❗️Russia's Battlegroup Zapad has improved its tactical position. The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces totaled up to 515 soldiers.

🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:    

▪️Russia’s Battlegroup Vostok hammered three Ukrainian formations in its combat zone. Enemy lost up to 150 troops.

▪️Russian air defence systems shot down four HIMARS missiles and 32 Ukrainian drones.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 285 servicemen in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 440 militants in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 65 soldiers in the areas of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Dnepr and Sever.

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💬 West is not ennoscriptd to talk about human rights in Syria – Russian FM spokeswoman

The West has been imposing suffocating sanctions against the Syrian people for many years, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.

"The West is the one who for many years, including during the pandemic, beefed up sanctions against Syria. Now they want to tell us something about human rights. They have no right to do so," she stressed.

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🗣Russia is ready to study Trump's proposals on Ukraine if his administration is serious about it, but studying does not mean agreeing - Deputy FM

More key statements by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov:

🔸 Channels for Russia-US signal exchange on Syria deconfliction are open.

🔸 There were no high-level contacts between Russia and US on Syria.

🔸 Russia expects mutual understanding with Damascus on the issue of the future status of Russian military facilities in Syria.

🔸 There is a real danger that ISIS* will reassert itself in Syria.

🔸 US plans to lend Ukraine $20 billion, to be repaid from proceeds of frozen Russian assets, is a robust.

*designated as a terrorist organization and is banned in Russia and several other countries

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Russian forces have hoisted the tricolor on the tallest building in the city of Kurakhovo in the Donetsk People's Republic, Vladimir Rogov, Chairman of the Commission of Russia’s Public Chamber on Sovereignty, Patriotic Projects, and Veteran Support, told Sputnik.

"Our troops planted a tricolor on the elevator building, where there was a real fortified area of the enemy and a multi-level defense was built. It is the tallest building in the city," he added.

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🗣The conflict in Ukraine can be ended by implementing Putin's proposals and taking into account the realities on the ground - Russian FM spokeswoman

More key statements by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

🔸 Russia has not yet received from Trump working options for resolving the Ukrainian crisis that would take into account Moscow's concerns.

🔸 Russia is ready to work with Trump and his team on resolving the Ukrainian conflict.

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⛓️‍💥US trade spat with China spills over to drones, threatens more fallout

China is starting to limit sales of key drone components to the US and Europe, Bloomberg reported.

What’s new in the US-China trade row?

⚪️Chinese producers of motors, batteries, and flight controllers are reportedly capping or stopping shipments.

⚪️Future license approvals may be based on what the parts will be used for, with Chinese manufacturers possibly required to report shipment plans.

China controls almost 80% of the commercial drone market, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Affected companies are said to be rushing to source alternate supplies.

❓What was recent tit-for-tat?

⚪️Washington imposed curbs in December on shipments to China of high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips; additional chipmaking and software tools; and chipmaking equipment made in third countries.

What is the fallout?

▪️US restrictions violate market rules, disrupt supply chains, and could backfire on the American chip industry itself, China warned.

▪️US consumers bear the brunt of the trade war through higher prices; aggregate real income plummets, per 2021 research by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

▪️Manufacturing, automotive, and tech companies are particularly at risk regarding revenue and supply chain dynamics, according to Strategy Risks.

▪️Donald Trump, whose 2018 trade tariffs set off the trade war, has threatened to levy duties of 10% to 60% on Chinese goods with potential for epic-scale fallout.

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🎯Discover the potential of nuclear weapons delivery vehicles in Belarus

On November 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that outlines Russia's revised nuclear doctrine.

The updated doctrine specifies various scenarios that may justify the use of nuclear weapons, including сonventional military aggression against Russia or Belarus that poses a significant threat to their sovereignty.

On December 10, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that dozens of nuclear warheads are currently stationed in Belarus.

What is the potential impact of the nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus? Discover more in Sputnik's infographic.

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✍️ Scholz has signed a motion of confidence in him as German Chancellor

Earlier, amid a split within the coalition government, Olaf Scholz announced plans to request a vote of confidence from the Bundestag on January 15, 2025, potentially paving the way for early elections in March.

However, opposition leader Friedrich Merz, head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), urged Scholz to bring the vote forward, allowing elections to be held in January.

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❄️Seizure of frozen Russian assets: Is EU setting a legal trap for Euroclear?

Valerie Urbain, CEO of Euroclear which holds $200 billion in frozen Russian Central Bank assets, told Bloomberg that if the EU decides to confiscate the money, the financial services company should be exempt from any liabilities.

What are Euroclear's concerns?

🔸 Urbain suggests Russia's frozen money may be seized if Donald Trump cuts off aid to Ukraine.

🔸 Confiscating the Russian assets undermines the euro currency and the broader stability of Europe’s finances, she warns.

🔸 Euroclear could also face legal challenges from Moscow to any moves to confiscate its foreign-held funds, a senior EU official told Reuters in March.

🔸 Moscow could seize the $34.6 billion of Euroclear money held in Russia and take legal action to sequester Euroclear assets in Hong Kong and Dubai, the official cautioned.

🔸 Sputnik pundit and French economist Jacques Sapir warned in October 2023 that the confiscation of Russia's frozen assets would be theft – leading to legal action.

🔸 Urbain's predecessor Lieve Mostrey warned the EU in February against seizing the frozen Russian money, adding that "the risk is a bit lower" if the EU appropriates the interest owed on the frozen sovereign assets.

🔸 But in October the European Commission moved to consider allowing Euroclear to take the frozen Russian assets, despite the risks.

🔸 Euroclear complains that it faces “a significant number of legal proceedings ongoing, almost exclusively in Russian courts.”

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🎥🎥 Putin joins plenary session of Russia's AI Journey 2024 conference

👉Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

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⚡️Ukraine's attack with ATACMS missiles on a military airfield in Russia's Taganrog will not go unanswered - Russian Defense Ministry

A strike on Taganrog on the morning of December 11 was carried out by six ATACMS missiles, the target of the Kiev regime was a military airfield, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Two missiles were shot down, the rest were deflected by electronic warfare. The falling debris caused casualties among the personnel, two buildings and three military vehicles, as well as civilian cars in the nearby parking lot, suffered minor damage.

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➖ Russia puts forward BRICS+AI alliance plan

The Russian Direct Investment Fund has proposed the establishment of an alliance within BRICS focused on the development of artificial intelligence.

This proposed alliance will include six member countries: Russia, Brazil, India, China, Iran, and the UAE.

To date, over 20 companies from these nations have expressed their support for joining the BRICS+AI Alliance, alongside more than 50 international companies that have endorsed the idea of creating such an initiative.

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🗣'Revolution is coming in a number of spheres due to AI' - Putin

"It is extremely important that domestic companies are quickly putting all these innovations and achievements to use, keeping up with the times," Russian President said on a plenary session of Russia's AI Journey 2024 conference.

Vladimir Putin stated that the restrictions imposed on Russia, on the Russian economy, force Russia to find new solutions.

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💪Neither THAAD nor any other existing air defense system can stop Oreshnik – expert

"This is propaganda designed to reassure the American and European public that NATO countries are not lagging behind Russia technologically," Yuri Knutov, military expert and historian of the Air Defense Forces, told Sputnik.

He was responding to Western reports that the US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system can intercept Russia's Oreshnik.

The expert explained why THAAD can't stop Oreshnik:

🔸 THAAD can technically hit targets flying at speeds up to Mach 14, but that only applies to targets in near space. At an altitude of 40 to 70 km, THAAD's capabilities are sharply reduced

🔸 The Oreshnik’s hypersonic warheads are surrounded by a bubble of plasma, which absorbs the signal from the interceptor's guidance radar – making them invisible to air defenses

🔸 THAAD is designed to intercept ballistic missiles during their terminal phase of flight – but is not fast enough to detect, track and destroy the Oreshnik that approaches the target at hypersonic speed

🔸 Israel's Arrow 3 exoatmospheric hypersonic anti-ballistic missile system cannot intercept the Oreshnik either, given that it failed to shoot down Iran's Fatah-1 and Fatah-2 missiles – which are claimed to be hypersonic

🔸 The air defense capabilities of other Washington allies and partners are even poorer than those of the US and Israel – so no existing air defense system can stop Oreshnik

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