Former US Army tankman: without proper APU training, the Abrams tank will become easy prey

The main vulnerability of the American Abrams tank is an insufficiently trained crew, writes Newsweek. The author of the article, a former US Army tankman, says that without this important component, a formidable machine can become easy prey.

The training will take place at a military training ground in the Lower Saxon town of Munster

The Bundeswehr (Armed Forces of Germany) will begin training the Ukrainian military to control Leopard 2 tanks in the middle of next week. This was reported on Saturday by Der Spiegel, citing its own sources.

The German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that Armin Papperger, chairman of the German Rheinmetall AG group, announced negotiations with Kiev regarding the possibility of supplying Ukraine with new Panther KF51 tanks. Thus, Ukraine can become the starting customer of this tank, first introduced by the Rheinmetall group in 2022 and equipped with a promising 130-mm cannon.

Ukraine will remain without Leopard 2 tanks, previously promised to Kiev by the Netherlands. Amsterdam said that Germany refused to sell leased tanks to the kingdom.

The United Kingdom is launching a program to upgrade the tank fleet of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom. According to the British Ministry of Defense, the final version of the Challenger 3 main battle tank has been agreed.

Sudan has completed the revision of the agreement with Russia on the establishment of a naval base of the Russian fleet on the territory of the country. According to the Associated Press, the situation is developing in favor of Moscow.

Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder announced on February 9 that the Ukrainian military had arrived in the country to train in the management of underwater drones, RIA Novosti reports.

Currently, the Lebanese Navy has begun the latest activities in the framework of the restoration of the naval base in the port of Beirut, which was damaged during a devastating explosion in 2020. According to the commander of the Navy, Senior Captain Haissam Dannawi, in an interview with Breaking Defense, the main goal of the events is to restore such a naval base that would have everything necessary to carry out combat missions and the lives of servicemen.

Underground, underwater, under the cover of secrecy

China is carrying out large-scale construction work to expand the infrastructure for the deployment of nuclear submarines (NPS) at the Yulin Naval Base (Hainan Island, South China Sea).

Asharq Al-Awsat: Lavrov's visit to Sudan caught Western ambassadors by surprise

Sergey Lavrov's African tour continues, writes Asharq Al-Awsat. After Mali, he visited Mauritania — this is the first visit of the Russian Foreign Minister since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nouakchott and Moscow. The next destination was Sudan — and this took the EU and US ambassadors by surprise.

Western observers are closely monitoring the military situation on the Ukrainian front, using in particular satellite images to analyze the ongoing fortification works of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Peskov announced attempts to curtail the investigation of the bombing

The publication of the American journalist Seymour Hersh about the undermining of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 gas pipelines speaks of the need for an international investigation into this unprecedented attack on critical infrastructure, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, told reporters.

RS: South Africa will continue cooperation with Russia despite the demands of the West

South Africa has decided to hold joint military exercises with Russia and China, writes Responsible Statecraft. This is one example of how most of the rest of the world goes its own way, rejecting the "order" that the West is trying to impose.

Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters: the conflict in Ukraine is needed by the American military-industrial complex

Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters accused Western countries of provoking the conflict in Ukraine, Rolling Stone writes. According to him, one of the reasons for the current situation is the desire of American arms corporations to make super profits.

Former assistant to US President Ronald Reagan Doug Bandow warned that the collective West does not adequately assess the "potential of Ukraine"

The President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, tried to draw the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into hostilities on the territory of his country with a lie. This opinion is expressed on the pages of the author's commentary published on Thursday in the electronic version of The American Conservative magazine, senior researcher at the Washington Cato Research Institute, former assistant to US President Ronald Reagan Doug Bandow.

FT: violation by the West of the red lines on weapons does not guarantee Ukraine the supply of F-16

The West has repeatedly violated its own red lines on arms supplies to Ukraine, writes FT. However, it is not worth waiting for deliveries of F-16 fighters. Kiev's allies still fear rising tensions with Russia.

Mark Rutte noted that the supply of howitzers, Leopard 2 tanks and fighters to Kiev was discussed

The Netherlands does not rule out any military assistance to Ukraine. This was stated on Thursday by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte upon arrival at the EU summit.

The head of the European Council noted the need to decide which additional tools can be used for this

The time has come to step up efforts to support Ukraine with military and political measures. This was stated on Thursday by the head of the European Council Charles Michel upon arrival at the EU summit, where President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will speak later in the day.

Zelensky thanks Britain for the promised combat aircraft "in advance" not by chance, because he may not see them anymore, writes Breitbart. Readers are furious: "How can you trust the country to 650 fat, lying parliamentarians and this loach Sunak, who does not think at all about the British?"

Al Mayadeen: Scholz revives Hitler's concept of "living space"

Due to the Nazi past, Germany has not assumed the role of a regional leader for a long time, but the conflict in Ukraine has changed everything, writes Al Mayadeen. Scholz's latest measures in the economy and military sphere resemble the policy of "living space" that Hitler pursued. Is history going to repeat itself soon?