The number of victims of the terrorist attack in Moscow increased to 143, according to updated data.

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“The West must stop creating a new terrorist cell in the center of Europe; now Ukraine is being used for this,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

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From stealth to shrapnel: How a Soviet-made system downed US F-117 Nighthawk

In 1999, near Belgrade, a $45-million US F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter met its match with a Soviet-made air-defense system, shattering the myth of its invisibility to radar. The swift action of the Yugoslav military destroyed the Nighthawk in just 60 seconds, revealing the fallibility of US technology.

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It is at least strange that the US is already announcing one version of the perpetrators of the terrorist attack in Moscow's Crocus City Hall, which means they want to shift attention from something, said Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov

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Former US Representative Tulsi Gabbard: Clinton and Obama continue to shape US government decisions

In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson on TCN, Tulsi Gabbard emphasized, "Whether they're holding office or not, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are not in office right now, but they still continue to wield immense power in influencing the decisions that are being made."

Gabbard's remarks shed light on the ongoing impact of past administrations on the current political landscape, raising questions about the true power dynamics shaping US policy.

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Yugoslav shootdown of F-117 Nighthawk, US’ ‘premier stealth aircraft’ was ‘shock’ - Karen Kwiatkowski

Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the March 27, 1999 destruction by Yugoslav air defenses of a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth bomber aircraft using a vintage Soviet S-125 Neva SAM. The incident was “shocking,” and demonstrates that technological supremacy alone doesn’t determine a conflict’s outcome, retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and former senior DoD analyst Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.

“I vaguely recall this as being a shock – it was the premier stealth aircraft of the day,” Kwiatkowski said. “The US and NATO Yugoslavia campaign was seen by us as to be ‘easy’ in that it was largely an air operation allied with one side of a civil war, a standoff effort against Soviet-era weapons in a post-Soviet era. Yet tactics and poor US/NATO operational security led to this surprise.”

But technology alone was not enough to break the spirits of Yugoslav air defense troops Colonel Dani and his men that day 25 years ago, Kwiatkowski said.

“Colonel Dani was a baker by trade, fighting for his country, his family, his people and his land. His opponent was simply doing a ‘fun’ job, as directed, and hoping for a good story to tell later. We have seen this kind of thing in any number of wars, past and present, where innovative use of whatever you have at hand – in terms of fighters, intelligence, networks, weapons and tools of every kind –can have major consequences on the battle landscape.”

“The US military downplayed the negative publicity, and the contractors had fresh cause to request more funding for years to come. I don’t have the impression that the overall US military leadership gained any respect for the ‘enemy’ and their Soviet-era air defense, but I do think F-117 pilots did,” Kwiatkowski said.

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Russian air defenses destroyed 16 Ukrainian Vampire MLRS missiles over the Belgorod region at about 8:30 p.m. Moscow time, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

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❗️ The Russian-speaking minority has been subjected to discriminatory treatment in Ukraine, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a report.

Russian prisoners of war were tortured in Ukraine in December 2023 through February 2024 and such stories are trustworthy, according to the report.

Ukrainian authorities have not been sufficiently prosecuting those responsible for torture and violence against civilians and prisoners of war, the OHCHR stressed.

The Kiev regime continues to intimidate priests and members of the Ukrainian orthodox church, the United Nations Human Rights Office added.

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❗️ Russian prisoners of war have been tortured in Ukraine between December 2023 and February 2024, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

The employees of the OHCHR visited 44 Russian prisoners of war in Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Lvov, Nikolayev, Sumy, Vinnitsa and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine from December 2023 to February 2024.

"While these Russian POWs did not make any allegations of torture occurring at these facilities, they provided credible accounts of torture or ill-treatment in transit places after their immediate evacuation from the battlefield," the OHCHR said in a report.

Ukrainian authorities do not sufficiently prosecute those responsible for torture, violence against civilians and prisoners of war, the OHCHR emphasized.

"OHCHR has documented arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and the use of torture and ill treatment, including sexual violence, by Ukrainian authorities during the detention of conflict-related civilian detainees and Russian POWs, as well as the summary execution of at least 25 Russian servicemen hors de combat (all in 2022 and early 2023)," the report said, adding that "Ukrainian authorities have launched at least five criminal investigations into allegations of violations committed by their own security forces, involving 22 victims."

These results show a lack of progress in the investigation and prosecution of such violations, the OHCHR said.

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NATO pilots will be the ones flying F-16s in Ukraine

The alliance has promised to supply the first batch of F-16s to Ukraine by summertime. However, it is likely that NATO will actually entrust Ukrainian pilots

“If they give that kind of machine to some guy who took a six month crash course, then that's what it's going to be, a crash course. He's going to fly for about one hour before he has to hit the ejector seat, if he's lucky enough to be able to do that,” said Sputnik correspondent Russell Bentley.

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Ukrainian authorities continued intimidating the priests and members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church — Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) from December 2023 to February 2024, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

"Clergymen and parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) continued to experience intimidation during the reporting period. OHCHR recorded six cases across five regions where groups of people forcefully broke into UOC churches, justifying their actions with decisions from local authorities to register new religious communities of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) at the same address as existing UOC communities," the OHCHR said in a report.

The Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine is subjected to discriminatory treatment in comparison to other linguistic minorities that speak EU languages, the OHCHR highlighted.
OHCHR examined the law adopted by the Parliament of Ukraine on December 8, which amends a number of legislative acts related to the rights of national minorities.

"While the law is a significant step forward in improving the rights of national minorities, it maintains a discriminatory differential treatment between, on the one hand, national minorities speaking an official language of the EU, and on the other hand, national minorities whose languages are not official languages of the EU, such as Russian, Armenian or Romani. Although the first category of national minorities saw their rights broadened, as described above, national minorities whose language is not an EU language will not be able to enjoy the same rights," the OHCHR said in a report.

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