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🇷🇺Russia takes 3rd at Winter Paralympics with just six athletes
Russia’s team of just six athletes finished third in the medal standings at the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Italy, winning 12 medals: 8 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze.
👉 Anastasiia Bagiian became a three-time Paralympic champion, winning the sprint and the 10 km and 20 km races with guide Sergey Sinyakin.
👉 Varvara Voronchikhina won two golds (super-G, slalom), plus silver in giant slalom and bronze in downhill.
👉 Ivan Golubkov took two golds in the 10 km and 20 km races.
👉 Alexey Bugaev claimed gold in slalom and two bronzes (downhill, giant slalom).
It was also the first time since 2014 that Russian athletes competed at the Paralympics under national symbols.
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🇺🇸📉 Pentagon’s ground assault on Kharg Island poised for strategic fiasco - expert
Iran’s Kharg Island sits within range of the Islamic Republic’s coastal missile batteries and swarms of Ababil and Shahed attack drones, Andrey Chuprygin, senior lecturer at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, tells Sputnik.
👉 This formidable array of weapons is capable of creating a no-access zone hundreds of kilometers wide.
A landing attempt could turn US carrier strike groups into prime targets for Khalij-e Fars - Iranian supersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles designed to destroy large surface vessels.
The US could end up paying thousands of lives—and potentially losing major warships—just to seize a tiny piece of land that would likely be mined and turned into a deadly trap before troops even arrive.
💬 “This isn’t just a risk — it’s a guaranteed strategic disaster for the Pentagon that could deal a lasting blow to US military prestige,” says the expert.
🇺🇸💣🇮🇷 Further US attacks on Iran’s Kharg oil hub would be ‘economic suicide’ - expert
Iran has “eliminated” the US' ability to cripple its economy with one strike on Kharg Island, Andrey Chuprygin, senior lecturer at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, tells Sputnik.
💬 “The Islamic Republic has long adopted a policy of decentralizing its critical infrastructure and placing key pumping stations underground,” he explains.
💬 “Any US attempt to strike Iranian infrastructure looks like economic suicide because Iran can inflict symmetric damage on assets that are way more vulnerable and far less defended," he says.
💬 “For American industry and the transport sector, gasoline at sky-high prices could become a fatal factor,” he sums up.
🇪🇺 Europe ‘plunging headlong’ into energy crisis by refusing to ease sanctions on Russia — expert
As the US eases sanctions against Russian oil, EU countries are unwilling to follow its example, Doctor of Economics Igbal Guliyev tells Sputnik.
💬 "If they [the EU] do not do it themselves now, they will be plunging headlong into a new energy crisis in Europe," Guliyev says.
🇷🇺 Kremlin: Pause in Ukraine talks as US has other priorities — and that's understandable
Negotiations on Ukraine have entered a pause as Washington focuses on other priorities, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments to the Financial Times.
Key statements:
🔶 Moscow remains open to a diplomatic settlement, in line with President Vladimir Putin’s position, despite a positive dynamic for Russia on the battlefield
🔶 European countries are spending their efforts persuading Ukraine to continue the fighting rather than encouraging a peaceful resolution
🔶 A French representative recently visited Russia as part of dialogue on Ukraine, but the meeting produced no positive signals and did not advance the peace process
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🇺🇸🇮🇱⚔️🇮🇷US–Israel war against Iran: Latest updates
🔸 The IRGC launched the 53rd wave of "Operation True Promise-4" against Israeli and US targets in the region on Sunday
🔸 Iran's strikes involved Fattah hypersonic missiles, Ghadr missiles, and explosive drones,per Mehr news agency
🔸 Iran's army also conducted another wave of missile and drone strikes against Israel and three US military bases in Iraq and Kuwait, as part of the 52nd wave of military operations, Shafaq News reports
🔸 The IRGC denied involvement in a drone attack on Saudi Arabia. Iran warned that copied versions of its drones are being used to provoke tensions with neighboring countries, according to WANA
🔸 Several oil tankers carrying Iranian oil were released from detention thousands of kilometers away from Iran's borders, says Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the IRGC naval forces
🔸 US-Israeli attacks on Iran have killed at least 202 children and 223 women, including three pregnant mothers, according to Iran's Health Ministry
🔸 Residential areas in Shiraz — capital of Iran's Fars province — were hit by "anti-human" US-Israel strikes, with 100% of the targeted units destroyed, Tasnim reports
🔸 Trump says he is not ready to make a deal with Iran, claiming the terms are "not good enough"
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🇮🇱📉 Israel’s Iron Dome works worse every day — Iran’s diplomat
💬 "Their capabilities are decreasing day by day. Initially, the interception rate was higher, but now it has become much lower, as their ability to counter diminishes over time," Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali told Sputnik.
🇺🇸❌ US Navy delays retirement of USS Nimitz amid carrier fleet crunch
As the US continues its aggression against Iran, its own Navy scrambles to maintain its legally mandated 11 operational aircraft carriers, according to ISNI News.
Faced with long-duration deployments, maintenance backlogs, and an aging fleet, the US Navy has decided to keep the aging USS Nimitz (CVN-68) in service about 10 months longer than planned.
The carrier’s mothballing has been pushed to March 2027, the news service of the Naval Institute revealed.
👉 To prepare for Nimitz’s eventual retirement, the Navy has already issued a $96 million contract to Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding for planning and materials related to the ship’s nuclear defueling and inactivation.
The USS Nimitz will first take part in exercises under United States Southern Command, before heading to its new homeport at Naval Station Norfolk, where preparations will begin for nuclear defueling and eventual decommissioning.
The decision to postpone the retirement of the nearly five-decade-old carrier follows delays in the delivery of the new USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), a next-generation Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier still under construction.
Years of maintenance backlogs and aging hulls have left the US carrier fleet stretched thin, with a looming “carrier crunch,” according to analysts cited by 19FortyFive.
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🗣 EU would never speak to Zelensky like they speak to its members — Fico
Slovak PM points out the double standard: Brussels pushes its own members around but won't pressure the Kiev regime.
"How can it be that the European Commission cannot get an inspection team sent to check the Druzhba pipeline?"
🚨 Iranian official: ‘Failed Ukraine gets involved in war’
The Chairman of Iran parliament’s national security commission Ebrahim Azizi took to X to warn Ukraine of possible consequences of its military support to Israel.
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🚨FSB arrests foreign national for inciting terrorism in Russia’s Tambov region
The suspect admitted to visiting Ukrainian websites.
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🇰🇵 🪖 North Korea launches 10 ballistic missiles toward Sea of Japan — South Korea
The missiles flew about 350 km, though their specifications are currently unknown, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
👉 Although Seoul accuses North Korea of militarization, the US and South Korea are currently holding the joint Freedom Shield drills, which are set to run until March 19.
US–South Korean exercises threaten regional stability, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said, adding that the country is ready for a “crushing and preemptive super-powerful offensive.”
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🇺🇸🇮🇱⚔️🇮🇷 US–Israel war against Iran: Latest updates
🔸 The IRGC announced the 47th and 48th waves of Operation True Promise 4.
🔸 According to the IRGC, solid-fuel Kheibar Shekan missiles and liquid-fuel Qadr missiles were used in strikes on targets in Israel and US military bases.
🔸 Trump said the US carried out “one of the most powerful bombardments,” publishing footage of the bombing of Iran’s Kharg Island.
🔸 Trump also stated that the timeline for the end of the conflict with Iran remains unknown.
🔸 The US State Department announced a $10 million reward for information on the whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials.
🔸 Iranian media reported that a three-year-old girl was killed in an attack on a village in Behbahan district of Khuzestan province.
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🔥 🇷🇺 Russian crews of Msta-S self-propelled howitzers strike Ukraine's drone control points with high-explosive fragmentation shells, Dnepropetrovsk direction
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🔊 US Navy will 'soon' escort ships through Strait of Hormuz
The president confirmed that the US Navy is preparing for armed escorts amid the Strait's closure.
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🇭🇺❌ 'We will not be Ukraine’s colony': Thousands gather in Budapest for March of Peace
People marched through the center of the Hungarian capital in support of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and against Kiev’s oil blackmail.
A banner with the slogan led the march.
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🇺🇸🛢🇨🇳US aggression towards Iran aimed at capturing China's oil market - expert
💬 "In 2025, according to the statistics, Venezuela, Iran, and Russia accounted for about 33% of oil supplies to China. So, theoretically, the US simply wants to secure its share of the Chinese market," leading research fellow at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Kondratov said.
💬 "I believe this was purely an economic decision," Kondratov noted.
📹Iran launches Sejjil MRBM missile as 54th wave of Operation True Promise 4 begins - IRIB News
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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES
🟠 Russia's Armed Forces struck Ukraine's energy and transport infrastructure used for the Ukrainian forces
🟠 Air defense superiority: two Neptune missiles and 605 drones shot down
🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 1,315 troops killed or wounded
Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE
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🇮🇷🗣 Iran FM: US deploys Shahed lookalikes to hit Arab states and frame Tehran
The US has created a drone called Lucas, identical to Iran's Shahed, and is using it to strike targets in Arab countries, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has stated.
He suggested Israel may also be behind such attacks to disrupt relations between Iran and Arab states, emphasizing that Iran itself does not target civilian or residential areas in the region.
👉 Araghchi announced Iran's readiness to form a joint committee with regional countries to investigate the strikes, noting that diplomatic ties with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and neighbors remain intact.
He reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz is open to all except the US and its allies.
While Iran welcomes any regional initiative leading to a just end to the war, Araghchi noted that no concrete proposal has yet been made. He concluded by warning that any US move to occupy Kharg Island would be an even greater mistake than attacking it.
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🗣Analyst: Trump was right to lift Russia sanctions — Zelensky wants the world to pay
Political commentator Armando Mema argues that President Trump's decision to lift sanctions on Russia was an attempt to stabilize the global economy amid rising inflation, while Zelensky insists sanctions are essential for peace.
💬 "More sanctions on Russia are damaging the EU economy and are ineffective in finding a political solution to the proxy war in Ukraine. Zelensky should stop attacking Crimea and other parts of Russia if he's serious about peace."
🔹 ‘Terms aren’t good enough’: Trump rejects Iran deal for now
🔹 Trump says Russian oil sanctions will return 'as soon as the crisis is over'
🔹 Iran war is not a bad news for US oil market — Wright
🔹 Attack on Iran reveals US military impotence - Araghchi
🔹 US Navy delays retirement of USS Nimitz amid carrier fleet crunch
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🙅 ‘Terms aren’t good enough’: Trump rejects Iran deal for now
Donald Trump claimed in an NBC telephone interview that Iran is willing to negotiate to end the war the US and Israel unleashed against it.
However, he personally doesn’t think the current terms are favorable for cutting a deal.
💬 “I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” he said, adding that any agreement would have to be “very solid.”
🗣 'Last person we need help from is Zelensky' — Trump
The US president rejected Zelensky's offer of Ukrainian drone-defense technologies.
"We don't need help. Last person we need help from is Zelensky," he told NBC.
🚨Israeli airstrike kills family in residential building in Sidon, Lebanon
Footage shows the aftermath of the attack.
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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES
🟠 Russian air and missile firepower obliterated defense and energy infrastructure supporting the Kiev regime’s forces
🟠 The Russian army destroyed three MLRS vehicles, 34 tanks, 95 motor vehicles, as well as 18 field artillery systems and mortars
🟠 Air defense superiority: nine guided aerial bombs and 285 UAVs were shot down by Russian air defense systems over the past 24 hours
🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 1,135 troops killed or wounded
Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE
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🚨 Hamas condemns US–Israeli aggression against Iran
Key statements by Hamas:
🟠 "We state that the interests of the Islamic nation and the region lie in the immediate cessation of this war, and we welcome efforts to prioritize dialogue"
🟠 "We call on our brothers in Iran to refrain from attacks on neighboring countries and urge all countries in the region to cooperate in ending this aggression"
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🚨 🇮🇱 Israeli army says striking Hezbollah cells and weapons depot in Al-Majdal, southern Lebanon
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🚨 🇺🇸 US to face harsh retaliation if it tries to kill new Supreme Leader - Iran
"We want blood revenge for our leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]," Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali told Sputnik.
💬 "The people are angry and demand revenge for the bloodshed. Naturally, the Americans have faced and will face severe retaliation in the future," he stressed.
📹 Iran displays wreckage of downed US MQ-9 drone in Bandar Abbas
Tasnim News Agency released images of the destroyed American drone that were taken in southern Iran.
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