Catch our Fault Lines show where we provide updates and analysis on all the most vital stories! Here's our line-up for today:

🔺To kick things off, we’ll be discussing the rumors about cracks within the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan
🔺Next, we’ll touch upon Biden’s speech on the notorious unidentified balloons
🔺And, of course, we’ll continue monitoring the situation in Ohio, where toxic fumes continue to poison the surrounding area following a train derailment

More trending stories coming your way! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 7am EST|4am PST|1pm CET via the website or app!

📻Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

🗣 The statement of US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland about the strikes on Crime once again confirm the involvement of the United States in the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

📌 Earlier in the day, Nuland said that Ukraine will not be considered safe by the collective West unless Crimea is at a minimum demilitarized and that the US supports Kiev targeting massive Russian military installations in Crimea as it considers them to be legitimate targets.

💬 "She [Nuland] allowed herself a whole series of mind-blowing and absurd statements ... Once again, we see the involvement of the United States in the conflict in Ukraine — supplying with weapons in huge quantities, providing intelligence, and blatantly participating in combat operations planning," Zakharova told a briefing.

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❗️Russia’s MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️Russian Forces launched a concentrated missile strike on enterprises that provided fuel and ammunition to the Ukrainian Armed Forces;

▪️Russian troops disrupted the supply of fuel to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and reduced the production capabilities of explosives in Ukraine;

▪️Over 200 Ukrainian military personnel were destroyed by Russian troops in the Donetsk direction;

▪️Russian forces destroyed up to 80 Ukrainian military personnel near Kupyansk (Kharkov region);

▪️Russian troops destroyed over 90 military personnel near Krasny Liman (DPR);

▪️The Russian military destroyed 35 Ukrainian military personnel and a US-made HIMARS system near Kherson;

▪️Russian forces destroyed an ammunition depot of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the settlements of Ugledar of the Donetsk People's Republic;

▪️The Russian Armed Forces destroyed an ammunition depot of the 36th Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Avdeevka area in the DPR;

▪️Russian Aerospace Forces shot down Ukrainian Air Force Mi-8 helicopter in the Kherson region;

▪️The Russian Armed Forces destroyed two ammunition depots of the 124th and 129th Territorial Defense Brigades in the areas of Kherson and Vyschetaarasivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

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❗️ The ambassador of the Netherlands was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on February 16. Moscow demanded that the ambassador stop Amsterdam's attempts to lay responsibility for the MH17 disaster on Russia.

🇿🇦🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russian frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" arrives in Durban to take part in South Africa–Russia–China naval exercises that will take place from February 17 to 27

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⚡️ Scholz says no unity within Germany on sanctions against Russia and arms supplies to Kiev

Possible Earthquake in Turkiye's Istanbul to Result in 'Devastating' Consequences, Media Reports

The impact of a potential earthquake in Istanbul forecast by some seismologists would overshadow the recent earthquakes in the country's southeast in terms of destruction and social-economic damage, a Turkish newspaper reported on Friday, citing experts.

The earthquake in the Kahramanmaras province, which became the epicenter of the recent disaster, was a "rehearsal" before the possible earthquake in Istanbul, the newspaper said.

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Where are these medications being made? Dr. John Dombrowski, CEO of the Washington Pain Center, speaks about the scarcity of crucial medicines in the US as well as the crisis affecting medical supplies in the country

💬“In my practice, I couldn't get certain antibiotics or couldn't get certain local anesthetics. I do procedures every day. People need local anesthesia.”

🎧Listen to more of Dr. Dombrowski ‘s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

What is Known About the South Africa–Russia–China Naval Drills Set to Kick Off Today?

Naledi Pandor, head of the South African foreign ministry, underlined the importance of the exercises for her country, saying that the drills are conducted for the South African military to be able to respond to a range of situations, including disaster management.

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

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🇰🇵 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid tribute to the memory of his father and the country's former leader, Kim Jong-il, on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of his birthday, which is an annual national celebration known as the Day of the Shining Star, the Korean news agency reported on Friday.

Kim did not attend the remembrance ceremony, but a basket of flowers was laid on his behalf at the statues of Kim Jong-il and his father, North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung, at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, located in Pyongyang, the report said.

Kim Jong-un reportedly attended last year's remembrance ceremony at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in person.

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Divert and distract: US politicians explaining to their people what's important and what's not.

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🇦🇫 'Western conspiracy': Taliban* bans female contraceptive selling

The Taliban* has prohibited the sale of contraceptives to women, stating that their use is a "conspiracy" of the West to control the number of Muslims, media reported on Friday.

Employees of pharmacies in Kabul and Mazar-I-Sharif say they were told not to stock any contraceptives from early February.

According to media reports, one in every 14 women in Afghanistan dies from complications related to pregnancy.

*under UN sanctions for terrorism

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🇷🇺 The level of confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin stands at 79.1%, with 76% of Russians approving of his professional performance, a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) said on Friday.

The all-Russian VCIOM-Sputnik telephone survey was conducted from February 6-12 among 1,600 adult Russians, with a margin of error not exceeding 1% and a confidence level of 95%.

According to the survey, 79.1% of Russians indicated that they trusted the president, up 1.1 percentage point from a week earlier, with 16.7% saying the opposite.

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📹 Russian Buk-M2 air defense system crews protecting the air from enemy airpower (video by Russia's MoD)

One target is usually neutralized by one missile. Exceptions occur regarding large and high-speed targets like Tochka-U missiles.

This system has destroyed a large number of the Bayraktar-TB2 UAVs in the beginning of the special military operation. The Buk-M2 efficiently neutralizes projectiles launched by HIMARS or other multiple-launch rocket systems.

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