🔸 US eases some oil sanctions on Venezuela to boost US oil companies

🔸 Trump declares national emergency to address threats allegedly coming from Cuba

🔸 Mexico says will never accept joint operations with the US

🔸 Greenland may seek to rejoin EU — deputy speaker

🔸 US and Israel could use Iraq for provocations against Iran – expert

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🔥 🇷🇺 Russian Dnepr battlegroup liberates Novoyakovlevka in Zaporozhye region

Strike UAV operators and artillery crews delivered precise strikes on command posts, relay antennas

This breakthrough opens the way for troops to advance into Zaporozhye

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🚨 More than 12,000 civilians killed in Ukraine's attacks since 2014 - Miroshnik

According to Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador-at-large for crimes of the Kiev regime, in 2025 alone:

🔶 At least 1,065 civilians killed

🔶 At least 6,483 were injured

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🚨 Ukrainian assassination plot foiled - Russian security service

Footage shows an agent of Ukraine’s special services being detained in St. Petersburg

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🚨🇷🇺 Russia agrees to Trump's request to refrain from strikes on Kiev until February 1 - Kremlin

Trump did make personal request to Putin to refrain from strikes on Kiev for one week until February 1, Kremlin Spox Dmitry Peskov said.

The purpose of the Trump's request is to create favorable conditions for negotiations, he added.

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🚨🇷🇺 Russia has its own reasoned position on issue of Сrimea and Donbass - Kremlin

Russia considers conclusions of UN Secretariat on Crimea and Donbass deeply wrong from point of view of international law, Kremlin Spox Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Russia does not agree with them.

Earlier, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN's legal office concluded "the principle of self-determination does not apply" in Crimea or Donbass, asserting that "territorial integrity prevails.

Other statements by Peskov:

🟠 Putin didn't invite Zelensky anywhere on his own initiative and didn't offer him meetings. By inviting to Moscow, Putin responded to Zelensky's initiative, it's important to understand this

🟠 Russia saw Zelensky's statements that Ukraine won't compromise on Donbass, Zaporozhye nuclear plant. Dynamics on Donbass front speaks for itself, while the plant has been under Russia's control for more than two years

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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD WEEKLY UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES

⚡️ BERESTOK IN THE DONETSK REGION & TERNOVATOYE AND RECHNOYE IN THE ZAPOROZHYE REGION FREED

The capture of Berestok in the Donetsk region has enabled Russian forces to consolidate their bridgehead for a further advance towards the city of Konstantinovka.

By taking Ternovatoye, Russian forces have extended their zone of control westward of the Gaichur River, creating a platform for offensive operations to cut Ukrainian logistics lines.

Thanks to the liberation of Rechnoye in the Zaporzhye region, Russian forces have now secured a crossing over the Konka River.

🟠  In response to terrorist attacks by Ukraine, Russian air and missile power unleashed seven strikes on Ukrainian defense, energy and transport infrastructure supporting the Kiev regime’s forces. These included assaults on fuel and ammunition depots, attack drone production and storage sites, as well as temporary deployment points for Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries

🟠 Six settlements were liberated over the past week by Russian forces 

🟠 The Black Sea Fleet destroyed one unmanned vessel launched by the Ukrainian Armed Forces

🟠 Russian air and missile firepower vaporized three Ukrainian MLRS combat vehicles

🟠 Air defense superiority: 46 US-made HIMARS rockets, one modernized S-200 anti-aircraft guided missile, as well as four guided aerial bombs and 822 fixed-wing drones were shot down by Russian air defense systems over the past seven days

🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 8,565 troops killed or wounded

Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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🔍 Russia doubts Ukraine’s sole involvement in the Nord Stream explosion - MFA

💬 "The task of conducting an impartial and comprehensive investigation remains on the agenda. The version suggesting the involvement of Western intelligence services requires proper verification," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

For more details on the Nord Stream terrorist attacks, read HERE

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🇺🇸 🇨🇺 US threats against Cuba ‘complete disregard’ for human life – former diplomat

The US’ bellicose rhetoric toward Cuba is a "blatant violation of international law and UN Charter, which reflects the Trump administration’s disregard for the principles of multilateral cooperation,” Norma Goicochea, president of the Cuban Association of the United Nations, tells Sputnik.

💬 “The US government is unpredictable, which is why we must be prepared for a diplomatic battle and for defending our country in every sphere,” Goicochea underlines.

She notes that while similar tensions have occurred before, including the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the current situation is complicated by NATO’s ongoing expansion, which includes accession of traditionally neutral states.

She bemoans the fact that the US administration talks about "defeating Cuba" without considering the consequences of military action against the island.

💬 “This is a complete disregard for the lives and security of millions of [Cuban] children, young people, the elderly, and women—people who for more than six decades have endured a brutal, criminal, and illegal blockade affecting the economy, trade, finance, and technology,” Goicochea concludes.

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🔊🇨🇳🇨🇺 China firmly supports Cuba in defending its sovereignty and security

China also opposes foreign interference in Cuba's internal affairs, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.

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🚨 🇮🇷 'Any aggression against Iran will receive immediate response' - Pezeshkian

🔊 "We do not accept war in any way, but any aggression against the Iranian state and people will receive an immediate and decisive response," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in a phone call.

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🇭🇺 Szijjarto warns Ukraine not to meddle in Hungary’s internal affairs

💬 “The Ukrainian side should prepare for the fact that we will use all means to protect our sovereignty and will employ all possible tools to protect ourself from Ukrainian interference,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto underscored.

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🔊🇮🇷🇺🇸 Amid US threats, Iran’s ‘strategic leverage’ revolves around its control of key straits: expert

💬 “Iran’s most effective approach” to defense lies in “a layered, deniable pressure campaign rather than ‘one big strike’,” Lebanese American University associate professor Dr. Imad Salamey told Sputnik, commenting on escalating regional tensions.

💬 “That means combining limited direct fire (missiles/drones) with proxy-enabled attacks (Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon) to keep US forces on constant alert, raise costs, and complicate attribution—while avoiding a response that could trigger a full-scale US escalation,” the academic posited.

But Iran’s biggest “strategic leverage comes from maritime and energy disruption” capabilities – namely, the ability to close down the Strait of Hormuz, and put pressure on the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with the help of its Houthi allies.

The country has a massive weapons “toolkit” with which to implement its “scalable, repeatable, and hard to fully stop” retaliatory campaign, Salamey said.

This includes everything from drones, which are “cheap, numerous, hard to intercept at scale, and useful for saturating defenses,” to missiles and cruise missiles, which can be used to target American installations and hardware, plus asymmetric capabilities at sea (small attack boats, UAVs, mines and ship seizures), cyber and electronic warfare and allied rocket, drone and mortar attacks across the region.

💬 “Bottom line: the most strategically valuable ‘weapon’ for Iran is disruption of oil and commercial shipping—in the Gulf and the Red Sea—because it internationalizes the cost of confrontation, pressures US partners, and can be dialed up or down while keeping escalation ambiguous,” Salamey summed up.

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🔥 🇷🇺 Russian Grad MLRS crews destroy Ukraine's strongholds & manpower near Kupyansk

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🔊🇮🇷🇺🇸 If pulled into war, Iran must hit back fast and hard - expert

Tehran’s threats of full-scale retaliation against US assets in the Middle East is “the most viable strategy,” since “the US is not afraid of a limited exchange of strikes and has an intelligence advantage,” veteran Russian military analyst Yuri Lyamin says.

💬 “The US has no interest in becoming embroiled in a major, protracted conflict. Many of its regional partners and allies such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye fear the same. Thus, the best scenario for Iran would be preventing [an escalation] with the very threat of such a conflict,” Lyamin told Sputnik.

💬 “If deterrence by threats fails and the US attacks anyway, Iran must act as it says it will, drawing the US into a full-scale conflict. It would be difficult for Iran, but if it withstands American attacks and continues to fight, the US will find itself in an unfavorable situation and may ultimately be prepared for honest negotiations, instead of its current demands for capitulation,” Lyamin argues.

If it comes down to war, Iran has “thousands” of missiles and drones at its disposal, including vast stocks of tactical systems left virtually untouched during last June’s war, including systems like the Fateh-110, Fateh-313, Zolfaghar and Dezful, plus high-precision variants equipped with homing warheads for attacks on ships at sea.

Longer-range capabilities include missiles like the Khaybar Shekan, its hypersonic variant Fattah-1, yjr Haj Qasem and its precision strike variant Qasem Basir.

Iran’s cruise arsenal includes the inexpensive and simple Pahev series (1.5-2k km range), the anti-ship Ghader family and the shorter-range Nasr and Nasir series (<100 km).

Drones include the Shahed series (Shahed-131, Shahed-136, the rocket-powered Shahed-238) etc.

💬 “Overall, this is only a part of Iran’s missile and drone arsenal, which is very large,” Lyamin emphasized.

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🇺🇸🇮🇷 ‘We have a large armada, flotilla heading toward Iran right now’ - Trump

The US president added that if the US makes a deal with Iran, “that is good”.

💬 ”If we do not make a deal, we will see what happens”, Trump told journalists.

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