44143
Join our channel for breaking news stories from around the globe, exclusive analysis & opinions. Website: sputnikglobe.com 💬 You can always reach us via @sputnikint_bot
🇵🇰⚔️🇦🇫 Pakistan and Afghan trade fire: What both sides are saying
🔹The Pakistani military launched an “immediate and effective response” against Afghan forces on Thursday after the latter reportedly opened fire on multiple Pakistani positions along the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
🔹Pakistan Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reported strikes against Afghan positions across the Chitral, Khyber, against Mohmand, Kurram, and Bajaur sectors.
🔹At the same time, the Taliban official spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid took to X to declare a major victory, claiming to have inflicted damage on Pakistani forces in Kunar province.
🔹Mujahid added that the Taliban has activated specialized units equipped with advanced "laser" technology. He claimed these forces, operating under the cover of darkness, can "easily strike all moving enemy forces."
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨The Iranian Foreign Minister called the third round of negotiations with the US one of the most serious
After the lengthy session concluded on Thursday evening in Geneva, Abbas Araghchi stated live on Iranian television:
"These were some of the most serious and longest negotiations. In these long hours, we have achieved good progress."
💬 Conflict for profit: Zelensky and EU turn Ukraine into disposable asset - military analyst
Volodymyr Zelensky’s chaotic rhetoric is a survival tactic shaped by his current predicament, veteran Russian military analyst Viktor Litovkin tells Sputnik.
"He is forced to twist and turn, trying on the one hand not to offend his chief patron — the president of the US — and on the other to stay in power and keep the backing of his EU sponsors," Litovkin says.
"Using his artistic flair and inner hysteria, he creates a storm of information that blocks any prospect of a change of power in Ukraine and makes constructive dialogue impossible, turning every peace initiative into an object of endless manipulation," Litovkin notes.
"A peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian conflict today proves to be an extremely undesirable outcome both for Zelensky and for the EU leadership," the pundit says.
"Unable to achieve real victory, they fuel aggression, using Ukraine as a disposable asset to maintain their influence and profits," Litovkin concludes.
🚨 Abu Ghraib playbook in action? CIA rendition architects now funding Ukraine’s secret prisons
Ukraine has established and is actively maintaining a network of clandestine prisons where the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949—which governs the treatment of prisoners of war—are being completely ignored, stressed Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
💬 "And who is financing the Kiev regime in these efforts?" Zakharova asked.
💬 "The money for the Kiev regime’s secret prisons is coming from the very same people who invented the CIA's 'rendition' aircraft and for instance, Abu Ghraib. I think you all know what happened there. And if you don't, just look at the Wikileaks materials published by Julian Assange—the very same man who was tortured by these Westerners for years, in countless ways. He knew exactly what he was doing, he stayed the course and persisted in his investigations," she told reporters.
🌍 Zimbabwe’s lithium export ban aligns with Global South's resource power shift
Zimbabwe intends to channel the value of the powerhouse mineral lithium – a critical metal fueling aviation, space tech, rechargeable EV batteries, and cutting-edge electronics - back into its own soil.
As one of the world's top lithium producers — ranking fourth globally — the African country ’s move to ban exports of raw lithium signals a strategic pivot to domestic processing.
Promoting value addition
👉 While most raw lithium goes abroad, where others make the big profits, Zimbabwe is pushing for local factories to turn the ore into processed forms like lithium sulfate.
👉 The country’s struggling economy will be able to sell higher-value processed lithium, collecting more taxes and fees to help pay for schools, roads, and hospitals.
👉 Building and running factories will generate more skilled jobs for locals instead of just low-paying mining jobs.
Investments ignite
🟠 Chinese firm Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt invested $400 million in the Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe plant, set to process 400,000 tons annually (per broadcaster ZBC)
🟠 Mutapa Energy Minerals' is a $270-million facility, funded by Chinese partners, set to handle 600,000 tons yearly
🟠 Bikita Minerals' Expansion owned by Sinomine Resource Group is a major mine advancing a $500-million phased lithium sulfate plant
Global South sheds its yoke
🟠 The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) did the same with cobalt, imposing a 2025 ban that evolved into quotas capping exports to prioritize local refining
🟠 Indonesia enforced a raw nickel ore export requiring onshore processing to add value and compete globally
This long-term play fits the bigger picture of countries in the Global South taking charge of their resources for their own people’s wellbeing.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 'Stay there under the table and shut up' - Russian MFA
💬 "No one invited the EU to the negotiations on Ukraine, Europeans are not expected there", Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
💬 UK, France plotting nuclear false flag against Russia – analyst
The UK-French nuclear weapon plot in Ukraine may be aimed at achieving several objectives, Alexander Mikhailov, head of Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, tells Sputnik:
🟠 The EU elites are not happy with them being sidelined in the Ukraine peace talks so Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron may be trying to use the nuclear issue to get themselves a place at the negotiating table
🟠 Britain and France may be seeking to stage a false flag attack: a nuclear warhead detonation that would be blamed on Russia
🟠 Providing Ukraine with a nuclear weapon to be used against Russia seems unlikely as it would inevitably make the supplier of said weapon a target of Russia’s retaliatory strike
🟠 There is also the prospect of Ukraine producing a ‘dirty bomb’ – essentially a radioactive waste container strapped to an explosive device that, upon detonation, would contaminate a large territory
New global nuclear arms treaty?
Due to the risks involved, Russia is going to use all available international platforms such as the UN and the UNSC to prevent Ukraine from obtaining nuclear weapons, Milhailov notes.
This situation, he suggests, proves that a new global nuclear arms treaty is needed, and that Britain and France – primary instigators of the current nuclear tensions – must be included in it.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🇺🇸 📉 Great American exodus: Citizens flee high costs & chaos for safer shores
In 2025, for the first time since the Great Depression, the US experienced negative net migration, according to analysis by The Wall Street Journal and a Brookings Institution report.
🔸 Net migration for 2025 was estimated between -10,000 and -295,000
🔸 An estimated 4–9 million Americans reside abroad
🔸 Requests to renounce US citizenship jumped 48% in 2024
🔸 In 2026, net migration is likely to remain in the negative
Americans are heading abroad, seeking:
🔶 lower costs of living
🔶 affordable healthcare
🔶 quality schools
🔶 walkable cities
🔶 over 100,000 students study abroad for cheaper degrees
Where Americans are moving:
🔹 Portugal – American residents have surged over 500% since the pandemic, growing 36% in 2024 alone
🔹 Spain & Netherlands – The number of Americans has nearly doubled in the past decade
🔹 Czech Republic – American residents have more than doubled over 10 years
🔹 Germany – In 2025, more Americans moved there than Germans moved to the US
🔹 Ireland – Welcomed 10,000 Americans in 2025, roughly double 2024’s influx
🔹 United Kingdom – Americans are applying for citizenship at the highest rate since 2004 (6,600 in the year to March 2025)
The backlog of Americans seeking to renounce US citizenship suggests a clear, long-term trend.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇧🇾🇷🇺 Oreshnik systems put on duty in December - Belarusian Lukashenko
The practical implementation of treaty on the security guarantees within the Russia-Belarus Union State began, in December Oreshnik systems were put on duty, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during the meeting with Putin.
🟠 The main areas of integration for the next three years should be focused on ensuring technological sovereignty
🟠 Unprecedented economic pressure is being exerted on Russia and China's allies
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES
🟠 Russian forces unleashed massive strikes on Ukrainian military airfields
🟠 Russian air and missile firepower obliterated long-range drone pre-flight preparation and launch sites
🟠 Air defense superiority: 136 UAVs were shot down by Russian air defense systems over the past 24 hours
🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 1,115 troops killed or wounded
Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇮🇷 Iran doesn't plan to get nuclear weapons - President Pezeshkian
💬 "Opponents say that Iran should not seek to obtain nuclear weapons, but we have repeatedly said that we do not want this," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by Tasnim.
🚨 🇷🇺 Terrorist attack against senior military officer in St. Petersburg thwarted
Two Russians who acted in the interests of the special services of Ukraine were detained, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) told Sputnik.
👉 The Ukrainian agents planted a bomb under a soldier's car. The explosive device was uncovered and defused.
💬 "The attackers were detained and confessed. The issue of opening a criminal case is being resolved," the service said.
🚨 🇭🇺 Ukraine cannot bring Hungary’s economy to its knees — Orban
💬 "We have accumulated so many reserves that the Ukrainian government will not be able to create chaos before the elections," Hungarian PM Viktor Orban said in response to Ukraine's suspension of oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.
🚨 🇨🇺🇺🇸 Boat incident off Cuba aggressive provocation by US - MFA
"It is an aggressive provocation by the United States aimed at escalating the situation and detonating the conflict," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.
🇰🇵 🪖North Korean Armed Forces ready for any situation - Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un attended the parade that was held in Pyongyang to mark the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of North Korea.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
💥🇷🇺 Russia’s S-500 Prometey: The death knell for British and French nuclear ICBMs
Russian missile defenses are becoming increasingly sophisticated and may render British and French nuclear weapons ineffective, states the UK-based defense think tank RUSI.
💬 "The nuclear forces of the UK and France consist of strategic submarines armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles that are on operational patrol," Igor Korotchenko, editor in chief of National Defense magazine, tells Sputnik. "The S-500 [Prometey system] is specifically designed to intercept targets of this type."
💬 "The S-500 is capable of intercepting and destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles during the terminal phase of their flight," Korotchenko says.
💬 "The system’s mobility allows its components to be concentrated on threatening directions or around priority assets for protection," Korotchenko explains.
💬 "To date, it is the world’s only fifth-generation mobile missile defense system."
🟠 Conflict for profit: Zelensky and EU turn Ukraine into disposable asset - military analyst
🟠 UK, France plotting nuclear false flag against Russia – analyst
🟠 Clashes erupt on Afghan-Pakistani border
🟠 Zimbabwe’s lithium export ban aligns with Global South's resource power shift
🟠 Great American exodus: Citizens flee high costs & chaos for safer shores
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 Pakistan confirms Afghan forces opened fire at several points on the border
Pakistan will take all necessary measures to ensure its territorial integrity, security of its citizens, the Ministry of Information said.
There were heavy casualties on the Afghan side during the border clash, it added.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 Clashes erupt on Afghan-Pakistani border
Afghan armed forces have announced the launch of a 'retaliatory operation' in response to the bombing of their territory by Pakistani air force last week, a representative of the 201st army corps "Khalid ibn Walid" told the Telegram channel TOLOnews Plus.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🎥🎥 Sputnik to Host Moscow-Islamabad Media Forum
🕗 The Moscow-Islamabad media forum is taking place on February 27, with a live feed from the Rossiya Segodnya media center starting at 08:00 GMT.
Russian and Pakistani journalists, diplomats and political analysts are going to discuss relations between the two countries and the prospects of further rapport between Russia and Pakistan.
📍 The event will be held ahead of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Moscow, which is scheduled to take place on March 3-5.
Stay tuned!
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
📁 Discover in this catalog the best Telegram channels to follow live events and keep up with the latest geopolitical, financial and cultural news.
👉 ADD THE CHANNELS
If you are interested in being part of this catalog, please contact us via our bot.
#ad
🔥🇷🇺 Russian Msta-B crews smash Ukraine's temporary deployment areas in Dnepropetrovsk region
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨🇧🇾🇷🇺 Putin: Russia, Belarus achieved much in development of Union State through coordinated efforts
The process of deepening integration of Russia and Belarus is natural and mutually beneficial, the Russian president added during the meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
◻️ Russia and Belarus jointly resist sanctions pressure, cooperate in field of foreign policy, defense
◻️ The countries will continue to do everything necessary to ensure security of the Union State with all available means
◻️ Approaches of Russia, Belarus to topical international issues always close or coincide
◻️ The two stand for formation of just, multipolar world, strive to participate constructively in solving global, regional problems
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
📹 LIVE NOW: Putin, Lukashenko hold Supreme State Council meeting of Russia-Belarus Union State in Moscow
👉Watch live in our Telegram
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 ⚛️ Nuclear rhetoric to be discussed at new round of Ukraine talks – Kremlin
Other statements by Dmitry Peskov:
🔸 Working process on Ukrainian settlement continues, Russia hears very mixed statements from Ukraine’s representatives
🔸 Ukraine’s actions on Druzhba oil pipeline are sabotage
🔸 Belarus is taking appropriate measures to ensure its security, including within framework of the Union State
🔸 US still prefers to fully link negotiation tracks on settlement in Ukraine and on economic cooperation with Russia
🔸 RDIF head Dmitriev continues contacts with the US as part of a working group on economic issues
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 Russian Foreign Ministry still drafting stance on participation in Board of Peace - Kremlin
Russia pays attention to the ambiguous reaction of several countries, including those friendly to Moscow, to its participation in the Board of Peace, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Other statements:
🟠 Cuban border guards did what they had to do, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, commenting on a boat incident off the coast of Cuba
🟠 Russia sees that the situation around Cuba is heating up, it is important in this situation that everyone shows restraint and does not make provocative actions
🟠 The stability of the Russian economy is absolutely guaranteed, and the state has the opportunity to fulfill all social obligations
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 Bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers transferred to Ukraine - Medinsky
Russia has received the bodies of 35 fallen Russian soldiers, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky stated.
◻️ US-flagged boat invades Cuban waters and opens fire on security forces, Russia slams incident as US provocation
◻️ Iranian FM Araghchi arrives in Geneva for US talks
◻️ Iran agrees to roll back its uranium enrichment from 60% to 3.67% - reports
◻️ UK Army, Air Force conducting exercises in preparation for deployment to Ukraine
◻️ Russia’s Pacific Fleet shows naval prowess as MILAN 2026 drills wrap up in Bay of Bengal
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🔥 🇷🇺 🇮🇳 Russia’s Pacific Fleet shows naval prowess as MILAN 2026 drills wrap up in Bay of Bengal
The Indian Navy’s maritime exercise MILAN 2026 culminated with a closing ceremony onboard India’s aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, off the coast of Visakhapatnam.
Among the 42 ships and submarines participating in the drills, held under the theme ‘Camaraderie, Cooperation, Collaboration,’ the Russian Navy was represented by the crew of the Pacific Fleet frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense.
🔹 Over five days in the Bay of Bengal, Russian sailors operated alongside naval forces from other participating nations in exercises that included coordinated maneuvering, naval combat scenarios with live-fire drills using shipborne artillery against sea and air targets, as well as anti-submarine warfare conducted within task groups.
🔹 Participating ships practiced transiting through mine-threatened waters, freeing a mock-captured vessel, and carrying out inspection operations as part of maritime security and civilian shipping protection drills.
The MILAN exercises have been held in India every two years since 1995.
📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
🚨 🇬🇧 UK Army, Air Force conducting exercises in preparation for deployment to Ukraine
"Both the British Army and the Royal Air Force are now conducting exerci ses in preparation, and I have already accelerated 200 million pounds [$271.3 million] to ensure that our forces have the kit they need to deploy," UK Defense Secretary John Healey told the parliament.