🪐🌌Celestial events: planetary alignments in February
 
This February, seven planets will align on one side of the Sun. However, the wide angular spread of 130 degrees means it won’t form a true "parade of planets," where planets appear closely aligned in a narrow view.
 
On February 28, Venus will be visible to the naked eye, and Mercury may also be spotted under ideal conditions, Lyudmila Koshman, an astronomer at the Moscow Planetarium, told Sputnik.
 
Earlier, in late January, six planets will similarly align. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can be seen without equipment, while Uranus and Neptune would require a telescope for viewing.
 
Though not a classic parade, these alignments offer a rare chance to view multiple planets in the night sky.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇮🇷 Iran unveils first intelligence signal ship

This newest destroyer, designed for both combat and intelligence missions, dubbed, the Zagros, has been integrated into the Iranian Navy.

This ship represents a new class of naval vessels created through the efforts of naval specialists, Iranian defense firms and innovative companies.

Its key characteristics:

🟠 the presence of electronic sensors

🟠 an integrated advanced mast with accurate calculation of the influence of electromagnetic waves

🟠 the ability to track active and passive targets, perform cyber operations and intelligent monitoring

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💉💊WHO prequalifies Russian anti-influenza vaccine, recommends for purchase
 
The Flu-M is the first Russian anti-influenza vaccine that has successfully passed World Health Organization prequalification and is recommended for purchase by UN agencies, including UNICEF.
 
🇷🇺🤝🇳🇮The medicine was produced at the facilities of the Russian St. Petersburg Institute of Vaccines and Serums and the Latin American Institute of Biotechnology Mechnikov in Nicaragua.
 
The prequalification status of the WHO confirms the quality of the vaccine that meets international requirements and standards. It further allows the manufacturer to bypass lengthy registration procedures for the drug in each individual country or to use an accelerated registration procedure when entering the market.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

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

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹💪'Enemy cowardly flees, abandoning weapons'
 
Russian troops have displayed weapons abandoned by Ukrainian soldiers who had fled without a fight to avoid having to face the Russian army in the Donetsk People's Republic.
 
Among the trophies were a portable Javelin anti-tank rocket launcher, an American Browning M2 heavy machine gun, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, and ammunition.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russian Air Forces launched a group strike with high-precision weapons and drones against gas and energy infrastructure facilities supplying Ukraine's military-industrial complex, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation:

◻️ Ukrainian forces lost up to 460 soldiers in the area of responsibility of Russia's Zapad Battlegroup;
 
◻️ Ukrainian losses amounted to 230 militants in the area of responsibility of the Yug Battlegroup;
 
◻️ Due to the actions of the Sever and Dnepr Battlegroups, Ukrainian formations lost up to 125 soldiers;
 
◻️ Ukrainian losses amounted to 560 fighters and a Leopard tank in the area of responsibility of the Tsentr Battlegroup.;
 
◻️ Ukrainian forces lost up to 200 soldiers as a result of the actions of the Vostok Battlegroup;
 
◻️ Russian Air Forces hit the infrastructure of military aerodromes, as well as troops and equipment, in 137 areas.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Key statements from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's daily briefing:
 
💬Russia is working on a response to US sanctions against the oil sector; measures should meet Moscow's interests.
 
💬The possible introduction of restrictions on Russian aluminum may lead to a destabilization of the global market.
 
💬Russia and the Central African Republic are developing relations in all areas, including security, and President Faustin Archange Touadera's visit to Moscow is related to this.
 
💬Moscow is cautiously optimistic about reports of an imminent truce in Gaza.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russia would supply 'humanitarian gas' to Transnistria, the leader of the republic said
 

"To the extent necessary for the population of Transnistria, for thermal power engineering, and for industrial enterprises of the republic specifically," Vadim Krasnoselsky stated.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Majority of Britons see PM Starmer as underperforming - poll

64% of UK citizens believe that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is doing a poor job, a YouGov poll showed. At the same time, 24% of respondents supported Starmer, while another 12% could not make an assessment.

The poll was conducted on January 13 and surveyed 1,698 people.

In a separate poll conducted from January 11-13, 62% of Britons said they disapproved of the government’s record to date, with only 17% claiming the opposite.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺☢️🇻🇳Russia to build new research reactor for Vietnam, construction slated for 2027 - Rosatom
 
The current Dalat nuclear research reactor may be extended for up to 10 years, which means that in the near future, Vietnam needs to "create a new competent, modern, and more powerful research reactor," Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said.
 
He added that "such a decision has been made—to create a Russian-designed reactor with a capacity of 15 megawatts, many times more powerful than what we have now."
 

"We are moving according to the schedule that our Vietnamese friends have set for us, meaning that in 2026, we will begin contracting, and in 2027, we will begin the full-scale construction of a new research reactor," Likhachev said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Biden, who has already been accused of improperly storing classified papers, is leaving the White House again with trucks of documents, AP reports.

Against this background, the agency draws attention to the fact that there were no recommendations made to prevent Biden from mishandling classified documents.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️New strategic agreement between Russia and Iran covers all areas of cooperation, signaling a comprehensive partnership between the two nations, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an article for Sputnik.

The main points of the agreement include collaboration in the economy, technology, and humanitarian ties.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🌋 Volcanic activity at Nicaragua's Telica is increasing

Several explosions, rumblings and micro-earthquakes have been recorded on the volcano over recent days, some of which were felt in the city of Leon.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt