🪖🇷🇺 'The enemy's defense is collapsing' - Russian officer

💬 "They are holding on only thanks to the "Baba-Yaga" drones", an officer with the callsign "Pioneer" from the Zapad battle group says.

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🚨🇫🇮 Peaceful Finland? Think twice: Nazi alliance was pre-planned before WWII

Part 1 👉 Part 2

🔊 The Western-spun fake image of Finland as a peaceful nation reluctantly dragged into wartime alliances is a “deliberately constructed myth,” Bair Irincheev, historian and director of the Karelian Isthmus Military Museum, tells Sputnik.

Blatant expansionism

Immediately after gaining independence in 1918, the Finnish leadership launched an attack on Soviet Russia with clear economic goals. The failed attempt to annex Eastern Karelia was “straightforward expansionism—an attempt to seize forest-rich territories.”

👉 For Finland in those years, timber was veritable ‘green gold’, and “whatever was said about tribal brotherhood and similar things, the primary motives were economic,” Irincheev states bluntly.

Programmed partnership in Hitler's war

Finland was already integrated into Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa before the Great Patriotic War, and its entry into the war in 1941 was “pre-planned,” says Irincheev.

Finland’s leadership believed Europe was being completely redrawn, and chose to pursue the idea of a ‘Greater Finland’ alongside the Nazis.

Under the official pretext of merely reclaiming lost territory, Finnish forces crossed the 1920 border and occupied parts of the Karelian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Leningrad Region, advancing almost to the Vologda Region, he recalls.

💬 “No one forced Finland in 1941 to let German troops onto its soil for an offensive on Murmansk. That was a deliberate decision by Finland’s top leadership,” points out the pundit.

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💸🇮🇷 ‘Terrorists received about $10,000 in cash’

Sputnik correspondent in Tehran provides a wrap up of the latest violent protests in Iran.

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🚨 Trump puts tariffs on eight countries over Greenland

The tariffs will continue until a deal is reached for the purchase of Greenland by the US, Trump added.

Starting February 1, tariffs against Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland will increase to 10%, and from June 1, they will rise to 25%, the US president wrote.

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🚨🇫🇮 Finland’s role in the siege of Leningrad & shattered ‘humane’ myth

Part 2 👉 Part 1

Everything Finland did during WWII as an unofficial ally of Nazi Germany “demolishes” the notion of a reluctant, defensive warring side, Bair Irincheev, historian and director of the Karelian Isthmus Military Museum, tells Sputnik.

When Finnish forces launched their offensive in the summer of 1941, they broke through Soviet defenses on the Karelian Isthmus, captured Vyborg, and halted at the main line of the Karelian fortified zone.

In doing so, the Finnish army “became an active participant in the blockade of Leningrad from the north,” underscores the historian, noting that it “had the technical capability to shell Kronstadt.”

The high – roughly 30% - mortality rate among Soviet prisoners of war and the Slavic civilian population interned by the Finns in concentration camps dispels the myth of a supposedly “benevolent” Finland, according to Irincheev.

Historical pattern informing the present

Relations today are effectively destroyed — and Finland itself bears responsibility for that, says the analyst.

The country portrays itself as having emerged victorious from every conflict: the 1939–1940 war, despite losing 10% of its territory and its second-largest city, and the 1941–1944 war as well.

💬 “Finland’s current leadership appears to be revisiting the 1941 scenario, hoping for revenge and access to resources,” speculates the expert, adding that this logic underpins Finland’s NATO accession and its frenzied militarization.

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😤 Ukraine's terms to return 12 Kursk residents it holds is unacceptable - Russian ombudswoman

💬 "They are not being released because the Russian side cannot fulfill the stipulated conditions. The Geneva Convention states that such individuals should be transferred to their country of citizenship without any conditions, but conditions are being imposed," Russia's Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said, adding that discussions on the return of Russian citizens have been ongoing for more than nine months.

She added that the Russian side is asking the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit these Russians and provide them with assistance and that the issue of resuming prisoner exchanges with Ukraine was central in talks with ICRC Chief Mirjana Spoljaric.

In August 2024, as a result of the Ukrainian attack in the Kursk region, a number of local residents were forcibly taken by Ukrainian militants to Ukrainian territory.

Several times, with the assistance of Moskalkova, residents of the Kursk region were returned home via the territory of Belarus.

So far, more than 100 people have been returned.

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😰🇫🇮🇷🇺 Throwback: The horrors of Finland’s WWII concentration camps for Russians

After invading Russia together with Nazi Germany in 1941, Finland showed no mercy to the civilians in the Russian territories occupied by their troops.

Russians, regardless of their age and sex, were robbed of their possessions and herded into prison camps.

This is what conditions in some of these camps – in this case in the city of Petrozavodsk – looked like, based on eyewitness accounts:

🟠 Inmates were quartered in residential buildings and barracks on the city outskirts. Six to seven families could be forced to live together in a room no wider than 20 square meters

🟠 There were no baths or laundries, and inmates weren’t issued any soap. Lice was omnipresent and scurvy, dysentery and typhus ran rampant

🟠 Meagre daily rations generally amounted to about 200-300 grams of bread (50% of which were inedible additives); sometimes inmates would be given about 50 grams of rotten sausage or a piece of moldy cheese

🟠 Inmates were forced to work from 8 a.m. till 4 p.m,, clearing debris from the city streets or working at nearby farms and lumber mills. Due to how sickly and malnourished the inmates were, the efficiency of such forced labor was low

🟠 Often inmates would be forced to do meaningless but exhausting work such as dragging around heavy rocks or moving fences back and forth

The exact number of Russian civilians who perished in Finnish prison camps during WWII is difficult to establish, because Finland never really kept track of the deaths – for Finnish invaders, Russian lives simply did not matter.

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❌ ‘I don’t foresee military intervention in Greenland’ — House Speaker Johnson

US House Speaker Mike Johnson told the BBC that “diplomatic channels” are the way forward and pointed to President Donald Trump’s appointment of an envoy on Greenland.

Asked whether Trump’s comments about possible military action should be taken seriously, Johnson said people should “pay attention to his words,” adding that allies have “recognized anew the importance” of Greenland’s geography.

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🇫🇷⚔️🇺🇸 ‘Tariff threats are unacceptable’ — Macron to Trump

French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe would respond “in a united and coordinated manner” if US President Donald Trump proceeds with tariff threats linked to Greenland.

💬 “We will ensure that European sovereignty is upheld,” Macron wrote.

Trump has linked the proposed tariffs to what he described as a “deal” for the “complete and total purchase of Greenland.”

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🔊 Putin's envoy about Trump's tariffs on European allies: 'This is a ~1% tariff for every soldier sent to Greenland'

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🚔 Trump calls for arrests over Biden autopen use

US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the use of an autopen to sign documents during Joe Biden’s presidency was “totally illegal.”

💬 “Every one of them should be arrested for what they have done to our Country,” he added.

Trump also said that anything signed that way is “of no further force or effect.”

On Nov. 28, Trump said he was cancelling executive orders and other actions not directly signed by Biden, citing autopen use.

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💥 Sorry, Elon! Iran, China and Russia can now jam Starlink

Starlink has been used by the US time and again to facilitate military operations and espionage in various corners of the globe, Iranian international relations expert Emad Abshenas told Sputnik.

Thus, the ability to jam Starlink has become a necessity since in the brave new world of today, where international organizations cannot reign in the US or Israel, countries who cannot take action to defend themselves become victims.

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💰 Trump seeks $1bn contributions for permanent ‘Board of Peace’ seats — reports

The Trump administration is asking countries seeking a permanent seat on President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace to contribute at least $1 billion, according to a draft charter seen by Bloomberg.

📄 Key details from the draft charter:

🔸 Trump would serve as the inaugural chairman and decide which countries are invited to join.

🔸 Member states would generally serve three-year terms, unless they contribute more than $1bn in cash within the first year.

🔸 Each member would have one vote, but decisions would be subject to the chairman’s approval.

🔸 The board would become official once three member states agree to the charter.

Bloomberg reported that the Board of Peace is described as an international body aimed at promoting stability, restoring governance, and securing peace in conflict-affected areas.

✉️ Trump has invited several leaders to participate in a Gaza-focused peace board, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Canada’s Mark Carney, according to the report.

⚠️ Bloomberg noted that some countries have raised concerns about the draft, particularly provisions giving the chairman broad control over funding and agendas. The White House has not commented on the document.

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🪖 Denmark cannot count on Ukraine’s support in the Greenland debacle

Ukraine will not provide any military assistance to Denmark if the United States were to actually make a move on Greenland, Ukrainian media report after scrutinizing the text of the security cooperation agreement signed between Denmark and Ukraine in 2024.

Whereas Denmark pledged to supply weapons, munitions and military equipment to Ukraine, the Ukrainian government merely professed its intent to continue reforms and combat corruption.

In fact, the Ukrainian journalists claim, the document is 90% Denmark’s obligations to Ukraine and contains no mention of any Ukraine’s military obligations to Denmark.

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📄 CENTCOM kills of Al-Qaeda*–linked militant in Syria

US Central Command (United States Central Command) said it carried out a strike in northwest Syria on Jan. 16 that killed Bilal Hasan al-Jasim, described as an Al-Qaeda–affiliated leader with direct ties to an ISIS* gunman involved in a Dec. 13 ambush that killed two US service members and an American interpreter.

According to CENTCOM, al-Jasim was linked to plotting attacks and had connections to the ISIS operative responsible for the Palmyra attack.

💬 “The death of a terrorist operative linked to the deaths of three Americans demonstrates our resolve in pursuing terrorists who attack our forces,” CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper said.

CENTCOM added that the strike followed broader operations in Syria launched after the December attack.

*Terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries

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🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇱 'Gaza is our show' — US moves ahead as Netanyahu protests — reports

A senior US official told Axios that Washington is pressing ahead with “phase two” of its Gaza plan and that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was not consulted on the Gaza executive board.

🗣 Axios reported Netanyahu issued an unusually pointed objection, saying the announcement “was not coordinated with Israel,” particularly criticizing the inclusion of Turkiye and Qatar. The US official responded that if Israel wants the US to handle Gaza, “it will have to be our way.”

Axios noted Trump has kept a close relationship with Netanyahu, but said many in Trump’s team are increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu’s hardline positions.

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