RT News - December 29th 2022 Late

Shelling of civilian only areas of Donetsk city has continued by Ukraine forces. More reports of the serious barrage of shelling of the city of Donetsk.

Belarusian forces intercepted and destroyed a Ukrainian S-300 anti-air missile on Thursday

Ukraine's air defence systems are on alert. In Odessa there are reports of water and electricity shortages.

In Belgorod (Russia) there have been reports of explosions and their air defence systems are on alert.

China slams Western critics of its lifting of COVID restrictions, saying they're 'misrepresenting China's policy' and their reporting is a case of double standards.

Africa: Britain's push for African nations to go green comes to a head, as Somalia says no to London trying to source oil in its northern region.

Africa: Nigerian police say they have rescued more than two hundred kidnapped people in the past 9 months. Terrorism has caused nightmarish problems across the nation especially in the form of Boko Haram. Report (sensitive)

Australia, China and 100 more other countries join together to protest U.S. vetoes on WTO appointments (complicated but very important). Take notes, I can't find this written down anywhere!

Remember Pres. Zelensky on Christmas a few days ago? Now he's back with a new year's message. Report from Rachael Marsden

In Syria, Christians are being persecuted by so called "Islamic factions" near to Turkey's border in Idlib. There have been abductions and reports of killings. Report from Vanessa Beeley.

More updates on the Indian cough-syrup which is alleged to have left more children dead, this time in Uzbekistan. Complicated.

======================================
Below 1) --- Lavrov blasts Zelensky’s ‘illusions’
2) --- Belarus shoots down Ukrainian missile – MOD
3) --- EU should test all Chinese arrivals for Covid-19 – Italy
4) --- Moscow ‘outraged’ by crackdown on Russian media abroad
5) --- EU nation explains language policy for Ukrainians
6) --- Germans have grim expectations about economy – study
7) --- Russia shoots down ‘unidentified object’ near key airfield – governor
================================

via RT website 29 Dec, 2022 07:51

1) --- Lavrov blasts Zelensky’s ‘illusions’

Kiev’s plan for settling the conflict with Moscow is a non-starter, the Russian foreign minister has said

Russia is not about to engage with Ukraine based on the ‘peace formula’ put forward by President Vladimir Zelensky, as it deems the terms unacceptable, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. He reiterated, however, that Moscow has not refused to engage in talks in general.

Speaking to RIA Novosti, the foreign minister stated that “obviously, Kiev is not ready for dialogue.”

“By putting forward all sorts of ideas and ‘peace formulas’, Zelensky cherishes the illusion that with the help of the West he will be able to achieve the withdrawal of our troops from the Russian territory of the Donbass, Crimea, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, the payment of reparations by Russia, [and] that it would ‘give itself up to international tribunals’, etc,” Lavrov said. He added that Moscow “will not talk to anyone under such conditions.”

However, the minister went on to say that Moscow has not refused to resolve the conflict through negotiations, pointing to the previous rounds of talks with Kiev.

“Immediately after the start of the special military operation, Vladimir Zelensky proposed sitting down at the negotiating table. We did not turn it down and agreed to a meeting with his representatives,” Lavrov said, adding that the talks showed that finding a compromise is not an impossible task.

The diplomatic process that began in February, however, “demonstrated Zelensky’s complete lack of independence in making important decisions,” Lavrov said. “Already in April, at the behest of the Anglo-Saxons, who were interested in continuing the hostilities, he swiftly wrapped up negotiations and sharply toughened his position.”

Earlier this month, Zelensky floated the idea of a UN-sponsored “Global Peace Summit,” to take place in February 2023, with a ten-point “peace formula.” The plan includes the withdrawal of Russian troops from all territories claimed by Ukraine and the restoration of the country’s “territorial integrity.” Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba stated, however, that before the talks can start, Moscow must face an “international court” and be prosecuted for supposed war crimes.

On Wednesday, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov claimed that the plan ignores the reality on the ground. He was referring to the results of referendums in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, which, along with Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, overwhelmingly voted to join Russia this autumn. Crimea did the same in 2014 following the Maidan coup in Kiev.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569091-lavrov-zelenskys-peace-plan-illusion/
======================================

29 Dec, 2022 11:26

2) --- Belarus shoots down Ukrainian missile – MOD

The projectile, fired by an S-300 air defense system, has been intercepted mid-air, the Defense ministry says

Belarusian forces intercepted and destroyed a Ukrainian S-300 anti-air missile on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.

According to the MOD, parts of the missile fell on agricultural land near the village of Gorbakha in the country’s southwestern Brest Region, which shares a border with Ukraine. There were no casualties.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been briefed about the incident, state news agency Belta said.

Photos posted on social media show missile parts lying in the middle of a field. (I can't check this link as I can't access telegram https://t.me/belarusian_silovik/8582)

The incident comes as officials in Minsk accuse Kiev of amassing troops and setting up firing positions across the border. The Belarusian government restricted movement in several border areas last week, citing tensions with Ukraine.

On November 15, a falling missile killed two people in eastern Poland, not far from the border with Ukraine. Warsaw said that the projectile was probably an S-300 fired by Ukrainian forces as they were trying to fend off a Russian attack, and that there was no evidence that the fallen missile was launched by Russian troops.

Kiev initially accused Moscow of attacking Polish territory, but later said that further investigation was needed to determine what happened. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky described the incident at the time as an attack on NATO. Russia denied that the missile that hit Poland was fired by its forces.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569110-ukrainian-s-300-missile-falls-belarus/
==========================================

29 Dec, 2022 14:36

3) --- EU should test all Chinese arrivals for Covid-19 – Italy

With most pandemic restrictions now lifted by Beijing, Rome says it “took action immediately”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has urged the EU to impose a bloc-wide coronavirus test requirement on all air passengers arriving from China, after Beijing announced it would greatly ease restrictions on international travel. Although grappling with a surge in infections, the Asian nation loosened its strict containment measures earlier this month.

Italy ordered mandatory antigen testing of all inbound travelers from China earlier this week, following Beijing’s announcement that it would end compulsory quarantine for passengers from January 8, effectively reopening the country’s borders.

“We took action immediately,” Meloni told a press conference on Thursday. "We expect and hope that the EU will want to act in this manner,” she continued, adding that Italy’s policy would risk “not being fully effective” unless enforced by all the bloc’s member states.

As Meloni spoke, the EU’s Health Security Committee met in Brussels in a bid to formulate a common response to the expected influx of Chinese travelers in January.

Further afield, the US, Japan, India, Taiwan, and Malaysia have all announced testing requirements for Chinese arrivals, with Japan and India stating that those testing positive would have to enter quarantine.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that this requirement “will help to slow the spread of the virus as we work to identify and understand any potential new variants that may emerge.”

After maintaining some of the world’s strictest ‘Zero Covid’ policies for nearly three years, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) announced earlier this month that it would no longer require negative tests to enter most public buildings and would no longer demand that asymptomatic patients isolate themselves at home.

Last week, the country downgraded its coronavirus response from “A level control measures” to the less strict “B level” response, meaning that as of January 8, even symptomatic Covid-19 patients will no longer have to isolate, and local authorities will no longer be able to lock down entire communities in the event of a localized outbreak.

New cases soared in the wake of these announcements, with a reported 37 million people contracting the virus in a single day last week, and nearly a quarter of a billion people becoming infected this month. Officially, the NHC claims that these figures are nearly 10,000 times lower.
https://www.rt.com/news/569125-italy-covid-testing-china/
===========================================

29 Dec, 2022 16:35

4) --- Moscow ‘outraged’ by crackdown on Russian media abroad

France seems to be spearheading efforts to silence dissent in Europe, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has said

France’s push to ban Russian news outlets both on the nation’s territory and in the EU is unacceptable, Moscow’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. Earlier this month, the nation’s TV regulator Arcom ordered satellite operator Eutelsat to stop broadcasting Channel One Russia, Rossiya 1, and NTV channels.

In a statement, Zakharova said the French watchdog had imposed those restrictions “under apparent pressure from the authorities,” adding that the move preceded relevant sanctions on the EU level. “Moscow is outraged by the new steps taken by Paris aimed at introducing more and more broadcasting bans on Russian media, both on its territory and in the EU as a whole,” she stated.

Such actions suggest that France, given its political clout in the bloc, “is the main lobbyist” supporting the ban on Russian TV channels in Europe, Zakharova claimed. “Such a display of Russophobia, which, unfortunately, has already become mundane, [points to] the aspiration to silence any voices that provide an alternative to the EU propaganda at all cost.”

According to Zakharova, Europeans “are being deprived of the right to free access to information.” She suggested that Paris and Brussels might be “afraid that the audience, after seeing a different point of view and picture of the world that does not correspond to that shown by the mainstream of the Western media, will draw their own conclusions” about global politics and the Ukraine conflict.

The spokeswoman described the crackdown on Russian media as “a flagrant violation” of freedom of speech, which is “discriminatory in nature.” The ban is “another testament that the Western ideal democratization model is in fact no more than a tool for achieving foreign policy goals,” Zakharova claimed.

In recent years, Western countries unleashed a massive campaign against Russian media, which only intensified after Moscow started its military operation against Ukraine. In March, the EU suspended the broadcasting activities of Sputnik and RT, with the number of blacklisted channels only growing as the bloc introduced new sanctions packages.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569130-russia-outraged-crackdown-media-france/
================================================

29 Dec, 2022 16:41

5) --- EU nation explains language policy for Ukrainians

Estonia does not want “a new community” in the country “that doesn’t speak Estonian,” PM Kaja Kallas says

It’s important for Ukrainian refugees in Estonia to learn the host nation’s language, the Baltic nation’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, has said. She made the remarks in an interview with the Russian-language ETV+ channel, aired on Tuesday.

“Estonian language courses are also important. We don’t want a new community in Estonia that doesn’t speak Estonian,” Kallas stated. “Even if they return [to Ukraine], and 80% of the refugees say they want to return, why not have a group of people in Ukraine who speak Estonian? There is nothing wrong with that. So, yes, that’s the course we took from the very beginning.”

The refugees fleeing the conflict between Moscow and Kiev have already put a heavy strain on the country’s economy, Kallas said. “We have some 40,000 of those who have received temporary protection status. Those who apply for temporary protection are, so to speak, our pain and our joy. These people access our benefits system and have a distinct impact on our taxpayers,” the PM noted, adding that “there are no places where they can live, no jobs, no places in schools.”

Estonia, along with other Baltic states, has been among the hardline supporters of Ukraine amid the conflict with Moscow, strongly backing the EU-wide sanctions on Russia.

Among other things, the country’s parliament passed a bill to completely phase out Russian-language schooling earlier this month. Kallas defended the measure, which affects the Russian ethnic minority – around a quarter of the nation’s population of 1.3 million. She insisted the reform is an entirely “normal” thing for Europe.

“There are a lot of children in Europe who get schooled in a language other than their mother tongue. This is normal. Children quickly learn another language. Of course, this reform could have been carried out many years ago, but for some reason, everyone hoped that the problem would go away on its own. It did not, thus these laws had to be passed,” she said at the time.

The PM’s comments on Estonian courses for Ukrainian refugees did not escape Moscow’s attention. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova took to Telegram to respond: “Kaja, Adolf [Hitler] would be proud of you. Without you it would be much more difficult to prove the dehumanization of the collective West. Estonia for Estonians, right? Say it already, and stop palping the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with your sweaty palms.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/569122-estonia-ukrainians-language-policy/

(QS recall in early December PM Kallas said that people arriving to Estonia "would be urged to move to Finland")
==============================================

29 Dec, 2022 06:00

6) --- Germans have grim expectations about economy – study

The inflation rate in the country will continue to rise in 2023, according to a survey

Most Germans do not expect consumer price growth to ease next year, according to a survey released on Monday by analytics firm YouGov. Inflation in Europe’s top economy hit double digits for the first time in 70 years this fall.

Half of the 2,057 people surveyed consider it likely that inflation will continue to rise in 2023. Just under a third (28%) expect price growth to remain at the high level of the past months. Only 13% of respondents expect lower inflation in 2023. The poll was conducted on behalf of the National Association of German Cooperative Banks.

Looking ahead to the next three years, the majority of those polled expect inflation to continue to rise or at least remain at the same high level. Only 28% anticipate rates falling, while 12% refused to express their opinion on the matter.

The results of the survey show “that the inflation rate is already threatening to become entrenched in people’s minds – with a corresponding impact on their behavior,” according to Jurgen Wache, spokesperson of the board of directors of Hannoversche Volksbank, as cited by the news agency DPA.

Consumer prices in Germany jumped 10% in November in annual terms, according to the Federal Statistical Office. In monthly terms, the inflation rate eased slightly from October’s 10.4% mark.

Soaring food and energy costs have been the culprit in pushing inflation in Germany this year to its highest levels since the early 1950s. The Bundesbank has warned that even a planned price cap on gas and electricity may not be enough to bring inflation down from double digits.

The price growth is likely to remain high for another two years as companies pass on higher input costs and in some cases inflate them even more, the head of the council of economists that advises the German government was reported as saying over the weekend.

“Inflation will also be an issue in 2024, and only thereafter will we maybe see it returning to 2%,” Monika Schnitzer was quoted as saying by the Rheinische Post newspaper.
https://www.rt.com/business/568948-germans-grim-expectations-economy/
===========================================

29 Dec, 2022 11:37

7) --- Russia shoots down ‘unidentified object’ near key airfield – governor

Engels Air Force Base has come under two Ukrainian drone attacks this month

Russian air defense has destroyed an unidentified object over Saratov Region, its governor has reported. The district where the incident happened hosts an air base that previously came under Ukrainian drone attacks, according to the Russian military.

The engagement over the Engels district was reported on Thursday by Governor Roman Busargin on social media. He urged residents to keep calm. Claims that an evacuation from the city of Engels, the region’s administrative capital, may be needed are false, he said.

Earlier in the day, there were reports of explosions near Engels. Local emergency services were deployed to investigate the situation, the governor’s office told the media. Images posted on social media purportedly show the moment of the interception.

Engels is located 730km southeast of Moscow and is notable for the air base just outside of the city, which hosts part of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet. Earlier this month, the military facility was attacked twice by Ukrainian drones, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

The first incident occurred on December 5 and involved “Soviet-made” jet drones targeting the air base and the Dyagilevo airfield in Ryazan Region, the Russian military reported at the time. The aircraft were intercepted, but debris killed three military service members and injured four others, the statement said, without breaking down the casualties between the two locations.

The second attack took place on Monday morning and also resulted in fatalities. Three technical personnel were killed by debris from an intercepted drone, the Defense Ministry reported, without offering details about the model of the weapon system.

Saratov Region is located around 900km from the Kiev-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine.

The air defense action over Saratov Region on Thursday came amid reports in Ukraine about a Russian missile barrage targeting its energy infrastructure.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569104-engels-airfield-air-defense/
==============================================