RT News - December 14th 2022 Late

Tensions rise as Belgrade accuses the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo of seizing a majority-Serb centre in the region's north just hours after Pristina officially applied for EU membership. RT reports from the ground. Meanwhile not all EU member states recognise Kosovo.

US Africa summit: "Disappointing" - as Joe Biden promised Africa a relationship of mutual respect, it seems more as if the intention of US is to stir the pot with a "China/Russia threat agenda" The US uses its Africa summit to highlight what it calls Russia and China's 'destabilizing activities in the region.' That's as Washington's shift from Africa's acute issues leaves Beijing far from pleased. Report from Karabo Letlhatlha

Several MEPs are forced to step down, amid an unprecedented corruption probe that's seen a number of top European Parliamentarians arrested. Report from Rachel Marsden.

Censorship/sanctions: In the latest round of EU sanctions, RT and other Russian media could have their assets frozen. An NGO says they can't protect them because they have "biased reporting" - see today's earlier post for details/write up. (QS - the truth is more simple. The proxy war against Russia would not be allowed to continue if the public knew what was going on and thus censorship for the powers that be in NATO countries and the allies is critical.) Niki Aaron interviews.

TIKTOK : The debate about whether TikTok can be used to spy on US citizens continues.

DR Congo: Confidential talks have taken place with the M23 rebels. A statement is awaited.

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via RT website 14 Dec, 2022 11:03

1) -- Government offices in Kiev hit by drones – officials

The capital sustained two waves of Russian aerial attacks, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office said

Two government buildings were damaged by a Russian drone attack in Kiev on Wednesday, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Kirill Timoshenko, has said.

According to Sergey Popko, the head of Ukraine’s military administration, Kiev was hit by “two waves of attacks by enemy drones,” during which 13 UAVs were destroyed by air defense forces.

“The parts of downed drones have hit an administrative building, while four residential buildings were also slightly damaged,” Popko said. He added that no one was hurt.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on the matter yet. Moscow has stepped up strikes in Ukraine in recent months, with the Defense Ministry saying that it only targets military sites and energy infrastructure that is being used for military purposes, such as powering the transport of troops and hardware to the front.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the strikes were a response to “terrorist attacks” on Russian soil, including the bombing of a strategic bridge in Crimea in October.

Russian officials, meanwhile, have accused Ukrainian troops of intense shelling of civilians. Authorities in the southern city of Melitopol said rockets hit a hotel and a restaurant complex on Saturday night, killing two people. Officials in Donetsk reported that at least five civilians, including two children, were injured on Sunday.
https://www.rt.com/russia/568218-kiev-drone-attack-government/
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From Sunday 11 Dec, 2022 21:50

2) --- Children injured in Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk – authorities

Dozens of apartment blocks, a hospital, and a market were reportedly damaged in the attack

At least five civilians, including two children, were injured on Sunday as the city of Donetsk came under fresh rocket and artillery attacks from Ukrainian forces, the local authorities have said.

The projectiles struck dozens of civilian buildings, mostly apartment blocks in Donetsk and several nearby settlements, the local Joint Centre on Control and Coordination (JCCC) reported.

A three-year-old girl and a boy aged 11 were among those injured in the strikes, the JCCC, which monitors what it describes as Ukrainian war crimes, said in a series of Telegram posts. It did not provide any further details about their condition. At least three other civilians sustained injuries during the shelling, the JCCC added.

The strikes hit a public nursery, a kindergarten facility, and a children’s hospital in Donetsk, according to the JCCC. Kiev’s forces fired over 170 projectiles at the city and surrounding areas, it said, adding that Soviet BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers and 155mm artillery systems were used in the attack.

Photos published by the JCCC show buildings damaged in the attack. Ukraine’s forces “have been hitting Donetsk’s residential neighbourhoods in a targeted shelling for two hours” on Sunday, a statement from the organization read. It noted that some projectiles hit apartments directly, leaving people injured.

Donetsk has been subjected to heavy artillery and missile attacks by Ukrainian forces on an almost daily basis since Russia launched its military operation in late February. Before this, the city endured low-intensity fighting and occasional shelling from the Ukrainian army since 2014, when the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics rejected the government in Kiev in the aftermath of the Maidan coup.

Earlier this week, another rocket and artillery strike by Kiev’s forces killed six people in the city.

This fall, the two Donbass republics, along with Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, formally joined Russia after voting overwhelmingly in favour of the move in referendums.
https://www.rt.com/russia/568070-children-injured-donetsk-shelling-ukraine/
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via RT website 14 Dec, 2022 15:12

3 ---- Watchdog estimates civilian death toll from Ukrainian attacks on Donbass

More than 4,500 people have been killed since mid-February, with supplies of NATO weapons resulting in a surge of deaths, observers claim

Weapons supplied to Ukraine by NATO countries have allowed Kiev's military to significantly ramp-up attacks on civilian targets in Donbass, a local watchdog has said.

The group claims that over 4,500 civilians have been killed and 4,000 injured since Ukrainian forces escalated shelling in mid-February.

“Military terror has escalated beyond all limits after NATO members started supplying weapons to Ukraine,” the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC), a monitoring group that tracks attacks on the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, said on Wednesday.

“We have recorded a four-fold increase in the number of victims among the civilian population,” Natalya Shutkina, a representative from the Donetsk People's Republic at the JCCC, said as quoted by TASS.

The JCCC held a press conference on Wednesday during which it showed fragments of Western shells and rockets collected after Ukrainian strikes in Donbass and explained the toll these attacks had taken.

Since February 17, 4,527 civilians have been killed, including 154 children, Shutkina stated. Another 4,317 civilians, including 274 children, have been injured, she said, adding that Ukrainian attacks have damaged over 12,000 homes, 128 medical facilities, and 67 sites required for providing basic utilities, such as water and heating.

The record-keeping begins in mid-February when the Donbass republics reported a significant escalation of strikes by Kiev in the lead-up to Russia having recognized the DPR and LPR as sovereign states and pledged to defend them. The two regions have since been incorporated into Russia following referendums in September.

Shutkina pointed out that the weapon systems provided by the US and its allies are supposed to be more accurate than the Soviet-era artillery guns and rocket launchers that Ukraine possessed previously. This leads the JCCC to believe that the Ukrainian attacks on civilian facilities have been intentional rather than being part of indiscriminate strikes, she stressed.

Darya Morozova, the human rights ombudsman for the DPR, urged international organizations to acknowledge Kiev’s actions, arguing that “if the world community didn’t encourage the Ukrainian leadership with its inaction, the war in Donbass would have stopped a long time ago.” She called on Kiev’s sponsors to stop sending heavy weapons to Ukraine.
https://www.rt.com/russia/568240-donbass-death-toll-report/
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via RT website 14 Dec, 2022 17:31

4) ---- Austrian energy exec sheds light on Russian gas imports

Vienna is still heavily dependent on Moscow’s supplies
despite government claims otherwise, says the outgoing head of Energie AG

Almost half of Austrian gas imports are sourced from Russia, according to Werner Steinecker, the outgoing chief executive of the country’s energy giant Energie AG. Talking to reporters on Wednesday he said statements that reliance on Russian 'blue fuel' has been reduced to 20% are simply not true.

“Although dependence on Russian gas has decreased, but not from 80 to 20%, as some federal politicians want to convince us ... Rather, up to 40-50%,” Steinecker told OONachrichten newspaper while commenting on previous statements by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

According to Steinecker, Russian gas which is imported by Europe "in detour" is then no longer “called Russian.” We are talking about “false labeling,” that’s “one hundred percent,” he stressed.

Steinecker also said that the United States will continue to keep gas costs for the region at a high level due to its 20-year take-or-pay contracts. He noted that Washington is currently profiting on the supply of expensive liquified natural gas (LNG), and is hindering the rapprochement between Russia and Europe.

The Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) reported recently that natural gas prices in the country soared 119% in October in annual terms and were up by 5.6% compared to September of this year. According to the agency, the energy price index increased by 1.6% in October compared to the previous month and by more than 50% compared to the same period last year.

"Austria's energy prices are more than double"
https://www.rt.com/business/568251-austria-russia-gas-imports/
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