RT News - June 15 2024 (Late)

As the so called "peace summit" opens in Switzerland, Russia continues to make progress on the front lines in Donbass, Kharkov and Zaporozhia regions. President Putin's peace plans have apparently been rejected by the collective west. Donald Courter reports. (my comment - it seems as if Ukraine has lost the ability to think or act for itself and western Europe's election results show the disdain and lack of support for this war continuing.)

Kiev troops have attacked civilian-only regions of Belgorod again with seven killed and more injured in Shebekino; in Krasnoye there were casualties as a drone strike attacked a block of residential apartments. Igor Zhdanov reports.

Depressurisation in a gas pipeline has caused an explosion and fire near Saratov, central Russia.

In South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa is re-elected to office of President having struck a coalition deal. Noluvuyo Kunge reports.

In Gaza, the devastation continues and hunger is being used as a weapon. UNRWA's Philippa Greer made a report of before and after. With everyone hungry in Gaza, more than 8,000 young children are reported suffering from severe malnutrition and a half of Gaza's population could face death from starvation by mid-July. Zaheera Soomar reports. There seems to be no ceasefire ahead despite United Nations resolutions. The pier built by USA has only been used for 60 trucks of aid to Gaza whilst it's use seems to only be fore the benefit of Israel.

The snap election in Iran following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, to find the new President has started and will be held on 28th June 2024. There are six candidates in the running. Yusef Jalali reports.

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(NB - the death toll in the report below has increased to 7.)

Five people killed in Ukrainian strike on apartment block 14 Jun, 2024 23:20

A residential building in Shebekino, Russia has partially collapsed after the attack

Five civilians were killed when Ukrainian troops struck a five-story apartment block in the city of Shebekino in Russia’s western Belgorod Region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in the early hours of Saturday.

The death toll rose as rescuers recovered more bodies from the rubble of the residential building, which partially collapsed following the strike on Friday.

Gladkov initially said that seven residents were hospitalized. He later wrote on Telegram that a female victim had succumbed to her wounds.

Shebekino is located near the border with Ukraine. It has been a frequent target of rocket and drone attacks since February 2022, when Russia launched its military operation in the neighbouring state.

Also on Friday, a Ukrainian kamikaze drone hit a car in the village of Murom near Shebekino, killing the driver, Gladkov said. On the same day, a woman was killed when a rocket struck her home in the village of Oktyabrsky, while another person was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds after the village of Arkhangelskoye was shelled.

Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of indiscriminately firing at cities and deliberately targeting civilians, including with Western-supplied ammunition.

Please also see this report on Rumble https://rumble.com/v51peh6-west-directs-ukraines-use-of-long-range-weapons-un-envoy.html where Russia's ambassador to the UN called out Kiev's patrons for their involvement in the conflict, saying Western military advisers select targets for the attacks.

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15 Jun, 2024 19:14

Ukrainian border guards use firearms to stop men fleeing country 15 Jun, 2024 19:14

Nine people have been detained in just one region in a single day, Ukraine authorities have said.

Ukrainian border guards have resorted to using their weapons to stop people from fleeing the country, the State Border Service said on Saturday. A patrol in Ukraine’s western Transcarpathia Region had to fire several warning shots while chasing a group attempting to illegally cross into Hungary, the statement posted on Facebook said.

The border guards detained a total of nine people fleeing Ukraine through Transcarpathia in just one day, the service said. The first group, including three Kiev residents, tried to cross the border at night using online maps. They stumbled upon a patrol several hundred meters from the frontier, the social media post said.

The first group was soon followed by another one consisting of four Transcarpathia residents. The men had contacted traffickers and paid $5,500 each for safe passage across the border, authorities said. They ended up being chased by border guards, according to the statement, which said that shots were fired.

Two more men tried to cross into Hungary elsewhere on the same night but were intercepted as well. Those detained, who turned out to be from the northern Chernigov Region, had paid $7,000 to traffickers to get into Hungary, according to the authorities.

Ukraine is continuing its efforts to mobilize more troops in order to replenish heavy losses sustained in the fighting with Russia. Announced shortly after the start of the conflict, the campaign has been marred by widespread draft dodging and graft, as well as attempts to flee the country. This spring, Kiev significantly expanded conscription rules and lowered the age limit from 27 to 25.

In early June, the Ukrainian Border Service said that at least 45 Ukrainian men had died in attempts to flee to the EU. Most men between the ages of 18 and 60 are barred from exiting Ukraine in case they are called up to serve. Kiev also barred dual citizens from leaving this month.

In May alone, ten people were confirmed to have drowned in the Tisza River, which flows from Ukraine’s southwestern border through Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia, according to the authorities. The Border Service’s western regional branch said in early June that bodies had recently been found in rivers and mountainous terrain in areas bordering the EU.

Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov said on Friday that Ukraine lost more than 35,000 troops in May alone.

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Most Russians fear outbreak of WWIII – survey 15 Jun, 2024 17:05

Roughly seven in ten named Moscow and Washington as the main parties in a potential global conflict

Around 60% of Russians are concerned that a Third World War could begin soon, a survey conducted by the Field research group in Moscow has found.

According to a report published on Friday, 57% of survey respondents believe a global conflict could begin in the next 5-10 years, though 13% said they are confident this will not happen.

Among those surveyed, people aged 30-59 with higher education and who source news online were more likely to speak about a possible world war than those with lower education and income.

Around seven in ten of the 1,617 survey respondents named the US and Russia as the most likely parties in the hypothetical war, with the UK, France, Germany, Poland, and the Baltic States mentioned among Washington’s potential allies. Only one in ten respondents named Ukraine as a potential enemy of Russia in a global conflict. The respondents named China, Belarus, Iran, North Korea, India, and Kazakhstan as Russia’s main allies in the event of a global war.

More than 60% of respondents said they believe that Russia or a coalition led by Russia would win a world war, while only 6% said the US and the Collective West would achieve victory, and 18% believe that neither side would win.

The survey was conducted among 1,617 Russian citizens over 18 years old from May 23 to June 2. It also touched on the matter of support for Moscow’s military operation against Kiev. Almost three-quarters of respondents (73%) said they believe Russia is currently moving in the right direction with regard to the conflict, with 79% saying the operation is going well for the Russian army. Around half of the respondents believe it is time for peace talks and a diplomatic solution.

Warnings of a potential global conflict have been voiced repeatedly over the past two years, since the start of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. While Moscow has warned that growing Western involvement could spark a global war, and some Western analysts have said that a Russian victory will inevitably lead to this outcome, some officials and analysts believe that a world war has already begun given the scope of NATO and EU involvement.

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Short Take : The Russian defence ministry reports advances on the front lines in Ukraine, with Kiev losing hundreds of troops. It comes on the day a so-called 'peace summit' opens in Switzerland - although Moscow itself, was left off the guest list. Russia's border region with Ukraine once again comes under fire with 5 killed and 6 wounded, as an apartment block is hit by Kiev's forces. RT reports from the scene. Cyril Ramaphosa is re-elected as South Africa's president, after his party strikes a deal with its main rival, to form a coalition government. The race is on for the presidency in Iran, in a snap election called after the previous incumbent was killed in a helicopter crash last month.