New Corroborating Evidence Emerges Showing US Trace Behind Nord Stream Blasts

©Photo : Screenshot / Expressen video

US investigative journalist Sy Hersh opened a Pandora’s Box of incriminating evidence that purportedly directly links the Biden administration to September’s sabotage attacks against the Nord Stream gas pipeline network. On Wednesday, Russia called a special Security Council meeting to discuss the new information.

An email forwarded to Sputnik by a US journalist from an individual identifying themselves as a servicemember that took part in last summer’s NATO BALTOPS 22 exercises in waters near the site of the Nord Stream pipeline explosions provides new information corroborating last week's bombshell Substack report on the incident by Seymour Hersh.

According to the email, on June 15, a helicopter delivered a group of conspicuous-looking American divers in civilian clothes to the exercise area. “My first thought was that they looked like a group of terrorists,” the source wrote, pointing to the individuals’ odd haircuts, mustaches and beards, and the absence of any military ID markers.

The divers were said to have been greeted by a vice admiral of the US Sixth Fleet and a group of individuals in plain clothes. The source couldn’t hear the details of their conversation due to the noise generated by the helicopter’s propeller blades. The commander of the Sixth Fleet during the BALTOPS 22 drills was Vice Admiral Eugene Black. Black was succeeded by Vice Admiral Thomas Ishee in September. The source did not clarify whether Black was the vice admiral the men spoke to.

The source in the email took note of the men’s MK29 military-issue rebreather systems, which use an oxygen-helium mixture for deep-sea diving. He also noticed that the men had other high-grade, expensive equipment not in use by ordinary Navy units, and that they brought small boxes with them, contents unknown.

The men identified themselves as participants in "de-mining exercises," which were to involve the sailing of a small rubber dinghy to a specified destination, find, and defuse anti-ship mines. However, the divers didn’t seem equipped for this, the source indicated.

After their conversation with the US commander, the men did not go to the exercise area, but instead “left their dinghy in their rebreathers and disappeared under the water for over six hours. There is no equipment that allows divers to stay underwater for six hours. The latest military equipment [allows] three or four hours maximum,” the source noted in the email.

Upon their return, the divers were no longer carrying their mystery boxes. They were picked up by a helicopter and flown out of the area, according to the source.

The email was received and verified by John Dougan, a US citizen journalist in Russia. Dougan told Sputnik that the author of the email had sent him details verifying he was who he said he was, including a photo of himself from the BALTOPS 22 drill, a military ID, and passport photo. Dougan couldn’t share this information in the interest of protecting the source's identity. The email was sent from an apparent burner account, Dougan said.

Speaking to Russian media on Thursday, Dougan said he believed many people in the US were beginning to “wake up” and understand what is happening in Ukraine, and the US’ role in “essentially starting World War III.” He noted that the legacy media in the West has done its best to block the dissemination of truthful information about the Ukraine crisis, but added that people have been able to find alternative, independent sources of information to figure out what’s really going on.

Dougan said that the only ones benefiting from the Ukraine conflict are US defense and energy companies, who are making billions of dollars on weapons contracts and the sale of US gas to Europe.

New Info Corroborates Hersh Reporting

The information shared with Sputnik verifies last week’s Substack story by veteran US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, which detailed how US Navy divers operating under the cover of the BALTOPS 22 drills managed to plant remotely triggered C4 explosives in waters off the Danish island of Bornholm that detonated and destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines in September. According to Hersh’s information, the divers operated from aboard a Norwegian Alta-class minesweeper, with C4 later triggered by a sonar buoy dropped by a Norwegian Navy P8 surveillance plane. The explosives-to-buoy communications system was said to have used highly advanced signal processing technology.

US media met Hersh’s reporting with a mix of feigned obliviousness and attempts to smear him as a “discredited journalist.” US officials categorically denied the information in his report, and any US involvement in the Nord Stream terror attack.

Moscow has vowed not to let the bombshell revelations be swept under the rug, while China has called for an impartial investigation into the incident. Russia has scheduled a United Nations Security Council meeting on the issue for February 22.

On Thursday, US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith reiterated that the US rejects all allegations of involvement in the Nord Stream attack, said she does not know who was behind the blasts, and that Washington would like to see the investigations continue.

Russian forces strike command posts of three Ukrainian army brigades in DPR — top brass

HIMARS multiple launch rocket system
©EPA-EFE/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE

Russian forces struck the command posts of three Ukrainian army brigades in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and destroyed a fuel depot near Poltava in the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Thursday.

"In the past 24 hours, army aviation, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck the command posts of the Ukrainian army’s 36th marine infantry brigade near the community of Avdeyevka, 72nd mechanized brigade near the settlement of Uglesborochnaya, 102nd territorial defense brigade near the community of Malinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, and also 92 artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military hardware in 118 areas," the spokesman said.

Russian Kornet anti-tank missile system destroys a Ukrainian observation post in the Avdeevka direction

"In the area of the city of Poltava, a depot storing fuel and lubricants for the Ukrainian military equipment was destroyed," the general added.

Russian forces and artillery inflicted damage on Ukrainian manpower and equipment in the Kupyansk area, eliminating over 60 enemy troops in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, active operations of units and artillery of the western battlegroup inflicted damage on amassed Ukrainian manpower and military equipment in areas near the settlements of Novosyolovskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Dvurechnaya, Krakhmalnoye and Olshana in the Kharkov Region," the spokesman said.

During the battles, "as many as 65 Ukrainian troops, two armored combat vehicles, five motor vehicles and a Grad multiple rocket launcher were destroyed," the general specified.

Russian forces eliminated over 100 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

Russian 152mm D-20 howitzers eliminated a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance boat approaching the left bank of the Dnepr River

"Over 100 Ukrainian army personnel, three armored combat vehicles, four pickup trucks, a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, two D-20 howitzers and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer were destroyed in that [Krasny Liman] direction in the past 24 hours," the spokesman said.

In that direction, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems of the Russian battlegroup Center inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army units in the areas of the settlements of Chervonaya Dibrova and Kuzmino in the Lugansk People’s Republic in the past 24 hours, the general specified.

Russian forces eliminated roughly 135 Ukrainian troops in their advance in the Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Donetsk direction, as many as 135 Ukrainian personnel, two HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, three tanks, three armored combat vehicles, eight motor vehicles, two D-20 and D-30 howitzers, a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, and also a US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-batter radar were destroyed as a result of offensive operations and artillery fire of the southern battlegroup," the spokesman said.

In the area of the settlement of Verkhnekamenskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Russian forces obliterated an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army’s 54th mechanized brigade, the general specified.

The Ukrainian military suffered over 55 casualties in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, artillery of the battlegroup East inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army units in areas near the settlements of Ugledar and Prechistovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The enemy’s losses in that area in the past 24 hours totaled over 55 Ukrainian troops killed and wounded, four armored combat vehicles, two motor vehicles, and also D-20 and D-30 howitzers," the spokesman said.

Russian forces wiped out four Ukrainian ammunition depots in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the area of the city of Kherson, the communities of Dudchany and Berislav, four ammunition depots of the 123rd and 126th territorial defense brigades were struck," the spokesman said.

Russian forces also obliterated an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer and a Msta-B howitzer of the Ukrainian army in the past 24 hours, the general specified.

Russian air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian Air Force Mi-8 helicopter, 20 unmanned aerial vehicles and four HIMARS rockets over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"Russian air defense capabilities shot down a Ukrainian Air Force Mi-8 helicopter near the community of Doroshkovka in the Kharkov Region. In addition, in the past 24 hours, they intercepted four rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and destroyed 20 unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Stelmakhovka and Zhovtnevoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Aleksandrovka, Novomayorskoye and Vladimirovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Konovalova and Yablokovo in the Zaporozhye Region, Kalanchak in the Kherson Region and Kislovka in the Kharkov Region," the spokesman said.

In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 385 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 209 helicopters, 3,152 unmanned aerial vehicles, 404 surface-to-air missile systems, 7,891 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,024 multiple rocket launchers, 4,111 field artillery guns and mortars and 8,407 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.

NATO's Unsustainable Bluff

©AFP 2023 / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

Scott Ritter Columnist

On November 16, 2022, the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, at the conclusion of the seventh session of the Ukraine Contact Group (UCG) tasked with identifying and fulfilling military support requirements for Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia, issued a very pessimistic assessment of the situation on the ground.

Noting that, for the moment, “Russia right now is on its back," Milley warned that the Russian decision to incorporate nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory into its own borders, combined with the then-ongoing mobilization of 300,000 reserves, meant the conflict would not end any time soon. “[T]he probability of a Ukrainian military victory, defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine, to include what they claim is Crimea…is not high, militarily,” Milley noted.

What a difference three months make.

On February 14, 2023, on the eve of a 10th meeting of the UCG, Mark Milley seemed to have a change of heart, telling reporters that Russia has “lost” in the Ukraine conflict. As it approaches the one-year mark, Joint Chiefs chairman gen. singling out Russian President Vladimir Putin, Milley declared that Putin “thought he could defeat Ukraine quickly, fracture the NATO alliance, and act with impunity. He was wrong,” Milley said, adding that Russia has paid an “enormous price on the battlefield” as a result.

The American military chief continued. “Russia is now a global pariah and the world remains inspired by Ukrainian bravery and resilience. In short, Russia has lost—they’ve lost strategically, operationally, and tactically.”

Milley might want to consult with specialists the next time he opts to opine on matters pertaining to the conflict in Ukraine. Far from a “global pariah,” Russian diplomats are being welcomed with open arms in geopolitically vital regions of the world, such as Africa. This strong diplomatic showing, when combined with a strong Russian economy, which the International Monetary Fund expects to expand 0.3% in 2023 and 2.1% in 2024, despite stringent US and European-backed economic sanctions, points to a strategic victory by Russia.

As for Milley’s assessments regarding the state of play operationally and tactically, he would do well to heed recent comments by US Army General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, to a Swedish defense conference this past January. Cavoli noted that both the scale and intensity of the combat ongoing in Ukraine made it clear that the NATO alliance was not prepared to fight a large-scale ground war in Europe.

“The magnitude of this war is incredible,” Cavoli said. “If we average out since the beginning of the war, the slow days and fast days, the Russians have expended on average well over 20,000 artillery rounds per day. The scale of this war is out of proportion with all of our recent thinking,” Cavoli noted, adding, “it is real, and we must contend with it.”

Cavoli’s emphasis on artillery is critical in parsing out Milley’s assertions that Ukraine had the upper hand operationally and tactically, given the major role played by artillery in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

While the intent of the 10th gathering of the UCG, convened on February 14, Saint Valentine’s Day, was to focus on the provision of high-value items to Ukraine, such as tanks and aircraft, the conference quickly diverted into the realm of reality, where the critical shortage of artillery ammunition arose as the primary problem facing Ukraine.

While the United States had already delivered more than one million 155mm artillery shells to the Ukrainian Army, the scale of the fighting alluded to by General Cavoli means that Ukraine is firing off in a single day the total number of shells the US can produce in a month. At this rate, Ukraine is expected to run out of ammunition by the end of the summer.

Pro-hint to General Milley—if your opponent is firing many times the amount of artillery as you are, and you run out of ammunition, the operational and tactical advantage belongs to them, not you.

And while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s recognition that Ukraine and NATO were facing an existential crisis when it came to artillery ammunition, there was no ready solution on the horizon the rectify the problem, especially in a time frame that would alter the dire logistical reality that come this summer, the Ukrainian Army will lose the ability to resist the Russian Army.

Two decades of singular focus on low-intensity combat in Iraq and Afghanistan has atrophied both US and European production lines for artillery ammunition. It would take years to start up new production lines, and even then, the private defense industries involved would be loath to do so without long-term contracts which, given the moment-by-moment aspect of NATO aid to Ukraine, is not forthcoming.

Meanwhile, Russia’s defense industry is chugging along on all cylinders, not only producing ammunition in sufficient quantities to meet its prodigious expenditure rates in Ukraine, but also build stocks sufficient to supply an expanding Russian military, expected to grow to over 1.5 million in the next several years.

Russia, unlike Ukraine, isn’t running out of ammunition any time soon, a fact which, in a war defined by artillery firepower, means it holds the operational and tactical edge over their Ukrainian opponents.

The issue is larger than simply the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. As General Cavoli alluded, not only has NATO stripped away its existing stockpile of artillery ammunition, it lacks the industrial capacity to replenish these stocks in the foreseeable future. According to former NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General Jamie Shea, the trans-Atlantic alliance has “largely used up the available stocks” in supplying Ukraine, and now must focus on replenishing its own depleted stocks before the issue of meeting Ukraine’s urgent demands can be addressed.

Ukraine rolled into the Saint Valentine’s Day meeting with high expectations, dreaming of tanks and fighter aircraft. Instead, it left a jilted lover, told by its NATO allies that the well has literally run dry.

And if this situation holds for the next several months, General Milley might have to eat his words, since Russia is apparently on the course to achieve a decisive strategic, operational, and tactical military victory over Ukraine and its NATO sponsors.

Ilmuwan - Ular Dapat Mendengar Jeritan Anda

Sebelumnya, dipercaya secara luas bahwa ular tidak dapat mendengar gelombang suara yang dibawa melalui udara dalam kapasitas yang signifikan, meskipun beberapa kemampuannya telah diketahui.

"Saya berteriak, Anda berteriak, kami semua berteriak - saat kami melihat seekor ular!" Menurut penelitian baru yang menyanggah asumsi lama tentang indra ular, ular yang merayap benar-benar dapat mendengar Anda saat Anda berteriak.

Penelitian, yang dicetak dalam publikasi peer-reviewed Public Library of Science PLOS ONE pada hari Selasa, menggambarkan banyak respons ular terhadap suara di berbagai frekuensi yang tidak menghasilkan getaran tanah, yang sudah diketahui digunakan ular untuk bernavigasi.

“Kami melakukan 304 percobaan percobaan terkontrol pada 19 ular di lima genera di ruangan kedap suara (4,9 x 4,9 m) pada suhu 27ºC, mengamati efek dari tiga suara pada perilaku individu ular, dibandingkan dengan kontrol,” tulis para ilmuwan, yang semuanya berbasis di Queensland, Australia. Suara dimainkan pada 85 desibel, atau kira-kira sekeras orang berteriak.

Pada frekuensi yang berbeda, para ilmuwan mengamati delapan perilaku ular yang berbeda, termasuk gerakan tubuh, membekukan tubuh, menjentikkan kepala, menjentikkan lidah, mendesis, periscoping (ketika seekor ular yang penasaran mengangkat sepertiga tubuhnya dari tanah), kepala fiksasi, dan menjatuhkan rahang bawah mereka, sebagai respons terhadap tiga suara.

Responsnya sangat bergantung pada genus, dengan Woma Python secara signifikan meningkatkan gerakan mereka sebagai respons, dan Death Adders, Taipans, dan Australian Brown Snakes semuanya menjauh dari suara. Mereka juga mencatat bahwa suku Taipan mengambil sikap bertahan, sementara tiga dari lima genera menunjukkan berbagai watak lainnya.

Python adalah satu-satunya ular tidak berbisa yang diuji, dan satu-satunya yang tidak lari dari suara itu. Death Adder, pemburu predator, juga menunjukkan kemampuan pendengaran yang lebih rendah daripada Taipan dan Ular Coklat Australia, keduanya adalah pemburu aktif.

“Hasil kami menyoroti potensi respons perilaku ular yang diwariskan terhadap suara, yang dikelompokkan dalam genera,” simpul mereka. “Studi kami mengilustrasikan variabilitas perilaku di antara genera ular yang berbeda, dan di seluruh frekuensi suara, yang berkontribusi pada pemahaman kami yang terbatas tentang pendengaran dan perilaku pada ular.”

Ular tidak memiliki telinga luar seperti manusia, tetapi mereka memiliki semua fungsi internal telinga, memungkinkan mereka merasakan getaran di tengkorak mereka dan memahaminya. Hasil eksperimen membuktikan bahwa ini tidak hanya membantu mereka merasakan getaran tanah, tetapi juga memungkinkan mereka mendeteksi beberapa suara yang bergerak di udara.

Russia believes Nord Stream explosions are international terrorist attacks — embassy to US

©AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File

Russia believes the explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines were attacks by international terrorists, Igor Girenko, a spokesman for the Russian embassy to the US, said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We qualify the incident as an act of international terrorism that requires a comprehensive and independent investigation," the statement said.

"It wouldn’t hurt if the US, which claims the monopoly on the truth, shifted from empty accusations directed at us to the matter at hand and at least try to prove it wasn’t involved in the destruction of the gas pipelines."

The embassy pointed to the unrestrained reaction of the US State Department spokesman Ned Price "to a completely reasonable question from journalists about how the administration would feel about the involvement of the UN in the search for those responsible for the unprecedented sabotage attack in the Baltic Sea."

"The interest of the correspondents was more than justified, given the total disregard by the US government - with the tacit consent of domestic media - of the resonant investigation of the Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh," Russian embassy spokesman said.

"The Russian side won’t allow the situation with the explosions at the critical energy infrastructure to be downplayed, especially given that there’s no information about several undetonated explosives that have apparently remained on the sea bed," he said.

On Wednesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a news conference that the United States has nothing to do with the explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines and is ready to reiterate this at a meeting of the UN Security Council. Price described reports that Washington was behind the explosions as complete misinformation.

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh on February 8 published an article where he said, citing a source, that explosives under the Russian Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were planted by US Navy divers, helped by Norwegian specialists, under the guise of the Baltops exercise in June.

The story stated that the CIA and Burns took part in the preparation of the operation, and US president Joe Biden personally authorized the operation after nine months of deliberations with the administration’s national security staff. Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council at the White House, responded to a request for comment from TASS that the story laid out by Hersh was totally false and complete fiction.

Russia Will Not Allow Silencing Issue of Nord Stream Explosions: Embassy in US

Moscow will not allow silencing the reports suggesting the United States was behind the explosions on Nord Stream gas pipeline given that there is no data on several remaining explosives in the Baltic Sea, the Russian embassy in the US said on Thursday.

"The Russian side will not allow to simply turn the page on blowing up the critical energy infrastructure. Especially given the fact that nothing is known about the several remaining explosives, apparently located on the bottom of the sea," embassy spokesman Igor Girenko said on Telegram.

The diplomat also said that Moscow qualified the incident as "an act of international terrorism" that requires a "comprehensive and independent investigation."

He added that the US should drop the "baseless accusations" against Russia and "get down to business."

Earlier in the day, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, when asked whether the United Nations should play a role in probing the suspected sabotage, that he would leave it to the US' partners on whose territory the blast occurred to speak to the appropriate investigative mechanisms.

On September 26, three of the four strings of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were damaged by underwater blasts.

Last week, Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report detailing how US Navy divers had allegedly planted explosives under the pipelines, which Norway activated three months later.

US President Joe Biden allegedly decided to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines after more than nine months of secret discussions with his national security team, the report based on insider information from a source said.

The US government has repeatedly denied involvement in the blowing up of the Russian pipelines, while the Russian government has demanded an open investigation and called an emergency Security Council meeting next week.

Panic as 8 lions seen roaming on the streets of the village in Gujarat India

CCTV footage shows 8 lions roaming the village of Amreli in Gujarat. However, lions do not attack animals or humans. However, after the appearance of the video, there was panic among the villagers.

In a shocking incident reported from Amreli district of Gujarat, a pride of lions were seen freely roaming on the streets of village creating fear and panic among the local residents.

The locals say that the lion comes out of the forest in search of prey and comes to the village and then leaves. However, these lions could return to the village and prove to be a threat to people's lives.

The video surfaced is from Rampar village of Rajula in Amreli. 8 lions roaming in the streets of the village have been recorded in CCTV. The lions entered the village on the intervening night of Tuesday-Wednesday. After roaming around the village for a long time in search of prey, all left from there.

The pride, including two cubs, was seen near a residential area of Junagadh town, around 300 km from Ahmedabad.

In a separate incident, a man was severely injured when three lions attacked him in the Amreli district, which is near the Gir region known for its lion population.

When the news of the arrival of lions spread in the village in the morning, the villagers got goosebumps. People say that lions can come back to the village. In such a situation, the fear of attack on any human being or animal will always remain.

Youth arrested for harassing lions

In the month of January, the video of the village of Amreli came to the fore. In this, the youths who came to Gir forest riding in two vehicles were seen troubling the herd of lions. The youths were chasing the lions in the car.

Troubled by the car, the lions were moving forward. After the video went viral, the Forest Department took immediate action and arrested the accused youths.

Forests officials said the man was attacked while he was grazing goats near his village. He was admitted to a hospital.

Three persons were killed in attacks by lions in the same area between March and May this year. A woman was also killed in the Gir Somnath district.

LIVE UPDATES - Ukrainian ‘Commander’ Shown With ISIS Patch

A Ukrainian commander of a unit aka Kurt (right) speaks to his comrades during planning morning operation at the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. © AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

The Associated Press (AP) has released a series of photographs as well as a video clip purportedly showing several Kiev fighters on the frontline in the Donetsk region. One of the soldiers, identified by the outlet as a Ukrainian unit commander by the name of Kurt, can be seen wearing an ISIS (Islamic State) insignia on his left arm.

This isn’t the first time Kiev’s servicemen and paramilitaries have been caught on camera wearing extremist insignia, with many displayed sporting Nazi tattoos or patches.

Russian mortar crew with the help of an accurate strike of incendiary mines burned down a Ukrainian checkpoint near Avdiivka

In fact, these have often been personally associated with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Earlier this week, he published several photos of Kiev’s soldiers on his Instagram account. One of the images featured a serviceman resting in a trench while wearing a ‘totenkopf’ (death’s head) skull patch – a symbol of the 3rd SS Tank Division, infamous for massacring civilians in France and the Eastern Front, including Polish Jews.

In May, Zelensky also shared an image of a soldier with a similar skull-head patch, but later deleted it. In October, he was photographed on a visit to the frontline while being surrounded by security guards wearing the same insignia.

Zelensky shares photo of Ukrainian soldier with Nazi insignia, againREAD MORE Zelensky shares photo of Ukrainian soldier with Nazi insignia, again Kiev has denied the presence of any neo-Nazi elements in the country’s military, bluntly dismissing such assertions as “Russian propaganda.”

Moscow, however, has repeatedly pointed to the fact that Kiev openly welcomes fighters with radical nationalistic and neo-Nazi views. One such example is the incorporation of the infamous Azov Regiment – which openly uses the SS-affiliated wolfsangel (wolf’s hook) rune as its official symbol – into Ukraine’s National Guard.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained that the “denazification” is one of the primary reasons Moscow ultimately decided to launch its military operation in Ukraine in late February of 2022.

Arestovich said that those in Ukraine who consider Russian "the language of the aggressor" have all the signs of a severe mental disorder.

The crew of the Russian T-72 tank daily attacks the positions of Ukrainian militants in the Zaporozhye direction 3-4 times a day, the crew commander of the combat vehicle told RIA Novosti

NATO countries want to transfer tanks to Ukraine in sufficient quantities to form several brigades, said Polish President Duda

Switzerland will impose a price limit on Russian oil products today, the Ministry of Economy said.

Russia requested a meeting of the UN Security Council on February 22 in connection with the undermining of the Nord Stream, the Russian permanent mission reported.

Hungary and Romania initiated an appeal to the Venice Commission to resolve the issue of the status of national minorities in Ukraine.

The Commission analyzes the laws of the member states. A decision on the current appeal is expected by June, Hungary hopes that Kyiv will be forced to comply with it, Foreign Minister Szijjarto said.

Budapest has repeatedly criticized Kyiv for the oppression of the national minority in Transcarpathia, even stated that it would not ratify Ukraine's membership in the EU until this issue was resolved.

The latest reconnaissance complex capable of detecting and identifying a person at a distance of 18 km using a laser beam has been developed in Russia, a source in the military-industrial complex told RIA Novosti

"A laser is directed, reflected, returned, fixed. A person is identified at a distance of up to 18 km"

The complex is part of a new reconnaissance vehicle on the Typhoon-VDV chassis, which was developed in the interests of the Special Operations Forces.

Special operation, February 15th. Main:

▪️ The "Southern" group of troops of the Russian Armed Forces destroyed up to 190 Ukrainian military in the Donetsk direction, as well as eight pieces of equipment, including one American M777 howitzer, the Russian Defense Ministry reported;

Prigogine explained the importance of Artemivsk (Bakhmut): it is needed to paralyze the Ukrainian army there, and it is paralyzed there

▪️ The grouping of troops of the Russian Armed Forces "Vostok" destroyed more than 60 Ukrainian military and 11 pieces of equipment in a day, including in the area of Vogledar;

▪️ The United States, together with its allies, sees its task in giving Ukraine everything necessary for a "decisive" success in the expected spring counteroffensive, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said;

▪️ Borrell told MEPs that he "does not understand" those who want to stop military supplies to Ukraine in order to achieve peace. He urged European countries to transfer their "dusty" tanks in warehouses to Ukraine and do it as soon as possible;

▪️ At the same time, Borrell said that the supply of arms and diplomatic efforts in Ukraine can occur in parallel;

▪️ The production of a 120-millimeter mine has become the first product of joint cooperation between NATO and Ukraine, the supply of mines to the Ukrainian army is expected soon, Ukroboronprom spokeswoman Natalya Sad said;

▪️ Polish President Duda said that NATO countries want to transfer tanks to Ukraine in sufficient quantities to form several brigades;

▪️ German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck believes that the decision to supply Ukraine with Leopard tanks was made "a little late".