❗️ Russian air defenses destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region and four more UAVs over the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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Netanyahu demands that IDF occupy, take full control of Gaza after Israeli military operation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a maximalist proposal for an Israel-endorsed resettlement of Gaza Friday, demanding an indefinite military occupation of the territory by the Israel Defense (sic) Forces. Palestinian leaders immediately rejected the plan, calling it “colonialist and racist” and “destined to fail.”

“Netanyahu’s proposed plans aim to perpetuate Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state,” said Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh. “If the world wants security and stability in the region, it must end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and recognise the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The plan is also likely to face rhetorical opposition from the Biden administration, which has criticized any effort to reduce the habitable size of Palestinian territory in Gaza.

The United States continues to send Israel millions of dollars in military aid and has failed to prevent Israeli settlement-building in the occupied West Bank, which observers say makes the possibility of a Palestinian state in the territory unfeasible.

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Belarusian parliamentary elections see Russians joining the fray

Belarus is preparing for parliamentary elections on February 25, 2024. This year, a notable addition is the participation of Russian citizens permanently residing in Belarus, who have the right to vote in local Council of Deputies elections.

According to Igor Karpenko, the chairman of the Central Election Commission, there are 21 Russian candidates, with 15 running for local council seats. In total, 298 candidates are vying for positions in the House of Representatives, and 18,996 candidates are nominated for local councils. Around 95,000 Russians in Belarus are registered on the electoral rolls.

The election campaign is the largest in Belarusian history, with voters set to elect 110 House of Representatives members and 12,514 local council deputies. The elections will be held on February 25, from 8 am to 8 pm local time, with the option of voting from home.

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▪️ The US and its allies carry out strikes against the Houthis

▪️ …and the movement fires back, targeting US ship the Torm Thor in the Gulf of Aden

▪️ Time Magazine admits the obvious and acknowledges Ukraine can’t win

▪️ Russian troops have the initiative as they engage in fierce fighting in the village of Rabotino in the Zaporozhye region

▪️ Ukrainian troops are suffering from a major shortage of artillery ammunition and other weapons, the country's Foreign Minister Kuleba told US media

More stories:

▪️ Warmonger Victoria Nuland makes it clear that the US supports Ukraine to launder money

▪️ ‘Fratricide is a problem’: US merc reveals why he quit Ukraine

▪️ Netanyahu demands occupation, full control of Gaza after Israeli military operation

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Europe scrambles to mobilize 'fractured arms industry' to meet Ukraine's voracious demands

European nations determined to prop up Ukraine are struggling to expand defense manufacturing after “decades of disinvestment,” The Washington Post reported.

As they try to satiate the voracious appetites of the Kiev regime while trying not to drain their own military capacity, they face a host of “systemic constraints,” the outlet cited James Black, a defense and security researcher at Rand Europe, as saying.

Over the years, “fractured defense manufacturing, smaller-scale markets and legal barriers to collective production” have all fed into the current situation. “Europe is now racing to relearn how to mobilize industry onto a wartime footing. But you cannot simply flip a switch,” said Black.

Worries about Europe's own defense capability and flagging Ukraine aid dominated talks at the recent Munich Security Conference. Ukraine’s President Zelensky flogged his usual beggar act and pleaded for money and weapons against the backdrop of a stinging battlefield loss of the Avdeyevka stronghold.

Furthermore, ‘Ukraine fatigue’ is increasingly fracturing European unity amid rapidly depleting weapons stockpiles, faltering industry production, and a US aid package for Kiev stalled in Congress.

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5 Euromaidan myths busted

This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the culmination of the ‘Euromaidan Revolution’ – the US and EU-backed coup d’état which overthrew President Viktor Yanukovich and sparked the present Ukrainian crisis.

Watch Sputnik’s video debunking the top five Euromaidan myths, including:

#5: That Yanukovich triggered the Maidan protests in November 2013 by rejecting an association agreement with the European Union.

#4: That the unrest was a spontaneous and unorganized expression of popular anger and dissatisfaction with the government, and were not sponsored from the outside.

#3: That the demonstrations were peaceful and only turned violent due to the heavy-handed police response.

#2: That the 'Heavenly Hundred' are martyrs of the Euromaidan revolution murdered by Yanukovich’s police forces.

#1: That the ‘Heavenly Hundred’ were heroes who sacrificed themselves for the sake of Ukraine’s aspirations for a bright European future.

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❗ President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that it would be difficult to overthrow the government in Belarus even in the most radical way

❗ Alexander Lukashenko said that Minsk will be united with Russia; scenarios for countering Western policies were discussed with Putin

❗️ Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has announced his intention to participate in the presidential election in 2025 and said that the more the West "stresses" the Belarusians, the "sooner he will go to the polls."

📹 2S5 Giatsint-S self-propelled gun destroys camouflaged dugout and enemy manpower near Kupyansk

Battlegroup Zapad’s 1st Guards Tank Army artillerymen deliver precision strikes on uncovered Ukrainian military facilities, positions, fortifications, armored vehicles, and manpower both day and night.

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❗️ In the Donetsk area, Ukrainian losses amounted to over 360 military personnel, an American M777 howitzer, and a German Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzer, the Russian Defense Ministry said

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ Russian troops have taken up more favorable positions near Avdeyevka and repelled seven counterattacks by Ukrainian forces;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces struck three Ukrainian brigades in the southern DPR, with the enemy losing up to 140 soldiers;

▪️ Russian air defenses destroyed 77 Ukrainian drones;

▪️ Russian troops repelled four counterattacks near Kupyansk, with Ukrainian forces losing up to 180 men;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces destroyed a Grad MLRS combat vehicle in the southern Donetsk People’s Republic.

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A woman was injured and several cars and buildings were damaged as a result of Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk earlier in the day.

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Zelensky claims that Ukraine will use the weapons transferred by the West only for strikes on the territory it considers its own, in other cases "it has no right and never will."

At the same time, at the end of December, Ukraine hit Belgorod with a Czech-made RM70 Vampire MLRS. 21 people were killed, including children, and more than 100 people were injured. In addition, on January 24, the Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down a Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft over the Belgorod region, in which 65 Ukrainian prisoners were being taken for exchange. The examination found that the board was shot down by the American Patriot system, namely two MIM-104A missiles.

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🫠 Disney, which is facing serious trouble amid plummeting stocks and box office flops, is blaming "sexist" fans for not liking their movies due to inclusive political messaging.

But this finger-pointing game won't solve their issues. With Disney+ losing millions and their stock price dropping significantly, their financial woes are mounting. The company's film sector alone may have lost up to $900 million, with recent releases like “The Haunted Mansion” adding to the losses.

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🇷🇺 Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile system crews control airspace above Russian positions in special military operation area both day- and nighttime

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