🇹🇷🇸🇪 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday approved the ratification of Sweden’s membership in NATO by Turkiye, the NTV broadcaster reported.
According to the Turkish broadcaster, the decree with the presidential assent of the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership has been published in Turkiye’s official journal known as Resmi Gazete. The publication in the journal means that the ratification process is over.
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According to the Turkish broadcaster, the decree with the presidential assent of the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership has been published in Turkiye’s official journal known as Resmi Gazete. The publication in the journal means that the ratification process is over.
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The United States is looking into the potential involvement of US weapons in the downing of the Russian Il-76 military plane, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that an Il-76 military transport plane with 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war being transported for exchange had crashed in Belgorod Region. All the prisoners of war, together with six crew members and three Russian servicemen accompanying them on board the aircraft, died.
The ministry accused the Ukrainian forces of downing the plane. Later, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry stated that its staff was not aware that Russia's Il-76 was transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war for a prisoner swap, but Ukrainian news portal Strana. ua reported that the ministry had confirmed a prisoner exchange between the parties was scheduled for Wednesday.
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"It's something that we're looking into," Singh said during press briefing.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that an Il-76 military transport plane with 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war being transported for exchange had crashed in Belgorod Region. All the prisoners of war, together with six crew members and three Russian servicemen accompanying them on board the aircraft, died.
The ministry accused the Ukrainian forces of downing the plane. Later, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry stated that its staff was not aware that Russia's Il-76 was transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war for a prisoner swap, but Ukrainian news portal Strana. ua reported that the ministry had confirmed a prisoner exchange between the parties was scheduled for Wednesday.
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Even if Ukraine defense line is built, it won't stop Russia's offensive
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"Regarding whether Ukrainians will build this three-tiered defense line or not – it all depends on how fast Russia will advance (…) And secondly, [it depends] on how much money they will steal from the construction of this defensive line," retired Russian Army colonel and veteran military analyst Viktor Litovkin told Sputnik.Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on January 24 that the Kiev regime would construct a new defensive line, adding that the Ukrainian government "has allocated tens of billions of hryvnias" for the project.
"If this line is built, it, of course, may delay our offensive, but in no way will it hinder the determination of [the Russian] Armed Forces to fulfill the tasks set by the president. Namely: to ensure the security of our country, to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine," the retired colonel concluded.
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What weapons will West supply to Ukraine in 2024?
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), also known as the Ramstein summit, held on January 23, comprises a whopping 50 states. However, only a few have offered Ukraine new military packages.
🇩🇪 Germany will send 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), 15 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, 124 RQ-35 Heidrun reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other equipment, but still won't deliver its Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missiles.
🇫🇷 France has pledged to send Safran Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) Hammer guided bombs for the first time to Kiev as well as additional 40 MBDA SCALP EG cruise missiles. Paris has also promised 78 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine, but they have yet to be manufactured.
🇬🇧 The UK has vowed to send drones, long range missiles, shells and air defense systems, but it is not clear yet what the newly announced £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) package for 2024/25 will include. Military observers have thrown into doubt that UK will provide sufficient missile defenses to Ukraine, suggesting that it would most likely be obsolete weapon systems.
🇩🇰 Denmark earlier promised Kiev to supply it with almost two dozen of F-16 fighter jets, but the delivery has once again been delayed by up to six months.
🇳🇴 Norway provided just two of its F-16s for training of Ukrainian pilots.
🇧🇪 Belgium reportedly pledged €611 million ($662 million) in military aid for Ukraine, but still won't supply F-16 warplanes to Kiev before 2025.
🇪🇪 Estonia is continuing to provide small arms to Kiev despite the nation's economic woes and looming recession.
The proposed aid is by no means enough to become a game changer on the battlefield, according to international military observers. Instead, it only draws out the agony of the Ukrainian people.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), also known as the Ramstein summit, held on January 23, comprises a whopping 50 states. However, only a few have offered Ukraine new military packages.
The proposed aid is by no means enough to become a game changer on the battlefield, according to international military observers. Instead, it only draws out the agony of the Ukrainian people.
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A Turkish C-160D aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at the Kayseri 12th Air Transport Base Command in central Turkiye after it experienced a technical malfunction on Thursday morning. The aircraft belongs to the 2th Command of the Main Air Transport Base, according to a recent report. The malfunction occurred during a routine training flight.
A video of the incident was shared to X (formerly Twitter), showing the aircraft flying low over cars and other eyewitnesses as it descended into its emergency landing.
The pilot was able to successfully perform an emergency landing back at the base. And no injuries to the pilot or crew occurred, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Damage to the aircraft, however, was reported.
Video from social media.
A video of the incident was shared to X (formerly Twitter), showing the aircraft flying low over cars and other eyewitnesses as it descended into its emergency landing.
The pilot was able to successfully perform an emergency landing back at the base. And no injuries to the pilot or crew occurred, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Damage to the aircraft, however, was reported.
Video from social media.
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❗️ UN Security Council holds meeting on the Russian Il-76 military plane crash
The emergency meeting of the UN Security Council requested by Moscow discusses the downing of the IL-76 transport plane of the Russian air forces with 65 Ukrainian POWs who were being transported for exchange, the crew and accompanying servicemen died.
Watch the livestream on the Sputnik's website
The emergency meeting of the UN Security Council requested by Moscow discusses the downing of the IL-76 transport plane of the Russian air forces with 65 Ukrainian POWs who were being transported for exchange, the crew and accompanying servicemen died.
Watch the livestream on the Sputnik's website
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Sputnik International
❗️ UN Security Council holds meeting on the Russian Il-76 military plane crash The emergency meeting of the UN Security Council requested by Moscow discusses the downing of the IL-76 transport plane of the Russian air forces with 65 Ukrainian POWs who were…
Key statements made by Russian deputy envoy to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy during the emergency UNSC meeting on the Russian Il-76 military plane crash in the Belgorod region:
▪️ All available information about Ukraine downing the Russian Il-76 military transport airplane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war shows an act of premeditated assault;
▪️ Should information that Western countries supplied weapons used in the Il-76 downing be confirmed, they will be implicated as direct participants in this heinous act;
▪️ Russia will do everything to ensure that all those responsible for the Il-76 crash are held accountable;
▪️ The Russian Federation is outraged by international organisations' refusal to condemn the downing of the Il-76.
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▪️ All available information about Ukraine downing the Russian Il-76 military transport airplane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war shows an act of premeditated assault;
▪️ Should information that Western countries supplied weapons used in the Il-76 downing be confirmed, they will be implicated as direct participants in this heinous act;
▪️ Russia will do everything to ensure that all those responsible for the Il-76 crash are held accountable;
▪️ The Russian Federation is outraged by international organisations' refusal to condemn the downing of the Il-76.
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🇬🇧The next British government will inherit a raft of tax and spending issues, says a think-tank
Soaring interest rates and weak economic growth paint a bleak picture for the winner of the next general election, expected this year.
The next government will find it "more difficult to reduce debt as a fraction of national income than in any parliament since at least the 1950s,” the the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) said.
An IFS report highlighted the problems opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer could face in Downing Street. His party has enjoyed a huge poll lead over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives for several months.
“Now more than ever, as a country, we face some big decisions and trade-offs over what we want the state to do and how we’re going to pay for it,” IFS Director Paul Johnson told media.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has signaled that he may cut taxes in his spring budget. But the chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility, Richard Hughes, has accused the government of relying on unrealistic forecasts.
Soaring interest rates and weak economic growth paint a bleak picture for the winner of the next general election, expected this year.
The next government will find it "more difficult to reduce debt as a fraction of national income than in any parliament since at least the 1950s,” the the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) said.
An IFS report highlighted the problems opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer could face in Downing Street. His party has enjoyed a huge poll lead over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives for several months.
“Now more than ever, as a country, we face some big decisions and trade-offs over what we want the state to do and how we’re going to pay for it,” IFS Director Paul Johnson told media.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has signaled that he may cut taxes in his spring budget. But the chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility, Richard Hughes, has accused the government of relying on unrealistic forecasts.
“Those looking to form the next government should be honest about these trade-offs. If they are promising tax cuts, let’s hear where the spending cuts will fall. If they are going to raise, or even protect, spending, they should tell us where taxes will rise,” the IFS director said.
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“I wanted to live,” said Russian-held Ukrainian soldier Konstantin Danilchenko in a haunting video that resurfaced after he was reportedly killed in Kiev’s downing of a plane carrying Ukrainian POWs for a planned prisoner swap.
Security analyst Mark Sleboda called the video “an eerie fortune telling of the war,” as he joined Sputnik’s Fault Lines program Thursday to discuss the incident. Sleboda claimed the Kiev regime has targeted Ukrainian POWs “numerous times,” alleging the government’s “callous attitude towards Ukrainians who surrender towards Russian forces.”
The analyst speculated the incident could be designed to discredit Ukrainian President Volydymyr Zelensky’s rival Valery Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces.
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“We are considered as cannon fodder… they don’t explain anything,” he added, echoing complaints of ill-prepared Ukrainian troops arriving on the battlefield with little military training.
Security analyst Mark Sleboda called the video “an eerie fortune telling of the war,” as he joined Sputnik’s Fault Lines program Thursday to discuss the incident. Sleboda claimed the Kiev regime has targeted Ukrainian POWs “numerous times,” alleging the government’s “callous attitude towards Ukrainians who surrender towards Russian forces.”
The analyst speculated the incident could be designed to discredit Ukrainian President Volydymyr Zelensky’s rival Valery Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces.
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🇧🇾 Belarusian Security Council State Secretary Alexander Volfovich said Thursday that Belarusian border guards prevented the displacement of about 35,000 undocumented migrants into the territory of the republic by the security forces of neighboring European countries in 2023.
He added that the current situation causes serious concerns not only in Minsk but also in many European countries which criticize Polish authorities for their tough migration policy.
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"The illegal displacement of migrants from Poland and the Baltic States to our territory continues. In 2023 alone, the Belarusian side stopped the illegal expulsion of about 35,000 refugees. Inhumane measures applied to migrants often lead to their deaths. During the past year, the Belarusian Border Guard Service has documented 27 cases of deaths of refugees who died at the border because of mistreatment by Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian border guards," Volfovich said in an interview with the SB. Belarus Today newspaper.
He added that the current situation causes serious concerns not only in Minsk but also in many European countries which criticize Polish authorities for their tough migration policy.
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Western security services, primarily UK intelligence service MI6, are training Ukrainian sabotage groups for provocations against nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Russia, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin said in an interview with Sputnik.
According to reports, in 2023 Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups that were targeting some NPPs were neutralized in Russia.
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“I can give examples when Western security services, primarily British MI6, train Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups whose plans include carrying out provocations at nuclear power plants in the Russian Federation,” Naryshkin said.
According to reports, in 2023 Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups that were targeting some NPPs were neutralized in Russia.
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Russia was, is and will always be open to negotiations on the settlement in Ukraine, but intends to continue its special military operation until its goals are achieved, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported that Russia was allegedly signaling to the United States via indirect channels that it was open to talks on the future settlement of the Ukraine conflict, including possible security arrangements for Kiev, and was testing the waters to see if Washington was interested in engaging.
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Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported that Russia was allegedly signaling to the United States via indirect channels that it was open to talks on the future settlement of the Ukraine conflict, including possible security arrangements for Kiev, and was testing the waters to see if Washington was interested in engaging.
"President Putin has stated numerous times that Russia was, is and will continue to be open for negotiations on Ukraine... We are determined to reach our goals. And would prefer to complete it by diplomatic means. If not, the military operation will be continued till we reach our goals," Peskov told Bloomberg when asked to comment on the report.
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“There is a strong and distinct possibility that the International Court of Justice in the Hague in the Netherlands will issue what amounts to a cease-and-desist order… demanding that Israel’s forces stop its genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza,” said author Dr. Gerald Horne on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Thursday.
The discussion came as reports emerged that the ICJ would issue a decision in South Africa’s case against Israel Friday morning. A ruling against Israel could lead to increased pressure or even sanctions against the country; it would also be an embarrassment for its most important defender, the United States.
Elsewhere in Africa, Namibian president Hage Geingob made headlines recently when he slammed Germany’s defense of Israel at the ICJ, pointing out Germany’s 20th century genocide of the Namaqua and Herero people in Namibia.
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The discussion came as reports emerged that the ICJ would issue a decision in South Africa’s case against Israel Friday morning. A ruling against Israel could lead to increased pressure or even sanctions against the country; it would also be an embarrassment for its most important defender, the United States.
Elsewhere in Africa, Namibian president Hage Geingob made headlines recently when he slammed Germany’s defense of Israel at the ICJ, pointing out Germany’s 20th century genocide of the Namaqua and Herero people in Namibia.
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The United Nations has received a request from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to share a list of Bucha victims featured in footage that was released by Ukrainian authorities after they entered the town following the departure of Russian forces, in what Moscow says was a provocation to frame its soldiers.
The remarks were in response to a reporter's question if Lavrov had sent such requests.
Speaking at a UN Security Council this week, Lavrov recalled that he had personally asked the UN secretary-general on several occasions to facilitate Kiev handing over the list of names of those allegedly killed by Russian soldiers in Bucha. His appeals remain unanswered, Lavrov stressed.
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"Yes, the request has been received," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during a briefing on Thursday.
The remarks were in response to a reporter's question if Lavrov had sent such requests.
Speaking at a UN Security Council this week, Lavrov recalled that he had personally asked the UN secretary-general on several occasions to facilitate Kiev handing over the list of names of those allegedly killed by Russian soldiers in Bucha. His appeals remain unanswered, Lavrov stressed.
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“There is an example of how a European army today would look… It's like the Ukrainian army today – a logistical nightmare,” said political and strategic analyst Dr. Alessandro Politi in an interview with Sputnik on Thursday.
The discussion came after a fear mongering article in the European edition of Politico’s website which envisioned a Russian invasion of NATO countries in the coming years. Politi likened the piece to “campaign bluster” but insisted the continent should work sincerely towards maintaining peace in Europe.
The creation of an integrated European military would face various practical and political challenges, the analyst explained. Politi said that “a security agreement that reassures everybody” would be necessary long term, “which is not the case now.”
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The discussion came after a fear mongering article in the European edition of Politico’s website which envisioned a Russian invasion of NATO countries in the coming years. Politi likened the piece to “campaign bluster” but insisted the continent should work sincerely towards maintaining peace in Europe.
The creation of an integrated European military would face various practical and political challenges, the analyst explained. Politi said that “a security agreement that reassures everybody” would be necessary long term, “which is not the case now.”
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Two years after the country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan the United States is set to bring another long-running military presence to an end as talks begin to remove US-led coalition forces from Iraq.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made the announcement Thursday after informing the Iraqi foreign minister in a letter the day before. The US-Iraq Higher Military Commission will include representatives from both countries and is the culmination of an agreement made last year.
The US has faced intense opposition throughout the Middle East amidst its material and diplomatic support for Israel in its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 26,000 Palestinians. US forces continue to face attacks throughout the region.
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made the announcement Thursday after informing the Iraqi foreign minister in a letter the day before. The US-Iraq Higher Military Commission will include representatives from both countries and is the culmination of an agreement made last year.
The US has faced intense opposition throughout the Middle East amidst its material and diplomatic support for Israel in its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 26,000 Palestinians. US forces continue to face attacks throughout the region.
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📹 Footage of Russian artillerymen in action
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US federal judge rules Alabama can carry out the nation's first execution by nitrogen gas. Kenneth Smith, who was found guilty of murder-for-hire in 1988, will be executed in Alabama on January 25 using the method, which involves tying a mask to his face…
A prisoner in Alabama was executed using pure nitrogen for the first time in US history, the Associated Press reports
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🗣 Netizens are divided on the execution of a prisoner in Alabama
Those who condemn the execution say the criminal did not deserve the death penalty. Many note the inhumanity of this method of execution, stating that if this were to happen in Iran or China, they would immediately be accused of violating human rights.
However, many also supported the execution, calling for it to be carried out faster.
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Those who condemn the execution say the criminal did not deserve the death penalty. Many note the inhumanity of this method of execution, stating that if this were to happen in Iran or China, they would immediately be accused of violating human rights.
However, many also supported the execution, calling for it to be carried out faster.
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