ah ah ah, you established something like this a command center. any place is good enough. even the cemetery are the visits heavily $45.00 positions abandoned by the ukrainian army and it's on a pass. maya. this is russian and allied forces continued the mining territories taken from kids forces and do rationing. they seem to be a reality for millions. that's the warning from islands you, commissioner, amid the blocks growing energy crisis and south to done is on the brink of funding with you and claiming a lack of resources to assist the region. we get reaction from local how he's going to need help. we are asking for help in africa majorly. we've been on

the other countries. so martin with committee alive from our headquarters here in moscow and broadcasting to the world. you're watching r t international monies. peter scott, bring you the top stories early this wednesday morning. and we start off with the latest developments from the war in ukraine that announced people's republic has seen heavy shelling with the city of mac here for targeted by ukraine's armed forces. 15 rockets were fired out, the city, one person was killed and 11 wounded, including 3 children. the capital city of the new esque also came under fire by ukrainian forces, as according to local officials, was showing also continuing in several done yet. in the guns people's republic. local authorities say the city was targeted from the direction of the assault chemical plants where ukrainian fighters are, hold up bottles, continue amid ongoing you ations from the facility that you see williams are

reported to have left the plant during the day under the mining operation continues in the dawn bus republics with almost 30000 explosives and mines cleared by russian suffers with the help of the mining robots are eager to dawn of visits. one of the areas still to be the mind of $45.00 physician, abundant fight ukrainian army, knew the sound of pass naya, which saw heavy fighting at last month with the special forces of the russian army . we are right now moving towards the positions quite recently captured from the ukrainian troops. and we're about to see the fortifications that they have both directed and dug into the ground. well over the past 8 years. and we're about to see what's left of them after the work of the russian artillery jets and well infantry with

i don't show up when you, when that was good, as it was mute on them. yet crunches deep enough to safely shelter a man of average height sprout across the area and had concrete laden fortifications. we find western supplied weapons ukrainian troops abandoned in a hurry as they fled, logo as well to attack visitors. this is a permanent fortification. if we go inside, we can see the reinforce doors. they are made of thick steel with sand inside. going further we see another door of the same type and these are the firing positions. each of them has its own zone. these windows are reinforced as well with thick steel as we saw before on the inside here, the position is draped with as best as sir cannot catch fire. and this is how the same firing position, which you have just seen from the inside, looks from the outside. there's extra protection in the front, on the sides as well. you don't have to be a military expert to see that it takes

a lot of firepower to well overcome and kick the forces out of a fortification like this one. ah, and these are the remains of a cluster munition that the ukrainian force is used against their former own abandoned well of fortifications. these type of munition is bound to pretty much all over the world. as we explore this labourer, we make a disturbing discovery. ukrainian positions spidering across the fields here in all directions, and if they need to establish something like this, a command center, any place is good enough. even the cemetery, there's no red lines, it seems bulky. forces in this warm ethics is expendable decency is in excess. i mean, there's done of reporting from the don bass c o u and void to russia, said there is no intention to blockade brushes. western most region of cleaning got

it comes up to you a near slots above, on the transit of sanction goods to and from the claim, the governor of the region has threatened to take measures against the you countries transport industry unless the restrictions are lifted at the gate, this is a flagrant violation of the obligations of the you and the baltic states upon their session to the union. in my view, this is a challenge to us. we must persuade them diplomatically to rescind or amend this policy and allow us to conduct transit if they fail to do so. we have an enormous number of ways we can complicate the operations of the baltic states trust, but industry. russia slammed the lithuanian move as illegal, but vilios says the trans they burn on cleaning god is in accordance with the sanctions against russia. the restrictions affect the transportation of cold muscles, construction materials, as well as advance technologies or t contribute to rachel mazda reports an issue or people who are so obsessed with their own p r. i'm talking about the u. this is a really bad book. western leaders keep saying how they want russian president

wagner put in. ready to pay a price for the call today grant, but it's always the average citizens who are paying the price, including westerners, now facing economic challenges with in the you. now, angie, rushing sanctions like as iranian sanctions, or as i venezuela, sanctions, or advisory and sanctions, etc, etc. always hit the average person, the hardest. and the idea is that sanctions pressure on citizenship caused them to rise up against their own country's leaders and due to west regime change dirty work, except that people on the sanctions are ultimately imposed, aren't stupid. they know where their country's domestic challenges and, and the impact of foreign interference begins. now the situation with colleen and grad would be like canada, preventing transit between alaska and the rest of the united states. and how do you think washington would tolerate that? but of course, don't anyone dare call this clinic grad situation. a blockade. she knew diplomat years of grill says it isn't to land transit between

cleaning. got another fire through russia has not been stop north bend. that is no blockade. he also is floating here on technicalities because in that same speech he also said that indeed, and i quote in accordance with european union sanctions, there are import and export restrictions that apply in relation with certain goods, including the prohibition of transit from those goods through the european union territory. now he's all caught up in whether or not what they're doing is legal. and he's vowing to ensure of course, that it is. but you know, by then it might be too late. all this might be over, who knows, right? but just because something is technically legal, you know, maybe it's that hard to under split under, to explain and split hairs. maybe you should be doing it at all, especially if you want to be in line with your own per claim values. you know,

you're rushing up to conflict, what claim and you want peace, and then using the people with colleen grab, is ponce sure? go ahead and say that there's tactically no blockade, and maybe you are technically in the right ask for international law whenever it's so confusing, it's hard to know. i mean, nobody really knows right now they're looking into it, right? the people of clinic rather than the reality will be the ultimate judge of what that's worth. what happened to those western values of human rights? by the way, do they apply to russians and calling rod elsewhere to you? or only when they're not standing in the way of a power play to further western interests, in which case, well, you know, they're just shrugged office collateral damage. green warnings are coming from ireland as the countries you commissioner says the energy rushing may be a new reality for millions of people. as soon as this year phase of energy insecurity have increased since ireland has no storage facilities on is heavily dependent on supplies from the u. k. the german minister said we may need to look at energy rationing. that could be a reality. it's something we've tried to avoid. it's precarious,

but i think we would be rather naive not to plan for the worst. the commission is admitted, the entire european block may need to consider energy rationing after gust supplies via nord stream, one where reduced. that's after you commission president us live underlying proposed her own energy saving plan. thing that lowering the thermostat by 2 degrees and every european household is an effective step in replacing the entire gas supply. coming from the node stream. one pipeline with energy crisis is forcing you leaders to take drastic measures to keep the taxpayers on votes as warm several countries and now restarting and lifting restrictions on the use of coal fired power plants, which means that europe's green energy agenda is literally going up in smoke as artsy, sha davinsky explains the headlines. a clear russia's so called gas war on the e. u is pushing. no, it's forcing europe to go back to burning. one of the dirtiest fossil fuels around

coal once considered black gold. coal had fallen from grace g to its polluting properties, but as a russian gas deliveries are being squeezed, countries including germany, the netherlands, italy, and austria. oh, or looking to fire, a long dormant coal power plants back up. this is painful, but it is a sheer necessity in this situation to reduce gas consumption. but if we don't do it, then we run the risk that the storage facilities will not be full enough at the end of the year towards the winter season. and then we are black malibu on a political level that almost makes it sound like the e was in fact keen to keep buying gas from russia. yet the union has signaled the exact opposite. although it still wanted to be the one to decide when the taps were turned off in front of the of jake, when it comes to energy. we're working together on how to use the gas resources of the western mediterranean to develop renewable energy. we want to reduce our

dependency on russian gas and to accelerate the energy transition in accordance with the climate objectives. we have set forward lima. and while you leaders are blaming the current war in ukraine for the shift to coal, the move actually came long before february 24th figures show that electricity generated by coal in the e. u jumped by 19 percent in the last 3 months of 2021 compared to the previous year. all of this is a massive headache for the european commission, which has been pushing the idea of the green, a gender commission chief ursula vaughan. delane doesn't want the, i taken off the emerald price, we have to make sure that we use this crisis to move forward and to avoid sliding back towards the dirty fossil fuels. it's a fine line and it has not yet been determined whether or not we're going to take the right turn. that may be falling on deaf is though

a some ear countries look to capitalize on the return to coal. the check for public says its own energy security trumps the broader green, a gender. if there is a gas cut this winter, we will burn anything. we can to keep our people warm and produce electricity. that's probably not the best stance for the country that's about to assume the rolling e u presidency. european climate campaign as are also furious over the move back to coal, but they are also pointing out what they call e hypocrisy. as the union still claims that it wants to be a global climate champion. and as the energy situation grows more dire across the you political leaders and now turning to calling on their taxpayers and voters to conserve energy to cut gas consumption with rationing also said to be on the table . but in the meantime, europe seems to have little choice, but to feed the green agenda to the hungry fires, the dirty coal power plants,

senior research fellow, the global policy institute, george some, well, he thinks that you should rethink his energy policies. well, they always stay focused on trying to rush, and that was does raise the question. i mean, who do these politicians represent very the human you're supposed to have elected leaders were elected by the people. do you actually care about your own people about your own voters? whatever else you can say about europe. yeah, you know, with wealthy states that can look that isn't essentially europeans and now admitting that we're heading towards a winter in which people are going to get very cold. ready and in many cases, quite hungry, this is an absolute shame and disgrace for europe. ah, moving on to the news now that you has pledged more than 1800000000 euros to help

address food insecurity in several african regions where millions of people are on the brink of starvation. over that humanitarian aid package is less than a 2000000000 euros, the european union countries bent on weapons to ukraine, raising questions on where the use of foreign policy priorities really lie. meanwhile, despite admitting that more than 1700000 people in south, so don't require food, assistance to avoid starvation. united nations has suspended humanitarian aid to them. siting a funding crisis caused by the conflicts in ukraine un says it must now diversify its food supplies to focus on helping other countries and regions in need of the organizations. food program has claimed that he's exhausted all alternatives before making the decision to flash a. to south to done, we got reaction from some local people who said the us decision cannot be justified when so many lives are on the line. how flooding we have economy con crisis. we

have a lot of crisis in south sedan. so as we assess it and we need help, we are asking for help. so and then the u. n is the one who is helping us, who providing us the basic needs. if they stop this needs, how are we going to survive as this also then these, how are you going to survive? it can never be fair. not only do the people have done, but anyway, because in africa measuring we depend, will depend on them over other countries. so much here is also a lot of problem hunger no education, actually we don't have enough because all around 1000 needs are depending on what foot program they want to go to the foot, but all the people we need more support from the world. east african leaders have agreed to send regional security forces to defeat the rebels in the eastern provinces of the democratic republic of congo. un says the region faces the

deteriorates in security situation despite the military rule imposed by the congress government last year. the m 23 armed rebel group has the city of goma, which is one of the country's main trading hopes located near the one to border and its sides. the rebels have sees several key towns amid a major offensive last month run the report. the li will not take part in the military operation, and congo accuses neighbor of supporting the group over many years. locos claim the global community should have taken decisive measures long ago. liberal m secretary than the security problem over our country, just not a truck. the attention of international community, and suddenly we're interested in this international community. the things that what does the congo are numbers or if they're really human, like them? it brisket delicate will. if i do not agree with this regional force, which will be deployed here in the democratic republic of congo. as you know, there have been several initiatives by the congo. use governments to eradicate

rebel groups here in the province of north keep in any case until now we have not yet seen the direct involvement of the international community because there have been no sanctions against wanda. so the paperless situation where we're concerned about the current security situation, things are getting worse and we have the impression that the international community does not care about our situation. the system in the east of the d r. c, the social conditions of life are so degrading that it should interest every one of the i don't good while over half of the world's cobalt reserves, which is the manual used in many electronic devices and cars are located in congo, professor to me center co on a from the university of south africa believes any further escalation of the conflicts in the country could how severe consequences the global economy. there are these are very well funded, especially my, for i, for, for my condo nice guy is that we know that the county southwest corner lot of you

know, so the 2nd decision on who would get our country, what i dislike with such a big fun. what i meant to do or to start seabrook or loves, and call them over to you about those in the us. and i love to be in the region by actually don't sell because you will not read, not the standard economy of to come up. like i said, because of the economy, invest in that on pacific island didn't count it is there is in that in definitely just seeing the situation of that particular camp. and after the story we're across to day 5 british citizens held captive by the taliban. have now been released that's after the u. k. foreign office apologized for their a legit breach of afghan law and traditions which resulted in the arrest nearly 6 months ago. steve sweeney international edits of the morning star newspaper post to

move into perspective these british nationals had no role in the u. k. government to work in afghanistan and travel to afghan, a stand against the u. k. government's travel advice. this was a mistake on behalf of the families of the british nationals, we expressed their apologies for any breach of afghan culture, customs or laws, and offer their assurance of future good conduct. this statement was welcomed by by the taliban, and it is quite a stark contrast to the very bold and brave statements that were made by the british government going back to as far as as 2001. when tony blair was the prime minister and he was what he described as an unequivocal war against the taliban, there is no diplomacy with ben, latin or the taliban regime. we stated the ultimatum, they haven't responded to the african people. we make this commitment will not walk

away as the outside world has done so many times before. that didn't happen and 20 years later, the british in the american occupation ended in what was a humiliating defeat for both those countries. the war since 2001 over 20 years, we know cost the british government. something like $23000000000.00. an estimate from the ministry of defense, the real figures property much higher. so it's very unlikely that it's simply going to walk away with its title between its legs. it's the british. busy government and britain has had an interest in afghanistan since, you know, as far back as the 19th century when it was all with russia. yes, great, great games. i called it when afghan is done was and seen as a protective buffer for british interests in india. and we do know that britain as long use these kind of secret operations and proxies enough to understand it,

did it in the 1980s when it was, am i 6, was funding arming and training the majority? and we know that it's doing it now in ukraine. as mercenaries operating against russia, that this case asks a lot more questions than answers. and we, you know, we have to ask whether this is part of britain's continued or against the taliban. and i think the british public have a right to know. i think more details are going to emerge over the coming months about exactly what has happened once you know the names of the individuals. and we need to know exactly what it is that they were. they were doing that. as tony blair said, you know, the war never ended, and i think this is further evidence of britain's continued war of britain's war against these member states have reportedly reached

a consensus to grunt candidate status for ukraine. but leaders within the block have cautioned that it has to be a very long time before the country could actually be allowed to join. many different steps have to be taken would have to be taken, but that the moment that symbol of hope to keep the spirit alive is what is needed right now. you can apply for you kind of the status in february, shortly after russia launched is offensive. gives leadership has been seeking a fast track, the country's membership process. the status is expected to be confirmed at the meeting of the leaders in brussels at some point this week. votes in the words of the president of the commission to live on the lion. expanding the book would require ditching the current policy of having to reach a consensus for major decisions. we heard from international affairs versus yvonne gadget, who says, recent decisions have exposed substantial changes in the box fundamental principles . the values of the you, i was through a significant change,

i would say in the last couple of years and even more so in the last couple of months. of course, this is only a well, if you want me to raise the stakes and to draw european societies, i'd say war psychology, of course, rally them against russia, which won't be the 1st time in history for that to happen. so i wonder why am i really from top to her hawkish rhetoric and lost couple of months and she's talking with them. and she's not the only one recently, mr. shoals who may be seen as a moderate in if you mention, actually last in serbia as a hawk as well. he said that there be a must join sanctions and must recognize that even a province at the cynicism or it is that

it should do that in order to preserve the territorial integrity of the brain. stop politicizing talks on health care. that was the message from the russian deputy health minister, who q some members of the g 20 of using the ongoing so many to condemn moscow over the ukraine conflict. we're asking our colleagues not to politicize g, 20 health platform and stay within our mandate and discuss health care representatives from the u. s. britain, australia, and canada blamed russia for plunging ukraine's health care system into chaos. the crunch of the g 20 group is still going to keep the members united as western countries pushed to exclude russia over its military action. and ukraine, author and journalist daniela's us, says it's hypocritical for us to speak about the damage done to ukrainian health care. its tremendous hypocrisy on the part of the g. 20. i

mean, 1st of all, number one, nato provoked this war. nato ignored russia's objections all along. so responsibility for the law for the war really lies with nato number one. and number 2, since ones that g 20 really care, but the about health care throughout the world us doesn't even have a, a national health care system. oh, it's been affected by due to inflation and food shortages and fuel shortages. i mean, i, people, there's, there's famine in the global south, and there are and medicines are, are increasingly expensive. and that adversely affects health care health standard, cheat 20 is the rich man's club, the world's richman, rich mans club. and so therefore, it represents a, a, an economically privilege sector of the global population. and so no, i think that the, the g 20 in general has, has

a sensually not been very equitable in terms of the part, the global policies, the pursues. and that the, the global south, the 3rd world has definitely paid a price for that when us all for now, my name is peter scott and i'll be back again in around 35 minutes time with all the latest news and views on the international. thanks for watching the a reversible split, this is probably the most accurate way to describe russia's relationship with the west today. but this did not have to be the west attempts to cripple the russian economy. have failed, as well as the attempt to isolate russia. the west is isolated itself with

with mm ton of welcome to worlds apart for decades. if not centuries, russian strategies have mused about the development of northern and eastern frontier as one of the key drivers for russia's economic development than security . which however, requires access the world's best technology, with the west cutting almost all ties with russia over ukraine. will those dreams once again, have to be put on ice? well, to discuss that, i'm now joined by alex c. h,

a group called russia's minister for the development of the forest and the arctic minister. it's great to talk to you. thank you very much for time. good afternoon. now it's interesting that in the russian language, unlike for example, in english, we can use the word north in plural as north, rather than let's say singular. and it's indeed an enormous territory in terms of mileage, in terms of cultural geological, ethnic, industrial, economic, political diversity. but i wonder how you can manage it or even develop that territory from your office in moscow, which is, you know, many, many of thousands of kilometers away. i give you the facts about the ration lores and the fairies fresh is norse. we are 2 3rd permafrost, and the russia east asia were 3 quarters in asia. so we cover 18 regionals, the russian federation, the cause of one being woman's, which speaks a lot about our mandate, the fathers to on the go,

which is 9 times zones away. so i spend quite a bit of time in their place. now, there is a serious type that governance in russia is extremely centralized. but if one looks deeply into the administrative history of fresh, it tends to be the remote regions suffer from the shortage of governance. rather than excessive due to, you know, remove the lack of logistics infrastructure, sometimes the resentment of the, of the local population. you've been minister for less than 2 years. what would you say are some of the biggest challenges that you had to face? well ahead, quite the long preparatory period. the chief executive officer is development funds, so i would go and almost 9 years of very close, deep involvement in for eastern and those aspects. and the key fact i would like to say is we have a total new breed of governors, very important. those people who have governors in 2013,

when i was 1st told by mister, through the us to join him a seal, the fund was completely different. but the people who than what we have now. so i think as we call the fisher from the head, but here i think the development is really very important when the heads of the government, young, technocratic fashion, that the transparent but the people who build the respective teams, who in turn really spread this. this is values, this is about the values and attitude that you know, it's a common problem in the russian regions. when you have this very progressive technocratic people and they come to those remote regions and they do not always establish good connection with the locals. is that a problem? well, i will then see that leadership is very important. this not only government leadership is social leadership in terms of center bring yours. who are the leaders of actual projects? you know, one of the hardest regions is a basic idea is where she dies.