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▪️Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from their positions in the village of Ocheretino in the DPR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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❗️Russian military to receive first versions of the new generation S-500 air defense missile systems this year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

🔻S-400, S-300V4, 'Buk-M3', 'TOR-M2U' and new generation radar will be also delivered to the troops in 2024

🔻The military will receive S-500 in two modifications: long-range anti-aircraft missile systems and missile defense systems

🔻Russia will continue to increase the production of the most popular weapons and military equipment in proportion to the threats from the West, Shoigu said.

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Why North Korea is conducting its first nuclear counter-attack drill?

North Korea launched its first nuclear counter-attack drill yesterday. What could have driven them to hold the drill?

▪️ US and South Korea have been holding record-sized field, live-fire and air drills in North Korea’s backyard.

▪️ Last year, US broke a 40-year precedent by deploying a nuclear submarine to South Korea, on top of establishing a bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group with the latter.

▪️ US has expanded its military presence in Northeast Asia, raising security cooperation with its allies in the region to the trilateral level last year, with plans to conduct “multi-domain trilateral exercises on a regular basis.”

▪️ Despite retracting attempts, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is a North Korea hawk who has publicly commented that South Korea would either build its own tactical nuclear weapons or ask US for them.

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📹 The FSB has detained a supporter of Ukrainian nationalists who was preparing a terrorist attack in Bryansk.

The detained man confessed that he had received an assignment to take explosives from a cache and prepare a terrorist attack in a public place.

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New aid – old junk: what weapons is NATO planning to send to Ukraine?

After the passage of nearly $61 billion in new US aid for Ukraine by the House and its looming approval in the Senate, media began uncovering its contents, and it looks underwhelming.

🔺US officials told Politico the first tranche will include Bradley fighting vehicles, older Humvees and M113 APCs, vintage 70s and 80s tech Russian forces have been destroying en masse.

🔺BBC says future US aid may include more HIMARS rocket artillery, Bradleys, 155mm artillery shells, and possibly tanks – which the US has been curiously stingy with in the past.

🔺A US official told Reuters that coming tranches will focus on ammo, air defense interceptors and long-range missiles (likely ATACMS), assuring “there won’t be any delays or bottlenecks on the US side.” But observers said the aid comes “way too late,” with Ukraine losing the initiative and expected to spend the rest of 2024 “rebuild[ing] its force for the long war.”

🔺The UK has announced that it would send $620 million in new aid, including Storm Shadow cruise missiles, 1,600+ other strike and air defense missiles, 60 offshore raiding craft, dive boats, Husky IMVs, 162 armored and 78 all-terrain vehicles, and nearly 4 mln rounds of small arms ammo.

🔺Kiev has begged NATO to focus on air defenses, with the bloc pushing Spain and Greece give their Patriot and S-300 systems away.

🔺Over the past two years, NATO’s sophisticated, costly equipment has taken a beating in the steppes and forests of the Ukrainian battlespace, destroyed by Russian aviation, artillery, drones, and lately – by super-heavy glide bombs.

🔺The National Interest reported in March that for the most part, the arms the US and Europe have sent to Kiev have been “little more than junk,” near the end of their service life and requiring difficult maintenance. Based on the publicly announced contents of new package, nothing’s changed.

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Greece and Spain under pressure to hand over air defense systems to Ukraine - report

European Union and NATO officials have launched a pressure campaign on Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to give away advanced air defense systems to Ukraine.

"We all know who has them, we all know where they are, and we all know who really needs them," a person briefed on the campaign told London-based business media in an article published Monday.

Germany has agreed to give Kiev an additional Patriot system, but other countries, including Greece and Spain, have hesitated, reportedly sharing more than a dozen Patriots and a handful of S-300 launchers (the latter bought by Greece in the 1990s). Greece has previously ruled out transferring its S-300s to Ukraine, citing the need to keep its forces in balance with the capabilities of Turkiye, which has Russian-made S-400s.

The campaign echoes increasingly loud appeals by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has asked NATO allies to donate their air defenses to Kiev amid Russian strikes, which have decimated Ukrainian forces.

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Russia’s Baikal-Amur Mainline: Great Nothern Railway marks its 50th anniversary

Today one of the longest railways in the world — Russia’s Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) — is celebrating its half-century anniversary.

BAM now largely determines global logistics for the entire 21st century, according to President Vladimir Putin. Russia’s logistical pivot to the East in the current geopolitical climate of weaponized Western sanctions was made possible thanks to BAM, he stressed.

🔺The Baikal-Amur Mainline is a 1,520 mm broad-gauge rail railway that zigzags across Siberia and the Far East through seven large mountain ranges to the Pacific Ocean, for a total of 4287 kilometers.

🔺Running parallel to the Russian Trans-Siberian Railway, it was built as a strategic alternative farther from the country’s southern borders.

🔺The first survey work along this route began in 1911, with construction getting underway in the 1930s.

🔺On April 23, 1974, the Baikal-Amur Mainline was proclaimed a national project. Hundreds of thousands of student construction brigades and volunteers across the country joined the epic effort. The most challenging and remote sections were built by railway troops.

🔺The joint route capacity of the BAM and Trans-Siberian railways in 2023 was about 150 million tons. The capacity of both lines is projected to grow to 270 million tons per year by 2035.

🔺The main cargo sent along the BAM is coal, with around 50 million tons exported in 2023. Ores, oil, petrochemicals, metals extracted in the region, as well as high-tech products, grain and timber are also important cargos.

🔺The main importers of Russian raw materials are China, India and Middle Eastern countries.

🔺The BAM keeps progressing today. Additional tracks and expanding stations are to relieve bottlenecks in the BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway.

🔺In 2024, a whole series of tourism schemes will be launched as part of the BAM Tourist project showcasing historical sites, natural attractions and technological features of the railway.

@SputnikInt