questioned Trump’s commitment to democratic principles. Ironically, he made the remarks in front of the European Parliament, an institution that cannot write its own legislation but can only vote on laws drafted by the unelected European Commission.

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The recent meeting on Ukraine held in Davos on January 14 is a failure for Kiev and its Western sponsors, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

"Differences between the countries represented have deepened… Ukraine and the West failed to achieve either the expansion of the anti-Russian camp or the adoption of the final document," the spokeswoman emphasized, adding that such meetings are counterproductive for settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

More countries are starting to understand that it is impossible to end the conflict if focus is made on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s so-called peace formula, Zakharova stressed.

"A truly comprehensive, fair and sustainable peace settlement is possible only by returning Ukraine to the origins of its statehood — a neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-free status with full respect for the rights and freedoms of citizens of all nationalities living on its territory," the statement read.

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