Russian missiles strike Western fighters in Ukraine – Moscow

Scores of French mercenaries were killed in Kharkov, the Russian Defense Ministry has said

Over 60 foreign fighters in Ukrainian service, most of them French, have been eliminated in a precision strike on a building in Kharkov, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Kharkov is a major stronghold of the Ukrainian military in the east and has been the launching pad for rocket attacks on Russian territory, including the December 30 massacre in Belgorod that killed 25 and injured more than 100.

“On the evening of January 16, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a high-precision strike on the temporary assembly point of foreign fighters in the city of Kharkov, the majority of whom were French mercenaries,” the ministry said.

“As a result of the strike, the building in which the mercenaries were stationed was completely destroyed. More than 60 militants were killed, [while] over 20 were taken to hospitals,” the Russian military added.

The strike came on the same day that French President Emmanuel Macron announced Paris could not “allow Russia to win” and pledged to send 40 SCALP cruise missiles and “hundreds of bombs” to Kiev.

Ukrainian authorities initially said that two missiles had struck an inactive hospital, injuring nine people. Kharkov regional governor Oleg Sinegubov later said that 17 people had been wounded, two of them seriously.

Regional police head Vladimir Tymoshko told the outlet Suspilne that no military personnel were among the injured, only civilians, and that the target had been a “civilian residential building.”

“This is genocide,” Tymoshko claimed.

Thousands of foreign fighters flocked to Ukraine at the start of hostilities with Russia in 2022, only to quickly become disillusioned by the realities of modern war.

The most recent estimate of their number was in July, when the Russian Defense Ministry said only 2,000 mercenaries remained in Ukraine. Of the original 11,000, some 5,000 left because they were unhappy with their treatment, while others became casualties, Moscow said at the time.

https://www.rt.com/russia/590825-kharkov-missile-strike-mercenaries/

NATO-supplied missiles intercepted over Russian border region – governor

The Franco-British-made Storm Shadows were reportedly targeting a school and medical institution, according to Vladimir Saldo

Russian air defenses have reportedly intercepted two NATO-supplied Storm Shadow missiles that were apparently heading towards a school and medical facility in Russia’s Kherson Region, according to the governor, Vladimir Saldo.

In a Telegram post on Wednesday, the governor stated that the missiles were brought down near the village of Popovka in the Genchesk municipality, and posted several photos apparently showing what was left of the Franco-British-made munitions.

“In an open field near the village of Popovka, the military found fragments of the downed missiles. Individual marking elements were discovered indicating their foreign production,” Saldo wrote.

The incident follows a string of attempted missile and drone strikes by Kiev’s forces on Russian regions bordering Ukraine in recent weeks, often using NATO-supplied munitions. On Tuesday, Russian air defenses repelled a UAV attack on the city of Voronezh, located around 200km from the Ukrainian border. Despite shooting down the drones, several buildings sustained minor damage and one young girl was injured by shattered glass.

https://www.rt.com/russia/590820-storm-shadow-kherson-attack/

Pakistan recalls ambassador from Iran

The rift between the Middle Eastern neighbors was triggered by an attack on Balochistan province, which Islamabad has blamed on Tehran

Islamabad has decided to recall its ambassador in Tehran, following a reported Iranian attack on Pakistani soil overnight. A statement by the Foreign Ministry called the incident a “blatant breach” of the nation’s sovereignty that “has no justification whatsoever.”

Iranian officials did not publicly take credit for the strikes. The IRGC-owned news outlet Tasnim reported that a combination of drone and missile strikes destroyed the bases of a group internationally known as Jaish ul-Adl.

The militant group, which is considered a terrorist organization by Tehran, seeks independence for the Pakistani province of Balochistan. A series of explosions on Tuesday night was reported in Panjgur, a city near the Iranian border. The Baloch people predominantly live in Iran and Pakistan, with large diasporas present in Afghanistan and Oman.

In addition to recalling its own diplomat, Pakistan has refused to allow his Iranian counterpart to return to Islamabad following his current trip to his home country, the ministerial statement said. All high-level bilateral visits have been suspended.

Islamabad said it reserves the right to respond to the incident and considers Tehran fully responsible for the escalation of tensions.

An earlier Pakistani statement claimed that two children had been killed in the strikes.

The diplomatic rift happened a day after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched airstrikes targeting Iraq and Syria. The paramilitary organization claims that it was targeting Israeli spies and terrorists from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in retaliation for recent attacks on Iranian forces.

Commenting on those attacks on Wednesday, Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtian said there were “no limits” to measures that the country would take to safeguard its national security.

https://www.rt.com/news/590806-pakistan-ambassador-iran-strikes/

FBI Helped Autistic 16-year-old Plan Trip to Join ISIS in Entrapment Scheme

An investigative report by The Intercept has revealed the FBI assisted an autistic teenager in planning a trip to join ISIS as part of an entrapment operation.

In the report, investigative journalist Murtaza Hussain revealed that 18-year-old Huzmand Mashkoor was charged with attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization after four FBI agents groomed him to join the Islamic State through online exchanges.

FBI agents posing as members of ISIS started exchanging messages with Mashkoor when he was 16 years old, and the messages continued until the time of his arrest when he was 18.

The agents, throughout the two years, groomed Mashkoor, who has developmental disabilities and were eventually able to persuade him to fly to Dubai to join ISIS sects in either Afghanistan or Syria.

In response to the FBI’s entrapment scheme, Mashkoor’s defense attorney Joshua Herman shared, “It is appalling that the government never once reached out to his parents, even while they were sending undercover agents to befriend him online starting when he was 16 years old.

Herman continued, “Almost all of the conduct he is alleged to have committed took place when he was a juvenile.”

Per The Intercept:

Humzah Mashkoor had just cleared security at Denver International Airport when the FBI showed up. The agents had come to arrest the 18-year-old, who is diagnosed with a developmental disability, and charge him with terror-related crimes. At the time of the arrest, a relative later said in court, Mashkoor was reading “Diary of a Wimpy KidOpens in a new tab,” a book written for elementary school children.

Mashkoor had gone to the airport on December 18 to fly to Dubai, and from there to either Syria or Afghanistan, as part of his alleged plot to join the Islamic State. The trip had been spurred by over a year of online exchanges starting when Mashkoor was 16 years old with four people he believed were members of ISIS. According to the Justice Department’s criminal complaintOpens in a new tab, the four were actually undercover FBI agents. As a result of his conversations with the FBI, Mashkoor could face a lengthy sentence for attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

At an initial court hearing, family members said that Mashkoor, who had turned 18 just a few weeks prior to the arrest, had intellectual difficulties and been diagnosed with autism. Despite acknowledging Mashkoor’s family support and his young age, the judge ordered that he be detained while awaiting trial.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/fbi-helped-autistic-16-year-old-plan-trip/

https://youtu.be/vLCgbAoT4sc