RT News - February 27th 2023 10:00

Ukraine: Multiple drone strikes are reported in several Ukrainian regions on Monday, that's as our correspondent follows the battles of Russian artillery in the Donbass. Explosions were heard in Kiev as well as other regions on power infrastructure.
Donbass, Lugansk, Zaporozhye : Ukraine forces have once again shelled civilian only regions and a university building. Cluster bombs (prohibited under every convention, against civilians) were used. No casualties.
Igor Zhdanov reports from (very, very near to) the front line
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NATO, protests in Europe: Mass rallies took place across Europe over the weekend, London, Madrid, Milan, Amsterdam and Germany at the Ramstein Airbase ("little America"). In each the purpose was to demand "No more weapons to Ukraine".
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Africa, Nigeria Elections: Vote counting continues. There have been disruptions, ballot box theft and burning and voter intimidation which have marred the general elections in Nigeria as the country counts ballots. The state of Abia is set for a fresh vote scheduled on Monday. Polum David reports on the story so far, part of RT's special coverage.
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India/Germany: While German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tries to convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi to side with the West against Russia. The Indian leader says New Delhi is ready to contribute to any peace process refraining from condemning Moscow. Modi: "since the beginning of the developments in Ukraine, India has insisted to resolve it by dialogue and diplomacy and India is ready to contribute to any peace process". The west has wrongly continued to blame Russia for food shortages and the energy crisis. Report from Runjun Sharma.
The pressure on India to act against it's own national interests is mounting. Suvrokamal Dutta give analysis.
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Palestine/Israel: Palestinian authorities condemn violent riots by Israeli settlers in the West Bank town of Huwara overnight, which left at least one Palestinian dead and more than a hundred injured. One home was set fire to as the family was inside. Yesterday, a drive-by shooting left two Israelis dead. See yesterday's report on this channel.
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War of Terror - Iraq: RT continues with it's special coverage series. Presentation by Mourad. Rory Suchet speaks with Daniel Bosworth, a Desert Storm vet. Masses of history of this illegal war of lies waged by NATO on Iraq which claimed more than 1 million lives
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Below, via RT website -- -- A) --- Defecse minister explains conditions for Russian advances in Ukraine
1) --- Anti-NATO protests hit France
1a) --- Protesters gather outside major American airbase in EU
1b) --- Thousands rally for peace in Italy
3) --- White House distances itself from Covid ‘lab-leak’ theory
4) --- US' inspector general for Afghanistan warns against Ukraine aid ‘wastage’
5) --- My favourite economist talks about Ukraine "THE ECONOMICS OF THE UKRAINE PROXY WAR w/ MICHAEL HUDSON AND RADHIKA DESA"
6) --- Another train derails after Ohio chemical spill
6a) --- Ohio train derailment ‘100% preventable’ – regulator
7) --- Pentagon wants to make it harder for US soldiers to kill themselves
8) --- Over a dozen injured in blast in Cameroon
--- Zelensky press conference; 1 yr on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvBJppHbq6k
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26 Feb, 2023 14:26

A) --- Defense minister explains conditions for Russian advances in Ukraine

A widening of the military operation depends on the weaponry Kiev gets from the West, Sergey Shoigu has said

Russia’s defense minister has outlined the conditions for a widening of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, explaining that potential advances are directly tied to Western arms deliveries to Kiev.

“It depends on the weaponry that will be supplied,” Sergey Shoigu said in a brief remark to the TV program ‘Moscow. Kremlin. Putin.’

The minister appeared to be speaking on the sidelines of President Vladimir Putin’s address to the Federal Assembly, the country’s main legislative body, earlier this week.

“One thing must be clear to everyone,” Putin said during the event. “The longer the range of the Western systems that arrive in Ukraine, the further we will be forced to push the threat away from our borders. It’s obvious.”

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, citing the need to protect the people of Donbass republics and Kiev’s failure to implement the 2014-15 Minsk agreements. Ukraine, as well as its supporters in the West, consider the offensive to be completely unprovoked.

Russia has repeatedly urged Western states to stop “pumping” Ukraine with weapons, maintaining that the continuous flow of arms will only prolong the conflict rather than change its ultimate outcome. Kiev, for its part, has repeatedly demanded more and longer-range weaponry from its Western backers, insisting that such systems are needed to push Russian troops out of the territories Ukraine claims as its own.
https://www.rt.com/russia/572090-defense-minister-ukraine-weaponry/
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26 Feb, 2023 21:00

1) --- Anti-NATO protests hit France

Rallies against the US-led NATO bloc and the supply of weapons to Ukraine have been held across France

Multiple mass protests against France’s NATO membership and its continued support of Kiev were held on Sunday in the capital Paris and at other locations across the country.

he demonstrations, taking place for the second consecutive weekend, were organized by the right-wing Les Patriotes party, led by Florian Philippot, who personally attended the rally in Paris.

The politician claimed the event on Sunday, dubbed National March for Peace, attracted even more participants than last week, when some 10,000 showed up for a rally in the French capital. According to Philippot, smaller-scale anti-NATO protests were held at some 30 other locations across France as well.

"Nouvelle manifestation contre la subvention de la
guerre en Ukraine et la sortie de la France
de l’OTAN." https://twitter.com/tamilatapayeva/status/1629872855671349251
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https://twitter.com/f_philippot/status/1629890310389092352
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The politician has been actively staging protests against French membership in NATO and the EU since last fall, while arguing against the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Between 2012 and 2017, Philippot was the deputy head of the biggest opposition party in France, the National Rally, led until last year by Marine Le Pen. After leaving the National Rally, the 41-year-old politician established his own right-wing party, Les Patriotes.

France has been among the top supporters of Kiev in the ongoing conflict with Russia, which broke out a year ago. While Macron has repeatedly called for a diplomatic settlement of the hostilities, Paris has actively supplied assorted weaponry to Ukraine, including armored vehicles and advanced self-propelled howitzers
https://www.rt.com/news/572112-france-nato-ukraine-protest/
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26 Feb, 2023 16:24 re-post

26 Feb, 2023 16:24

1a) --- Protesters gather outside major American airbase in EU

Demonstrators descended on the Ramstein military installation in Germany, calling for an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine

Several hundred people gathered on Sunday outside Ramstein US airbase in southwestern Germany to demand an end to weapons shipments to Ukraine. The military site is where Western officials have regularly held meetings over the past year to coordinate their aid to Kiev.

The demonstrators also called for a cessation of hostilities and peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

They chanted slogans and beat drums, with an assortment of banners seen during a live stream of the event on YouTube, including the Russian and Soviet flags.

The placards called for the Americans to “go home,” and also featured slogans including “Freedom to Julian Assange” and “Stop the weapons deliveries.”
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https://twitter.com/TwoFace36620002/status/1629842416885813249
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When the rally organizers notified the local authorities several days before the event, they said they expected it to kick off at midday and conclude around 5:30pm, with around 2,000 attending.

Ramstein air base has repeatedly made headlines since Russia launched its military campaign against Ukraine a year ago. It’s where the US-led Ukraine Defence Contact Group has held its meetings aimed at shoring up the Ukrainian military. The last such gathering took place on January 20.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of demonstrators turned up in central Berlin for the ‘Uprising for Peace’ protest organized by prominent Left Party politician Sahra Wagenknecht and author Alice Schwarzer.

They, too, denounced Western arms deliveries to Kiev and called for peace negotiations between the warring sides.

Earlier this month, approximately 10,000 people took to the streets of Munich for a similarly themed rally just outside of the Bayerische Hof Hotel, where world leaders convened for the Munich Security Conference. Further military support for Ukraine was among the topics high on their agenda.

Among the speakers addressing the crowd was former Christian Democratic MP Juergen Todenhoefer, who argued that “we have to serve peace and not the Americans.”

Much like the latest event outside Ramstein air base on Sunday, the demonstrators in Munich also called for American troops to leave Germany.
watch on Rumble https://rumble.com/v2b01g0-rally-against-arm-deliveries-to-ukraine-at-ramstein-air-base.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=4
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26 Feb, 2023 14:25 re-post

1b) --- Thousands rally for peace in Italy

Demonstrators in the cities of Genoa and Milan are demanding an end to weapons supplies to Kiev

Several thousand people turned up for peace demonstrations in the Italian cities of Genoa and Milan on Saturday. Union members and left-wing activists claimed, among other things, that authorities in Rome have breached national law by sending weapons to Ukraine.

The rally in Genoa drew nearly 4,000 participants from across the country as well as from Switzerland and France, local media reported.

Organized by the Collective Autonomous Port Workers (CALP) group with the support of the Italian communist party, the protest took place under the slogan “Lower weapons, raise wages.”

CALP’s Riccardo Rudino was cited in the media as saying that the “conflict in Ukraine did not begin last year” but rather “in 2014, with the massacre of the Russian-speaking population in Donbass.”

The demonstrators filed through the port of Genoa, demanding an end to the use of the facility for arms shipments destined for Ukraine.

CALP spokesperson Jose Nivoi accused the Italian government of violating law 185 of 1990, which “imposed a ban on the import, export and transit of weapons from Italy to states at war.”

The group’s representatives also described how they had been networking with like-minded “associations and activists in various European cities.”

The procession went off without serious incidents, marred only by a few acts of vandalism at the hands of anarchists, who smeared and damaged several vehicles and broke windows in a bank.

A protest was also held on Saturday in Milan. Ruptly video news agency filmed several hundred people chanting slogans and waving flags, including those of Russia and the Donetsk People’s Republic.

The demonstrations in Italy coincided with one in the German capital, Berlin. There, tens of thousands of people heeded the call of prominent Left Party politician Sahra Wagenknecht and author Alice Schwarzer.

Named the ‘Uprising for Peace,’ the protest called for peace talks to end hostilities in Ukraine. The participants also urged the German government to stop shipping weapons to Kiev.

Addressing her supporters, Wagenknecht criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government for allegedly trying to “ruin Russia,” and described Saturday’s protest as the start of a new peace movement in Germany.
https://www.rt.com/news/572091-italy-peace-rally-ukraine-russia/
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26 Feb, 2023 19:46

3) --- White House distances itself from Covid ‘lab-leak’ theory

A major newspaper has claimed that the US government believes the Covid-19 pandemic most likely originated in a Chinese laboratory

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has rejected a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report which stated that a US Department of Energy study concluded that the Covid-19 pandemic was likely the result of a failure of safety practices at a laboratory in China, stating that there is “not a definitive answer” as to the true origins of the virus.

The paper claimed on Sunday that the Department of Energy had viewed “new intelligence” which led them to believe that Covid-19 wasn’t naturally produced in the environment, but rather the result of a so-called ‘lab-leak’ – but it added that it has “low confidence” in its findings.

Responding to the WSJ report, Sullivan said that President Joe Biden has ordered a full investigation into the potential origins of Covid-19 but he stressed the various governmental bodies looking into the matter have yet to reach a unanimous verdict.

“President Biden has directed, repeatedly, every element of our intelligence community to put effort and resources behind getting to the bottom of this question,” Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.

“If we gain any further insight or information, we will share it with Congress, and we will share it with the American people. But right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question.”

The virus was first reported to have been discovered in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, an area which also features a prominent virology institute which is an active research center for the study of coronaviruses.

The FBI has also backed the lab-leak theory but four other US agencies have determined that natural transmission was the more likely source of the virus. Two other agencies are currently undecided, according to the WSJ.

Last year, extensive studies conducted by the peer-reviewed ‘Science’ journal determined that the initial virus was very likely transmitted to a human from an animal at one of Wuhan’s wet markets.

Further studies into the lab-leak theory are expected to take place in the US in the coming weeks and months, after several Republican lawmakers included investigations into the pandemic’s origins among the key pledges on the campaign trail ahead of last November’s midterm elections.
https://www.rt.com/news/572111-white-house-covid-lab-leak/
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26 Feb, 2023 17:54

4) --- US' inspector general for Afghanistan warns against Ukraine aid ‘wastage’

Washington has been the largest financial contributor to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia

Robust safeguards must be in place to prevent fraud and corruption from undermining foreign aid packages to assist Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, according to John Sopko, the United States’ Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

Sopko, who was appointed to the role of overseeing the reconstruction of Afghanistan by the Obama administration in 2012 amid the United States’ extended military presence in the country, admits that “significant mistakes” were made in Afghanistan’s rebuilding – principally due to much of the funds allocated being “diverted or stolen.”

And Sopko predicts that a failure to learn from these mistakes might severely limit the impact of foreign assistance to Ukraine.

“The very worst outcome is that the assistance gets diverted, stolen in such a way that it doesn’t accomplish its intended purpose – in this case, providing Ukrainians with the weapons and the money to win their war against the aggressor, Russia,” he said to Fox News.

“You’re bound to get wastage,” he explained. “You’re bound to get corrupt elements of not only the Ukrainian or host government, but also of US government contractors or other third-party contractors to steal the money.”

He added that without the necessary oversight “the average Ukrainian will see the waste” rather than the intended impact of the aid and this could lead to a loss of support for Kiev's and Washington's measures. He cited similar experiences in Afghanistan, where he concluded that Afghan soldiers and police officers lost confidence in their government after first-hand observations of corruption.

The United States has continued to increase its aid packages to Ukraine in recent months. On Friday, the one-year anniversary of the launch of Moscow’s military operation in the country, the US announced a further aid package of $2 billion and imposed further sanctions and tariff increases on Moscow. In 2022, the Biden administration rubber-stamped more than $112 billion in financial assistance for Kiev.

Last month, Washington revealed plans for an oversight committee to track the assets sent to Ukraine – an exercise Sopko said would be akin to “herding cats.” Figures within the US Congress have also called for a special inspector to be appointed to oversee Ukraine aid. It was reported last month that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky had fired government officials found to have been engaging in bribery and corruption.
https://www.rt.com/news/572106-ukraine-us-aid-packages-wastage/
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5) --- My favourite economist talks about Ukraine "THE ECONOMICS OF THE UKRAINE PROXY WAR w/ MICHAEL HUDSON AND RADHIKA DESA"

(listen/watch, no visuals, 2 hrs approx) https://youtu.be/CkQCSPM2QUY

not on Rumble, yet.
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26 Feb, 2023 08:07

6) --- Another train derails after Ohio chemical spill

There is no danger to the public arising from hazardous materials, the railway operator says

A train derailed in Lexington, North Carolina, USA on Saturday, Norfolk Southern Railway has confirmed. The incident comes just weeks after another cargo train operated by the same railway company came off the tracks in East Palestine, Ohio, causing a major toxic spill.

The incident in Lexington appears to be on a much smaller scale, with a Norfolk Southern spokesperson telling Fox News that only “one set of wheels” derailed on a single car out of 132 on the train.

“There are no reports of a hazmat situation or danger to the public,” the company’s representative said, adding that the train’s crew were unharmed.

However, the spokesman noted that the derailment would still require “clean up” work, with additional personnel deployed to Lexington to carry it out.

The incident led to a stoppage of traffic and delays to numerous passenger trains, according to the US media.

Meanwhile, the clean-up continues in East Palestine, where 38 cars, including 11 containing vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials, went off the tracks on February 3, causing a major blaze and chemical spill. A control burn had to be carried out at the crash site to prevent an explosion as temperatures inside one of the tanks with vinyl chloride began to reach dangerous levels.

The state and federal authorities insisted that air and water were safe for residents in the area. However, some of the locals reported feeling unwell in the wake of the crash. Earlier this week, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said at least 45,000 animals, including all aquatic life forms, had died in a five-mile (8km) radius of the derailment.

On Friday, East Palestine residents filed a class-action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern, blaming the railway for being “a public nuisance” and demanding punitive damages, the creation of a fund for medical monitoring, new testing and cleaning procedures, among other measures.

US President Joe Biden has come under fire for traveling to the Ukrainian capital Kiev instead of East Palestine this week. “At this point, I’m not,” Biden said when asked if he plans to visit Ohio. East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway insisted that the decision by the head of state was “the biggest slap in the face, that tells you right now he doesn’t care about us.” The community was visited by Donald Trump, who said Biden’s behavior “terrible” and assured locals they were “not forgotten.”
https://www.rt.com/news/572084-train-derails-us-norfolk/
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24 Feb, 2023 18:50

6a) --- Ohio train derailment ‘100% preventable’ – regulator

The US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating whether safety standards should be revised

The devastating chemical spill caused by the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio earlier this month was “100% preventable,” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters on Thursday. The press conference followed the agency’s release of a preliminary report on the incident.

“We call things accidents. There is no accident,” Homendy said. “Every single event we investigate is preventable.” However, she added, there was no indication that the train crew had done anything wrong.

“Know that the NTSB has one goal, and that is safety, and ensuring this never happens again.”

The NTSB’s preliminary report on the disaster revealed that the temperature of one of the train’s wheel bearings spiked 215 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 30 miles (48km) it traveled, confirmed by two sensors placed along the route used to detect hot bearings.

While Norfolk Southern confirmed on Thursday that the heat sensors were working properly, the train’s own alarm was not set to go off until an even higher temperature was reached. By the time the alert sounded, the bearing was 253 degrees hotter than its surroundings, and while the engineer quickly acted to slow the train, the bearing reportedly failed, causing a derailment at the 23rd car, according to the report.

The plastic pellets inside the car caught fire when they were exposed to the overheated bearings, soon spreading to the 11 other cars containing hazardous materials, including five full of vinyl chloride that authorities ultimately decided to vent and burn onsite. The investigation determined this action was taken because the temperature inside one of the tanks full of vinyl chloride was continuing to rise, leading the operator to fear an explosion was imminent.

Acknowledging that it was “too early to tell” for certain how the disaster could have been avoided, Homendy told reporters that the NTSB will continue to investigate whether industry safety standards regarding the heat threshold for high-temperature alarms and other defect detectors, rail car and wheel design, and the spacing of sensors along the track need tweaking.

Norfolk Southern’s inspection practices will also be scrutinized, and the agency will look at whether the rail operator properly disposed of the vinyl chloride, she said. Residents have blamed the fire for a growing number of bird, livestock and fish deaths as well as water contamination in the area, although state and federal officials insist the air and water are safe.
https://www.rt.com/news/572031-east-palestine-disaster-avoidable-ntsb/
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25 Feb, 2023 22:11

7) --- Pentagon wants to make it harder for US soldiers to kill themselves

With America’s military facing a suicide crisis, a study group has suggested blocking service members from buying firearms

A Pentagon advisory panel formed to help address a suicide crisis in the US military has recommend imposing gun control measures on American service members to make it harder for them to kill themselves.

Soldiers under age 25 would be banned from buying guns on US bases, while all others would face a seven-day waiting period to complete their firearm purchases under a plan released on Friday by the Pentagon’s suicide prevention committee. The group also called for creating a database to track guns purchased on US military property, which would require repealing legislation passed by Congress in 2013 to prohibit such tactics, as well as a waiting period on ammunition sales.

“When we look at the science of suicide prevention, there's arguably only one thing that all researchers agree on,” said panel member Craig Bryan, a safety expert at Ohio State University. “And that one thing is that taking steps to slow down convenient access to highly lethal methods like firearms is the single-most effective strategy for saving lives.”

Such measures would put the US military in the position of inhibiting the constitutional gun rights of its own service members, who exist ostensibly to defend American freedoms. It will be up to the Pentagon and Congress to determine whether to implement any or all of the panel’s recommendations.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin created the advisory committee last March. The Pentagon said it has “taken note” of the group’s report and will use it to enhance its current approach to suicide prevention. “Secretary Austin has emphasized that the department’s most valuable resource is its people and that they will spare no effort in working to prevent suicide and save lives.”

Deaths by suicide among active-duty US troops jumped 44% between 2015 and 2020, rising to 384, even as the military adopted special training and intervention measures. Nearly 17 US military veterans kill themselves each day, on average, according to the Veterans Administration.

Stores on US military bases reportedly sold more than 113,000 firearms in 2021. The advisory committee said guns were involved in two-thirds of suicides by active-duty troops.
https://www.rt.com/news/572078-pentagon-suicide-panel-recommends-gun-control/

info: "An average of 24 former service members are dying each day by officially declared suicides, 37% more than has been reported by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), according to a study released on Saturday by a not-for-profit group called America’s War Partnership (AWP). An additional 20 veterans, on average, are dying each day by “self-injury mortality,” such as drug overdoses." https://e55c5558-502f-457d-8a07-a49806f5ff14.usrfiles.com/ugd/e55c55_3e4c6bae16a945bbb8dbfa36739af2df.pdf
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26 Feb, 2023 08:20

8) --- Over a dozen injured in blast in Cameroon

A bomb went off during a race in the central African country, with an Anglophone separatist group claiming responsibility

An explosion during an athletics event in Cameroon has left at least 19 people injured. A separatist militia seeking independence for the central African nation’s English-speaking regions said it was behind Saturday’s attack.

The incident took place during the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope in the town of Buea, in southwest Cameroon.

Local governor Bernard Okalia Bikai told the Associated Press that nine athletes and ten civilians, including a baby, sustained injuries and have been taken to the local hospital.

According to Reuters, citing unverified social media footage, there was not one, but a series of explosions along the race’s route.

The Ambazonia Defense Forces, one of the separatist groups fighting for the independence of English-speaking regions of the country, has claimed responsibility. It said the military were the primary target and regretted injuries to civilians.

The insurgency began in 2017 in Anglophone North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon and was preceded by protests by local teachers and lawyers, who decried what they viewed as marginalization of the English-speaking minority at the hands of the Francophone national government.

Cameroonian authorities, in turn, accuse the militias of perpetrating atrocities against civilians. According to UN estimates, the conflict has claimed more than 3,300 lives to date, with over 750,000 displaced.

The Mount Cameroon Race of Hope is held annually, with more than 500 athletes from 13 countries taking part this year.
https://rumble.com/v2axj96-explosions-injure-19-people-during-marathon-in-cameroon.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=15
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https://www.rt.com/africa/572082-cameroon-race-blast-separatists/
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