🇪🇬🇷🇺 Egypt’s El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant: What’s special about it and what does Russia have to do with the most advanced NPP in North Africa?

Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi are attending a ceremony via videolink where the first batch of concrete will be poured into the foundation of the 4th power unit at the El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP).

This marks the end of the prep phase and the launch of the main stage of capital construction of all NPP units.

Here are some key facts regarding Egypt’s new nuclear marvel:

▪️ El-Dabaa is not just Egypt’s very first NPP, but the first one in North Africa as a whole;

▪️ El-Dabaa is being built in the city of El-Dabaa (Mediterranean coast), approximately 300 km North-West of Cairo;

▪️ The NPP will consist of four power units, 1200 MW each, with VVER-1200 reactors (pressurized water reactor) of generation III+;

▪️ Under the contract, Russia’s responsible for constructing the NPP, delivering nuclear fuel for its entire lifecycle, assisting in staff training, and supporting the NPP’s service for the first 10 years of its operation;

▪️ Russia will also build a special storage facility and deliver casks for storing spent nuclear fuel;

▪️ 17,000 people are expected to work at the construction site by the end of 2024;

▪️ The number of the NPP staff will peak in 2025, reaching 32,000 workers;

▪️ Under labor localization agreements, Egyptian companies will carry out up to 30% of construction work (infrastructure and road building).

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🇦🇷 A group of opposition lawmakers in the Argentine parliament has sent a request to the government to justify the decision not to join BRICS. One of the signatories to the document told Sputnik that all Argentine provinces export products to BRICS member states, and a refusal to join the bloc would cause "economic damage to the regions."

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Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will attend a ceremony via videolink where the first concrete batch will be poured into the foundation of the El-Dabaa NPP’s fourth power unit.

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❗️ Air raid alerts go off across all the territory of Ukraine

Ukrainian media reported explosions in Kiev and Kharkov

Biden, at a White House event, saw Health Secretary Xavier Becerra in the room and thanked him for his work to protect women's reproductive rights.

Except Becerra wasn't there, he was connecting via video link.

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🇩🇪 Germany preparing for war with Russia... again

Germany must understand the potential of a military conflict with Russia, so it needs to arm itself, the country’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with ZDF.

“We must reckon with this possibility. And when we reckon with something, we need to prepare ourselves for an unknown danger, whether or not it will come. It is necessary to arm ourselves for this eventuality - this is exactly what we are doing now together with our NATO allies. And this is necessary," he said.

His statement comes just days after the German newspaper Bild published an article speculating about Russia “attacking NATO’s eastern flank,” citing a classified document from the German military. Commenting on the publication, the Bundeswehr later said that it was “considering various scenarios, even if they are extremely unlikely,” which constitutes a daily routine.

Russia has consistently stated that it poses no threat to any NATO member state, but wouldn’t ignore actions that threaten its interests. Moscow has stressed that it remains open to diplomacy, but on an equal basis, and cautions that the West must desist from militarizing Europe.

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Israel proposes Hamas leaders to leave Gaza Strip as part of broader agreement – report

Israel has proposed that senior Hamas leaders leave the Gaza Strip as part of a broader, multi-phase ceasefire agreement, CNN reported, citing two officials familiar with the discussions.

Israeli authorities understand that the proposal is unlikely to be accepted by Hamas, the report said. However, it has been discussed at least twice in the past 30 days - last month in Warsaw by the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, and in January with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha, the network reported.

On Monday, Axios reported, citing two Israeli officials, that Israel had offered Hamas a two-month pause in fighting in Gaza in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages.

The deal would include the release of all remaining hostages who are alive and the return of the bodies of the dead in several phases. The first phase would include the release of women, men over 60, and hostages in critical medical condition, officials said. The next phases would be the release of female soldiers, men under the age of 60 who are not soldiers, male Israeli soldiers, and the bodies of hostages.

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French mercenary Alexis Drion, whose name appears in the list provided to us by the SOS Donbass organization of those who were in Kharkov during a Russian missile strike, has said on social media that he is alive.

According to Drion, who has been posting photos from Ukraine with weapons in his hands for several months, he is now in France.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Trump called the leaders of Russia and China “very intelligent and powerful men” who want their countries to succeed.

He also compared them to current US President Joe Biden, who Trump believes is "grossly incompetent" and "can't put two sentences together and walk off the stage."

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❗️ Russia does not attack the population or civilian objects, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked whether the explosions in Kiev and Kharkov were a “response” to attacks on Donbass

“Our military does not hit social facilities, residential areas and civilians. This is what fundamentally distinguishes our military from the military of the Kiev regime,” Peskov said.

🇷🇺 Russian T-80BV tank crews wipe out Ukrainian strongholds and dugouts in Kupyansk suburbs

Tank crews of Battlegroup Zapad continuously perform tasks on the front lines and support Russian motorized rifle units by carrying out powerful strikes against the enemy.

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🇷🇺🇪🇬 Vladimir Putin will participate via video link at the ceremony of pouring concrete into the base of power unit No. 4 at Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, El Dabaa. Sputnik's correspondent reports that everything is ready at the construction site.

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❗️Russian Armed Forces on Tuesday morning delivered a strike against Ukrainian military-industrial complex facilities producing missiles, ammunition and explosives. All targets were hit.

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Ukraine strikes its own civilian population

Ukrainian air defense missiles again hit civilian houses in Kharkov, media reported, citing a source.

“The Ukrainian side is again trying to substitute concepts, passing off the destruction of residential buildings as the work of the Russian Army. But people see and know where Russian missiles are flying and where Ukrainian missiles are landing after the air defense system has worked - this was the one that destroyed the houses of the townspeople,” the source said.

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❗️LIVE: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi are participating via video link in a ceremony to pour the first batch of concrete into the base of the fourth unit of the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant (NPP).

This marks the end of the preparatory phase and the start of the main stage of all nuclear power plant units' capital construction.

Under the contract, Russia will be responsible for building the nuclear power plant, supplying nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle, and providing assistance in training personnel, and support for the nuclear facility's operation for the first 10 years of its operation.

Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

❗️The Russian Armed Forces hit the control center of the operational-tactical group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces "Liman"

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

▪️Russian troops repelled six attacks by Ukrainian assault groups near Kupyansk.

▪️The Ukrainian losses near Donetsk exceeded 280 servicemen;

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted up to more than 105 servicemen, 7 vehicles and an Akatsiya self-propelled gun near in the south of the DPR.

▪️Ukrainian troops lost over 220 servicemen near Krasny Liman

▪️Russian air defense systems shot down 56 Ukrainian drones and a HIMARS MLRS projectile;

▪️The Russian Armed Forces in the Zaporozhye region hit the manpower and equipment of three brigades of the Ukrainian troops, the enemy lost up to 55 servicemen and a tank.