Lacking troops, Kiev regime hunts for Ukrainian men at city venues 

The Ukrainian authorities are hunting in public places in Kiev and Odessa, specifically concert halls and luxury grocery stores, for men of military age, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

According to the newspaper, the number of Ukrainian citizens mobilized into the Ukrainian armed forces continues to decrease, despite the law on strengthening mobilization and tightening control. As a result, Kiev is facing pressure from the West who insists on further lowering the conscription age.

The shortage of personnel has become a critical problem for Ukraine, despite efforts to create reserves and train new soldiers, including help from the French army, the article points out. Without additional weapons from Western allies, effective mobilization has become a difficult task, the WSJ concludes.

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❗️ Russian troops liberated the settlement of Tsukurino in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry announced

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❗️LIVE: Lavrov holds talks with Kuwaiti counterpart in Moscow

👉Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

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🗣 The Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, on parliamentary elections in Georgia: It is important that third countries do not interfere in their results, this is the choice of the Georgian people

Moscow does not interfere in Georgia's internal affairs and does not intend to interfere in them, he added.

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❗️Key statements by the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov at the briefing:

▪️ Russian President Vladimir Putin had no contact with the leadership of countries involved in the Middle East conflict this weekend

▪️ Putin and the UN secretary general exchanged views on a variety of issues at a meeting in Kazan

▪️ Necessary measures to ensure all aspects of the security of the leaders participating in the BRICS Summit in Kazan were taken

▪️ The format of the meeting between Putin and the UN secretary general in Kazan was closed at the request of Guterres

▪️ The situation in the Middle East remains extremely tense, it is important to promote restraint.

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A fire broke out in a pyrotechnics store in Hyderabad, India

No casualties were reported.

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❗️The Russian Vostok Battlegroup repelled a Ukrainian attack; the enemy's losses amounted to 115 militants

🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

◻️Ukrainian losses in the area of responsibility of the Russian Yug combat group amounted to more than 665 soldiers;

◻️Ukrainian troops lost up to 115 servicemen in the area of responsibility of the Russian Sever Battlegroup in the Kharkov region;

◻️The Russian Zapad combat group improved its tactical situation. Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 570 militants;

◻️The Russian Tsentr Battlegroup destroyed two Ukrainian armored vehicles. Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 520 soldiers;

◻️The Russian air defense forces shot down three Hammer aerial bombs and 120 Ukrainian drones during the day.

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Zelensky has submitted to parliament draft bills on extending mobilization and martial law in Ukraine for 90 days - until February 7, 2025

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New assassination attempt on Slovak PM Robert Fico 

A new assassination attempt occurred this month at the Dukla pass, where the 80th anniversary of the Carpathian-Dukla military operation was celebrated, the Slovak prime minister told local media. 

A fully loaded pistol was detected on a man attempting to enter the visitor's area. Fico cited his position on Ukraine as a possible reason for the assassination attempt.

In May 2024, 71-year-old Juraj Cintula tried to assassinate the Slovak PM by shooting him several times. Fico was injured in the abdominal cavity, limbs and chest.

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❗️LIVE: Lavrov holds presser after talks with Kuwaiti counterpart

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❗️Ukrainian losses in the Russian Kursk region amounted to more than 350 servicemen during the day; seven armored vehicles were destroyed, and three militants surrendered, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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❗️Russia believes that the worst-case scenario after the Israeli strikes on Iran is now being avoided, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said

Russia is doing everything possible to help stop the escalation in the Middle East and defuse the situation after the Israeli strikes on Iran, he added.

Moscow expects the UN Security Council to help calm the situation in the Middle East after the Israeli strikes on Iran, the minister concluded.

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The New York Times reported on war crimes by Ukrainian troops in populated areas of Russia's Kursk region, citing eyewitnesses

Russian volunteer Maria Skrob told the newspaper that Ukrainian militants who attacked the village of Korenevo shot at civilians.

“Every car that approached that place was shot at,” said volunteer Maria Skrob, who helped take bodies to a morgue in the provincial capital. “Everyone was trying to get out, but as you can see, they did not succeed.”

According to the newspaper, residents of the nearby village of Kurilovka also shared information that Ukrainian militants were firing at civilians.

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Russian Army Aviation: How it began and what can it do?

The Army Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces celebrates its 76th anniversary today. Having come a long way from its humble beginnings as a helicopter squadron founded in 1948, the Russian Army Aviation today is a full-fledged military branch capable of performing a variety of tasks that range from providing direct fire support to ground troops, airlifting personnel, conducting reconnaissance and engaging in special operations.

Military purposes aside, the Army Aviation can also be deployed to help deal with the aftermath of disasters, both natural and manmade.

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Pepe Escobar: ‘Primakov Triangle’ revealed at Kazan summit as BRICS’ actual ‘driving force’

The “kernel of the Kazan Declaration” adopted at the BRICS summit in Russia last week is “to move in practice towards in-depth institutional changes and to reject Hegemony,” says Brazilian journalist and Sputnik columnist Pepe Escobar.

“The Declaration will be presented to the UN Security Council. There’s no doubt the Hegemon will reject it,” he predicts.

Yet another outcome of the Kazan summit was confirmation that BRICS’ “driving force” is the so-called “Primakov triangle”: Russia, India and China, or RIC for short, Escobar says.

“It’s now possible to add Iran, and that would make it RIIC. Everything of substance in the inter-connected processes of BRICS integration and Afro-Eurasia integration depends on RIIC,” he adds.

Praising the organization of the summit itself, Escobar claims that no other nation in the world “would have been able to pull off such a complex and impeccably organized summit, held after over 200 BRICS-related meetings throughout the year across Russia conducted by unnamed sherpas, members of working groups and the BRICs Business Council.”

“President Putin opened and handed the floor to the leaders and heads of delegations of other 35 nations, most at the highest level, including Palestine, plus the UN Secretary General. Quite a few speeches were nothing short of epic. The session lasted 3h25. It will be circulating all across the Global Majority for years.”

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