ah, a with we bring you special coverage as to that one bath republic then to ukrainian region start voting on whether to join the russian federation. following years of ukrainian attacks with russia is foreign minister blames the west for deliberately escalating the conflict and ukraine. united states and this allies have been systematically covering up the crimes of the key of regime for 8 years, building their policy towards the landscape based on a well known american principle. he is, of course, a son of

a but he's our son of a u. s. congress one that says, washington is covering up the killing of a palestinian journalist by israeli forces, insisting on a transparent investigation with from moscow to the world. this is our t international. i'm rachel blevins. and here are the top stories at this hour. but 1st, this just in officials and these oper, oci region have confirmed, a blast has hit the center of this city of mila toll no casualties have been reported yet. now data as the region holds a referendum on whether to join russia to day, we start our special coverage of the referendums and the non nascar new gods,

people's republic, as well as in a row sheet and her san regions of ukraine on whether to join russia the voting has begun with the voting and these 4 regions come as ukrainian troops continued a shell residential areas killing and wounding civilians. rushing back to local authorities, say key ab wants to terrorize residents ahead of the referenda. meanwhile,

moscow says it will support the decision of the people and also increase it's defense of the regions. the 5 days of voting will continue until tuesday. we ask people in the dawn bass and the hearse on region, how they feel about the referendum, here's what they had to say. almost at the nick at the cross thing of the ship. this is a state of mind that has been going on since 2014, when we held a referendum for independence from ukraine. we will restore justice returned to our historical homeland for 8 years. we tried to get this done and you guys said they got to fill in some this, this even until 2014, we considered ourselves part of russia, which said the time has finally come been use night, the wash enough. we have been waiting for this for 8 long years, maybe even 30 years after the soviet union collapsed. well, that is a water for us. this is important because russia will give us more jobs. and at the same time, there will be concrete protection from ukrainian attacks and from europe, which helps kiosk that, that they did. it not last piece will prevail. again,

my child is 9 years old, but she has been living and eternal war all her life and took her to ship it. we are waiting for only good things. there will be no inter ethnic strife as was the case in ukraine. i am for it. would appear, it is who this is a victory and historical justice. we will speak our native language without fear of terror. i choose to leave freely my younger brother for we are returning home for 30 years. ukraine has destroyed what the u. s. s. are left for it. i expect russia to restore our greatness shuttle for you. was cross live now to our correspondents who are following the 1st day of the raft. random we had eager, as you don off and the lugens region, mariah garz's, the f and the her san region, and roman coast her up from the darnedest republic eager. let's start with you here . how is the mood there?

well have, frankly speaking here in the capital this day, the day of the referendum, the 1st one is largely viewed as historic, has the elegance people's republic is finally choosing is and the question on the ballot. his quite simple, do you want to be officially a part of russia and given that this region along with the, the next people's republic where my colleague roman culture of as right now has been literally fighting for its independence from ukraine for the long 8 years. again, it is largely expected that the balance is going to tip in favor of the yes vote. now there will be no polling stations here in the traditional sense of the way for the 1st few days, that's due to security concerns. again, our kid was not happy to see what it considered to be its own regions. go, so it has been shelling civilian populations here relentlessly. gee, the de nest people's republic has been shelved the civilian infrastructure and just

a few dozen meters away from here. a bomb recently went off right in the office of the prosecutor general killing the man. so it is largely feared that large crowds of people voting well. expectedly. yes, to join russia to break away from ukraine or that they might attract terrorist activities. now again, this is just the 1st day of what is expected to be a 5 day vote and people while they're just starting to get their ballots. it is still early morning here. our crew will, of course, be following the events very closely. and we will be bring your, the latest about the process and of course, the outcome of the vote. now run my net. igor mentioned the historic importance about how much does it mean for the john s for public and what is the atmosphere like there right now? well, the referendum had just began. it will be held over the next 5 days,

but for 1st days to ensure the safety of reverend, the participants, the pulling will be done in adjacent territories to the polling stations and people's homes as well. now the main day of the referendum will be held on it's when t a 7th of september when polling stations will open at 8 and close at 10 o'clock in the morning. and now our t correspondence, our t camera operators have been here in don bos for boy, for the last 8 plus years. and of course, we've seen the will of the people here how they want to be back with russia as they say, i remember the referendum back in 2014, in may of 2014. when people, 189 percent of the people were here in don boss, have come out to votes and dominating majority of those people have decided they want to be independent from ukraine. of course,

we all know what followed after that. it was a key of aggression against the people of dunbar. thousands of civilians including women and children, had been killed by ukrainian nationalists to over the last 8 plus years. of course, the shelling by ukrainian force has had intensified since the start of the special military operation. and the start of this referendum is also marked by a tragedy. over the last 24 hours. at least 7 civilians have been killed. right in the center of the city, very far away from the front line where you're far away from any signs of fun, military positions. and of course, 8 people had been though wounded too. but nevertheless, as we pull people here in dunbar sterile, unhappy and are all enthusiastic about going to the polls about voting to become a part of russia. once again, they say, we are finally returning back home,

back to the motherland, as they say. but local authorities, they are ensuring all precautionary measures. so that said, no tragedy can take place while the referendum is being held. and miranda speaking at those safety concerns that we know are all around. what is the mood and a hearse on region on this important day? well, there's certainly a lot of tension. even here, i would say, given the can sourness. daily comes under attack with american high mas missiles as well as shelling on the outskirts, the many towns and cities and villages across give sod province are also targeted. here people are much more afraid. there are many more ukrainian supports as infiltrators in kennesaw in the city itself in the surroundings have barely a day goose, but without some somewhere being found with

a cache of weapons or explosives just yet several days ago. the only river crossing which is used by all the civilians here, which is supplies, gifts on with, with food, was struck by ukrainian missiles. a fire station was also struck. things are a little more complicated than care sought with regards to the vote as well because where whether the d s people's republican, the gods, people's republic voted for independence. that years ago it's years ago. his son and zap roygenia. but things are little different. the bulletin, the pallets are reads, are you for leaving ukraine? establishing an independent state i joined in russia. so this a little more to the technical aspects of expressing you know, the expression with people's will perhaps this referendum enjoining. eventually russia put the security situation as i say,

he is very tough. we expect more rockets, missiles strikes on the city, perhaps here, very close to the city administration. but they have also been warnings from ukrainian sources to people and kept on to stay away from voting stations for their own safety and take it at face value. perhaps this is, this is a warning that there will be acts of terror bombings, targeting stations, perhaps even the pleasant hill. organizing them, as of right now, voting has begun voting stations are open both in the city of gibson, as well as in surrounding cities, towns, villages across the region, but also with the booting officials, traveling or visiting people's apartments. going flat apartment to apartment, giving them the choice, tick the books you want. yes. are you in favor of joining russia or are you against

it? and in this way, ensuring that there aren't huge cubes, it voltage stations which would likely be targeted by ukrainian nationalist voting has began and we will continue to follow up with all 3 of you as the day goes on. eager injured on up from the guns for public roman, closer up from the darnedest republic, and moran garcia from the hearse on region. thank you for your coverage ukraine, the escalating political crisis since the might on coo and 2013, has led to countless tragedies for the russian speaking population. protests or across southern and eastern ukraine against the new government in kiev were harshly suppressed. this includes the tragedy in odessa, where 42 people were killed by a premium nationalist r t is mariah garcia again. takes us through those 8 years of waiting. anyway,

you look at it's, this is going to be a historic referendum. the bay geopolitical make up of the u. p. and continent is like a going to change a people to go to be asked after i had a very simple deceptively simple question. what flag would they like to live under berlin and did middleton preschool, brooklyn burson. the parliament of de la ganske at the desk, republics and the registrations of his approach yet. and here some regions have made a decision to carry out a referendum about their future. and they appealed to us russia to support this decision. we would like to emphasize we will do everything to provide safe conditions to hold a referendum so that they could express their wheel and make the decision about their future, the guns could than yet. sc made that choice years ago in 2014, shocked by the rise of ukrainian nationalists, who sent tanks and jets to suppress the pro russian east. they held

a referendum and voted to leave ukraine. 90 percent of the nets to 96 percent in luke guns, it was hoped that possession could be peaceful. moscow respects the will of the population of dennis can la ganske regions and proceeds from the fact that the practical implementation of the results of the referendums will take place in a civilized way without any recurrence of violence. and through a dialogue between the representatives of kia dennis can le ganske, there was no peace. ukrainian authorities, brutally cracked on to russian sentiments. category activists were kidnapped and never seen again in odessa. nationalists burned pro russian activists alive. oh, oh, toms, have changed, old hopes, the peace and reason from keith have evaporated. russia's only choice it believes

is to fight for the millions of civilians who want to leave ukraine, the west, which had shut its eyes on kev's atrocities. and the will of the people of the dumbass for years, his piped up prestigious shine for him. and it is very, very clear that these sham referendums cannot be accepted and are not covered by international law was. so he must understand though a lot or i wish to condemn in the strongest terms the annexation referendums in the occupied territories. these false referendums would constitute a new violation of the international law by putin. as the results will never be recognized us as foreign minister, sergey lover of offered very simple explanation for these referendums. he said he's referendums in the near scholar guns. zapata genteel said allan answer an answer to the ukrainian president school for russians who make up a significant portion of the ukrainian population for them to leave the country.

and get more insight on the don last path to independence and self determination. checkout artes brand new documentary, i'm alive telling the story about what the local population in the region has had to deal with as ukrainian forces attacked for years. the full version is on our website, r t dot com. ah. what the results for you, as you come to is the holes are really foreclosure. you're talking about, you're the senior, a told her shoulder, but that's all i thought for. but i see you got a sick or did you have to pull it up

with you? he school as it is going to national grades. so again, this call he feels strongly suppose with a dinner with talking average unit with talk video. we've got

a new up loyal spicy bob. bye. so if i see basil lou dims up on your school, the videos of on your list that you with is rewarded for keep you updated with the latest news as a historic 5 day referendum to decide the fate of several 1000000 people gets under way. ah. russian foreign minister sergey la roth, address the un security council, where he said that the collective west has escalated the conflict in ukraine and glosses over key abs crimes to keep the shoe so steadily was more such atrocities became possible and remain unpunished. to the fact that the united states and his allies have been systematically covering up the crimes of the key of regime for 8

years, building their policy towards zalinski based on a well known american principle. he is, of course, a son of a. but he's our son of a all eyes were on the security council chamber when we heard from the russian foreign minister, sir gay lab rod. now he took to the floor of the 15 member body that leads the united nations. and he gave remarks exposing all of these facts that are widely ignored and international, and us aligned media. when he spoke, he pointed out that while the united states seems to continue to maintain the idea that the government based in kiev is some kind of democracy, the reality of their actions on the ground that their food blockades and their suppression of political dissidence just doesn't match that narrative, here's what we heard from the russian foreign minister at the security council. can fornia solicitation that was the position of those states that pump military equipment into ukraine is cynical, and it doesn't hide the fact that they want to deplete,

and we can russia by prolonging the conflict. the collective west kindles the fire and it does so with impunity. you won't really punish yourself, will you? this is not latent racism against russia, but outright racism. now the russian foreign minister also described other realities of what is taking place on the ground. he described the burning of both books and people by forces that admire those who collaborated with the nazis during the 2nd world war and are pushing pro hitler narratives in ukrainian society. he went on to furthermore, describe how weapons provided by the united states are being used to commit crimes against civilians and how there has been a huge effort by russia to document these crimes. despite being ignored largely by international bodies here what he said. but at the music you hello, you know, military or strategic targets were hitting the settle. michelle by ukraine. only civilian residents of don bass have been made to suffer. it's not surprising that

the ukrainian armed forces employ terrorist tactics using civilians as human shields. now, the russian foreign minister made a point of pointing out that soon the people of these eastern regions will have the ability to determine their own future in upcoming referendums, where they will vote on the future of their regions. this ability to determine their own destiny as people was deprived of them when the united states imposed a government upon them in the 2014 year old maiden cube. it was quite an important moment when we heard from russian foreign minister, sir gay labrat. he was able to point out all kinds of realities that the united states and its allies had worked very, very hard to obscure and prevent the world from seeing in their efforts to demonize and isolate russia and continue this war. thing with the news from the un general assembly, he was president joe biden and u. k. prime minister list trust both and sadly claimed that no one had threatened

russia couldn't claims he had to act because russia was threatened, but no one threatened russia. no one is threatening russia. the reaction comes as president vladimir putin has warned that russia has all the means to protect itself from a potential nuclear threat, something but via an an trust rejected as you just heard. however, threats of using nuclear weapons against russia had been officially voice at least 5 times since last winter. in fact, since february, moscow has been warned that the nukes are on the table if needed. i think that vladimir putin must also understand that the atlantic alliance is a nuclear alliance. if the americans asked us to store us nuclear weapons in poland, we would be open to that. it would significantly increased deterrence towards moscow. nato needs to prepare for the use of nuclear weapons in advance. it's an

important duty of the prime minister. i'm ready to do that to unleash britain's nuclear arsenal to defend the country. meanwhile, russia has had concerns as february when at the conference in munich, zelinski threatened to reject the budapest memorandum of 1994. the agreement expressly said ukraine will not become a nuclear state. zelinski stated that ukraine must be made a full member of nato. otherwise, it would acquire nuclear weapons. former us pentagon official, michael maloof, says nato expansion and an offer of membership to ukraine were read lines for russia. mr. zelinski has threatened to go back to a new killer posture through production. they probably have the industrial capability or they did that, but they certainly have the know how, because they used to have nukes stored in in ukraine. this is far

greater than just ukraine. nato has like 8 or 10 different expansion periods from the end of the cold war 2, now in which the west gave assurances and a group and made agreements not to expand nato. and this is what mr. put was referring to. and then once they started coming in to ukraine and offering nato membership, that's probably the and that, and having been warned numerous times that this was a red line for russia. russia had to take, had had no other choice but to take action. and i think that and again, this is part and parcel of a policy director from washington, and particularly by neo conservatives within the, by the ministration and in africa, this

a hell. so here are the crisis threatens to turn into a global problem and un secretary general, antonio gutierrez is warning the way the situation is handled, needs a new approach. if nothing is done, the effects of terrorism violent extremism in organized crime will be felt far beyond the region and the african continent. a coordinated international breakthrough is urgently needed. we must rethink our collective approach and show creativity going beyond existing efforts. the stability in the region is shaky despite an ongoing anti and servant operation, bar haine, led by the french military against islamic groups in africa as to how the instability has led to a large group of the population discontent over the deteriorating security situation. we heard from a member of and 62, a group responsible for recent protest in niger who believes the presence of the

french army and the country is illegal and poses a threat to national sovereignty. with since the beginning of the french military operation back run their forces have acted in contempt of the population of niger in many areas of the country. we find the presence of these forces which are not helping niger to insert security unacceptable. a force that is killing more to the sense of our country than terrorists. this is what formed the basis of the m 62 movement. we will fight into our country as truly independent into our country and its citizens can enjoy and explored its natural wealth until the government is at the service of the people. operation bar haine is an ongoing anti uncertain operation that started in august 2014. the operation is in cooperation with 4 countries, all of which are former french colonies that span the health for kina faso. chad or it's tanya and niger. it gives us 3000 members of the french armed forces and as

permanently headquartered in the capital of chad. the operation was intended to follow up on expenses and expand the french military operations, but it hasn't proven to be effected and has provoked a strong anti french sentiment throughout the region. but again, our guest says the presence of french forces hurts his country more than they help, and that they should leave. hello jeff, this, jim ha, the purpose of this movement and protest is to defend our national sovereignty and to preserve the dignity of the people of nature. because in the current context and with the presence of the contention of french troops and operation by hon. our sovereignty is threatened, the activities of the french forces run counter to their fundamental mandate of providing security. let's not forget, they killed 3 young men in cold blood and 11 people were wounded by their bullets during the passage of a french military convoy,

november 2021. some protesters came with science and some with russian flags. these citizens chose to come themselves and had written inscriptions in support of russia, and also declare in france a state sponsor of terrorism. because we think the need for state sovereignty is extremely important. of course, we think there is also a need for military cooperation with other countries that will respect our national sovereignty or u. s. congress on that as pushing for a new investigation and the killing of palestinian american journalists sharina to act. les calling out the lack of commitment by washington to properly investigate her death is nothing short, outrageous, and her gover. macon, she needs to refuse to hold israel accountable to these rooms. i know that i will continue to push for will transparent u. s. investigations to these murders and full accountability. the congress on the hall comes after recently published an investigation by a london based research group and

a palestinian rights group that uncovered new evidence in the death of the al jazeera journalist for reporting from the west bank in may. she was shot in the head by israeli forces. the investigation suggests that the killing was deliberate, the prob, examined the precise angle of fire and conclude it. the shooter was able to clearly see there were journalists in the area. the findings come on the same day that the journalist family formerly submitted an official complaint to the international criminal court, demanding justice for her killing. earlier this month, israel conducted its own investigation and concluded there was, quote, a high possibility the journalist was accidentally hit by israeli forces, but added it would not be watching a criminal investigation. the us to department acknowledge the findings and refuse to condemn tel aviv. the family of the victim is outraged and says israel must be held accountable. the general director of all hoc palestinian human rights

organization in the west bank who is part of this investigation claims. israel's statements are logical and inconsistent. these ladies then christine, you know, they contradicted themselves 1st. they said that this means they are not behind. you know, these are you saw just them up behind this killing a 2nd. they said that might be you noise, right? the soldiers, but not intentionally. how they concluded intentionally or not intentionally. for instance, if they are not 100 percent sure that the killing is coming or committed by the israeli, a soldier, or a sniper. how, how comes even the americans, when they said that there is no intention behind the kelly, how our investigation carried out by our expert to colleagues and there we use also, he's a fan to fake. i also tools and this is not an arbitrary.