⚡Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine
(24 January 2023)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

◻️ In Kupyansk direction, aviation and artillery of the Western MD inflicted a fire damage on the AFU's 14th Mechanised Brigade and 103rd Territorial Defence Brigade close to Timkovka and Berestovoye (Kharkov region).

💥 Over 40 Ukrainian servicemen, an armoured fighting vehicle, and a motor vehicle were eliminated.

◻️ In Krasny Liman direction, artillery fire of the Central Military District hit units of the 80th and 95th airborne assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic) and Serebryanka (Donetsk People's Republic).

💥 Over 30 Ukrainian troops, five armoured combat vehicles, an M-777 artillery system, and two US-made AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery radar stations were destroyed.

◻️ In Donetsk direction, troops of the Southern MD continue an offensive. Army Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery engaged 25th Airborne Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Seversk (Donetsk People's Republic).

💥 Total enemy losses amounted to up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen, an armoured personnel carrier, two pickups, a Grad MLRS vehicle, and an Msta-B howitzer.

◻️ In Zaporozhye direction, during the day, artillery fire and active actions of the Eastern MD's units have destroyed more than 25 Ukrainian servicemen of the 108th Territorial Defence Brigade near Prechistovka and Novoselka (Donetsk People's Republic), as well as an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer, two D-20 and D-30 howitzers, and three motor vehicles.

◻️ In Kherson direction, artillery of the Airborne Troops has destroyed a US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar station near Antonovka (Kherson region).

💥 Operational-Tactical Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation hit the command post of the 57th Separate Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a dump of artillery munition close to Artemovsk and Novoukrainka (Donetsk People's Republic).

💥 In addition, 64 artillery units were hit on firing positions, as well as manpower and military hardware in 102 areas.

✈️ Russian Aerospace Forces obliterated a self-propelled fire unit of the Ukrainian Buk-M1 SAM system.

💥 Ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by anti-aircraft defence forces near Novochervonoye and Zolotarevka (Lugansk People's Republic), Nikolskoye (Donetsk People's Republic), Chubarevka, Ternovatoye, and Mikhailovka (Zaporozhye region), Krynki, Vasylyevka, Novaya Kakhovka, and Knyaze-Grigorovka (Kherson region).

📊 In total, 376 airplanes and 203 helicopters, 2,944 unmanned aerial vehicles, 402 anti-aircraft missile systems, 7,614 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 988 combat vehicles equipped with multiple rocket-launching systems, 3,898 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 8,159 units of special military hardware have been destroyed during the special military operation.

#MoD #Russia #Ukraine #report
@mod_russia_en

🇷🇺🇿🇦 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions at a joint news conference with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor following talks

📍 Pretoria, January 23, 2023

💬 We noted the steady development of Russian-South African relations that rely on an enduring historical foundation.

• We agreed to step up our efforts in many areas with a view to realising more fully the strong potential of our economic ties.

• We expressed our willingness to substantially increase the number of federally-funded scholarships for our South African colleagues.

• We positively assessed our partnership at the UN, its committees and agencies, the G20, the OPCW and within the Kimberley Process.

• We strongly support the African countries’ interest in being represented at the G20 as the African Union in addition to its current members.

• We had a substantive discussion on cooperation within BRICS which, in our shared assessment, is an example of a truly multilateral and multipolar diplomacy based on the search for a balance of interests.

• We noted South Africa and its President Cyril Ramaphosa’s prominent role in addressing a number of crisis situations. The international community must support the efforts and approaches to settlement chosen by the African countries themselves, including as part of the African Union and various sub-regional organisations.

• We appreciate our South African friends’ independent and balanced position on these matters.

👉 Read in full

#RussiaRSA

📹 While speaking at the joint press conference with his Eswatini counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke in detail about the colonial practices used by Western countries, noting that Russia is "very much appreciative and respects the position of all our partners, who [...] are guided not by the orders from former colonial powers or from those who would like to dominate the world now, but are guided by legitimate national interests, and most of them do not shy from saying so publicly."

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

🇷🇺🇺🇳 On January 20, the fourth session of the UN Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes (hereinafter “the Ad Hoc Committee”), which was set up at Russia’s initiative, concluded its session in Vienna.

During the session, several UN member countries submitted proposals relating to the provisions of the first three chapters of the future document, which are Criminalisation, General Provisions and Procedural Measures and Law Enforcement. <...> An international agreement like this is much needed because of the high penetration levels of information and communications technologies around the world and how quickly it is developing.

<...>

❗️ The Russian Federation, jointly with like-minded [nations] and developing countries, is seeking to secure that the document being drafted can be applied on a broad scale and that it contains the commitment of countries to safeguard their national sovereignty and counter the use of information and communications technologies for terrorist or extremist purposes, or to justify Nazism, or distribute drugs or weapons.

The United States and its satellites oppose this approach as they seek to entrench the West’s technological superiority in cyberspace, untie the hands of their own intelligence services and IT giants, so they feel free to engage in blackmail, sabotage and the uncontrolled collection of user data around the world, and also to scale down international cooperation as much as possible by pushing through purely Western-style human rights standards.

☝️ Russia, in close coordination with like-minded [nations], will continue working to draft an effective and comprehensive document with an eye to national law and the UN Charter principles during the next session in Vienna, which is scheduled for April 11-21, 2023.

Read in full

🇷🇺🇪🇪 The Foreign Ministry’s statement on downgrading diplomatic relations with the Republic of Estonia

In recent years, the Estonian leadership has purposefully destroyed the entire scope of relations with Russia. Tallinn has elevated total Russophobia and cultivating enmity towards our country to the rank of state policy.

Now Estonia has taken a new unfriendly step to radically reduce the number of employees at the Russian Embassy in Tallinn, thereby confirming its intention to destroy bilateral relations. In response, the Russian Federation has decided to downgrade diplomatic representation in both countries to the level of charge d’affaires ad interim.

On January 23, the Foreign Ministry of Russia summoned Estonian Ambassador Margus Laidre and expressed its resolute protest against the actions of the Estonian authorities. The Ambassador must leave the Russian Federation on February 7, 2023.

Estonia is wholly responsible for these developments in relations with Russia.

❗️ We will continue responding to the hostile actions of its leaders.

❗️Peace Talks Were Used As Ruse To Buy Time, Ukraine’s Intelligence Head Admits

The Chief of Ukraine's main intelligence directorate, Kirill Budanov, has admitted that in February 2022 Kiev pretended to seek peace with Moscow, using ceasefire talks as a ruse to buy time to re-group its troops and wait for Western military aid.

The revelations were made as he explained how one of Kiev's negotiators, Denis Kireev, was executed by Ukraine's Security Service in March on suspicion of colluding with Russia.

Subscribe to RT

❗️Russia has plenty of weapons, Medvedev assures
MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. Russia’s adversaries are monitoring arms production in the country, but they are in for a disappointment, since Russia has plenty of everything, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said.
On Tuesday, Medvedev visited the Kalashnikov plant in Izhevsk and held a meeting of a working group under the Military-Industrial Commission on the supervision of production of essential weapons and military vehicles.
"We have seen the vehicles, and today we will talk about production of the most essential weapons, with an emphasis on drones, which are in particularly high demand during the special military operation. Naturally, we will discuss a number of other key issues, especially considering that it is necessary to constantly come back to them and look at what is being produced and how," Medvedev said.
According to the official, "everyone is watching this."
"And our adversaries are watching as well, as they claim from time to time that we [lack] either this or that, that we have only enough missiles for only a couple more strikes, or something else like that. So, I would like to disappoint them - we have quite enough of everything," Medvedev underscored.

Press review: Moscow sees partner in S. Africa and Estonia to give Russia Baltic headaches

Top stories from the Russian press on Tuesday, January 24th

#Opinion by Maria Zakharova

💬 Stoltenberg criticised Erdogan for withholding support for Sweden's NATO membership: “Inappropriate acts are not automatically illegal.”

He was referring to the recent Quran burning. That was a bold statement. We’ll remember it.

In the meantime, allow me to remind you that respect for one’s religious beliefs is an obligation, not an elective decision.

The international community has made repeated commitments to counter intolerance and discrimination. These include the 1965 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the 1974 UNESCO Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; the 1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief; the 2005 decision of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Ljubljana to encourage educational programmes that promote tolerance and non-discrimination, and raise public awareness of the existence and the unacceptability of intolerance and discrimination; the Council of Europe’s White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue; and the 2010 Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education. In 2012, the OSCE/ODIHR, the Council of Europe and UNESCO jointly published Guidelines for educators on countering intolerance and discrimination against Muslims.

These documents specifically state that freedom of expression does not imply the right to make critical or even disparaging remarks about any religion or religious practice – let alone burning the book that is sacred for Muslims.

Why is Stoltenberg unaware of this? Because the West appoints poorly educated people to key positions in Europe. They are easier to manage, which helps manipulate the majority of Europeans.

One more point: if countries controlled by the Anglo-Saxon world are making everyone else recognise some non-existent “genders,” they certainly must respect the right of hundreds of millions of people to their time-tested objects of worship.

https://t.me/MariaVladimirovnaZakharova/4638

Conference on Disarmament 2023 (Part 3)

💬 Ambassador Gennady Gatilov on nuclear disarmament:

☮️ Russia remains committed to the goal of creating a world free of nuclear weapons.

🌐 In order to resume the process of nuclear disarmament and to achieve tangible results on this path, the efforts of the entire international community are required to create a security climate favorable for consistent progress towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

❌ However, attempts to impose on nuclear countries a speedy and unconditional elimination of their arsenals without taking into account the existing strategic realities and their legitimate security interests are obviously futile.

🇷🇺 Our delegation is ready for a substantive discussion of the entire range of issues related to nuclear disarmament, taking into account the discussions held at the X NPT Review Conference.

📄 Full statement (🇬🇧English/🇷🇺Russian)

⚡️ Foreign Ministry Statement on the decision of the Latvian 🇱🇻 authorities to downgrade diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation

Read in full

Following its consistent Russophobic line, the Latvian authorities announced their decision to downgrade diplomatic relations with Russia in what they called “Baltic solidarity”. They demanded the departure of the Russian Ambassador from Riga before February 24 of this year. Latvia will recall its Ambassador from Moscow by the same date.

❗️ Obviously, this decision had been brewing in Latvia for some time.

☝️ The arguments cited by Latvian representatives now are ungrounded and far-fetched. Riga expresses its notorious solidarity with other Baltic countries in a different way – in the uncouth Russophobia of the Latvian leadership and their hostile attitude to everything linked with Russia. In addition, there is also an obvious desire to please their most rabid friends outside the country. <...>

Therefore, nobody is surprised by this latest manifestation of Riga’s unfriendly steps. They are the logical result of the policy pursued by the Latvian ruling elite to consistently destroy bilateral relations. Obviously, the Latvian authorities do not care about the consequences of this policy for the country and its people.

⚠️ Naturally, we will make a tough response to any hostile actions of this kind.

🇷🇺🇺🇳 Российская Федерация традиционно играет одну из ключевых ролей в решении мировой проблемы наркотиков, является стороной трех профильных антинаркотических конвенций в сфере контроля над наркотиками:

• Единой конвенции о наркотических средствах 1961 г.

• Конвенции о психотропных веществах 1971 г.

• Конвенции о борьбе против незаконного оборота наркотических средств и психотропных веществ 1988 г.

Россия – член Комиссии ООН по наркотическим средствам и последовательно отстаивает укрепление её центральной роли в формулировании международной политики наркоконтроля.

Россия активно взаимодействует с Международным комитетом по контролю над наркотиками – органом, осуществляющим надзор за выполнением государствами своих обязательств по трём антинаркотическим конвенциям ООН.

📉 Основной целью внешнеполитических усилий России на антинаркотическом треке является значительное сокращение производства и потребления опиатов, кокаина, каннабиса, а также синтетических наркотиков и новых психоактивных веществ с долгосрочной перспективой по созданию общества, свободного от наркотиков.

🌍 Решение этих задач должно основываться на принципах общей и совместной ответственности всех государств в решении мировой проблемы наркотиков, а также комплексного и сбалансированного подхода к стратегиям и мерам по сокращению спроса и предложения на наркотики, включая недопустимость легализации употребления любых видов наркотиков в немедицинских целях.

📄 Все эти цели закреплены в Стратегии государственной антинаркотической политики Российской Федерации на период до 2030 г.

Подробнее

🇷🇺Reflections on red lines for West are now in the past — Russian Foreign Ministry
Polyansky earlier told US journalist Kim Iversen that NATO and other Western countries have de-facto become embroiled into the conflict in Ukraine
MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Reflections on whether the West has crossed any red lines are a thing of the past, since the United States has openly declared its plans of defeating Russia strategically, the Russian Foreign Ministry has told TASS.
Commenting on Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky’s remarks that "not all red lines have yet been crossed" by the West, the ministry said: "A hybrid war is being waged against our country."

Russia's Ambassador Antonov: US Abrams Tanks Delivered to Ukraine Will Be Destroyed

US media reported earlier on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden is set to announce the delivery of 30-50 Abrams tanks to Ukraine as soon as Wednesday.

"If a decision to transfer M1 Abrams to Kiev is made, the American tanks without any doubt will be destroyed as all other samples of NATO military equipment," Antonov said, as quoted by the embassy on Telegram.

Read more