🚛 After flying on the Tu-160M, Putin decided to drive a Kamaz truck.

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📹 The Kremlin published footage of Putin in the cockpit of the Tu-160M

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The majority of countries at the G20 did not support the attempts of Western representatives to “Ukrainize” the agenda and divert the discussion away from problems in the economy, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said.

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🇷🇺🇿🇦 Russian FM Sergey Lavrov and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa Naledi Pandor hold talks on the sidelines of the G20 Ministerial Meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

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Vladimir Putin commented on Biden’s words addressed to him and called the statement boorish.

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🗣 Russian FM Sergey Lavrov called the situation around Julian Assange a disgrace to Western democracy.

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📹 Putin's full story about his impressions of the flight on the Tu-160M.

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🇷🇺🇹🇷 Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkiye Hakan Fidan hold talks on the sidelines of the G20 Ministerial Meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

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🗣 Putin on Biden’s statements about him

In an earlier interview, Putin said that Biden is preferable as US president to Trump for Russia since he is more experienced and predictable.

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Key statements from Russian FM Sergey Lavrov at the press conference after the meeting of G20 foreign ministers:

▪️Western countries categorically do not want serious dialogue on Ukraine;

▪️There were no serious proposals from the United States to begin contacts with the Russian Federation on strategic stability; trust cannot be restored now while Russia is declared an enemy;

▪️There were no contacts on the sidelines of the G20 with either Blinken or the British Foreign Secretary;

▪️ The Russian Federation will respond to new Western sanctions with practical actions that relate to the self-sufficient development of the Russian economy;

▪️If Europe tries to restore ties with the Russian Federation, making it dependent on their whims, then such contacts are not needed.

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Pentagon plan to increase satellite constellations poses threat to Russia

"They [the US] are greatly strengthening the power of their armed forces [by boosting their satellite capabilities – Sputnik]," Ivan Moiseev, the head of the Russian Institute of Space Policy, told Sputnik. "Since the US is a country 'unfriendly' to Russia, it is therefore a threat. In addition, there are opportunities that are not announced in any way, but they exist."

Soon after the US press published groundless claims of Russia's space-based nuclear program, the Pentagon sent a missile-tracking system into orbit – part of the Department of Defense's new plan, dubbed Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, that aims to fill the low-Earth orbit with myriads of small and cheap satellites. Kathleen H. Hicks, the deputy defense secretary, bragged at a US Space Command gathering on January 10 that the Pentagon will be able to launch those small cost-effective satellites "almost weekly."

"The composition of these [satellite] groups is growing, and literally within five years, [Elon] Musk alone is expected to increase the number of [Starlink] satellites to more than 10,000. Does this create any additional problems [for Russia]? Of course it does," Dr. Natan Eismont of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Space Research Institute told Sputnik. However, he resolutely rubbished the possibility of Russia using space-based nuclear weapons: "There will be no winners in this case, only losers."

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▪️Putin: Ukraine was ‘reduced to the level of colony with a puppet regime’

▪️Why Western traditionalists are increasingly moving to Russia

▪️Putin history lesson: The Origins of Russia and Ukraine

▪️What is the Tu-160M, Putin's aircraft of choice?

▪️Israel exported $12.5 billion worth of weapons in 2022

▪️Vladimir Putin reacts to Biden's insults

▪️'Swingers and criminals': Russian hackers release information on Ukrainian military recruiters

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NATO troops are already fighting in Ukraine. Here’s how:

Earlier this week, the Russian Defense Ministry revealed that NATO servicemen are involved in Ukrainian combat operations under the guise of mercenaries. Sputnik’s Russell Bentley (@TXDPR) explains that this has been going on for a long time.

“Obviously, any foreign soldier fighting on the Ukrainian side is not going to openly admit they are active duty NATO soldiers, but it does not matter whether they call themselves ‘mercenaries’ or anything else, the effect of what they do is all that counts.

There can be little doubt that complex systems like the US HIMARS system (with a minimum cost of $100,000 per rocket) are operated by US soldiers, not by poorly trained Ukrainian recruits. The same goes for other foreign weapons systems. You don't really think Ukrainian pilots will be flying the F-16s that will soon be in Ukraine, do you?

There are two tiers of foreign mercenaries fighting on the side of Ukraine - the criminals, adventurers and poseurs who are little more than expendable infantry ‘grunts’ and P.R.props, and the real expert soldiers who have had years of training and combat experience, who are highly paid and highly valued, and well protected. These professional killers may be retired from active NATO military service, but they continue to serve the same masters, and commit the same war crimes the did when they were officially in NATO armies.”

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