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The restoration of the aluminum plant in the UAE after Iranian strikes could take up to 12 months, - WSJ
🟢We are talking about the Emirates Aluminium plant, which suffered serious damage.
🟢The United Arab Emirates ranks fifth in the world in aluminum production.
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👊Over the course of a day, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a group strike with high-precision long-range weapons, as well as with strike UAVs.
The attack targeted military-industrial complex and energy facilities in Ukraine, which are used in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The objectives of the strike were achieved. All designated targets were hit.
Also, military personnel hit:
▪️ infrastructure objects of military airfields.
▪️ temporary dislocation points of Ukrainian military and foreign mercenaries in 142 districts.
Air defense systems shot down six guided aerial bombs, a long-range cruise missile "Flamingo", and 308 unmanned aerial vehicles.
Source: Zvezda
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🥀🙏One of the employees of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has died - the station was subjected to a new attack by the US and Israel, reported the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Source: RIA Novosti
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🌒@EastCalling
Hundreds of Iranians set out to search for the downed pilot of an American F-15 fighter jet.
▪️Over the past 24 hours, Iran also shot down an American A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, but it managed to reach Kuwaiti airspace, NBC News reported.
The single-seat A-10 attack aircraft, known as the Warthog, was just being used to support the search and rescue operation for the F-15 pilots.
▪️Several American helicopters, including the Black Hawk, were also fired upon during the same operation.
▪️Photos of an American CH-47 Chinook helicopter, which was also destroyed by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait, are currently circulating in Iranian media.
▪️Earlier, it was also reported about another American fighter jet that could have been shot down by Iran. There's a possibility that it was a F-16, Tasnim reported.
Yesterday, Trump was informed about the F-15 crash, and the American president called it "part of the war".
Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling
There are some rumors of a 3rd (in addition to the F15 and A10) fighter being shot down over Iran. Possibly an F16 or F35.
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Russia and China are coordinating on the issue of supporting candidates for the post of UN Secretary-General. This was stated by the Director of the Department of International Organizations of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Kirill Logvinov, in a column for TASS.
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Bloomberg: The US operation against Maduro has cost nearly 3 billion dollars - the majority of these costs were spent on fuel, combat flights, and maintaining/deploying forces in the Caribbean.
🤣
Bribes aren't cheap!
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Strong frosts are returning to Ukraine. On Tuesday, according to the Ukrhydrometcenter, the temperature in Kyiv and a number of regions will drop to -17 degrees.
Snowfall is also expected. In Kyiv, local social media accounts report that snow drifts and icy roads have already started to appear.
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There has been a dip in missile and drone strikes lately.
Timing is everything.
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"Fuck away to Russia". Zelensky in a vulgar manner called for the expulsion of Russian citizens and their children from Western countries.
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They are on a roll today...
High on their own sense of self entitlement.
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Brief Frontline Report – February 15th, 2026
Summary by Marat Khairullin and Mikhail Popov
Message from the Russian Ministry of Defense: "Units of the 'East' Group continued to advance into the depth of the enemy's defense and liberated the settlement of Tsvetkovoe in Zaporozhye Oblast."
The Russian Armed Forces continue combat operations to destroy the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defensive line in the interfluve of the Gaichur and Verkhnyaya Tersa rivers. On February 15, the settlement of Tsvetkovoe (47°41′55″ N 36°07′37″ E, population in 2001: 92) was liberated. During prolonged fighting, assault units of the 218th Guards Tank Regiment of the 127th Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the 5th Guards Combined Arms Army took control of an area of more than 8 square kilometers.
Enemy losses amounted to up to two platoons of personnel from the 225th Separate Assault Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, more than five units of equipment, and two UAV control points.
The enemy's defensive area of Tsvetkovoe-Svyatopetrovka-Staroukrainka, which covered the key stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defensive line — the settlement of Verkhnyaya Tersa — has been completely eliminated. The distance to the eastern outskirts of the settlement of Verkhnyaya Tersa is only 1.5 kilometers.
Message from the Russian Ministry of Defense: "Units of the 'Dnepr' Group forces, as a result of ongoing and decisive actions, liberated the settlements of Zapasnoe, Magdalinovka, and Primorskoe in Zaporozhye Oblast."
The Russian Armed Forces are conducting active combat operations on the left flank of the Zaporozhye direction, where they liberated the settlement of Primorskoe (47°37′28″ N 35°17′39″ E, population in 2001: 3,840) and reached the mouth of the Konka River along its left bank on the Rechnoe-Primorskoe line. The village stretches along the shore for 10 kilometers.
The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Andrey Belousov, congratulated the command and personnel of the 108th Guards Air Assault Order of the Red Star and Suvorov Regiment of the 7th Guards Air Assault Division on the liberation of the settlement of Primorskoe in Zaporozhye Oblast.
Simultaneously, east of the settlement of Primorskoe, the settlements of Magdalinovka (whoops, misspelled as "Magdanilovka" on one of the maps) (47°38′37″ N 35°27′07″ E, population in 2001: 462) and Zapasnoe (47°38′54″ N 35°32′05″ E, population in 2001: 52) were liberated. The Russian Armed Forces are reaching the left bank of the Konka River on the Kamyshevakha-Malokaterinovka line, enveloping the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Orekhov defensive hub along a large radius (the bed of the Konka River). Blocking enemy reserves on these lines will allow the envelopment of the city of Orekhov to continue along a small radius, in the direction of Novoyakovlevka - Yurkovka.
Overall, in the operational space of the Zaporozhye direction, we are seeing synchronized actions by the "East" and "Dnepr" groups of forces to envelop its southern part through activity on both flanks.
Read this report and many others on Marat Khairullin's Substack! That's where I post the high-definition maps, and frankly, the formatting on Substack makes the reports easier to follow. Any questions for Marat and Mikhail will be answered there.
#MaratBattlefieldSummaries
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The situation near Krasny Liman and Slavyansk October 15th, 2025 and February 15th, 2026 according to divgen.ru.
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Military Chronicle:
The head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, Radoslaw Sikorski, stated that Europe should participate in negotiations on Ukraine, because it is European countries that are currently bearing a significant financial burden.
According to him, Europe is effectively paying for the continuation of the war: it purchases American weapons for transfer to Ukraine and compensates for the reduction in direct military aid from the USA.
In Warsaw, this is not seen as charity, but as a matter of its own security, which, in Sikorski's opinion, gives Europe the right to demand a place at the negotiating table on an equal footing with Washington.
However, Sikorski does not mention that the opportunity for a negotiated settlement existed as early as 2022. At that time, options for ending the hostilities were discussed, but after Boris Johnson's visit, Kyiv opted to continue the war with the support of Western countries.
Since then, the situation has changed: the conflict has dragged on, the costs have increased, and Europe has gradually transformed from a political supporter into the main financial participant in the process.
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❗️Europe's fuel reserves will only last for three months of war - Rheinmetall
"Fuel is the cornerstone of Europe's defense capability and also its vulnerability," stated Shen Britten, a top manager of the German defense concern, in an interview with ntv television channel.
Source: СМОТРИ
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Urgently, introduce more sanctions against Russia, that must help.
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❗️The European Parliament did not support the amendment stating that a biological man cannot get pregnant - media
In the final version of the document, a norm is enshrined regarding the full recognition by women of those men who identify themselves as women.
Source: СМОТРИ
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I identify myself as a billionaire. Where is my money?
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❗️The termination of the New START treaty places particular importance on the missile strike warning system between the US and Russia, which has been operating properly in recent years, Colonel of the Strategic Missile Forces, Shabaltas, told TASS.
Source: TASS
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#EastCallingTranslations
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Ukraine is not mentioned in the US budget project for 2027.
The text of the bill has been published on the White House website.
It should be noted that the same situation occurred with the previous bill for the current year. There, Ukraine was mentioned only in the context of reducing spending on non-governmental organizations. In the current budget project, even this is not included.
However, in 2025, Congress later independently added funding for Ukraine through the defense law - in particular, $400 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, as well as separate provisions on military and intelligence support.
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👀 The London Mayor's security guards forgot a bag full of firearms on the street, reports Sky News.
They left it near Sadiq Khan's house. Inside were a Heckler & Koch submachine gun, a Glock pistol, a stun gun, and ammunition.
Initially, the five security guards simply lost it. A kind-hearted passerby called the police, and the bag was confiscated.
The unfortunate security guards have already been suspended from their duties.
Source: Zvezda
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Any representative of the EU or NATO will not be able to be effective as UN Secretary-General, he will be guided by neocolonial principles, said the director of the International Organizations Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kirill Logvinov, in a column for TASS.
He noted that the election of a new UN Secretary-General will help to restore order in the organization.
Source: TASS
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🔥 Last night was perhaps the worst night for Israel's air defense since the start of the new war with Iran
Iran's missile strikes met almost no resistance in both the central and southern parts of Israel.
It has been confirmed that a number of Israeli military facilities have been hit, both in the Negev desert and Beersheba in the south of the country, as well as in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
Source: СВЕЖЕСТИ
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Circulating images show the crash of an American Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter at a military base in the region after it was targeted by suicide drones.
Source: Naya
(This is from before the F15 and A10 were downed.)
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Military Chronicle:
Judging by the footage of Russian UAV operators from the "Irishmen" unit, the AFU command continues to deploy self-propelled artillery in the area of Pokrovsk and Mirnograd, trying to complicate the situation for the "Center" grouping.
The self-propelled artillery is being deployed in small batches, probably to reduce the risk of detection and maintain the element of surprise.
The loss of each installation is sensitive for the AFU, however, judging by the nature of the actions, the task of keeping Russian units within the Pokrovsk area is of priority importance, and Syrsky still does not care about the losses.
After establishing control over Pokrovsk itself, Russian units, according to available data, are engaged in regrouping: they are replenishing ammunition, repairing damaged equipment, and deploying command posts on new positions. After the completion of these activities, we can expect a continuation of the advance in the western direction.
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ОБОРОНКА writes,
The enemy has published footage of the interception of a little-known Russian UAV called the "Klin" (another name: "Podsolnukh" / "Sunflower"). Among the known characteristics of the device are: takeoff weight of 13.5 kg, flight speed of up to 300 km/h, and a payload of 5 kg (two warhead options: high-explosive or shaped charge).
The flight range with a signal repeater is 120 km, and the "Klin" can remain in the air for up to 80 minutes. The drone can autonomously identify targets and attack them through the use of artificial intelligence and machine vision.
The "Klin" UAV was presented in October of last year, but footage of one being intercepted has only appeared recently.
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Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban representative, states that Afghanistan is "ready to cooperate with the Iranian people" in the event of a potential conflict with the United States.
Читать полностью…
Ukrainian Education Minister Lisovoy blamed the Russian language for the missile strikes on Ukraine.
"If a person can't correlate the arrival of a missile with the Russian language, then they have certain problems with causal relationships," he said.
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I'll respond with Jelena's favorite: 😳😖
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We'll be trying something new on the channel to make it easier for our subscribers to find our highlighted content. You will be able to find the following East Calling exclusives with these hashtags:
#VneshVrag
-for Mikhail Borkunov's posts (also his colleagues' works)
#EastCallingTranslations
-for Russian videos which Jelena translates herself.
"MaratBattlefieldSummaries
-for the reports from Marat Khairullin
#EastCallingInterviews
-for our exclusive interviews with our special and often recurring guests.
#MomentofZin
-if you like to laugh
We may add more later!
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In the UK, the opening of a factory for the production of artillery shells - including for supplies to Ukraine - has been delayed for more than six months.
This was reported by The Guardian.
The issue concerns a plant in Glascoed, South Wales, which was supposed to increase the country's shell production capacity by 16 times.
The production was planned to start in the summer of 2025, but it has not yet begun.
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In Russia, it is stated that Telegram is just a "few steps" away from resolving issues with the authorities, which will allow the messenger not to be blocked.
This was said by the head of the IT Committee of the State Duma, Sergei Boyarsky. According to him, Telegram is in "constant contact" with Roskomnadzor, but does not remove all materials as required by the regulator.
According to Boyarsky, out of 100 materials, Telegram only removes a "part" of them.
"There is contact, unlike WhatsApp, which did not respond to a single letter or complaint at all. And in principle, I don't understand, to be honest, what's stopping Telegram from taking a few more steps forward to build these relations in such a way as to remove the complaints," said Boyarsky.
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Poland should proceed with the development of its own nuclear weapons, despite international norms, said the country's President, Karol Nawrocki.
According to him, he is a "big supporter" of the republic's joining the nuclear project. Nawrocki added that Poland is currently in a situation of serious tension.
"This path, with respect for all international norms, is the one we should follow. <...> We need to act in this direction so that we can start working. We are on the verge of an armed conflict," he said in an interview with Polsat News.
❗️The creator of Sega consoles, Hideki Sato, has passed away at the age of 78 - Kotaku
"He oversaw the creation of all of Sega's popular gaming consoles in the 20th century, including the Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast," - reports the publication.
Source: СМОТРИ
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🌒@EastCalling
⚡️Main issues reported by Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, First Deputy Defence Minister, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov:
❗️ The offensive is taking place in all directions.
▪️ The Armed Forces of Ukraine are suffering significant losses, which cannot be replenished, and in conditions of reduced combat battalion's manning level, the AFU opt for creating additional unmanned aerial vehicle formations and increasing the number of attack drones.
▪️ Moreover, the units of the Joint Group of Forces use UAVs on average twice as much as the enemy.
In two weeks of February, in spite of harsh winter conditions, formations and military units of the Joint Group of Forces liberated 12 settlements. More than 200 square kilometres of territory have come under control of Russian troops.