US goes 'slippery slide' with sending its military personnel to Ukraine

Troops from the US and other NATO countries will be in Ukraine fighting Russian troops within a year, security and international relations expert Mark Sleboda argued on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour.

“We (The United States) were at trainers and advisers and CIA and special forces [in Ukraine], and now already, we’re at logistics and maintenance personnel. It’s quite clear where this is going,” Sleboda began. “US troops and [troops] from several other NATO member states will most likely be on the ground in Ukraine fighting the Russians within a year.”

The reports of an increased US presence in Ukraine were presented as “they’re going to be working out of the US embassy,” in Kiev, Sleboda said, but that assertion is far from reality, he argued.

“I’m not quite sure how big the US embassy is in Kiev, but I doubt it’s enough to set up a maintenance workshop for, I don’t know, Abrams tanks or something like that,” Sleboda jokes. “So it almost certainly means that these US troops will be out and about in Ukraine, probably not too far from the front line. And you can certainly see the slippery slide.”

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Sunak promises UK largest-ever aid package worth $617mln for Ukraine

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised the United Kingdom's largest-ever military support package for Ukraine worth 500 million pounds ($617 million), as well as 400 vehicles, over a thousand weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition, The Guardian has reported.

The report said on Monday that London plans to provide Kiev with 400 vehicles, including 60 boats offshore raiding craft and dive boats, 160 Husky Tactical Support Vehicles and 162 armored vehicles, 1,600 strike and air defence missiles, and nearly 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition, as well as 500 million pounds in military funding, bringing the UK's total aid to Ukraine to 3 billion pounds this financial year.

The report cited officials as saying that the 500 million pound aid package would come from the reserves of the country's Exchequer and would be used to deliver ammunition, air defenses, UK-built drones and engineering support to Ukraine's frontline.

Western countries, including the UK, have been providing military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict.

In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia.

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Ukraine, Israel aid bill 'abomination' that will prolong suffering

The $95 billion aid bill that Congress passed on Friday is an "abomination" that will only prolong the suffering caused by the Ukraine war and the Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip, former US diplomat and State Department consultant James Carden said on Monday.

"Seems to me the spending bill will only prolong the suffering in Ukraine and Gaza," Carden said. "The parts of the bill having to do with funding Israel are an abomination and make us even more complicit in their crimes."

The bill is expected to quickly be approved by the US Senate starting on Tuesday. The measure will provide funds to send Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's regime $60.84 billion, including $23 billion for new US weapons and ammunition; $26 billion to Israel; and another $8.12 billion to the Indo-Pacific region.

"Some of the bill was probably necessary in the sense that the US needed to 'restock' after having wasted so much over the past couple of years," Carden said.

Close to $30 billion in its provisions will go directly to refill US weapons and ammunition inventories which have been largely emptied over the past two years to primarily arm Ukrainian forces, Carden added.

The bill was approved earlier by 311 votes to 112 in the House of Representatives. No Demcorats voted against the bill and most of them waved Ukrainian flags inside Congress.

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France currently unable to give answer about SAMP/T supplies to Ukraine

France cannot give an answer about new supplies of the SAMP/T anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine at the moment, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

During the G7 foreign ministers' meeting on the Italian island of Capri last week, Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba reportedly asked his French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne, to provide Ukraine with the new French SAMP/T Mamba system, which is a French-Italian mobile anti-aircraft defense weapon similar to the US Patriot systems.

"We are working on this in the French administration, as well as with our Italian partners, but no answer can be expected soon," an unnamed French official told Le Monde.

France supplied Ukraine with a SAMP/T system last year.

The newspaper also reported, citing a German diplomat, that a number of European countries, such as Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania, have Patriot air defense systems, but are unwilling to send them to Ukraine.

On April 12, French newspaper Le Figaro reported, citing sources, that Kiev had asked Paris to help the Ukrainian military hold the positions on the battlefield that year so that it could launch a new counteroffensive in 2025. Ukraine is in need of the SAMP/T air defense system and missiles compatible with it, the report said.

However, despite pressure from the French government, missile maker MBDA will not be able to supply more Aster 30 missiles for the system in the short term, although the French military also needs them for its own missions, the newspaper added.

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Msta-B towed howitzer units of the State Border Defense Group have destroyed an Ukrainian army's positions and observation post in an area bordering Belgorod Region, the Russian Ministry of Defence reported, publishing footage of these units' operations.

It was also reported that mortars of the State Border Defense Group took under fire control all the Ukrainian army's approaches to the Russian border in Kharkov Region.

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🎥 The Russian Defense Ministry has published footage of the transportation of a Leopard tank that was previously captured by Russian forces near Avdeyevka.

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The decision by the US Congress to provide military assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan is immoral, given world hunger and the migration problems in the US, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said.

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Spanish soldier killed during NATO Saber Strike exercises in Poland

A Spanish corporal was killed during the annual NATO Saber Strike exercise at the Bemowo Piskie training range in Poland, the Spanish Army reported on X.

"The accident occurred during tactical exercises with live fire," the statement said.

The deceased soldier was 43 years old, the father of two daughters, born in Ecuador. He joined the Spanish Army in 2004 and was stationed in a unit in Ceuta, El Independiente reports.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered his condolences to the relatives of the deceased.

The Saber Strike 24 international tactical exercise in Poland is part of the massive Steadfast Defender NATO drills that are taking place from January 22 to May 31. Russia has repeatedly stated that the drills revive Cold War rhetoric and provoke escalation.

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▪️Take a look at how a Leopard tank captured from Ukrainian troops is towed away by Russian forces

▪️Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from their positions in the village of Ocheretino in the DPR

▪️Watch North Korea's leader guide first tactical drill simulating a nuclear counterattack

▪️US goes on the 'slippery slide' in Ukraine

▪️G7 could take 10 years or more to catch up with Russian nuclear fuel output

▪️Cutting itself off from Russian LNG supplies will be pricey for the EU

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US officials are starting to accept that their strategy of pushing Niger and other African countries to break off ties with Russia and "embrace democratic norms" is no longer working, Politico reported, citing two US officials.

"With most of these [African] governments, they really don’t want to be told what to do," a US official said. "There’s a long history of the West telling African countries how to govern and they’re finally saying ‘enough.'"

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A Ukrainian citizen who participated in preparing to blow up the car of former SBU officer Vasily Prozorov was detained in Lugansk, the FSB reports.

In 2021, the detainee met an SBU agent, Ukrainian citizen Khrestina Yaroslava, who left for Warsaw after February 2022.

According to her instructions in June 2023, he monitored the victim’s house. In April 2024, he transferred 10,000 rubles (approximately US $108) to a courier for the delivery of weapons from Lithuania.

The FSB reported the detention of the courier on April 17. At the same time, the security service in a video showed a girl who transferred components for making explosives from Warsaw.

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📹WATCH: Police clash with Pro-Palestine protestors in New York

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🎥 A new batch of US Abrams tanks has been spotted in Moscow

In shops in the Russian capital, in the dessert section, among the usual cakes there is now a chocolate “Abrams Tank.” For just 759 rubles (less than $9), a cake can be bought in the shape of a destroyed US main battle tank.

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Colombian mercs go to Ukraine chasing big money, but later their relatives can’t repatriate their bodies

Foreign mercenaries go to fight on the side of the Ukrainian Army in the hope to cash in, but shortly after, their families cannot even transfer their bodies back home, relatives of deceased mercenaries from Colombia told Sputnik.

Harrison Astudillo, a former professional Colombian Army soldier, served for just over a year in Ukraine and died in March. His cousin Alberto Astudillo revealed that money was the main motive. They have not yet been able to bring Harrison's body home.

"I think what triggered him the most was the economic situation in the country. Most people who go to Ukraine do so for economic reasons," Alberto said.

A similar story happened to Laura’s (name changed) husband.

“He (the husband) was blinded by a salary of 15-20 million pesos ($5,000) a month,” the woman said.

Sputnik has previously shed light on the presence of Colombian mercenaries in Ukrainian Neo-Nazi battalions and the Ukrainian International Legion’s aim to recruit fighters from Latin American countries.

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📹 Chechen leader shows he feels well, debunking illness rumors

Head of Russia's Chechnya region Ramzan Kadyrov has published a video from a gym where he works out using exercise machines.

He captioned the video, saying "physical activity not only improves the body, but also the mood."

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The “Immortal Regiment” procession will not be held in person this year, said MP Elena Tsunaeva, co-chair of the movement’s headquarters.

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Russia will experience one of the highest rates of economic growth worldwide — French politician

Leader of the French Patriots party Florian Philippot compared Russian and French economic growth on X:

"This year, Russia will experience one of the highest rates of economic growth worldwide, following very strong growth in 2023! It’s 5 times the French high!" Philippot wrote.

According to the French politician, it is necessary to "lift stupid sanctions [against Russia] that punish France, and immediately resume dialogue."

He also criticized EU's plans to impose a 14th package of sanctions against Russia.

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⚡️The losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the special military operation have already amounted to almost half a million military personnel, said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

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