The vengeful attacks of Washington would not deter strikes on US troops in the region provoked by outrage over American backing of Israel, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter told Sputnik’s Fault Lines program Monday.

“Our shock and awe initiation – I think 80, 85 targets, 220 plus munitions, $500 million it cost us to strike these targets – immediately several of the militias in the area have fired drones and rockets against American bases, and it's ongoing,” he noted. “This is just the insanity of the cycle of violence that the United States has engaged in.”

Ritter also noted the attacks angered Syria and Iraq, where US troops are stationed against those governments’ will.

“We are a terrorist organization, and we are sponsoring attacks against the legitimate government of Syria,” Ritter lamented.

👉 Follow the link for more details

Israel will provide evidence linking the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to "terrorism" to a UN panel looking into the organization, following accusations that its staff were involved in the October 7 attack on Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Monday.

"Congratulations to the [UN] on forming the investigative committee. We will submit all evidence highlighting [UNRWA's] ties to terrorism and its harmful effects on regional stability. It is imperative that this committee brings the truth to light, necessitating the immediate resignation of the UNRWA chairman [Philippe Lazzarini]," Katz wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

In January, Lazzarini vowed to hold accountable anyone involved in "acts of terror."

The US, Finland, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, and some other countries have since suspended funding for UNRWA.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the country was committed to supporting all efforts that would mitigate the humanitarian consequences of the Ukrainian crisis, the United Arab Emirates’ state media WAM reported on Monday.

The two leaders also discussed the development of strategic relations between the two states and a number of regional and international problems of mutual interest, the report read.

In December 2023, Vladimir Putin visited the UAE, held talks with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, discussed bilateral, regional, and international affairs. According to the Kremlin, the meeting's agenda included the Palestine-Israel conflict, as well as situations in Syria, Yemen, and Sudan. The progress of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine was also discussed.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US President Joe Biden fondly recalls his recent meeting with French President François Mitterrand… who died in 1996 ☠️

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

New Russian weapons and military equipment, including drones, are expected to receive export permits in 2024, Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheev told Sputnik.

Mikheev is attending the World Defense Show 2024 trade fair in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"We expect that Russian manufacturing enterprises will intensify in 2024 the processing of authorization documentation for new models, including those from the unmanned segment. In addition, the market shows a high demand for our products that have undergone modernization based on the results of use in combat," he said.

Mikheev added that a number of foreign customers showed interest in the Klavesin-1RE autonomous underwater vehicle complex after its demonstration at the International Naval Show in Russia's Kronstadt and that negotiations were underway. The complex is being presented abroad for the first time, and it should attract the attention of countries that have access to the sea, Mikheev said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US forces on Monday struck "in self-defense" two Houthi explosive uncrewed surface vehicles (USV) in Yemen's territory controlled by the Houthis, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

"On Feb. 5, at approximately 3:30 p.m. (Sanaa time) [12:30 GMT], U.S. Central Command forces conducted a strike in self-defense against two Houthi explosive uncrewed surface vehicles (USV)," CENTCOM said on X (formerly Twitter).

The USVs "presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region," the command said.

The Houthis vowed in November 2023 to attack any ships associated with Israel until it halts military actions in the Gaza Strip. This led US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to announce the creation of a multinational operation to secure navigation in the Red Sea. The US and the UK later started launching strikes against Houthi positions in a bid to degrade the rebels' ability to target commercial vessels.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Ukraine's budget deficit at the end of 2023 continued to increase, reaching a record 20.5% of GDP, or 1.33 trillion hryvnias ($35.1 billion), Sputnik calculations based on the data from the Ukrainian National Bank and the country's Open Budget system show.

Last year, defense spending grew the most strongly — by 10 percentage points, to 52.3%. The only other item that showed growth was the housing and utilities sector, with expenditures growing by 0.2%. The rest of the expenditures decreased in 2023 compared to 2022, and the most serious decrease was in the social sphere — by 4.1 percentage points to 11.7%.

As per the Ukrainian National Bank's estimations, the country's GDP amounted to 6.5 trillion hryvnias in 2023.

Ukraine has been experiencing budget deficits for the past 30 years, with only two surplus years - 1992 and 2000. Previously, the biggest deficit was recorded in 2022 at 16.3 % of GDP.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

‘Long knives are out’: Zelensky and Ukrainian political establishment battle for supremacy.

“Coming into the weekend, the Washington Post tells us that… Zelensky let the United States know that he was going to fire [military leader Valery] Zaluzhny, but they weren't happy about it,” security analyst Mark Sleboda told Sputnik’s Fault Lines program Monday, noting the controversial Ukrainian leader has met resistance from within Ukraine and from his handlers in Washington.

The president then appeared on Ukrainian television and announced he was planning a purge of the entirety of the country’s leadership.

“This seems to be, I would think, anger and frustration over his inability to exercise his presidential authority to get rid of Zaluzhny,” Sleboda stressed, noting that the Ukrainian president has been met with opposition from military and intelligence leaders.

👉 Follow the link for more details

“The fact that this targeting [of Tucker Carlson] is happening in the way it is happening now signifies a fear from the United States,” said journalist Fiorella Isabel, who noted the anxieties of US regime propagandists over the prospect the maverick commentator might practice journalism with an interview of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Host Garland Nixon noted that demonization of foreign leaders is a traditional tactic of US propaganda as Americans are conditioned to revile figures like President Bashar al-Assad in Syria or President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. The “danger” of Carlson’s interview, he noted, is that Putin would be humanized before an American audience.

Isabel noted that Putin has made highly subversive arguments for American audiences, questioning the fairness of US elections and noting that US foreign policy generally remains unchanged as new presidents enter the White House.

👉 Follow the link for more details

Anna Paulina Luna, a member of the US House of Representatives, said she would introduce a bill that would require any politician who supports sending American troops to Ukraine to serve on the front lines with the military.

The congresswoman also made her position on aid to Ukraine clear by posting a photo with the hashtag "KillTheBill".

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹💥 Russian FPV drone crews destroyed a dugout with infantry of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the villages of Verbovoye in Zaporozhye.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Musk repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for the migration policy:

"Rather than secure the borders, this administration and many states are rolling out the red carpet [for illegal migrants]!", - he wrote on his X page.

The situation with illegal migration has been the subject of disputes between the southern states and the federal government for several years, and the most tense situation has developed in the state of Texas. Nearly 2.5 million migrants crossed US-Mexico border in Texas in 2023, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

▪️US airstrikes in Iraq, Syria deliberately stoke conflict - Russian envoy to UNSC

▪️State Department admits US lied about warning Iraq of strikes in advance

▪️The US strikes two Houthi explosive uncrewed surface vehicles in Yemen

▪️Almost 60% of US voters believe Biden is in mental decline ahead of 2024 election, a poll reveals

▪️Ukraine's budget deficit hits record high of 20.5% of GDP

More stories:

▪️The US fears Tucker Carlson will practice journalism in Russia, undermine US propaganda regime

▪️Scott Ritter: ‘We defeat ourselves’: US-backed orgy of violence in Iraq, Syria further delegitimizes the country

▪️What issues are plaguing the British Royal Navy?

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️Rosoboronexport denies information about alleged disruption of deliveries of S-400 air defence systems to India

The contract is being fulfilled within the terms agreed by the parties, the company's Director General Alexander Mikheev told Sputnik during the World Defense Show arms exhibition in Saudi Arabia.

🇷🇺 🇮🇳 Earlier, some Western media, citing a representative of the Indian Air Force, published information that the tightening of sanctions had allegedly prevented Russia from carrying out a planned "major arms delivery" (S-400) in New Delhi's interests in 2023.

"The contract is being executed within the time limits set by agreement of the parties," Mikheev said, answering Sputnik's question whether the information about the interruption of S-400 deliveries to the Indian side was true.

▪Russia and India signed a contract for the supply of S-400s in October 2018. As it became known earlier, five regimental sets will cost Delhi $5.43 billion. India has become the third foreign buyer of these complexes after China and Turkiye, and has already accepted the first two batteries of missile systems.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council explains why Lvov will be the new capital of Ukraine

Dmitry Medvedev commented on the EU project to build a railway connecting the Mediterranean region from southern Spain to Lvov in Ukraine. He drew attention to the fact that the end point of the planned Mediterranean railway will be Lvov, not Kiev.

"It looks like the first confirmation that Lvov-Lemberg* will be the new capital of Ukraine within the borders of the Lvov region... It's just that business is much more prescient than politicians," he wrote on his X-page.

Earlier, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and a major Ukrainian railway company signed an agreement on the construction of a 75-kilometer section of the European-gauge railway. According to the project, the railroad from southern Spain to Lvov will be part of a larger trans-European project, the Mediterranean Corridor, starting in southern Spain.

*Lvov-Lemberg is an old name of the city, when the region was part of the Austrian monarchy.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️The Yemeni Houthis announced an attack on American and British merchant ships in the Red Sea.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt