Residents of the Gaza Strip would not be able to return to the northern part of the enclave until all hostages still held by Hamas were released, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

"We are working around the clock to reach conditions that will allow us to return the hostages. As part of the negotiations, we are working to maintain pressure on Hamas. The position of the defense ministry will be clear: the full return of civilians to the northern Gaza Strip will take place only after the return of all hostages," Gallant said at a meeting with family members of the hostages in Tel Aviv.

The defense minister added that Israel had "no moral right" to halt hostilities as long as a single hostage remained in Gaza. Even if another pause is agreed upon, Israel will return to the fight "to eliminate the Hamas organization" and return all the abductees, Gallant said.

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Russian FPV drones destroy military equipment, troops, and dugouts south of Donetsk 

Finding Ukrainian troops' machine-gun positions, dugouts, and armoured vehicles is the primary responsibility of drone operators. When they notice a tank or an IFV approaching, the operator loads a projectile on an FPV drone and engages an identified target within 3–4 minutes. 

The soldiers believe that the main advantage of using drones is the increased effective distance. Not a single RPG shot can fly three kilometres away.

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Republican Congressman Ken Buck, who has been critical of rushing to impeach President Biden, is now planning to introduce a resolution urging Biden's Cabinet to consider invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

"Numerous instances were articulated in the report, and have played out in full public view, showing President Biden’s apparent cognitive decline and lack of mental stamina," the House Republican from Colorado said, expressing concerns about President Biden's mental fitness for office while citing the findings of Special Counsel Robert Hur's report on the president's handling of classified documents.

While the report did not recommend charges against the president, it described him as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory".

Buck said the report "addressed what many Americans have long witnessed with their own eyes – that President Biden is no longer fit to successfully discharge the critical duties of his office."

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NATO countries disagree on the prospect of sending their troops to Ukraine and no such decisions have been made, Polish President Andrzej Duda told reporters following the end of a pro-Ukraine conference which took place in Paris on Tuesday.

"If we are talking about providing specific assistance, then individual countries decide what kind of assistance they specifically provide to Ukraine. There was a heated discussion about sending soldiers to Ukraine, and there was no absolute mutual understanding on this issue. There are different opinions. But I want to emphasize that there are absolutely no such decisions," Duda claimed.

French President Emmanuel Macron added that "nothing can be ruled out," commenting on the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine.

On Monday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that several EU and NATO countries are considering the possibility of sending their military to Ukraine on the basis of bilateral agreements.

Russia has repeatedly warned NATO countries that arms supplies to Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets. Moscow has accused NATO countries of "playing with fire" by arming Ukraine, emphasizing that such actions hinder the possibility of Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

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Pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered in the lobby of the corporate media outlet NBC in New York to interrupt President Joe Biden's upcoming appearance on the Late Night with Seth Meyers segment, American media reported.

Hundreds of people were chanting "Stop arming genocide" in reference to Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip that have resulted in the death of some 30,000 Palestinians and the displacement of nearly 2 million Palestinians there amid widespread hunger.

New York police officers have arrested several of the protesters, the report said.

Biden is visiting New York for what the White House described as a "campaign meeting," without revealing additional details.

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Crews of the MLRS "Grad" support the offensive of the Russian army in the Zaporozhye region.

Artillerymen of the battlegroup “Youg” strike the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Rabotino. To inflict maximum damage, Grad crews use "carousel-fire" tactics: when one battery moves to a position, another is already reloading, and the third moves to a new firing position.

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Emergency services examined the Florida home of Donald Trump Jr. after he opened a letter and an unidentified white powder came out, according to media reports.

"The test results of the substance came up inconclusive...but officials on the scene do not believe it is deadly," a spokesperson for the former president's son said.

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‘Putin was right’: Western complicity in Ukraine’s terrorism proves wisdom of special operation in the Donbass.

“We just had over the weekend an extensive article in The New York Times about how involved the CIA has been for the last decade and is involved in this conflict in secret bunkers on the Russian border from which they are directing attacks into Russia,” said Security analyst Mark Sleboda on Sputnik’s Fault Lines program, commenting on the recent revelations by the NYT.

Sleboda emphasized that the reporting proves Russian President Vladimir Putin had no choice but to intervene in the Donbass, claiming the extent of Western intelligence agencies’ efforts was revealed “because they plan further escalation and they've got to come out in front about how involved they have been at this point in directing this whole war in order to move to escalate even further.”

The Kiev regime has launched terrorist attacks on Russian civilians in recent months, likely attempting to bait the country into a response that can be used to justify further Western involvement.

The city of Kharkov has been a crucial beachhead for such provocations. “These attacks across the border into Belgorod have made it an imperative for Russia to deal with Kharkov,” the analyst emphasized. After Moscow seizes this important city, the second-most populous in all of Ukraine, Sleboda predicted Russian troops would be forced to continue to move towards Kiev as the West uses the remnants of the Ukrainian rump state to further antagonize Russia.

"So, literally, whether they would want to stop earlier, which I certainly believe they do. Right. They didn't want to launch this to begin with, but in order to stop NATO operations out of Ukraine, they will eventually have to take probably the whole thing," Sleboda highlighted.

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‘No safe area’: Gaza crisis has been nearing its peak as Netanyahu appears committed to an assault on Rafah

“It's the same situation we have been seeing for the past five months [where] Benjamin Netanyahu goes on a US news outlet and says that, confirms that regardless of even a ceasefire deal the invasion of Rafah will continue,” Esteban Carrillo, a Beirut-based Ecuadorian journalist, told Sputnik’s Fault Lines. “So, we can expect another further expansion of genocide, the further ethnic cleansing of these people.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told an American television and radio network that a potential hostage deal between Israel and Hamas will delay an Israeli military operation in Rafah, but said that Israel will conduct their operation there no matter what.

“They said Khan Yunis is a safe area, they said Rafah was a safe area. They said that the corridors were safe and they were bombing civilian caravans, they were killing people left and right. So, no, there is no safe area," the journalist emphasized.

On Friday, Netanyahu unveiled his plan for an Israeli-endorsed resettlement of Gaza. The prime minister has demanded an indefinite military occupation of the territory, as well as a local government chosen by Israel. The proposed plan was denounced by Palestinian leaders, who called the plan “colonialist and racist.”

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Russian air defenses destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk region, governor Alexander Bogomaz said, adding that there were no casualties or damage reported.

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Russophobic elements in US Congress are set to lose influence amidst Moscow’s strength

A number of Western analysts in recent days have acknowledged Ukraine is losing in the Donbass, giving Russia a significant leverage in hypothetical peace talks with Kiev.

“It's going to be unconditional surrender,” said former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter during an appearance on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program. “I don't believe the Russians are going to sit there and say, 'well, you can keep some Banderites here. You can keep this NATO army here.' No, those are gone.”

The former UN weapons inspector claimed Russia would prioritize rebuilding economic links with Europe.

“It's not in Russia's interest to have a permanent state of conflict with Europe,” Ritter clarified, noting that Moscow’s strengthened links with BRICS nations now make it a “gateway economy” for the West.

Ritter stressed Moscow’s strength will eventually force a rapprochement from the United States as well. “We're going to need to see not just a change in presidential administrations, but we're going to have to see a thinning out of the Russophobic blood in Congress, and this could take several election cycles,” he noted.

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A US Senate aide who sent some $30,000 in sniper gear to troops in Ukraine may be a foreign agent, according to reports in US media.

Kyle Parker, a senior advisor to the pro-Ukraine US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, is known as an anti-Russia hawk in Washington, having worked to pass legislation to target Russian officials with sanctions.

Parker is being investigated for failing to register as a foreign agent, according to a report shared with US media. The report suggests Parker was “wittingly or unwittingly being targeted and exploited by a foreign intelligence service” and urges the case’s referral to the FBI.

Parker has also been accused of enabling corruption by hiring a contact in Ukraine to a CSCE fellowship position against the advice of ethics officials. CSCE chairman Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) has called for his firing.

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Yemen's Houthis damaged four undersea cables that provide Internet connections between Europe and Asia, the Israeli media outlet Globes said.

According to the outlet, the incident led to “serious disruptions” in the Internet connection between Europe and Asia. Users from Gulf countries and India were hit the hardest, the article said.

Globes noted that repairing communications will take at least eight weeks.

The Houthis have previously rejected accusations that they intend to damage internet cables, saying they never mentioned such a possibility.

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🇫🇷 French President Emmanuel Macron's claims about an allegedly impending Russian attack on Europe are designed to drag the French into a world war, the leader of the French Les Patriotes party, Florian Philippot, has written on the social network X.

At the opening of an international conference to support Ukraine, Macron said Russia "may attack" European countries.

"So what? Are we fighting a war? World War III!!! Obviously, that's (Macron's) goal," Philippot wrote.

The politician expressed confidence that France should reject further support for Ukraine and leave NATO.

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▪️ NATO countries disagree on the prospect of sending their troops to Ukraine

▪️ ‘Putin was right’: Western complicity in Ukraine’s terrorism proves wisdom of special operation in the Donbass

▪️ Russophobic elements in US Congress are set to lose influence amidst Moscow’s strength

▪️ ‘No safe area’: Gaza crisis has been nearing its peak as Netanyahu appears committed to an assault on Rafah

More stories:

▪️ Emergency services examined the Florida home of Donald Trump Jr. after he opened a letter containing white powder

▪️ Crews of the MLRS "Grad" support the offensive of the Russian army in the Zaporozhye region

▪️ Russian FPV drones destroy military equipment, troops, and dugouts south of Donetsk

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US Army getting to know Russia's 'military tactics'?

The US military has released a large set of data on the Russian Armed Forces and their military strategy ennoscriptd ‘Russian Tactics’.

The Army Techniques Publication (ATP) is a 280-page-long document that professes to address the Russian military doctrine "with a focus on army ground forces and tactical operations in offense, defense, and related mission sets." It claims to address “the tactics, organization, and activities of the Russian military." Russian tactics are to be used “in Army training, professional education, and leader development."

The ATP omitted any focus on Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, saying the conflict is still being studied, and the US Army is “continuing to revise our assessments.”

The publication comes as a few days earlier US Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor was cited by The Washington Post as praising the work and tactics of the artillery of the Russian Armed Forces in the course of the military operation in Ukraine.

“Russian artillery has rendered maneuver difficult and command posts unsurvivable,” stressed Taylor.

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⚡️ Ukrainian intelligence services intended to carry out a terrorist attack in the Zaporozhye region using an analogue of the chemical warfare agent BZ, the Russian Federal Security Service said.

The plot was foiled and three Ukrainian citizens were apprehended. The toxic substances seized from them are used to create chemical weapons and were developed in the US, the service stressed.

BZ is a toxic psychochemical warfare agent that causes acute psychosis, disorientation, and hallucinations.

❗️ The toxic substance, an analogue of the chemical warfare agent BZ, was discovered in late January in a cache in Melitopol in the Zaporozhye region, Igor Kirillov, chief of the Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops, previously said.

❗️ The Russian Federal Security Service has released a video showcasing the apprehension of suspects involved in a now-foiled terrorist plot targeting the Zaporozhye region

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