Watch Russian Choppers Wreak Havoc on Ukrainian Positions With S-8 Missiles

Ever since the commencement of the special military operation, Russia's air power has reigned supreme, offering continuous support to ground troops, while consistently suppressing Ukrainian positions through relentless drum fire.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense published footage showing a formation of Russian Ka-52 attack helicopters, accompanied by Mi-35M combat-transport and Mi-8 multipurpose rotorcraft. The video captures these helicopters launching S-8 unguided rockets onto a Ukrainian outpost located in the special operation zone.

The S-8 projectile, developed by Russian scientists, is designed for use in fighter bombers and helicopters. This versatile missile offers multiple warhead options, such as armor piercing for targeting tanks and incendiary for decimating enemy troops.

The chopper crew revealed that they had employed unguided missiles against both light-armored and armored vehicles, as well as enemy troops. According to them, all the targets were successfully hit.

Watch Battlegroup Vostok's Tank Crews' Unyielding Defense on Zaporozhye Front

Ukrainian troops have been engaged in a relentless fight against the defense line of Russian forces for over six months, with the Kiev regime falling short of achieving its declared objectives. The tank crews of the Vostok Battlegroup have thwarted all enemy attempts to breach the defense of the Russian Armed Forces in the critical Zaporozhye area.

This video, released by Russia's Defense Ministry, showcases a tank crew operating within the special operation zone, navigating through snow-covered fields to reach its deployment area. When receiving the command, the tank crew demonstrates speed and efficiency in maneuvering to its designated position.

This visual insight provides a glimpse into the challenges faced by the troops as they operate in harsh winter conditions to ensure the security of the region.

The Zaporozhye frontline has become a focal point in the ongoing conflict, and the actions of the Vostok Battlegroup play a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of Russian defense lines.

Watch Russian Airborne Troops Storm Ukrainian Positions

Russian soldiers suppressed most of the heavy weapons with airstrikes and artillery, then quickly took control of Ukrainian positions with the help of IFVs, grenades, and firearms.

The Russian Defense Ministry released footage showing that airborne troops successfully seized Ukrainian positions near the village of Verbovoe in Zaporozhye.

According to the statement, the airborne troops carefully gathered information about the Ukrainian positions and launched air and artillery strikes on them. They then approached the Ukrainian outpost in IFVs under heavy fire and eliminated the remaining Kiev regime troops with firearms and grenades. The ministry praised the courage and bravery of the troops, adding that the seized positions are now under the full control of the Russian army.

Moscow mocks US claims it used North Korean missiles

FILE PHOTO: North Korean rocket launchers during a parade in Pyongyang. © API / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

The US is peddling false information when claiming that Russia used North Korean missiles to attack Ukrainian targets, Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told a Security Council meeting on Wednesday.

Washington has accused Russia of buying North Korean ballistic missiles and using them during mass strikes on Ukrainian targets on December 13, and also last week. US national security spokesperson John Kirby described it as “significant and concerning escalation” in remarks last Thursday. Washington’s allies brought up the issue at the UNSC briefing on Ukraine.

Nebenzia brushed off the allegations, citing statements by a Ukrainian official. Yury Ignat, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said on national television that no forensic evidence to confirm the US claims was available to Kiev.

“It turns out that the United States replicates deliberately false information without even bothering to give a heads-up to its direct subjects,” the Russian diplomat remarked during the briefing.

North Korea is under UN sanctions, which include an arms embargo, for developing nuclear weapons and ICBMs. Moscow and Pyongyang have stated that while the two have a good relationship, their cooperation does not violate this restriction, contrary to Western claims.

South Korean ambassador Hwang Joon-kook accused Russia of testing North Korean weapons as part of its military action against Ukraine, and providing “valuable technical and military insights” to the producer nation. He cited unspecified experts as identifying the weapons as KN-23s, which North Korea claims to be nuclear-capable.

Ignat, the military spokesman, said that positively identifying a ballistic missile as North Korean would be challenging due to their similarity to Russian equivalents, and significant fragmentation on impact. Both nations’ designs stem from Soviet technology.

Another Ukrainian official, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the administration of Kharkov Region, claimed that some of the fragments recovered from Russian missile strike sites had had their markings erased, which he suggested indicated their foreign origin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously rejected allegations that Moscow was procuring North Korean arms. In an interview in October, he said he does not comment on “rumors”, adding that “the Americans are always accusing everyone of all sorts of things”.

US president’s son storms out of court

©Getty Images/Kent Nishimura

US presidential scion Hunter Biden stormed out of a congressional hearing debating holding him in contempt for his failure to appear at a previous hearing on Wednesday, after surprising House Republicans with his presence.

The House Judiciary Committee voted on Wednesday along party lines to hold Hunter Biden, the president’s son, in contempt of Congress, hours after he surprised Republicans by appearing unannounced on Capitol Hill, prompting a partisan free-for-all.

Flanked by his lawyers Abbe Lowell and Kevin Morris, the son of President Joe Biden caused a stir when he sat down in the front row of the hearing room as the House Oversight Committee was debating a resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress over his refusal to attend a scheduled deposition last month.

The 23-to-14 vote sends the matter to the full House, which is controlled by Republicans. The measure accuses the younger Mr. Biden of failing to sit for a private deposition in the impeachment inquiry against President Biden. It came as the House Oversight Committee continued a lengthy and at times vitriolic meeting on an identical resolution, which also was expected to be approved along party lines.

“We will not provide Hunter Biden with special treatment because of his last name,” said Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and chairman of the oversight panel.

The day began with a dramatic twist: the unexpected arrival of the younger Mr. Biden, who has repeatedly offered to testify publicly in the impeachment inquiry but refused to be interviewed behind closed doors, in the Oversight Committee’s hearing room. Democrats and Republicans immediately began bickering about whether to allow him to be heard.

Democrats on the panel urged the Republicans who control it to let Mr. Biden testify right then and there, but G.O.P. lawmakers insisted he must submit to a closed-door deposition as ordered by their subpoena.

The exchange pitted some of the staunchest supporters of former President Donald J. Trump against the son of his successor and chief political rival, underscoring the bitter polarization that is driving the impeachment investigation.

As Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, was beginning to lecture the younger Mr. Biden, he and his entourage left the room just minutes after arriving, trailed by a gaggle of journalists who had gathered to watch the G.O.P.’s latest move. That prompted Ms. Greene to label him a “coward.”

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia labeled Hunter Biden a “coward” during the hearing. Credit... Valerie Plesch for The New York Times

“Hunter Biden is terrified of strong conservative Republican women because he can’t even face my words,” said Ms. Greene, who had displayed nude photos of Mr. Biden during a previous committee hearing.

Representative Robert Garcia, Democrat of California, called her actions “shameful” and argued that Mr. Biden was justified in leaving as she spoke.

“She is the person that showed nude photos of Hunter Biden in this committee room,” he said.

The spectacle was the younger Mr. Biden’s latest attempt to undercut the Republicans’ case that he has failed to comply with their subpoena, by demonstrating that he was making himself available to testify publicly. He did not address the panel on Wednesday, but has previously said that he does not want to be interviewed behind closed doors because he fears Republicans would selectively leak his testimony in an effort to misrepresent it.

Hunter Biden is under federal indictment facing accusations of tax crimes related to his overseas business interests. Republicans are hunting for evidence that his father was inappropriately involved in his foreign business dealings, and are working to build a case for charging the president with bribery and corruption, but have so far turned up no proof of either.

At a news conference on Capitol Hill on the day Republicans hoped to depose him last month, Mr. Biden acknowledged his personal failings, described in scandalous detail in the indictment against him, but said they had nothing to do with his father and that his father had no financial involvement in his business.

Republicans reacted angrily to Mr. Biden’s appearance on Wednesday, and one, Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, said he should be arrested and jailed on the spot.

“You are the epitome of white privilege, coming into the Oversight Committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed,” Ms. Mace said to Mr. Biden as he sat in the audience. “What are you afraid of? You have no balls.”

“If the gentlelady wants to hear from Hunter Biden, we can hear from him right now,” Representative Jared Moskowitz, Democrat of Florida, shot back.

Should the House endorse the contempt charge, it would be up to the Justice Department to decide whether to pursue a criminal case against Mr. Biden.

Outside the Oversight Committee room, a circuslike atmosphere greeted Mr. Biden and his legal entourage as they made their way out of the meeting, with a throng of news cameras jostling for position and journalists shouting questions. Abbe Lowell, his lawyer, accused Republicans of engaging in a “political crusade” that included selective leaks. He said Mr. Biden has offered at least six times to testify in public.

“The Republican chairs today then are commandeering an unprecedented resolution to hold someone in contempt who has offered to publicly answer all their proper questions,” Mr. Lowell told the reporters. “The question there is what are they afraid of?”

Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat, offered to support a contempt citation against Hunter Biden if Republicans would add the names of G.O.P. congressmen who failed to comply with subpoenas. Credit... Valerie Plesch for The New York Times

Mr. Biden made only brief comments to reporters, at one point responding to a question about why he had put his father on speakerphone while speaking to business partners. “Do you have a dad?” he asked. “Does he call you? Do you answer the phone?” The younger Mr. Biden had appeared on Capitol Hill on Dec. 13 to offer to publicly testify in the impeachment investigation but insisted he would not appear for a private deposition that House Republicans had scheduled over his refusals.

That offer fell short of the demands of the Republicans’ subpoena, and they said they would not accept it.

“Let me state as clearly as I can,” Hunter Biden said at the time. “My father was not financially involved in my business — not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad and certainly not as an artist.”

Democrats contend that Mr. Comer should have accepted Mr. Biden’s offer to testify publicly, noting that he had previously offered to let witnesses testify at either a deposition or a public hearing, “whichever they choose.”

In the last Congress, when Democrats controlled the House, the chamber voted to refer four recalcitrant witnesses for contempt charges after they did not cooperate with the special House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Unlike Hunter Biden, however, none of those four witnesses — all allies of Mr. Trump — had offered to testify publicly.

The U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., ultimately charged two of those witnesses, Stephen K. Bannon and Peter Navarro, both of whom were convicted but are appealing their cases. Criminal contempt charges carry a maximum sentence of one year in prison, as well as a fine of up to $100,000.

The Jan. 6 committee did not refer for contempt every witness who defied its subpoenas. Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the Judiciary panel, for example, was among the Republican members of Congress who received a subpoena but did not cooperate with the investigation.

The Jan. 6 panel decided instead to refer Mr. Jordan and three other Republican congressmen to the Ethics Committee for investigation.

On Wednesday, Mr. Moskowitz said he would vote for the contempt citation against Hunter Biden if Republicans would add the names of the G.O.P. congressmen who failed to comply with subpoenas during the last Congress.

Luke Broadwater covers Congress with a focus on congressional investigations. More about Luke Broadwater

Watch Russian Soldiers Use Kornet Missile to Annihilate Ukrainian Armored Vehicle

The Kornet man-portable anti-tank guided missile system is able to hit targets at a range of up to 5,500 meters, with its tandem warhead capable of punching through about 1,200 mm of tank armor.

A Russian Kornet anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system crew has destroyed an armored combat vehicle of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

Russian paratroopers from detachments belonging to Battlegroup launched a guided missile and destroyed the Western-made infantry fighting vehicle near Artemovsk. Footage of the successful strike was provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) on January 10.

The Kornet system is able to hit targets at a range of up to 5,500 meters. With a warhead that can punch through about 1,200 mm of tank armor, the Kornet ATGM has been branded the most fearsome weapon of Russia’s tank hunters.

Watch Russia's Black Sea Fleet Marines Hammer Ukrainian Deployment Point

Russia's Black Sea Fleet Marines hammered temporary stations sheltering Ukrainian soldiers on the right bank of the Dnepr River in the special op zone.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage showing troops from the Russian Black Sea Fleet pounding Ukrainian interim stationing point in the Kherson region.

Russian forces from the 810th Separate Marine Brigade wiped out the site using high-precision artillery strikes. The mission was carried out by gunners along with drone operators, who conducted reconnaissance of enemy targets and fire adjustment.

Upon receiving the exact coordinates, Russian artillerymen promptly aimed their guns and destroyed the enemy with 122 mm shells from a D-30 howitzer. The service members carried out the mission in mere minutes to avoid being detected by Ukrainian units stationed on the right bank of the Dnepr River.

Watch Russian Solntsepyok Heavy Flamethrower Bombard Ukrainian Positions

The TOS-1 and TOS-2 Solntsepyok series of 30 and 24-barrell 220-mm thermobaric warhead-launching multiple rocket launchers are among the deadliest conventional weapons in Russia’s arsenal, literally raining fire down on fortifications, vehicles and any troops unfortunate enough to find themselves in their zone of fire.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has published footage showing a TOS-2 Solntsepyok crew operating in the special operation zone, traveling to its deployment area, loading its heavy thermobaric rounds and firing at Ukrainian forces deployed near the settlement of Verbovoye in Zaporozhye region.

Night vision thermal camera footage of the strike shows multiple rounds hitting their targets, creating giant fireballs of fire and smoke ascending into the night sky.

TOS is a Russian acronym which means ‘Heavy Flamethrower System’. The weapon operates like a conventional MLRS, but fires 220 mm 173-217 kg rockets containing a fuel air explosive mixture generating extreme heat of up to 3,000 degrees centigrade (enough to melt even steel armor) and consuming all oxygen in its vicinity upon detonation.

NATO countries don’t have a ground-based analogue to the TOS, preferring to do their thermobaric bombardments using air-dropped weapons.

Watch Russian Su-34 Jet Strike Ukrainian Stronghold in Northern DPR With 500 Kg Bombs

Russian Army Aviation and the Aerospace Forces have had to use heavy firepower to target Ukrainian positions in the occupied portion of Donetsk region – which have been heavily fortified over the course of nearly eight straight years between 2015 and 2022.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage showing a Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber striking Ukrainian positions in Krasny Liman in the northern, occupied portion of the Donetsk People’s Republic with super-heavy high explosive bombs.

The video shows the aircraft being prepared for launch at an undisclosed airfield somewhere in Russia, fitted with four deadly FAB-500 500-kilogram general purpose air-dropped bombs. As the strike aircraft travels down the runway, it can be seen that the bombs have been equipped with modules designed to correct the otherwise unguided bomb mid-flight if necessary.

After takeoff, an interior shot of the cockpit shows that the aircraft flying toward the target area above cloud cover. After the plane dropped its bombs, the targeting indicator showed two massive explosions on the ground in the target area, with the aircraft then heading back to base and touching down sometime after nightfall.

The military did not provide any information about when the footage was shot. Earlier, the MoD announced that it had carried out large-scale strikes across Ukraine targeting military production facilities, as well as over two hundred separate targets containing concentrations of Ukrainian troops and equipment concentrations and artillery positions.

Developed through the 1980s and introduced into service with the Russian military in 2014, the Sukhoi Su-34 is a 4++ generation aircraft equipped with technology and armaments also appearing on Russian fifth generation military jets.

King Salman leads Saudi cabinet in rejection of Israel’s actions in Gaza

King Salman presided over the Saudi cabinet session in Riyadh. (SPA)

King Salman presided over the Saudi cabinet session on Tuesday in Riyadh during which the council of ministers rejected Israel’s statements concerning the displacement of Palestinians, the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, and the construction of settlements.

The cabinet underscored the significance of international community efforts to activate accountability mechanisms against Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law.

Additionally, the council of ministers engaged in discussions regarding initiatives aimed at securing the stability of the oil market.

The cabinet expressed commendation for the dedication demonstrated by oil-producing countries (OPEC) in their commitment to stabilizing the market.

ICJ should consider destroyed buildings as ‘evidence of genocide’ in Gaza: UN envoy

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, has said that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should consider the scale of damaged and destroyed housing in Gaza as part of the genocide case against Israel.

“ICJ should consider this as evidence of genocide when coupled with public statements documented before it by South Africa,” Rajagopal said in a post on X.

Rajagopal cited analysis from the Decentralised Damage Mapping Group which found that as of January 5, 2024:

• Between 45.3 to 55.9 percent of buildings in the Gaza Strip were “likely damaged or destroyed”.



• Between 71.1 to 82.7 percent of buildings in the area around Gaza City in northern Gaza were “likely damaged or destroyed”.

About 56% of houses in Gaza are destroyed or damaged. Northern Gaza is most heavily affected with upto 82% destroyed or damaged. ICJ should consider this as evidence of genocide when coupled with public statements documented before it by South Africa.https://t.co/zsC8GgHoUu

— UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing (@adequatehousing) January 10, 2024

UK Foreign Secretary Cameron says worries Israel might have breached int’l law

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron says he is “worried” that tactics used during Israel’s war on Gaza may include breaches of international law. Cameron said that though legal advice points to Israeli compliance with international law, “lots of occasions” are under question.

Asked during a question-and-answer session with lawmakers if Israel could be vulnerable to a challenge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague over whether their actions were proportionate, Cameron said the stance was "close to that."

Britain has backed Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas attacks but also called on its military to show restraint and act within international law in its offensive in Gaza that has laid waste to much of the Palestinian enclave.

Cameron did not directly answer lawmakers about whether he had received legal advice that Israel might have broken international law, but said some incidents had raised questions over whether there had been breaches.

"Am I worried that Israel has taken action that might be in breach of international law, because this particular premises has been bombed, or whatever? Yes, of course," Cameron said as he took questions from parliament's foreign affairs committee.

Cameron said that there was always a "question mark" over whether a given incident broke international law, which lawyers would examine and then advise him over.

"The advice has been so far, that they (Israel) have the commitment, the capability and the compliance (with international law), but on lots of occasions that is under question."

Amid growing international concern over the huge Palestinian death toll from the Israeli assault, as well as a deepening humanitarian crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urged Israeli leaders to do more to avoid further harm to non-combatants and to protect civilian infrastructure.

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Japan Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 180, 120 Missing

©AP Photo/ Hiro Komae

The number of victims of a series of powerful earthquakes that struck Japan near the Noto Peninsula on the coast of the Sea of Japan has risen to 180, according to the data published by the authorities of Ishikawa Prefecture.

Earlier, 168 people were reported dead. At least 120 people are listed as missing: emergency services cannot contact them to confirm their whereabouts. The number of injured is 565. About 28,000 residents of the areas affected by the earthquakes remain in evacuation centers.

With over 26,000 people still sheltering in evacuation centers in Ishikawa Prefecture, concerns about the spread of infectious diseases have risen following reports of around a dozen infections with the novel coronavirus at three locations in the town of Shika, they said.

At least 3,100 people, primarily in Wajima and the adjacent city of Suzu, are cut off due to severed roads and heavy snowfall, with the recovery of electricity, water supply, and other services still uncertain, they said.

The death toll continues to rise from the New Year's Day earthquake in Japan with 128 people having been confirmed dead and nearly 200 still missing. The highest number of lives lost is in the city of Wajima. Michiyo Ishida reports from the largest city on the Noto Peninsula, the epicentre of the powerful earthquake.

While more than 250 elementary, junior high, and high schools in the prefecture resumed after winter break on Tuesday, over 90 schools, including those in Wajima and Suzu, could not start classes due to damaged facilities.

Aftershocks also continue to jolt the region, including a magnitude-6.0 quake registering lower 5 on Japan's seismic intensity scale of 7 in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said Tuesday that the number of Self-Defense Forces personnel taking part in rescue operations had increased by around 200 to roughly 6,300.

At the Wajima market, around 200 buildings spanning some 48,000 square meters were destroyed in the fire, according to the municipal government and firefighters.

There were many wooden buildings in the over 1,000-year-old morning market that was popular with tourists.

Deaths from the quake, which registered a maximum 7 on the country's seismic intensity scale, were concentrated in Wajima and Suzu in the Noto Peninsula, while the number of people unaccounted for has fluctuated due to conflicting information.

The country's Geospatial Information Authority said Tuesday a reference station in Wajima shifted approximately 2 meters southwestward due to crustal deformation caused by the quake, surpassing the 1.2-meter westward movement observed at a different location in the city and thought to be the maximum when the authority announced it on Jan. 2.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to make a visit to Ishikawa, his first since the quake, possibly on Saturday to assess the situation, a government source said.

On Tuesday, his Cabinet agreed to extend 4.74 billion yen ($33 million) from reserve funds under the fiscal 2023 budget to help finance relief measures such as steps for those affected to withstand the cold weather in the region.

The government also plans to increase reserve funds earmarked in the draft budget for the next fiscal year starting April from the current 500 billion yen to fund disaster recovery efforts, Kishida told a government task force meeting discussing emergency countermeasures.