🇩🇪 German instructors are training Ukrainian soldiers for urban combat at a dozen military bases across the country ahead of Kiev's much-touted spring offensive, a German tabloid reported on Saturday.

The report said that over 1,000 personnel of Ukraine's special forces are being trained in Germany at "a good dozen" of Bundeswehr bases. In particular, they are being taught to conduct urban combat and operate heavy equipment, including Leopard 2 tanks and self-propelled howitzers Panzerhaubitze 2000, the newspaper said.

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🇵🇱 Russian investigators will give a legal assessment of Poland's seizure of the Russian embassy school building in Warsaw, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Saturday.

"Head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin has ordered investigators to request necessary information from the Foreign Ministry and give a legal assessment to all circumstances of the incident," the committee said in a statement published on social media.

A total of 29 people, namely employees and their family members, including children, were on the school grounds when the Polish authorities swooped on the building.

Having loaded their belongings into a truck, the school employees are leave the building to the Russian patriotic march "Farewell of Slavianka" and Soviet military song "Katyusha." Polish judicial officers remain on the school grounds and continue to take inventory of the premises and property.

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Vanessa Beeley, an independent investigative journalist who specializes on the Middle East and Syria, told Sputnik:

💬 “I don’t think it can lay claim to pursuing its goal honestly and genuinely when its bias is against the perceived enemies of the West”

For more analyses of Vanessa Beeley check Sputnik website

US nuclear sensors in Ukraine deployed to scapegoat Russia

Karen Kwiatkowski, a former US Department of Defense analyst and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, suggested that the US may be deploying nuclear sensors throughout Ukraine to quickly shift blame to Russia if any radioactive weapon is used or reported in Western media.

She also proposed that the deployment could serve as a direct message to the remnants of the Ukrainian military and political leaders who could run amok, thus upsetting big Western corporations' plans to rebuild Ukraine. She also pointed out that there may be innocent explanations for the deployment, such as concerns about radiation leakage from nuclear reactors.

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Kazan prepares for International Games of Future: 300-Day countdown ceremony in Moscow

The Games of Future is a high-tech international tournament that will be held in Kazan, Russia from February 23 to March 2, 2024.

The competition will involve 2,000 athletes from over 100 countries competing in 16 hybrid disciplines that combine traditional sports, esports, and mixed reality technologies.

During the opening ceremony held simultaneously in Moscow and Kazan, a virtual assistant named Marusya, created by Russian technology company VK, was one of the hosts. Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a video message emphasizing the games' significance for Russia and the world, and a countdown clock was launched for the 300-day countdown to the games.

Visitors at the event could access augmented reality through a QR code on the clock and view pictographs of the disciplines presented in the games. The countdown ceremony was held in Moscow.

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Vanessa Beeley, an independent investigative journalist who specializes on the Middle East and Syria, told Sputnik:

💬 “I think until the OPCW opens its doors to a frank and open discussion with the dissident inspectors who are contesting the findings of the OPCW in Douma in Syria, it has no credibility”

For more analyses of Vanessa Beeley check Sputnik website

Pentagon approves request by State Department to help US citizens depart Sudan

"The Secretary of Defense [Lloyd Austin] approved a request for assistance from the Department of State to support the safe departure of U.S. citizens and their immediate family members via overland. The Department of Defense deployed U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to support air and land evacuation routes, which Americans are using, and we are moving naval assets within the region to provide any necessary support along the coast," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement.

The US priority "has been and remains" to help as many US citizens leave Sudan as safely as possible, according to Singh.

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that the company expects to conduct another Starship launch in about "six to eight weeks"

The spacecraft was launched atop a Super Heavy rocket booster and was expected to separate from the booster before continuing its ascent towards space. However, the historic launch ended with an explosion after the Starship prototype experienced multiple engine failures, prompting the vehicle's flight termination system to be triggered.

The incident proved a significant setback for SpaceX's plans to use the Starship spacecraft to transport humans to Mars and beyond. The company had hoped to use the spacecraft to carry out crewed missions as early as 2023, but the timeline now appears unlikely.

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🇰🇪 Children make up majority of Kenyan cult deaths, Interior Minister says

▪️Kenya's Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki has provided the media with new details about the case of a starvation cult, saying that children account for most of the 109 bodies so far recovered from mass graves linked to the cult.

▪️"The reports we are getting are that many of the recoveries are of children... Children are the majority, followed by women. Men are fewer," Kindiki told media.

▪️The minister also emphasized that starvation may not be the only thing that killed the cult followers

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South Korean president considers the Washington Declaration adopted during his meeting with US president to be more effective than multilateral agreements within NATO

"The president explained that the Washington Declaration is more effective than multilateral agreements within NATO since it was adopted 'one-on-one.' And it is the first time when the concept of extended deterrence was set out in a written document with a certain country rather than as an oral statement," the spokesman said.

On Wednesday, the leaders of South Korea and the US adopted the Washington Declaration that provides for the establishment of a regular bilateral consultation mechanism called the US-South Korean Nuclear Consultative Group on extended deterrence and strategic planning. South Korea also secured a US promise to promptly deploy "the entire force of the alliance," including nuclear weapons, in the event of a nuclear attack by North Korea.

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Pentagon leaks: An array of major developing nations seek to sit out the US’ intensifying standoff with Russia and China

The leaks comprise classified US intelligence assessments, which show that such countries as India, Brazil, Pakistan and Egypt try “to straddle allegiances in an era when America is no longer the world’s unchallenged superpower.”

According to the documents, President Joe Biden’s global agenda faces significant challenges as the influential aforementioned regional powers “try to remain on the sidelines” of Washington’s strife with Moscow and Beijing, sometimes capitalizing on this rivalry for their own gain.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, one of the leaked documents cited the country’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar as arguing in March that Islamabad can “no longer try to maintain a middle ground between China and the United States.”

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