🤝 US SOUTHCOM chief lands in Venezuela

Gen. Francis Donovan, head of US Southern Command, visited Venezuela alongside diplomatic envoy Laura Dogu and Pentagon official Joseph Humire for direct talks with interim authorities.

"Building trust and strengthening relationships with our partner nations is the most effective way to counter shared threats and ensure regional stability and security."

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📑 US is deploying largest air force to the Middle East since Iraq war — report

Washington is quietly assembling its most formidable military posture in the region in over two decades, sending F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, the Wall Street Journal reports. In addition, a second aircraft carrier and command post aircraft are en route.

This buildup would allow Washington to conduct military operations against Iran for several weeks, US officials told WSJ.

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🚨🇮🇷🇺🇸US military ready for Iran strike, Trump still weighing decision – report

Top national security officials have told Donald Trump the US military could be ready to launch strikes on Iran as early as Saturday, reports CBS News.

However, the timeline could potentially stretch beyond the weekend.

Trump hasn’t signed off on anything yet, the outlet cites unnamed officials as saying, adding that Iran took center stage in the White House Situation Room on Wednesday.

Every US force assigned to the region is reportedly slated to be in position by mid-March.

💣 Meanwhile, the Pentagon is temporarily repositioning some US personnel out of the Middle East — largely to Europe or back home — to reduce exposure ahead of any potential operation or possible Iranian retaliation.

According to insiders this is standard pre-action protocol.

Diplomacy hasn’t left the room either. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly planning a visit to Israel in about two weeks for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During a December meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Trump allegedly told Netanyahu he would back Israeli strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile program if the US and the Islamic Republic failed to reach a deal.

👉 With the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group already in the region and another carrier group, the USS Gerald Ford, en route to the Middle East, Iran has warned of retaliation in case of an attack.

Sending aircraft carriers is a show of force — but sinking them would be a show of capability, warned Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei.

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🇩🇪 Germany bets on more US F-35s as Europe’s joint fighter project unravels

Germany is edging closer to ditching its joint next-generation fighter program with France, reports Reuters.

On top of the 35 stealth fighters already ordered from Lockheed Martin in 2022 (with deliveries set to begin this year), Germany is reportedly in talks to buy more than 35 additional US-made F-35s.
If the plan materializes, Germany could end up fielding around 85 F-35s - each costing roughly $80 million.

Expanding the F-35 fleet tightens Germany’s military bond with the United States at a time when defense spending pressure from the US is mounting.

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🔸 Lavrov: Europe wants to resolve Ukrainian conflict at Russia’s expense

🔸 ‘Ukraine is blackmailing Hungary’ - Orban

🔸 Trump to Starmer: Don't give away Diego Garcia

🔸 Kim Jong-un tests new AI-powered MLRS

🔸 US SOUTHCOM chief lands in Venezuela

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🪖 Ukrainian POW says he was thrown into battle after three days of training

Recruitment officers snatched him right in the street and rushed him to a military enlistment office, recalls Vyacheslav Nedoshyvka, a serviceman captured by Russian forces.

💬 “They were gathering and processing people to send to a training center in Zhytomyr,” says the former steelworker from Zaporozhye.

About a week and a half later, French instructors arrived with two female interpreters. The recruits got only two brief training sessions with them.

💬 “The training covered mines, grenades and tripwires, along with the basics of tactical shooting and combat medicine. I ended up at the front after just three days of training. Three days later, the senior sergeant said we were going on a combat mission,” Nedoshyvka concludes.

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🎯 Russian drones pound enemy positions

Rubikon UAV operators carried out precision strikes in the Krasny Liman and Sumy regions, taking out Ukrainian motor & armored vehicles, temporary deployment areas, communication hubs, and electronic warfare assets.

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🪖💥 Ukrainian delegation fractured over Donbass issue at Geneva talks – analyst

The Ukrainian delegation at negotiations with Russia and the US was “split down the middle” over the territorial issue, says international affairs analyst Gilbert Doctorow.

🗣 According to him, former head of Ukraine’s military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov* is saying “give up Donbass now. Let's get it over with. Let's move on.”

The analyst points to reports claiming that others in the delegation are “aligned with Rustem Umerov [listed as a terrorist in Russia] - removed over corruption charges.”

💬 “His people at the negotiations were giving the Zelensky line that we will not concede any territory, and it's quite possible that this dispute has gone back to Kiev, and that is where it's being fought out.”

🔹 listed by Russia’s financial watchdog as an extremist and terrorist

*listed by Russia’s financial watchdog as an extremist and terrorist

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🌞🌚 Rare view: Russian satellite captures Moon crossing Sun

Russia's space lab released footage of the Moon transiting the solar disk during a recent eclipse — captured from 36,000 km above Earth.

The Moon's dark side is visible thanks to sunlight reflected off Earth. The Sun itself is blocked by an opaque disk to avoid blinding the instrument.

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🚨 Current stage of Ukraine negotiations requires silence - Kremlin

There is nothing to add to the assessment of the latest round of negotiations in Geneva beyond what was already stated by Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on the talks in Geneva held on Feb. 17-18.

His other statements:

🔶 Moscow will not go into details about the Ukraine negotiations, as they have reached a stage that does not involve public discussion

🔶 The Geneva negotiations were conducted in multiple formats. A meeting between Medinsky and representatives of the Ukrainian delegation was one of those formats

🔶 The Kremlin will announce the venue of the next round once specifics are agreed

🔶 No phone call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is currently planned

🔶 Against the backdrop of developments around Iran, Russia calls on all regional parties to exercise restraint

🔶 Moscow expects that diplomatic negotiations will prevail in efforts to resolve tensions surrounding Iran

🔶 Russia believes sport should not become a victim of politics

🔶 All athletes should be able to compete freely in international competitions under their national flags, Peskov said, commenting on statements by Ukrainian officials regarding a possible boycott of the Paralympics over the flags and anthems of Russia and Belarus.

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Former Prince Andrew detained amid Epstein scandal — report

UK police have detained Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of King Charles III, amid renewed controversy surrounding his links to Jeffrey Epstein, according to a report by The Telegraph.

The reported police action coincided with Andrew’s 66th birthday on 19 February.

What is being reported:

🔶 Earlier this month, UK police said they were investigating allegations that Andrew secretly sent UK government documents to Epstein

🔶 Andrew has been embroiled in scandal for several years over his association with the late financier

🔶 In early December 2025, King Charles III stripped his brother of all noscripts

🔶 A recently released batch of Epstein case files allegedly includes photographs showing Andrew leaning over a young woman at Epstein’s New York mansion.

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🚨📑 CIA knew at early stage of terrorist attack on Nord Stream pipelines - reports

📍 In the spring of 2022, US agents met with the masterminds of the attack on Nord Stream and exchanged information about the technical details of the sabotage, German media reported on Thursday, citing sources.

🔶 The bombing was not approved by Volodymyr Zelensky, his office was not informed about the operation either. The operation was approved by former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny, the report added.

🔶 The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were hit by explosions in September 2022. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office opened an investigation into the attack on suspicion of international terrorism.

👉 For more details on the Nord Stream terrorist attacks, read here

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

◻️ Russian Armed Forces struck a fuel storage and energy infrastructure facilities used by the Ukrainian Army

◻️ Air defense superiority: 2 guided aerial bombs, 10 HIMARS rockets and 301 drones were shot down

◻️ Ukrainian losses: around 1,265 troops killed or wounded

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

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🇧🇷🤝 Brazil’s BRICS presidency pushes Global South to new era of cooperation: Brazil's Minister of Health

Brazil is driving a strategic health alliance uniting BRICS counties to boost health cooperation across the Global South and Africa, Alexandre Padilha told Sputnik.

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🤡🗣 ZELENSKY UNFILTERED: A WEEK OF INSULTS, DEMANDS & BACKTRACKING

Despite remaining in office beyond his elected term under martial law, Volodymyr Zelensky continues issuing ultimatums abroad.

🇪🇺 To EU:

On Feb. 11, Zelensky demanded a concrete date for Ukraine’s accession, insisting membership must come with firm security guarantees.

💬 “Security guarantees are specifics with a concrete date, and my signature today on a 20‑point plan assures Ukrainians there will be a concrete date for our accession.”

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Zelensky allowed himself a number of boorish statements.

🇺🇸 To the US:

He called for decades-long guarantees ratified by Congress, while the American side proposed 15 years, and demanded two months of a ceasefire to hold elections.

💬 "Of course nobody supports elections during the war, it's something strange... If American side will push this signal, I am ready to show that we are ready for the elections. Give us two months of a ceasefire – and we will go to elections."

🇷🇺 To Russia:

Ukraine's illegitimate leader turned up his nose claiming the “biggest compromise” the world has made is that "Putin and his friends are not in jail."

🇭🇺 To Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban:

💬 "Viktor alone can think about how to grow his belly, not how to build up his army to stop Russian tanks from returning to the streets of Budapest."

👉On Feb. 16, Zelensky insisted that without a document ratified by the US Congress, any discussion of compromise is meaningless. Once that signal is sent, he said, Ukrainians can be asked what they're willing to accept. He also called for tougher sanctions on Russia and told Russians abroad to "f*ck away."

📅 On Feb. 17, he said it's unfair that Trump is pushing Ukraine for concessions — not Russia. He's open to withdrawing troops from Donetsk — but only if Russia pulls back the same distance. Any deal, he said, must go to a referendum, BUT... If it's just about pulling out of Donbass, Ukrainians will reject it.

Zelensky also criticized Russian negotiation leader, Vladimir Medinsky, for focusing on the “historical roots” of the conflict:

💬 “We don’t have time for all this sh*t," he stressed.

🇺🇸🇮🇷 US air and naval surge heightens chances of Iran strikes, but peace remains possible - military expert

👉 The probability of US aggression against Iran is high, although a window of opportunity for a peaceful resolution still exists, military expert Yury Lyamin, senior research fellow at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), tells Sputnik.

📍 The expert points out that the US is assembling a large integrated force in the region:

◻️ F-22, F-35, F-15 and F-16 fighter jets

◻️ E/A-18G electronic warfare aircraft

◻️ A-10 ground-attack aircraft

◻️ EA-11A BACN communications relay aircraft

◻️ P-8A maritime patrol aircraft

◻️ RC-135V signals intelligence aircraft

◻️ E-3 airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft

◻️ Numerous KC-135 and KC-46 aerial refueling tankers

◻️ THAAD missile defense systems and Patriot air defense systems

◻️ Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Abraham Lincoln and Gerald R. Ford, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, etc.

◻️ Strategic bombers ranging from the B-52H to the B-2A are likely to be deployed at the event of conflict

💬 "The stronger the US force buildup becomes, the more likely it is that the US may attempt to deliver an immediate, maximum-intensity missile strike against the Iranian leadership and command structure, key command posts and communications centers, known missile positions, and the entrances to underground missile bases, etc.," Lyamin says.

It is still unclear what path will be chosen by Washington, according to the pundit.

🇮🇷 How could Iran respond?

💬 "For Iran, any delay would be dangerous, and it needs to make every effort to detect the earliest signs of a US attack and launch retaliatory strikes at the first indication that hostilities have begun," the military expert warns.

🇺🇸 The US maintains an extensive network of military bases and installations in the region:

🇶🇦 Qatar

🇰🇼 Kuwait

🇧🇭 Bahrain

🇦🇪 UAE

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia

🇮🇶 Iraq (including Iraqi Kurdistan)

🇹🇷 Turkiye

🇯🇴 Jordan

👉 In the event of war, Iran is expected to strike all US bases within the range of its missiles and drones, according to the expert.

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