❗️Highlights from the Russian Defense Ministry Press Briefing, February 16:

◾️Ukraine loses over 1,820 troops, 11 tanks, 14 armored vehicles, 25 artillery pieces in the Donetsk area over the past week

◾️ Russian forces move to more advantageous positions in the Donetsk area over the past week, repelling 46 Ukrainian attacks

◾️ Ukrainian forces lose over 310 troops in the Kherson area in one week

◾️ Russian forces move to more advantageous positions in the Kupyansk area over the past week, repelling 18 Ukrainian attacks

◾️ Thirty-five Ukrainian troops surrender to the Russian forces in one week

◾️ Russian aircraft, air defenses down Ukrainian MiG-29 jet, Mi-24 helicopter, intercept 36 HIMARS, Vampire, Olkha rockets over the past week

◾️ Russia forces improve positions in Krasny Liman area in the past week, repel 14 attacks by the Ukrainian army, which lost over 1,585 troops

◾️ Ukraine loses over 775 troops, two tanks in the Kupyansk area over the past week

◾️ Russian aviation, air defense systems eliminate 405 Ukrainian drones in one week

◾️ Russian forces advance forward positions, repel 3 Ukrainian attacks on the southern Donetsk direction, enemy lost up to 1,060 troops

◾️ Russian army conducted 30 strikes with precision weapons, drones on Ukraine’s military industrial sector enterprises, deployment sites of troops, nationalists

❄️ The height of the snow cover in Moscow has reached 62 cm, which is a new record high for this winter, Mikhail Leus, a leading specialist at the Phobos weather center reports.

❗️Key takeaways from statements of Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina at the press conference after the Board meeting:

▪️The Central Bank made the decision at the first meeting in 2024 to keep the rate at the level of 16% per annum

▪️The Bank of Russia sees the opportunity for smooth lowering of the key rate

▪️The global economic situation is evolving slightly better than expected

▪️Russia passed the peak of current price hike last fall

▪️Price growth rates in Russia start slowing down

▪️No recession in national economy is anticipated in the base case scenario of the Central Bank

The Figure Skating Federation hopes Kamila Valieva will return to competition after her suspension, which will end in December 2025.

The head of the Federation, Alexander Kogan, assured that they are in constant contact with the 17-year-old athlete, her parents, RUSADA and lawyers who work with materials to protect the girl’s interests.

Russia’s heavy transport Partizan short-takeoff and landing drone has made its maiden flight. The flight lasted 20 minutes at an altitude of 200 meters and a speed of 50-200 km/h

Video: Press service of the Chaplygin Siberian Research Institute

Ten members of the US House of Representatives have drafted an alternative bill on allocating aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which, among other things, envisages tougher security at the country’s southern border, Punchbowl News reported.

Earlier, the US House of Representatives went on recess until the end of February without voting on a bill to provide financial aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

According to the text of the newly drafted bill, which has just become available on the portal, it provides for the allocation of $66 billion to support the defense of US allies. Of this amount, almost $48 billion is intended for Ukraine, $10.4 billion for Israel, and $5.4 billion for US partners in the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan. Another $2.4 billion is aimed at supporting US operations in the Middle East, particularly against Houthi rebels of the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen.

Dutch striker from the Russian Premier League’s Spartak Moscow Football Club Quincy Promes, convicted by an Amsterdam court for drug smuggling, has been put on the international wanted list, Franklin Wattimena, spokesman for the Amsterdam prosecutor's office, told TASS.

The spokesman clarified that the request was filed by the Dutch prosecutor's office, and he is not wanted by any international organization such as Europol and Interpol.

Wattimen declined to comment on the possibility of appealing to the Russian authorities to extradite him.

The Kremlin considers the statements regarding Alexey Navalny’s death that come from the West rabid and totally unacceptable, given that no information is available regarding the cause of death, Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

🇧🇾🇺🇦Members of a sabotage and reconnaissance group were detained during an operation conducted by the Belarusian security forces at the border with Ukraine, where explosive devices and other means of destruction were found in the possession of the perpetrators, the BelTA news agency said citing Belarus’ State Security Committee.

The Committee reported that early on February 15, a group of people was spotted in the Lelchitsy district illegally crossing the state border from Ukrainian territory. Security forces cordoned off the area. As a result of the operation, members of a sabotage and reconnaissance group consisting of citizens of Ukraine, Belarus and their accomplices were apprehended in the border area.