Iran's top-5 game-changing weapons

From missile systems to drones: our AI news presenter Nika is back from her digital holidays to explain what exactly makes the Iranian military so impressive.

Also check out Nika's essential episodes: Lancet drones, hypersonic weapons, AK-47, and Joe Biden's manipulations analysis.

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❗️The Russian Army has carried out 17 group strikes with high-precision weapons against firms of Ukraine's military-industrial complex that carried out weapon and equipment repairs, as well as producing ammo, gunpowder and drones.

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

▪️In the Kupyansk region, the Russian Army repelled 25 attacks by Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian losses amounted to 560 troops, 10 tanks, eight armored combat vehicles, 26 vehicles and eight artillery pieces;

▪️In the Krasny Liman region, Russian forces repelled 17 attacks by Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian losses amounted to 1,520 military personnel, a tank, 21 armored combat vehicles, 34 vehicles, and eight artillery pieces;

▪️In Donetsk, the Russian Army repelled 15 attacks by Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian losses amounted to 1,880 soldiers, 17 tanks, 27 armored combat vehicles, two launchers of the Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile system, 86 vehicles and 28 artillery guns;

▪️Russia’s Aerospace Forces aviation and air defense systems shot down six Tochka-U tactical missiles, a JDAM guided bomb, 11 Vilkha MLRS rockets, 62 HIMARS and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems, as well as 274 drones.

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🇦🇹 Austrian farmers have come out to protest, arriving to the center of Vienna on tractors.

They protest against excessive bureaucracy, the import of Ukrainian grain and insufficient payment for their labor.

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Special combat training classes were held with Russian military engineers of the Zapad Battlegroup:

▪️During the training, all types of engineering ammunition and methods of their installation, including using quadrocopters and FPV-drones, were demonstrated to military personnel performing combat missions in Kupyansk;

▪️Such classes allow military engineers from different tactical areas to share their experience and improve their skills for more effective combat work;

▪️"The main tasks performed by engineering units are making passages in mine-explosive barriers in various ways. We are doing the main work in this direction," said an officer of the engineering troops department of the Zapad Battlegroup.

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At least the third emergency involving Boeing aircraft in a month.

After an Alaska Airlines plane “collapsed” in the air and Blinken’s Boeing broke down, something strange happened to an Atlas Air aircraft.

According to the official version, the engine broke down. Footage from social networks shows sparks flying from the engine.

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🇾🇪 A largescale anti-American and pro-Palestinian rally is taking place in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

According to local media, a crowd of millions has gathered. People chant anti-American slogans.

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🧊🇷🇺 Not only President Putin, but also fellow Russians throughout the country are taking part in Epiphany batheing.

Watch our video and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of snowy January Russia.

What do you think about this tradition? Could you swim in an ice hole?

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🗣 Former MI6: "High Probability" of Israel-Hezbollah War in 2024

"I think that Israel has suffered major setbacks in this period, setbacks in Gaza, setbacks internally. The West Bank is on a knife edge. There are problems that are developing there. The government had a vote against it in the Supreme Court by one vote. And then it now faces a court case in the Hague accusing it of genocide. It desperately needs some sort of victory. It needs something to bring people together...This prompts people to want to try and find some military outlet that will provide some sort of semblance, some sort of idea of a success," Alastair Crooke told the New Rules podcast.

👉 Watch the full episode of our show on Rumble and on our X page

🎧 If you prefer to listen to our podcast, make sure to check the New Rules page on the website!

The man who dodged a Ukrainian drone gave an interview.

His call sign is “Babay”, he is 46 years old, and he was drafted from the Chelyabinsk region. And, in fact, he not only ran away from one kamikaze, but neutralized three others!

All this in order to save the life of his commander, who was nearby at that moment.

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The US and UK have conducted two strikes on Al Hudaydah City in Yemen, according to reports.

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Old story, new twist: Taiwan establishes psy op facility

Taiwanese regional authorities have set up a Cognitive Warfare Research Center. The official mission of the facility is reportedly to defend the island's population from "disinformation campaigns."

The creation of this center coincides with victory of a US-backed politician in Taiwan's regional elections – Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Lai Ching-te.

“Cognitive warfare” was coined by NATO experts who stress that the “modern form of war is not about weapons but about influence” adding that the aim of cognitive warfare is “to shape perceptions and control the narrative.”

The US secret services have a long history of engaging in cognitive warfare against their geopolitical adversaries, blatantly using disinformation and fakes in regional clashes. In particular, Taiwan has been a special target for the US since the establishment of modern China.

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🇸🇰 Slovakia's new Minister of Defense said that due to the transfer of weapons to Kiev by the previous government, the country was left without air defenses, combat aircraft and even without the promised payment for the MiG-29s that were transferred to Ukraine.

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Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania's defense ministers have approved the creation of a common "Baltic defense zone" on the border of Russia and Belarus.

The ministers signed an agreement today in Riga under which the states will, in the coming years, create a defense zone on their borders consisting of various defense facilities, the purpose of which is to deter and, if necessary, protect against military threats.

The agreement was penned as the Baltic nations continue to antagonize Moscow and Minsk by aiding the Kiev regime military, agitating European countries to confront Russia and increasing political persecution of the Russian-speaking minorities in their own states.

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🌟 Top-stories of the day:

▪️Iran's top-5 game-changing weapons: our AI news presenter Nika is back from her digital holidays to explain what exactly makes the Iranian military so impressive.

▪️Fact Check: are there French mercenaries in Ukraine?

▪️Ever wondered how speeches can sway public opinion? Sputnik asked AI to analyze Volodymyr Zelensky's latest speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

▪️Rapid ramparts: Russian forces' resilience multiplied sixfold along 120-kilometer defense lines.

👇 More stories:

▪️Old story, new twist: Taiwan establishes psy op facility.

▪️The man who dodged a Ukrainian drone in a special military operation gave an interview.

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The US military conducted new strikes against the Houthi positions in Yemen on Friday morning in response to attacks against commercial vessels in the southern Red Sea, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

"This morning, US forces conducted three successful self-defense strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen," Kirby said during a press briefing. "This is the fourth preemptive action that the US military has taken in the past week against Houthi missile launchers that were ready to launch attacks, in this case anti-ship missiles."

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Red Sea shipping crisis and Iran-Pakistan spat related to Gaza War

The recent Iranian attacks on Pakistani soil, as well as the reciprocal Pakistani attacks on Iranian soil and the shipping crisis in the Red Sea, are related to the ongoing crisis in the Gaza Strip, says political observer and Mideast specialist Stanislav Tarasov.

As Tarasov put it, there is a “process of geopolitical situation degrading across the vast expanse of the greater Middle East,” and the origin of “all this” lies in the “start of the war between Hamas and Israel.”

According to him, the Balochi separatism “card” that apparently prompted Iran to launch the attack in Pakistan’s Balochistan was used by certain foreign actors, and external influence may also be at work in the Red Sea crisis as the disruption of shipping there “undermines the economy and power” of the Persian Gulf states.

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🇳🇪 EXCLUSIVE | Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali look forward to Russia's help in strengthening countries' military capabilities to protect their people, Niger's Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine told Sputnik Africa

"Of course, we will sign any agreement that will lead to this protection with both hands. That's all I can say," Ziene revealed.

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❗️ A US drone crashed near Iraqi Balad airbase, the Iraq Security Forces have recovered it, a Pentagon official told Sputnik.

"At 7:20 p.m. (Iraq time), a US UAV [drone] crashed near Balad airbase, Iraq," the official said on Friday. "Iraqi Security Forces recovered the aircraft. There were no injuries reported. An investigation of the cause of the crash is underway."

Media reported, citing Iraqi Security Forces, that a US MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down by militants in Iraq.

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