❗️US intends to organize a provocation in Ukraine using toxic substances, blaming Russia, Igor Kirillov, head of the airborne defence troops, has said.

He stressed that Washington was counting on the fact that there would be no possibility to effectively investigate their provocation amid the hostilities in Ukraine.

NATO & Fruitless Talks: West Could Have Sat Down at Negotiating Table Long Ago If It Wanted - Peskov

The West could have sat down at the negotiating table on security long ago if it wanted to, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a recent interview with the Izvestia daily, underscoring that while the talks would have been difficult, Western countries have refused to do so.

"The situation has changed radically. Even when the president, before deciding to start the special military operation, formulated draft security treaties that were sent to Washington, Brussels and Vienna, and when we, in fact, heard that they were not ready to talk about anything with us," Peskov said.

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​​Toxic chemicals delivered to Kramatorsk

◽In addition, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation received information that on 10 February 2023, a rail transport arrived in Ukraine (Kramatorsk) with a cargo of chemicals in one of its cars, accompanied by a group of foreign nationals.

◽The car was detached and towed to the territory of the Kuybyshev Iron and Steel Works in Kramatorsk, where it was unloaded under the control of the Security Service of Ukraine and the AFU command representatives.

◽The consignment consisted of 16 sealed metal boxes, eight of which were labelled with a chemical hazard symbol, BZ inscription and marked with two red bands, corresponding to the class of poisonous substances of temporary incapacitation action. Five of the boxes were labelled as 'C-S-RIOT', three were labelled as 'C-R-RIOT' with a single red band, which corresponds to substances with an irritant action.

◽The cargo was placed on the U.S.-manufactured armoured vehicles, which moved to the combat line of contact as part of the convoy.

◽On 19 February, 11 cars of specially marked shrapnel ammunition have been unloaded in Kramatorsk. The unloading took place at night on a platform in the suburbs, with the car labelled as 'Building materials', 'Cement'.

◽According to the information of the Russian Ministry of Defence, the U.S. Army has previously upgraded its shrapnel rounds to be loaded with ready-to-use, liquid formulated irritant acids.

◽The facts of the simultaneous delivery of toxic chemicals and protection means indicate an attempted large-scale provocation using the BZ psychotropic warfare agent during the conflict.

📄 Read full text of Briefing by the Chief of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops of Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov on the West preparations for large-scale provocations involving toxic chemicals in Ukraine

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❗️Russia Sanctions Punish Third Countries — Foreign Ministry

Sanctions statements from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

▪The EU has again miscalculated the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia, including the latest tenth round

▪Restrictions on trade with Russia will only increase dependence on direct competitors

▪Europe is killing its economic sovereignty

▪EU threatens to punish third countries for not complying with sanctions against Russia. This will only increase the rejection of Western policy around the world

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Press review: Lukashenko takes concerns to China and Blinken heading to Central Asia
Top stories from the Russian press on Tuesday, February 28th

❗️American broadcaster NBC published a report from Crimea: the correspondent got there by the rebuilt Crimean bridge and talked to residents who told him they were ready to defend their land from Ukraine and that they considered themselves Russians.

🇷🇺 Russia is modernizing and expanding its transport infrastructure despite Western sanctions

🚇 Today Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin launched the so-called Big Circle Line of the Moscow metro.

Putin stressed that the Big Circle Line is the largest in the world in terms of its length, topping the Beijing metro circle line. As a meeting with China's Xi Jinping is expected soon, Russia's president said that he intends to show him the Big Circle Line personally, or, "at least, to the delegation [of China].”

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Press review: EU won't let up on Russia sanctions and Finland may join NATO without Sweden
Top stories from the Russian press on Wednesday, March 1st

Eco-activist Greta Thunberg was deprived of her freedom in Norway. She was taken by uniformed people with a patch of «politi». Let's wait for the reaction of PACE, OSCE and the State Department.

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦"Wagner" group demilitarised a "Boris Johnson" Ukrainian unit near Bakhmut, one of the stormtrooper commanders reported

⚡️ Lavrov at the G20 meeting: I would like to apologize to India for the indecent behavior of a number of Western delegations that turned the work of the G20 into a farce

❗️Latest statements by Dmitry Peskov on the Ukrainian terrorist attack on Russia’s Bryansk region:

▪️Putin is in the Kremlin, the president is receiving reports from the FSB, the Ministry of Defense, the National Guard, and the governor of the Bryansk region about the situation in the border area of the Bryansk region, where Ukrainian terrorists attacked;

▪️The elimination of the terrorists is underway;

▪️Putin will hold a meeting with permanent members of Russia’s Security Council on March 3;

▪️It is not yet known whether the attack will change the status of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine;

▪️Russia will continue to call the attention of world to terrorist attacks by the Ukrainian regime.

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Press review: India unwilling to condemn Russia and Lukashenko holds talks in Beijing
Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, March 2nd