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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES
⚡️ BOBYLEVKA IN THE SUMY REGION AND VESELYANKA IN THE ZAPOROZHYE REGION FREED
By liberating the settlement of Bobylevka in the Sumy region, Russian forces have halted Ukrainian attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Khomutovsky and Rylsk districts of the Kursk region.
The capture of the settlement of Veselyanka in the Zaporozhye region has enabled the Russian army to bolster its positions in the area for a further advance towards the city of Zaporozhye - the region's center - located 12 km away.
🟠 Russian air and missile firepower obliterated Ukrainian military airfields used to launch long-range drones and port infrastructure supporting the Kiev regime’s forces
🟠 Air defense superiority: 12 guided aerial bombs and 136 UAVs were shot down by Russian air defense systems over the past 24 hours
🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 1,290 troops killed or wounded
Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE
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🚨 Another Israeli drone shot down in the skies over Khomeini city in southern Iran
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🚨 IRGC downs Hermes drone in Isfahan province
The video is published by Tasnim
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🚨 Drone strike hits Omani port
A video circulating online shows an UAV hitting the Salalah port in Oman.
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🚨🇷🇺🇭🇺 Putin holds phone call with Hungarian PM Orban
Statements by the Kremlin:
🟠 Putin highlighted the principled position of the Hungarian leadership in supporting a political and diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Ukraine
🟠 Putin and Orban discussed the rapidly escalating situation around Iran and in the Middle East region, including the consequences for the energy market
🟠 The issues concerning Hungarian citizens mobilized in the Ukrainian armed forces and captured by Russian forces were also addressed
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🚨 No one has seen any evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons – Lavrov
💬 "There is no evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, which was the main, if not the only, justification for the war. There are confirmations from the IAEA and even from American professional intelligence agents. Confirmations that Iran has not produced and was not trying to produce nuclear weapons," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference with the Second Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei Darussalam Erywan Yusof.
🇺🇸 US Embassy in Kuwait temporarily suspends operations due to Middle East escalation
💬 "Due to ongoing regional tensions, the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait will be closed until further notice. We have canceled all regular and emergency consular appointments. We will communicate when the embassy returns to normal operations," the embassy wrote on X.
🇺🇸 US allegedly offered fuel swap for Iranian halt on uranium enrichment – Witkoff
During the nuclear talks, the US discussed with Iran “ten years of no enrichment whatsoever and we would pay for the fuel and it was flatly rejected,” US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News.
He argued that Iran currently has:
🟠 10,000 kilograms of fissionable material
🟠 This includes 400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium
🟠 Another thousand kilograms of 20% enriched uranium
🟠 Balance is at 3.67%.
Iran “manufactures its own centrifuges to enrich this material,” Witkoff added, arguing “there's almost no stopping' Iran from enriching uranium.”
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🇺🇸 US Tomahawk missile stockpiles running low - reports
US missile stockpiles, including Tomahawk and SM-3 missiles, are running low amid the conflict in the Middle East, CNN reported, citing a senior official.
📍 On Saturday, the US and Israel launched strikes on targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran retaliated with strikes against Israeli territory, as well as against US military bases across the Middle East.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei died as a result of the attacks that day, along with multiple senior Iranian government and military officials, authorities confirmed on Sunday. Russian President Vladimir Putin called his assassination a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.
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⚔️ US-Israeli bombs hit Iranian state broadcast
Two explosions reported near the headquarters of Iranian television and radio in Tehran following American and Israeli airstrikes.
Programming continued uninterrupted, local media reported.
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🗣 Strongest strikes are yet to come — Rubio
The Secretary of State says US military is currently focused on destroying Iran's ballistic missile stockpiles.
"The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now."
🔥 Gulf war: US and allies burning through missiles fast – military expert
🗣 The US risks running out of air defense missiles, military expert and air defense historian Yury Knutov tells Sputnik.
🔶 A video of a US Patriot battery in action "shows that eight interceptors are initially used against two ballistic missiles, with additional interceptors launched afterward," Knutov notes. "One ballistic missile is intercepted, while the other hits its target. One of the interceptors even veers off course and flies away."
🔶 The expert says the crew acted chaotically — either due to poor training or nerves — despite the fact that systems like the Patriot automate much of the engagement process.
💬 "If Patriot air defense missiles were used, it suggests the operators may have been either highly agitated — leading to numerous mistakes — or acting out of fear," Knutov says. "That fear could have prevented them from properly locking onto targets and engaging them accurately."
💬 "Such a massive expenditure of missiles — when no more than two should be needed per target — suggests that if the US and its allies continue using their missiles this way, their stockpiles could be depleted very quickly."
🇺🇸🇷🇺The US has an interest in sealing a deal on Ukraine with Russia – expert
Washington is interested in striking a peace deal with Russia rather than escalating the Ukraine conflict, political scientist Alexander Asafov, member of the Russian Association of Political Consultants, tells Sputnik.
Russia has already presented its own proposals:
👉 the objectives of the special military operation must be achieved;
👉 they will be achieved by either military or diplomatic means.
❗️Washington knows that if negotiations fail, Russia will fight on until it achieves the de-militarislzation and de-Nazification of Ukraine and security for Russia, the pundit points out.
🗣"Those not involved in the negotiations—the Brits, the French, the Germans, the Poles, and others—have an interest in escalating the conflict, each for their own reasons," Asafov says.
💬"As for the actual participants in the talks—why would they shift their positions, and what would they gain?" the expert asks — suggesting that it is not in Washington’s interest to change course at the last minute.
🗣 Ukraine talks: Russia and US have a long record of striking pragmatic deals – Expert
🔶 The US is very shrewd and focused on making a deal, Bureau of Military-Political Analysis head Alexander Mikhailov told Sputnik while commenting on the US-Russia peace talks on Ukraine.
💬 "The only area where one can currently engage with the Americans is the question of the economic benefits—or lack thereof—of serious military conflicts," Mikhailov notes.
💬 "We and the Americans are two strategic nuclear powers that, since the mid-20th century, have divided the world into spheres of influence—and we continue to exist in this framework on a kind of superstructure," Mikhailov says.
💬 "The Americans find it advantageous to keep Ukraine as a factor destabilizing Russia’s borders, and more broadly, as a lever of pressure on Russia," the pundit says.
🗣 US-Israeli strikes on Iran throw international law out the window, mark return of law of the jungle - expert
🔊 “When the actual negotiators who were just saying that a deal was close” reverse course and say talks were “uninteresting and that’s why a blow was dealt, this brings us back to the understanding that…even those conditional, conceptual agreements of the collective West on the contours of certain political or diplomatic actions are a thing of the past,” political scientist Alexander Asafov says.
💬 “As is international law,” he added.
🚨🇱🇧🇮🇱 Hezbollah fighters destroy Israeli tank - report
An Israeli army tank, which entered the Lebanese town of Kfar Shouba, located just two kilometers from the border, was attacked by two anti-tank guided missiles, Lebanese media reported.
The attack involved Hezbollah fighters from the special unit "Radwan."
The armored vehicle was destroyed.
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📹 🇮🇶 Islamic Resistance in Iraq releases footage of drone strike on US Victoria base in Baghdad
Victoria is a military facility located at Baghdad International Airport in the Iraqi capital and is used by US forces.
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⚠️WARNING. GRAPHIC CONTENT
🚨 Disturbing footage of victims of the Israeli attack on primary school
The Shajarah Tayyebeh Girls' Primary School in the Minab district of Hormozgan province was attacked on February 28 — the first day of the conflict.
An Iranian source told Sputnik about the funeral of 165 victims. Later, Iranian authorities updated the casualty count, stating that 171 schoolgirls had been killed, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. There were also reports about teachers being killed.
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🚨 US actions won't be limited to Venezuela, Cuba and Iran - Lavrov
💬 "[US Secretary of State Marco] Rubio, responding to a reporter's question, recently suggested that the United States would govern Iran in the same way they announced they would govern Venezuela. Now a similar scheme is being tried on for Cuba. And, probably, this is not the end," Lavrov told reporters after talks with Second Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Brunei Darusalam Erywan Yusof.
🚨 Putin is making every effort to contribute to de-escalating tensions in the Middle East - Kremlin
Other statements by Dmitry Peskov:
🟠 There is still no clarity on the timing and location of the new round of negotiations on Ukraine
🟠 There are currently no plans for a conversation with Trump in Putin's schedule
🟠 Russia respects the sovereignty of other countries and does not interfere in their affairs; anything else contradicts international law
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🚨 US–Israeli strikes on Iran: Latest updates
🟠 Russian President Putin had a phone conversation with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, discussing US and Israeli aggression against Iran, the Kremlin said.
🟠 Iran strikes 60 strategic targets and 500 military sites of the US and Israel, launching over 700 drones and hundreds of missiles in two days, according to the IRGC.
🟠 In the 12th wave of the Truthful Promise-4 operation, the US base Arifjan in Kuwait was hit by 12 drones in two stages, IRGC said.
🟠 IRGC also reported on the destruction of the main command building and headquarters at the US airbase in Bahrain.
🟠 A fire broke out at the US Embassy in Riyadh following an Iranian strike.
🟠 Israeli Air Force launched a powerful strike on two buildings in the Hadath area in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
🟠 Thousands took part in a mourning procession in Iran in memory of the victims of the attack on a school in Minab.
🟠 The US military base in Erbil, Iraq, was struck by drones, reports Tasnim, citing sources.
🟠 The US will close its embassy in Kuwait until further notice, the diplomatic mission reported
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🚨 IDF says took up positions in Southern Lebanon
This comes "in parallel to IDF activity as part of Operation ‘Roaring Lion'," the Israeli Army said.
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🚨 Funeral procession held for Minab schoolgirls killed in US-Israeli attacks
The assault claimed the lives of over 165 young girls from the local elementary school.
Russia condemns Israel's strike on the school.
"Any attacks on civilian targets — whether in Iran or Arab countries — are unacceptable and must be completely excluded," the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.
💬 World is slipping back to 'law of the jungle' as US shreds UN charter — expert
The assault on Iran marks a turning point, as the US is no longer even pretending to seek legal cover, Brig. Gen. Samir Rageb told Sputnik.
"The US and Netanyahu openly declare their desire to change the Iranian regime without any moral or legal justification. International law is now non-existent for those who wield power."
"The American administration has not given the Arabs enough opportunity to diversify their alliances. It has provoked tension every time the Arabs have shown interest in opening up to Russia, China, or Europe," the expert added.
🗣 US testing rapid global strike concept in Iran, military expert Alexander Khrolenko says
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⚔️ US evacuates its embassy in Amman
All personnel temporarily departed the compound in Jordanian capital out of "an abundance of caution," the embassy announces.
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⚔️ CENTCOM releases footage of strikes on Iranian Navy
US Central Command announced the complete destruction of its surface fleet in the region.
"Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have zero," the statement reads.
🗣 Prolonged Hormuz Strait closure could unleash a multi-year oil price shock – Energy expert
📍 Closure of the Strait of Hormuz sends shockwaves through markets, with Citi predicting Brent crude could surge to $80 to $90 a barrel this week.
💬 "According to market reports, war risk underwriters began canceling policies for strait transits hours after Operation Epic Fury launched," Dr Tilak Doshi, energy editor at The Daily Sceptic, tells Sputnik.
💬 "A prolonged Hormuz closure would trigger a massive, multi-year oil price shock – doubling or more initially – rationing around 19% of global supply purely through demand destruction. This underscores the chokepoint’s strategic risk," Doshi says.
💬 "With the US midterm elections in sight, the Trump administration will want to ensure that global crude oil prices are brought back down as quickly as possible, so as to put a limit on US gasoline prices," Doshi stresses.
🇺🇸🇮🇱US & Israel's Iran strike delayed by week ‘for operation and intel reasons’ – report
After the second round of US–Iran nuclear talks, “military planners” in America and Israel were preparing to conduct strikes against Iran on February 21, Axios cited senior US and Israeli officials as saying.
However, “the go-ahead never came,” something that could have been caused by bad weather in the region or the US side’s push for better coordination with the Israel Defense Forces, according to the officials.
👉 They argued that the delay opened a window for another round of talks in Geneva, with some insisting that the negotiations were a tactical maneuver to buy more time before the new strike date, keeping Iran believing that diplomacy was still the priority.
Other sources said that the Geneva talks were sincere, offering the possibility of avoiding military action if real progress was made.
The US and Israel started launching strikes on Iran on February 28, even as nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran were underway.
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🇺🇸🇮🇷🗣US can’t bully and bomb Iran into submission if its leaders don’t let it - expert
🟠 “It must be understood that Iran is not Venezuela, Iran is not Israel,” Bureau of Military-Political Analysis head Alexander Mikhailov told Sputnik, commenting on the risks Tehran faces negotiating with Washington, given that the US and Israel have attacked twice in the middle of negotiations in less than a year.
🟠 “Iran is a huge country -80 times larger than Israel, with a powerful defense industry. And if Iran’s political elites don’t accept the ‘conciliatory positions’ that the Trump administration has now begun to promote, this campaign could return to the US as a very serious disappointment in its own capabilities,” Mikhailov stressed.
🟠 “A blockade of Iran, or the takeover of political control over that country, would allow the Americans, first, to restrict China from very significant energy resources – up to 20% of its hydrocarbons come from Iran. Second, it would allow them to essentially take control of that region through energy,” Mikhailov warned, arguing that Washington is basically seeking a Venezuela 2.0 scenario in Iran.
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