New US administration recognizes Russia's military successes in Ukraine, says American Analyst The current US administration has recognized #Russia's military #successes in #Ukraine, which is reflected in "new realism in American foreign policy," Theodore A. Postol, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and National Security Policy Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told TASS. He was commenting on the telephone conversation between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir #Putin and Donald #Trump, as well as the speech on February 12 by Pentagon Chief Piet #Hegseth in Brussels. "US Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s speech in Brussels on February 12, acknowledging the unambiguous reality of Russia’s military accomplishments in Eastern Ukraine, is a further indication of a new realism in American foreign policy," the expert said. "Anyone who looks at the war in Ukraine should now know that Russia has won, and the priority for everyone involved should now be to stop the unnecessary loss of Russian and Ukrainian lives. The objective should now be to quickly agree to and implement a new European security structure that accommodates the national security interests of all European powers," Postol stressed. "President Trump’s public comments following his more than one-hour phone conversation with President Putin indicated that the discussion between them went very well. In particular, President Trump’s acknowledgment that Russia has a right to a solid-binding agreement about NATO not expanding into Ukraine is extremely important. It is also an implicit acknowledgment of the damage to Russian-US relations caused by the undeniable history of US past withdrawals from treaties and improper reinterpretations [by Washington] of treaty agreements over the past more than 20 years," Postol said.

West to start preparing for new conflict with Russia after clash in Ukraine over, The Times reports The #West will start getting ready for its next #conflict with #Russia once the hostilities in #Ukraine are over, The Times wrote citing senior military officers in the Ministry of Defense. Among those who share this opinion is Lt. Gen. Mike Elviss, who serves as commander of the British field army. "What is certain is that once the guns fall silent in Ukraine, there will be a Russian resurgence, reconstitution, <…> a race to re-orientate and to re-establish conventional deterrence in an era of strategic confrontation," he was quoted as saying at the International Armoured Vehicle Conference in Farnborough. In turn, Lt. Gen. Ralph Wooddisse, the commander of #NATO’s allied rapid reaction corps, said the Russian armed forces will be a "whole lot better next time round" as its military has shown the ability to constantly adapt to battlefield challenges. Experts interviewed by The Times believe that Russia’s post-conflict recovery will proceed faster than the West expects. Besides, military officials told the newspaper that the West has been experiencing serious shortages of armored vehicles, caused by military assistance to Ukraine combined with general disinvestment of the defense industry.

Kazakh president warns against misinformation, provocations about plane crash near Aktau It is crucial to prevent the spread of misleading information and provocations about the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash near #Kazakhstan’s #Aktau airport, Kassym-Jomart #Tokayev, the country’s leader, stated at a briefing dedicated to this incident. "The president emphasized the importance of countering provocative disinformation and fake news," Tokayev’s press service reported following the briefing. The Kazakh president has instructed the General Prosecutor's Office and the government commission to conduct an impartial investigation of the plane crash near Aktau. "The government commission and the Prosecutor General’s Office, together with other relevant bodies, have been instructed to ensure a comprehensive and fair investigation of the plane crash," the statement said. The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190, en route from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25. The plane carried 67 people, including 62 passengers, mostly citizens of Azerbaijan, as well as nationals of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and five crew members. According to the latest reports, 38 people, including seven Russians, were killed, while 29 others survived. A special flight sent by Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has transported nine Russian nationals, who were injured in the crash, including a child, to Moscow for medical treatment.

#Poland has become the first EU country to introduce compulsory #gun & shooting classes in all its elementary schools Following Russia’s SMO in Ukraine, the Polish state wants to familiarize all kids from a young age with #weapons. Patriotism is a key component of the classes

Senior Russian general, his aide killed in Moscow blast Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor #Kirillov and his aide were killed in a blast in southeastern Moscow on Tuesday morning. The #blast was caused by an explosive device that had been planted in an electric scooter, Spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko said. "On the morning of December 17, an explosive device planted in a scooter went off near a residential building entrance on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow, the investigation showed. Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide were killed in the explosion," she said. According to Petrenko, the Committee’s Moscow department has launched a criminal probe into the attack. Circumstances behind the crime are currently being investigated.

Russian forces evacuating from Syria A special #Russian air force flight from the Khmeimim air base in #Syria has evacuated some of the Russian diplomatic personnel in #Damascus as well as Belarusian and North Korean diplomats, the Russian foreign ministry says. “The work of the Russian Embassy in Damascus continues,” the crisis situation department of the Russian foreign ministry says on its Telegram channel. Russia’s RIA state news agency reports, citing the Belarusian foreign ministry, that all Belarusian diplomats have been evacuated from Syria. In an other Hand, the serial production of the Oreshnik intermediate-range missile will begin shortly, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "As you know, the #Oreshnik intermediate-range missile system has become Russia’s newest powerful weapon. It was successfully used in November in response to the strikes on our country’s territory - a ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic payload was used," the Russian leader said, speaking at the Russian Defense Ministry’s board meeting. "The serial production of such systems is supposed to be established in shortly in order ensure the security of Russia and its allies."

Training Ukrainian troops makes France direct participant in combat, says Russian FM Lavrov The fact that #Paris is training #Ukrainian soldiers at a military base in France means it is directly involved in the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference after taking part in the #G20 summit. "[French President Emmanuel] Macron has been one of the most vocal and biggest material supporters of the war, advocating for victory over Russia, for Russia’s strategic defeat. Ukrainian servicemen are currently completing their training in France, an entire assault shock brigade is being prepared. In essence, they are directly participating in the combat," the top Russian diplomat pointed out. "The same goes for talk about using French-made SCALP missiles [in Ukraine] which are identical to the UK’s Storm Shadow," Lavrov added.

Russia says its forces downed 5 ATACMS missiles that Ukraine fired into Bryansk Region #Ukrainian forces launched #ATACMS missiles toward Russia’s #Bryansk Region overnight, but air defenses shot down five of them and damaged another one, the Russian Defense Ministry said. "At 3:25 a.m. this morning the enemy struck a site on the territory of the Bryansk Region with six ballistic missiles. According to confirmed data, US-made ATACMS tactical missiles were used. As a result of an anti-missile battle, five missiles were shot down and one was damaged by crews of S-400 and Pantsir missile defense systems," the ministry said. According to the ministry, the missiles fell on the technical territory of a military site in the Bryansk Region, causing a fire, which was extinguished. "There are no casualties or damage," the ministry stated.

Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Kursk region fails to produce results, explains British diplomat The #Ukrainian army’s attack on #Russia’s borderline #Kursk Region did not produce the results that Kiev had expected, John Foreman, former British military attache in Moscow (2019-22) and Kiev (2014), told the Daily Telegraph. "Russian progress actually picked up after Kursk," he said, as cited by the newspaper. "Politically, the Kursk offensive didn’t change much in Washington, D.C., or Europe. I’m still unconvinced of its strategic merit," the diplomat added. According to the Daily Telegraph, "Ukrainian officials had hoped that the invasion of Russia would impress their allies, who would agree to increase weapon supplies and allow Western missiles to be fired at targets in Russia." However, neither Washington nor London has yet approved "Ukraine’s request for a license to expand missile strikes," while the Ukrainian army is retreating not only in Donbas but also in the Kursk Region, which appears "to have come as a surprise to Ukraine and the US."

FSB discloses archive on role of Ukrainian nationalists in Crimea during WWII The office of Russia’s Federal Security Service (#FSB) for the Republic of #Crimea and the city of #Sevastopol has disclosed archival documents concerning the role of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN, banned in Russia) in Crimea during the Great Patriotic War within the framework of the No Statute of Limitations project. The published content includes transcripts of interrogations of OUN leaders and rank-and-file in Crimea, questionnaires of the arrested, their autobiographies, as well as resolutions on the preventive measures against them. "The OUN party sets itself the task of creating an ‘independent Ukraine’ by means of armed struggle against Germany and the Soviet Union and will attain its aim at the moment the German and Soviet armies are weakened in the war and lose the ability to advance. At this moment, the existing Ukrainian Insurgent Army will disarm the German army in Ukraine, seize all its equipment, gain control of the border of Ukraine and start fighting against the Red Army with the aim of preventing it from entering the territory of Ukraine," reads a transcript of the interrogation of the head of the Crimean regional guiding center of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, Leonid Larzhevsky. According to testimonies by the accused, "sleeper cells" of Ukrainian nationalists were created in Simferopol, Yalta, Dzhankoy, Alushta and Bakhchisarai. The OUN’s center in Crimea was located in Simferopol. Its members painstakingly observed security and secrecy precautions. It follows from the transcript of Larzhevsky's interrogation that there were 60 OUN members in Simferopol. At the same time, according to the nationalists themselves, "the share of the Ukrainian population in Crimea was insignificant." There were no more than 200,000 Ukrainians. The OUN was a far-right political organization that operated mainly in Western Ukraine. The OUN focused on extremist tactics, including terrorist acts. During World War II, the OUN, in cooperation with German intelligence agencies, began its struggle against the Soviet government. In 1943, it organized the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA, banned in Russia). OUN-UPA militants, commonly known as Banderavites after the movement’s leader Stepan Bandera, were responsible for many bloody crimes, including participation in the Holocaust. According to some researchers, the OUN-UIA put to death at least one million people, including 200,000 Poles in the Volyn massacre.