🇺🇸 Separatist sentiments are growing rapidly in Alaska: about 36% of residents would support secession from the United States.

The list of those who support secession from the United States also included Texas (31%), California (29%) and New York (28%).

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Avdeyevka’s liberation shows Ukrainian front ‘has begun to crack’

Russian forces fully liberated the heavily fortified Donetsk suburb of Avdeyevka this week, breaking out and advancing over 8.5 kilometers beyond the city amid a disorganized and chaotic retreat by Ukrainian forces.

“This is the first city that we’ve taken since Artemovsk, that is, since May of last year. The city…is essentially the last fortified area remaining in the suburbs of Donetsk, which the Ukrainian side has been fortifying since 2014,” Sergei Poletaev, cofounder of the Vatfor media project, told Sputnik, commenting on the significance of Avdeyevka’s liberation.

From here on out, everything will depend “on how big the hole in the front” Russia manages to puncture, with advances threatening to snowball and push Ukrainian forces back rapidly if Kiev proves unable to set up new defensive lines. Avdeyevka’s liberation is an important sign that “the (Ukrainian) front has begun to crack,” Poletaev stressed.

For the West, Avdeyevka’s loss serves as “embarrassing proof that what Ukraine and our intelligence services have done with Western money and Ukrainian lives has been an exercise in waste, and wasted aggression,” former US Air Force officer and DoD senior analyst Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.

“The liberation of Avdeyevka means that soon the arc of Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk will come under Russian attack,” veteran Russian military expert Ivan Konovalov told Sputnik.

“And this, in fact, is the last defensive belt Ukraine’s military has in the context of fortified defenses. That is, our troops are already approaching these areas, and beyond that is territory that’s less heavily fortified.” The closer Russian forces approach to these areas, the more desperate fighting will become, Konovalov said.

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🔺Avdeyevka’s liberation shows Ukrainian front ‘has begun to crack’

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🔺Separatist sentiments are growing rapidly in Alaska

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📹 Soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces discovered captured Western weapons at the location of the Ukrainian Armed Forces unit in Avdeyevka, a video of the raid of the Viking detachment on the liberated city was at the disposal of Sputnik

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Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed that countries whose defense budgets do not meet the alliance's 2% of GDP obligation for members be expelled from NATO.

"I want to have a system where if you don't pay, you get kicked out," he told CBS News.

As Graham noted, 19 of NATO's 31 members now fail to meet this condition on defense spending.

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🔥 A group of Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen tried to leave Avdeyevka in an infantry fighting vehicle, but Russian loitering ammunition disrupted their plans and destroyed the combat vehicle along with its personnel with an accurate hit.

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US detects first Houthi underwater drone while conducting new round of air-strikes

The US conducted five strikes in total and detected the first deployment of an unmanned underwater vessel by the Houthis, according to a statement from US Central Command (CENTCOM), the division of the US military tasked with ensuring American dominance over the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of South Asia.

“These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US Navy and merchant vessels,” CENTCOM’s statement read, without clarifying the justification for US Navy ships’ presence in the Red Sea, which lies between the continents of Asia and Africa in the Indian Ocean, thousands of miles away from the United States.

The Ansar Allah movement, known in the West as the “Houthis,” cites as justification for its blockade governments’ obligation under international law to prevent genocide, a term that numerous organizations have claimed applies to Israel’s actions.

Click through for analysis of the US presence in the Middle East and how Western backing of Israel fits into the US’ broader military ambitions.

The US and its Western allies are trying to prevent the collapse of the Ukrainian army amid the loss of territory and shortage of ammunition, the Politico newspaper has quoted US lawmakers and foreign officials as saying.

At the security conference in Munich, US lawmakers assured their allies that the House of Representatives would still approve aid to Ukraine, and some of them expect the new funding package to be passed as early as March.

However, those congressmen who continue to advocate for arms supplies to Ukraine admits that confidence in Joe Biden and what Ukraine can possibly accomplish is at its lowest level in two years.

In addition, a member of the Ukrainian parliament said that Kiev is concerned about the lack of leadership shown by Washington in allocating Ukraine more funds and sending more ammunition, including long-range missiles, the report read.

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📹 Footage of the disorderly flight of Ukrainian Armed Forces units from Avdeyevka

Crowds of fleeing Ukrainian soldiers are moving along the roads, which are under constant fire control of the Russian army.

Russian artillerymen deliver precise strikes against the enemy. The roadsides are strewn with wrecked APU vehicles.

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Oregon eyes re-criminalizing illicit drugs shortly 4 years after passing most liberal drug law

There is a growing skepticism around the efficiency of Oregon Ballot Measure 110—one of the most liberal drug laws in the US passed in 2020—as the national US drug overdose death toll has crossed 100,000 for the first time since 2021.

“We’ve talked to exactly two people that have actually called that number,” said Sergeant Jerry Cioeta of the Portland Police Bureau, referring to a measure that would have reduced the 100$ fine for illegal drug possession if the person called a addiction treatment services.

Oregon Democrats are pushing for a bill that would make small-scale drug possession a low-level misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail with the opportunity to seek treatment, while the Republicans in Oregon would like to push for harder punishments including up to a year in jail for drug possession, with the option for treatment and probation.

"It's not actually going to save lives or help people get into services. It's going to create barriers to housing and employment, which is what criminal records do," said advocate Tera Hurst of the proposed bill.

Drug overdose deaths in Oregon increased by a third from 2019 to 2020, that percentage swelled to another 44% in 2021, marking over 1,000 deaths in 2021, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

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🌍🇷🇺 ECOWAS ready for mutually beneficial partnership with Russia, commission chairman says

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is currently looking for a partnership that would benefit and unite the bloc, President of the ECOWAS Commission Omar Alieu Touray told Sputnik.

"I think, there are a number of areas ECOWAS has been cooperating with many partners on. And, I am sure that when we sit around the table with the Russian friends we should be able to identify areas which would benefit all of us ... We are looking for partnership that would help us develop, that would unite us," Touray said.

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US President Joe Biden suffers blow as member of his party urges Democrats to vote against him in an upcoming state primary election

Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib urged voters to mark “uncommitted” on their ballots in next Tuesday’s primary to register opposition to Biden’s support for Israel’s deadly campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed some 29,000, according to enclave's health ministry.

“It is… important to create a voting bloc – something that is a bullhorn to say ‘enough is enough,'” said Tlaib, the first Palestinian American member of US Congress. “Right now we feel completely neglected and just unseen by our government.”

Biden has strongly backed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, even bypassing Congress to rush an “emergency” shipment of lethal aid to Israel in December. Activists warn Biden he risks losing reelection in November amidst opposition from Arab Americans in Michigan and other states.

Follow the link for analysis of the incident and the precarious state of pro-Palestine advocacy within the Democratic Party

❗️ The Russian Army Tsentr group has taken full control of the Avdeyevka Coke Plant and Russian flags have been hoisted on administrative buildings of the plant, the Russian Defense Ministry has said

📹 The engineering units of the Russian Army Tsentr group began clearing mines from roads and buildings in Avdeevka, the Russian Ministry of Defense said

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Euromaidan triggered Ukraine's war on Donbass

The "Russian Spring" in Donbass was a grassroots movement that began when the Euromaidan protests were raging on in Kiev, Alexander Matyushin, call sign "Varyag," former commander of the "Varyag" detachment and war correspondent, told Sputnik.

"When the confrontation on the Maidan escalated, we started to join ranks with all [anti-Maidan] activists in Donetsk," Matyushin said.

After the Ukrainian opposition with the backing of neo-Nazi paramilitary groups illegitimately seized power in Kiev on February 22, 2014, Donetsk activists scheduled a rally for the next day. "It was probably the first mass rally in Donetsk since 2004 that was not organized directly by pro-government structures. A grassroots rally," the war correspondent said.

On March 1, 2014, protesters hoisted the Russian flag on the flagpole of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, while on April 7, 2014, the newly established Donetsk People's Republican declared independence. In response, Kiev launched military action against the breakaway republic, which has since lasted for almost 10 years. The Russian special military operation is aimed at bringing it to an end.

"Not having the opportunity to fight at the front now, I am trying to protect the country at least informationally," Matyushin said. "The truth about Donbass should be shown in the most comprehensive way possible and also reach Europe."

👉 Check out the full article

▪️ Watch Russian forces take full control of the Avdeyevka Coke Plant, the last fortified facility of the Ukrainian forces

▪️ The US detects first Houthi underwater drone while conducting new round of strikes

▪️ Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed that countries whose defense expenses are under 2% of GDP be expelled from NATO

▪️ Michigan Democrat urges party colleagues to vote against President Biden

Also take a look at:

▪️ How Ukrainian forces are disorderly fleeing from Avdeyevka

▪️ Footage of captured Western weapons at the location of a Ukrainian military unit in Avdeyevka

▪️ The US and its Western allies trying to prevent the collapse of the Ukrainian Army at the Munich Security Conference

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