🇦🇺🇷🇺 Australians rally in Sydney in solidarity with Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

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Why Kiev’s ambitions to buy a fifth-gen fighter jet which doesn’t exist won’t get off the ground

Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkiye announced this week that Kiev is interested in ‘buying and using’ Turkiye’s prospective fifth-generation Kaan stealth multirole fighter and collaborating in its development.

🔺The Turkish fighter program isn’t expected to start production until 2029 at the earliest, with Turkiye likely to seek to arm its own Air Force before exporting the plane abroad.

🔺That’s not mentioning financing, and the potential diplomatic ramifications of selling such and advanced piece of military hardware to Ukraine amid Ankara’s desire to balance its relations with both Kiev and Moscow.

🔺For now, the Kaan “has only taxied along the runway and been shown off externally,” Major Andrei Krasnoperov, a Russian Aerospace Forces veteran and military expert, told Sputnik, pointing to the amount of time and resources necessary to put a true fifth-generation fighter aircraft into service.

🔺Retired Russian Army Colonel and military analyst Viktor Litovkin agreed, emphasizing that building a plane is a long and “very serious process.” “When someone announces that they will do something by a certain date, this is not always justified. It’s just that journalists and the public want this all to happen as quickly as possible. But in reality, the laws of physics do not adjust to social expectations,” Litovkin stressed, pointing out that even a major military aerospace power like Russia has needed years to get its new Sukhoi Su-57 into production.

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Zelensky refused to answer questions about what he would say to Republicans blocking the bill on aid to Ukraine upon learning that the interview was being televised.

What do you think he wanted to say?

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🇩🇪 The German defense company Rheinmetall plans to open a new plant for the production of ammunition in Ukraine. The corresponding memorandum was signed on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

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At the Munich Security Conference, there is a gloomy atmosphere, with most attendees skeptically assessing Ukraine's chances of defeating Russia, reports Politico.

Only the most steadfast supporters of Ukraine are willing to say that it can defeat Russia. But most attendees are not willing to say so, and behind closed doors, they are skeptical about Ukraine's complete victory over Russia in the near future - if ever.

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Arena-M: Russia’s unique Javelin-stopping active protection system

Development work on Arena-M, a modernized version of the Arena active protection system (APS) is proceeding apace, with the chief designer of the Mashinostroyeniya Construction Bureau informing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu this week that the system has been submitted for qualification tests. Here’s what we know about the new defensive platform:

🔺The Arena is a hard-kill APS, featuring projectiles fired at enemy anti-tank missiles to prevent them from reaching and damaging or destroying the tank on which the system is equipped.

🔺The base system comes with a powerful, multifunctional, jamming-resistant Doppler radar to detect enemy projectiles. The radar is connected to an onboard targeting and tracking computer, which automatically fires anti-ATGM rounds at projectiles flying at pre-designated speeds and trajectories. Response time is just 70 milliseconds.

🔺The Arena-M is expected to feature a maneuverable defensive sub-munition, allowing the system to cover a wider area with fewer fires.

🔺The upgraded model is expected to feature 360 degree protection, including of the upper hemisphere, creating a dome of cover around the tank that even advanced NATO ATGMs like the TOW and Javelin cannot penetrate.

🔺Reports suggest the Arena-M will feature an altered configuration aboard the tanks, including additional radar antennas and housing divided into multiply blocks, which should simplify retrofitting and repairs.

🔺Russia today is a global pioneer of active protection systems, with the Arena’s predecessor, the Drozd (lit. ‘Thrush’) first entering into service in the early 1980s, and complemented by the Shtora-1 (lit. ‘Curtain-1’) soft-kill APS later in the decade.

🔺Heavenly Hundred: a myth to legitimize neo-Nazi coup d'etat

🔺Kiev decided to withdraw troops from Avdeyevka not to "save lives,” but because it can only fight for money

🔺Putin’s predictions from 2007 Munich speech: what did Russia’s president get right?

🔺Why Kiev’s ambitions to buy a fifth-gen fighter jet which doesn’t exist won’t get off the ground

🔺What are the secret societies pulling the global strings?

🔺Arena-M: Russia’s unique Javelin-stopping active protection system

🔺‘Symbolic strikes’? NYT claims Israel responsible for attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure

🔺Iran unveils homegrown anti-ballistic missile defense system

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“The withdrawal is seen as a massive win for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the biggest since Russia captured the city of Bakhmut in May 2023", Fox News stated.

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⚡️ Sergei Shoigu reported to Vladimir Putin, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, on the complete taking of Avdeyevka under control by the troops of the Battlegroup Tsentr under the command of Colonel-General Mordvichev, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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❗️ As a result of the capture of Avdeyevka from Ukrainian nationalists, an area of 31.75 square kilometers has been liberated, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

Over the past 24 hours, Ukraine lost over 1,500 servicemen in the battles for Avdeyevka, the ministry added.

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❗️ Battlegroup Tsentr forces are continuing offensive operations to further liberate the Donetsk People’s Republic from the Ukrainian nationalists, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

The liberation of Avdeyevka has made it possible to move the front line away from Donetsk and significantly protect it from terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime.

Measures are currently being taken to finally clear Avdeyevka of militants and block Ukrainian units, the ministry stated.

Only some scattered formations of Ukrainian militants managed to leave Avdeyevka in a hurry, abandoning weapons and equipment.

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❗️ Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the Russian military on its success in Avdeyevka, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"Putin in the Kremlin listened to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's report on the liberation of Avdeyevka. The president congratulated our military and fighters on such an important victory, on such a success," Peskov said.

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❗️ The Russian flag has replaced the Ukrainian rag: Russian soldiers replaced the flag on the building of the administration of liberated Avdeyevka.

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❗️ Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telegram to Tsentr Battlegroup commander Colonel-General Mordvichev, expressed his gratitude for the bravery of the troops he led in the liberation of Avdeyevka, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova is curious about the contents of the aid package for Ukraine, after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was seen smoking a cigar as he was broadcast live from the Munich Security Conference.

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