YES, SEND MORE OF THESE TO UCRAINE ... AND FEED VACCINES TO THE PEOPLES OF THE WEST!

 24 Jan, 2025 18:33

US-made Abrams tank destroyed in Russia’s Kursk Region (MOD VIDEO)

Kiev’s troops have lost almost 200 soldiers and three tanks in the Kursk Region over the past 24 hours, the Russian defense ministry has said

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Moscow’s forces have successfully struck a US-produced M1 Abrams tank operated by the Ukrainian military, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday, releasing a video showing the disabled armor piece. The tank was hit with a kamikaze drone in Russia’s Kursk border region, according to the report.

A short clip released by the ministry shows the tank in an improvised ditch on the side of what appears to be a dirt road. Grey smoke can be seen coming out of its turret. There are no signs of the crew in the video. According to the ministry, the tank was hit near the village of Viktorovka located just a few kilometers from Russia’s border with Ukraine.

US lawmakers previously approved the transfer of 31 stripped down M1 Abrams tanks to Kiev, worth $400 million as part of the Western effort to bolster the Ukrainian army before its 2023 “counteroffensive” against Russian forces. The operation failed to produce any significant gains.

The tank was hit with a Lancet unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the ministry said. Also known as loitering munitions, the Lancet drone family are kamikaze UAVs normally deployed by Russian forces against high-value armored targets. Earlier this week, a similar drone was used to destroy a US-made Paladin self-propelled howitzer.

 

According to the ministry, Kiev’s forces have lost a total of three tanks as well as almost 200 soldiers to the fighting in the Kursk Region over the past 24 hours alone. Other losses suffered by the Ukrainian military in the area over the same period included three armored personnel carriers, five armored combat vehicles, and a US-made M777 howitzer, according to the ministry.

Ukraine launched its incursion into the Kursk Region in early August 2024 in an unsuccessful effort to divert Moscow’s resources from its successful offensive in Donbass. Kiev also claimed it wanted leverage for possible peace talks with Moscow. Russia then stated that, although it had never ruled out negotiations with Ukraine, it could only be possible after all Ukrainian forces had left Russian territory.

READ MORE: Russian Lancet drone hits US-made howitzer (MOD VIDEO)

Kiev’s forces made some initial progress in the early days of their incursion into the Kursk Region, taking up positions in the border area, but their advance was quickly contained by Moscow’s forces. Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry said that more than 63% of the territories in the region initially occupied by Ukrainian forces have been retaken.

Kiev lost more than 54,000 troops and over 300 tanks since the start of its incursion into the Russian border region, according to the Russian ministry’s data.

YES, IT WILL BE NO LOSS FOR THIS PLANET.

 27 Jan, 2025 13:02

Ukraine’s top spy believes country could cease to exist – media

Kiev must start peace talks before summer or its very survival will be at stake, Kirill Budanov has reportedly warned

FILE PHOTO: Kirill Budanov. © Getty Images / Maxym Marusenko

Ukraine could collapse by the summer if it does not agree to peace talks with Russia, the country’s top intelligence official has told lawmakers in Kiev, according to a report on Monday by local outlet Strana.ua.

According to the website’s sources, Kirill Budanov, the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, made his remarks during a closed-door meeting in the Ukrainian parliament. One of the people present at the conference told the outlet that there were sensitive briefings by top military officials, including officers of the General Staff.

However, the source singled out Budanov’s account. “Someone asked him: ‘How much time do we have left?’ He responded, with his signature cold smile: ‘If there are no serious negotiations by summer, very dangerous processes could begin for the very existence of Ukraine.’”

Budanov’s reported warning comes as Kiev’s forces have been pushed back across the front line by Russian troops. Ukrainian officials and commanders have also complained of manpower shortages amid a troubled mobilization campaign, with recruitment officers often facing open resistance from reluctant draftees.

Read more

 Unauthorized peacekeepers in Ukraine will be targeted – Russian diplomat

Earlier this week, Strana reported that top Ukrainian officials were reviewing a plan by US President Donald Trump’s team to end the conflict within 100 days. While the roadmap has not been confirmed, its key points reportedly include direct talks between the US president and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to pave the way for a ceasefire along the front lines by April 20 and a peace agreement by early May.

According to the roadmap, it is believed that Ukraine would agree to abandon its NATO membership ambitions, stop cracking down on political forces advocating cooperation with Russia, and become a member of the EU by 2030. Kiev would also reportedly refrain from attempts to reclaim its former territories from Moscow without formally recognizing Russian sovereignty, with the West pledging to partially lift sanctions immediately after the peace deal.

While Ukrainian officials have dismissed the roadmap as a hoax, the Kremlin has not commented on the report. However, Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to talks over Ukraine, signaling readiness for a Trump-Putin summit.

Russia has ruled out the freezing of the conflict, arguing that Kiev would use such a pause to rearm itself, while insisting that peace could be reached only if Ukraine commits to permanent neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification.

OK Kaja: YOU AND MARK (RUTTE) AND USCHI PACK YOUR STUFF AND GO TO THE FRONT IN UCRAINE TO KEEP THE PEACE! DON'T FORGET TO TAKE BORRELL, LUIGI DI MAIO, SPERANZA AND DRAGHI WITH YOU: THEY ARE YOUR GOOD COMPANY AND WILL HELP YOU TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.

27 Jan, 2025 13:58

EU prolongs sanctions on Russia

The bloc’s foreign ministers have agreed to keep the economic penalties in place for another six months

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas attends an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium, January 27, 2025 ©  Getty Images / Dursun Aydemir

EU foreign ministers have agreed to extend the bloc’s economic sanctions on Russia, after Hungary dropped a last-minute threat to block the extension over Ukraine’s refusal to restart the flow of Russian gas to the EU.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced the extension on Monday, claiming that the move will “continue to deprive Moscow of revenues to finance its war.”

The EU has imposed 15 rounds of economic penalties on Russia since the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022, freezing Moscow’s sovereign assets and severing almost all trade and energy links between the bloc and Russia. The sanctions must be renewed every six months with the unanimous consent of all 27 EU member states.

Last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban threatened to “pull the handbrake” on the renewal if Kiev does not restart a transit deal with Russian energy firm Gazprom to allow Russian gas to flow into the EU via Ukraine. Hungary relies on Russia for around three-quarters of its natural gas imports, a small percentage of which flowed through the trans-Ukraine pipeline.

Budapest dropped the threat after receiving “the guarantees it has requested concerning the energy security of our country,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote in a post on X.

READ MORE: Hungary labels Polish PM ‘Soros agent’

In a statement seen by Reuters, the European Commission said it would “continue discussions with Ukraine on the supply to Europe through the gas pipeline system in Ukraine.”

“The Commission is ready to associate Hungary in the process along with Slovakia,” it added.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced earlier this month that he would veto any future EU aid to Kiev over the gas cutoff, warning that he could also halt the supply of electricity to Ukraine and cut humanitarian aid deliveries. Slovakia depends on Russian gas to meet about 60% of its demand.

Orban and Fico have repeatedly argued that Ukraine cannot defeat Russia on the battlefield, and that Western military aid to Kiev will only prolong the bloodshed. Both leaders have also insisted that the EU’s sanctions hurt European economies more than they hurt Russia’s, and Orban has repeatedly threatened to block the implementation of these sanctions in exchange for significant carve-outs from Brussels, including a partial exemption from the EU’s bloc-wide oil embargo and a guarantee that its nuclear sector won’t be affected by future sanctions. 

WHY CONFISCATE AND DISMEMBER MICROSOFT?

 24 Jan, 2025 12:01

Microsoft and AI boosted IDF’s war on Gaza – media

Israel’s army benefited from cloud services and tech tools provided by the US giant, according to leaked documents

©  Drew Angerer / Getty Images

The Israeli military relied heavily on Microsoft technology throughout its campaign against Hamas in Gaza, The Guardian reported on Thursday, citing leaked documents. Israel has been repeatedly accused of war crimes and indiscriminate strikes on civilians in the Palestinian enclave.

Microsoft considerably boosted its ties with the defense establishment of the Jewish state after Hamas launched a surprise attack on the country in October 2023, according to an investigation by the British paper, +972 Magazine, and the Local Call Hebrew-language website. The report was based on commercial records from the Israeli Defense Ministry and files from Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary.

As a result, the US tech giant reportedly provided Israel with thousands of hours of technical support, along with expanded computing and storage services.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is said to have used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform across its air, ground, and naval units, the report claimed, adding that the service has been directly used to support combat and intelligence activities.

Read more

 Google sold AI tools to IDF after Hamas attack – WaPo

Additionally, the Israeli Air Force’s Ofek unit reportedly used Microsoft’s communications tools to manage so-called “target banks” for potential lethal strikes.

Through Microsoft, the Israeli military was also granted large-scale access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, according to leaked documents. Microsoft’s services were also reportedly instrumental in maintaining the so-called “Rolling Stone” system used by security forces to monitor Palestinian movement in the West Bank and Gaza.

According to the investigation, the IDF’s cloud usage increased by 60% during the first six months of the Hamas war compared to the months leading up to it. Between October 2023 and June 2024, Israel struck a deal to buy 19,000 hours of support services from Microsoft, with the collaboration earning the tech giant around $10 million in fees, the report claimed.

Moreover, the investigation suggested that much of the AI-based services were used while being isolated from the internet, meaning they could have been used for even more sensitive military operations.

Both IDF and Microsoft declined to comment on the matter, with OpenAI insisting it does not cooperate with the Israeli military, The Guardian wrote.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has resulted in over 1,700 Israeli and 47,000 Palestinian deaths, according to officials from both sides.

After Israel launched its military operation in Gaza, it has repeatedly been accused of war crimes, with Amnesty International classifying its actions as “genocide” and the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. West Jerusalem has denied the allegations, insisting that its military action in Gaza was purely self-defense.

Earlier this month, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement that included the gradual release of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners, with the deal intended to pave the way for West Jerusalem’s withdrawal from the enclave.

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING

27 Jan, 2025 10:05

Sergey Karaganov: Russia must help overthrow Western Europe’s dangerous political elites

Peace on the continent requires breaking the imperialist legacy

By Professor Sergey Karaganov, honorary chairman of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and academic supervisor at the School of International Economics and Foreign Affairs Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin. © Sputnik / Gavriil Grigorov

Any outcome of the Ukraine conflict framed as a ‘compromise’ would be celebrated in the West as a victory and perceived as a failure by Russia. This must be avoided at all costs. 

First, Russia must openly confront Western Europe’s historical culpability. It’s not the ‘garden’ its elites imagine but a field of fat weeds thriving on the blood of hundreds of millions it has enslaved, murdered, and robbed. Calling Western Europe out for its crimes – from colonialism to warmongering – legitimizes our potential use of nuclear deterrence as a justified response to aggression.

Second, Russia must emphasize the inevitability of nuclear escalation in any conflict between NATO and Russia. This message is essential not only to limit an arms race but also to underscore the futility of stockpiling conventional weapons that will be rendered irrelevant in a nuclear confrontation. NATO’s leaders must understand that they cannot avoid the consequences of their actions.

Third, we must continue advancing on the battlefield, destroying the enemy’s forces with relentless precision. However, it is equally critical to declare that Russia’s patience is finite. For every Russian soldier killed, we must make clear that a thousand Western Europeans will pay the price if their governments persist in waging war against us. The public over there must understand that their elites are preparing to sacrifice them, and nuclear weapons will not discriminate between soldiers and civilians. Western European capitals will be among the first targets of our retaliation.

READ MORE: Russia and the Trump Doctrine: Adapting to the ‘Rules of the Strong’

Fourth, Russia must communicate to the Americans that their continued escalation of the Ukraine conflict will lead to catastrophic consequences. Should they persist, we will cross the nuclear Rubicon, targeting their allies and bases worldwide. Any non-nuclear response will provoke a nuclear strike on American soil. This clarity will force Washington to reconsider its reckless policies.

Fifth, we must strengthen our military capabilities while continuing to adjust our nuclear doctrine. If diplomacy fails, we must escalate decisively, demonstrating our readiness to use advanced weapons to defend Russia’s sovereignty and interests. While new technologies such as the Oreshnik missile system enhance our capabilities, they are no substitute for nuclear weapons, which remain the ultimate guarantor of our security.

Finally, Russia must offer the United States a dignified exit from its self-inflicted Ukrainian disaster. We have no desire to humiliate America but are prepared to help it extricate itself from this quagmire, provided it abandons its destructive policies. At the same time, Western Europe must be sidelined from global decision-making. It has become the primary threat to itself and the world.

READ MORE: Fyodor Lukyanov: These people will shape the politics of 2025

If America withdraws, Ukraine’s defeat will follow swiftly. Russia will reclaim its rightful territories in the east and south, while a neutral, demilitarized state is established in central and western Ukraine. Those unwilling to live under Russian law will be free to relocate. Peace can only be achieved by removing Western Europe as a destabilizing force and addressing humanity’s broader challenges alongside the global majority.

True peace will only come when Western Europe’s backbone is broken once more, as it was after Russia’s victories over Napoleon and Hitler. The current elites must be replaced by a new generation capable of engaging in constructive dialogue. Only then can Europe rejoin the world as a responsible partner, not a source of perpetual conflict.

The stakes are clear: This is not just a battle for Russia’s future, but for the survival of human civilization as we know it.

This article was first published by the magazine Profile and was translated and edited by the RT team.

DEDICATO A TUTTI QUEI COGLIONI ITALIOTI CHE CREDONO CHE I BRICS SALVERANNO I LORO CULI: "True peace will only come when Western Europe’s backbone is broken once more, as it was after Russia’s victories over Napoleon and Hitler. The current elites must be replaced by a new generation capable of engaging in constructive dialogue. Only then can Europe rejoin the world as a responsible partner, not a source of perpetual conflict."

 

Russian lab touts MRNA cancer vaccine by end of year

The breakthrough treatment is expected to get regulatory approval by August, according to the head of the Gamaleya Research Institute

FILE PHOTO. Laboratory of Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology ©  Ramil Sitdikov;  RIA Novosti

A breakthrough personalized cancer vaccine developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute could receive regulatory approval as early as this summer, potentially allowing patients to begin treatment in September, the institute’s director Alexander Gintsburg has told RIA Novosti.

“According to the roadmap plan that we submitted to the Ministry of Health, although it has not yet been finally approved, we will likely receive permission at the end of August so that we can begin treating people in September,” Gintsburg told the news agency.

The Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology had previously developed Sputnik V, world’s first registered Covid-19 vaccine. In 2022, the center applied mRNA technology, the basis for other Covid vaccines, to develop a new type of cancer drug.

In an interview with RT last month, the Gamaleya chief explained that the new drug is a therapeutic vaccine designed to be administered to those already diagnosed with cancer. It causes the patient’s immune system to start destroying malignant cells. The shot enables Cytotoxic lymphocytes, or white blood cells, that appear in the body of a vaccinated person to recognize foreign proteins (antigens) on the surface of tumor cells. Cytotoxic lymphocytes then find foreign, metastasizing cells and destroy them throughout the body.

READ MORE: Oracle boss pledges individual AI MRNA cancer vaccines

In a statement to RIA, Gintsburg noted that while there are several cancer drugs currently being developed in Russia, the Gamaleya vaccine will be tailor-made for each patient and developed with the help of artificial intelligence. Gintsburg specified that AI will be used to analyze the parameters of the tumor and issue a “blueprint” for the drug which will then be used by specialists to create a customized vaccine within about a week.

Read more

 ‘Cancer will evolve but can be defeated in its current form’ – head of Gamaleya research institute

While the vaccine is intended for patients diagnosed with primary melanoma, it can also be administered to people who have undergone certain stages of treatment, Gintsburg has said.

Gintsburg has previously noted that the vaccine has performed well in treating mice using an animal model of melanoma and that as many as seven human patients have already undergone the treatment.

The Gamaleya center is also currently developing models for treating other oncological diseases, including pancreatic, kidney and non-small-cell lung cancer, which reportedly is the most frequently diagnosed cancer with the highest mortality rate and is notoriously difficult to treat, according to Gintsburg.

In 2023, Russia’s Ministry of Health reported 4 million cancer patients in the country. Andrey Kaprin, director of the National Medical Research Center for Radiology under the Ministry of Health, estimated that around 625,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed annually in Russia, with an expected increase in incidence by 2030.