a daughter did all a powerful explosions from a parent drone shrike's. i reported any major ukrainian cities destroy electrical power infrastructure also ahead. here. south africa president is marked by the political opposition as he delivered his state of the nation address that he declared a state of disaster in the country over its crippling energy. shortage it a combo. lee general says un peacekeeping forces killed 8 protesters as a rally to ball into violence and arrested eastern part of the democratic republic of congo. with an adviser to serious president, as dodd says,

western powers are not only preventing communitarian aid from being delivered to syria, but provoking the spread of terrorism in the war torn country. the west has taken the opportunity of the, of the entity a lie, telling me to do sensors again with coming to you live from the russian capital. this is our international. i'm rachel blevins here with the top stories of the hour. welcome to the program. and we begin with the latest and the ukraine conflict. explosions were reported and at least 3 major cities, a med claims of a series of drones drugs on friday morning. these are the latest and verified images we have received with electrical power infrastructure allegedly targeted. the strikes reportedly hit, you crane, 2nd largest city of park and its eastern city at napa patrols,

as well as the ukrainian held city of zap, roshi. and the recently ratified russian territories. this comes as russian forces have been intensifying and offensive in don bass. archie correspondent, eager to run up reports from one of the front lines full months. this part of the front was an estate over. busy dead stalemate, ukraine tried to capitalize on last year's counter offensive and sweep through the la guns republic. but its troops eventually get bogged down. and now russia is trying to turn the tide. this is the russian artillery providing cover for the advance of the ground forces. ah

a vast and dense natural reserve has become the main fighting arena. key of troops are swarming in the woodland. their positions are scattered every few 100 meters away from each other. so far, russia has made its gains, their modest yet steady pace. something over the phone to the village of the situation on the front line is stable, were advancing toward severs moving forward. little by little from lucy chanced and it's becoming more quiet where there is now much less return. fire of the enemy's artillery was forced to retreat through suppression fire from the sullied our direction. also, there are plenty of firing positions. it has become easier to work here. we can

stay on firing positions longer and shoot more. oh, key of soldiers are forced to abandon their long held trenches and some simply don't make the escape in time. like this fighter. now in captivity, he revealed that many don't make it out at all. no, people say that the 4th battalion got back to carcass and only 25 out of 60 its soldiers survived. were all were mobilized from carcass. we have no locals in the trenches for me. it was the 4th day and the position. russia has beefed up its forces on the ground dramatically through a wave of mobilization. and now it seems is starting to reap results. but its troops grew, not just in numbers, but inexperienced to. it takes us 10 minutes to occupy a position and open fire after recognizance locates an enemy target. if we're already in position,

it only takes 3 minutes. rush is offensive. may not look impressive on the map yet as ukrainian and western officials unanimously raised the alum. there's more where that came from america done of reporting from the dumbass oxy. meanwhile, ukraine's president zalinski has openly admitted that he personally refused to implement the minsk agreements, which were a road route for keith and don bath. as approved by follow european powers, germany and france, you can read more about that revelation and much more on our website. r t dot com with south africa as president has declared a state of disaster in the country because of its persistent energy shortages. while he was trying to make that statement, he was repeatedly interrupted by the political opposition. i get

done with opposition parties have accused president ram opposed to using his date of the nation address as an attempt to consolidate his own power. a medicare attic start to the speech. the president outlined his administration's plan to address the country's most pressing challenges that the mid a crippling energy crisis that he said he hoped could be overcome by invoking emergency power. the national disaster management center has consequently classified the energy crisis and its impact as a disaster. we are therefore declaring a national state of disaster to respond to the electricity crisis. and i think that,

well, that is an announcement that was pretty much expected by sort of the plaza, considering south africa's grapples with the energy shortage opposition was always intend on fighting or plaza and naval can on hagley. these ending in he got to the men, but remained resolute, and after some 45 minutes, the lake continued on with his speech and stating that the african national congress, the party, which ha he comes from and of the governing party in the country, still believes in energy mixed mixed up of a lot of fossil fuels and he says that the country will not transition at a pace. it cannot afford all of these measures will result in a massive increase in power to the grid over the next 12 to 18 months. and also beyond those now this power will be in line with our diverse mix of

energy sources, including our current coal fired power station, sola, when you clear hydro and richey storage outside of the renewables, we haven't seen that much room. and especially when it comes to issues such as securing wood here, we know how long it takes to think she will be a project to get it up and running. but i don't know why there is another problem. and then is that internationally, no saga which continues join them and that is the bottom gate where a large amount of foreign currency was stolen from his private game in the northern province of south africa. something that the opposition continued to take him to task with local authorities say un peacekeepers killed civilians and wounded 28 others when they open fire. and what to call the least general described as warning, shot, an arrest of part of the country near the rwandan border. the protesters were

expressing anger about the lack of progress by the peacekeeping mission, in brooding out local extremist groups and made persistent attacks on civilian areas. the un mission to the d. r. c has shrugged off the incident, saying they were protecting their convoy. the convoy was attacked by demonstrators who had previously barricaded the road with large stones forcing the convoy to stop the civilians died, while peacekeepers tried to protect the convoy. the class happened about 10 kilometers from the major city of goma. while the un convoy was returning from a resupply mission, with around $18200.00 personnel in charge, the un mission to the d. r. c has been deployed in eastern congo, so it took over from a previous un operation in 2010. it's mandate includes supporting the congo least government's efforts to stabilize the region. however,

people in the congo say they are dissatisfied with the peacekeepers. city, with war, with the 23 rebels. so going on in the eastern city of goma, forcing thousands of people to leave their home. we'll have a listen in on to what the displaced people had to say about their life in combat. with the m 23 rebels. we are fleeing the m 23 war. as you have heard about the situation and all villages, we need help. we need counts, but above all, we need the return of peace. somebody come but the situation is very complicated. at the moment in community, we came from there under a hail of bullets when they arrived and kemati we decided to leave. we were scared of the bullets and the bombs that fell. there are many people who have been injured a. busy the m 23 started fighting the day before yesterday, crashes continue in the area. and that is why we leaving our villages in kinky we're looking for where we're going to rest. but we have no idea. we ask our

government to do everything to displace the m 23 rebels. so we can return to our villages so that we don't die of all the diseases or of hunger in the camps. meanwhile, and burkina, faso french troops have allegedly failed to prevent reoccuring terrorist attacks in the country. the latest one has happened in the northern province of the country. 22 civilians have died with 3 police officers, burkina faso as being constantly attacked by the hardest groups linked to al qaeda and ices. the government has decided to ask for help of the russian military group wagner to counter them. a local journalist explains how burkina faso is battling against terrorists with the help of the wagner group. as book in a fossil, his face settle at pack for years. now. the situation is still not getting any better governmental facilities, simply decided to expel, refresh. military con patient which have been present in the country seems 2018.

while more than 40 percent of the country is under the control of till his group. the decision was welcomed by that incident here who have called for new partners, especially will watch them private military group, wagner, aleck, more by their fossil nigeria, that in my opinion, we have waited long enough with france. we've suffered for too long. they were here for a long time and we did not see any results while they killed many of our soldiers and many of our family members. and in just 4 months, captain ibrahim came and we already can see change done, go in with the health of the wagner group in our soldiers. we know that things will get better for us. why, if i truly believe that the wagner group will do far, much better than france for the last 20 years, they did nothing. they had all the power to change things around here. but nothing change will be what we need. someone who will bring concrete solutions to someone who listens to the people and burkina and can achieve our common goals. with that

in mind, the wagner group is more than welcome. ready will kill a has also called for the, the pepto fresh ambassador in december as compelling to naming new diplomats in what god local last month, only kept in abraham towering, diagnosed the military cooperation agreement. we phrase the head, the prison. so 400 placed hoops in bull killer fossil this comes is been new authorities and will killer, have improved coalition with russia since october 2022. the corporation has increased the cup abilities of it will kill abbey army, but clarity in control of its eb space now will kill out, is able to be more reactive to telescopes attack. last month, 6 major teresa tact received a sweet response from the army which use don's emily captors in a counter attack. however, at the same time,

the tool is have changed tactics by systematically killing civilian. they come into contact with a former mayor of a city in lawful bull killer and former political advisors. captain to my son, kara, his the only survivor of the military called but killed son cutter and 12 other 40 years ago. his opinion is clear to bud wagner group of the planted animals. we cannot eternally be submissive when i do not understand how france cannot understand that france who claims to be the leader of freedom in the country of human rights. it does not recognize anything on it. for france, we are slaves, we refuse to be slaves. emma france liberated itself from the old regime. let us do the same and be free from france. the french troops failed. that is for sure that our people will succeed, to remember history. and more importantly, learn from mistakes is a cardinal rule that those in miley and will,

can of fossil are set to embrace as it come to his have moved away from the colonial pos to a future of partners with their lulu assay work at the head of the private military company, the wagner group, has said his company has stopped recruiting from russian prisons. however, replying to a media request on what could be the reason for that. the wagner group had said he received many applications from the united states. after we released the wagner pmc advertisement for the american audience, we received more than 10000000 applications from us citizens wishing to join us to fight against nato. the moment we are considering about 1000000 american citizens for employment, therefore, we temporarily suspended the recruitment of volunteers from russian prisons. however, if there is a corresponding request from the us state department, we will recruit from american once. the wagner group is one of the most formidable

forces. at the dawn by the front lines. it's fighters have a varied background. some of them are formerly in prison. criminals who are given a chance to redeem themselves by enlisting r t correspondence div sweeney spoke to one of the fighters who just recently completed his contract with the group russian private military company, wagner has shot a global problem partly due to his road in the conflict and ukraine, it's 4th, it played a crucial role. in k military operations, a theme russian forties take control of many town it. so does have been deploy is syria in libya, and many african countries where they have been welcomed of heroes. but in the west volga is controversial, is accused of war crimes. another authority, according to western rhetoric. this is connie vehicles of policy of recruitment from russia prison population. we're in st. petersburg where we met with spartak. i

wagner, commander and former convict, who says that he joined not to be pardon, but to fight for his country. and almost there was an area. i didn't think i would end up in wagner. i signed the papers to go in here. i am. the boss came to our prison, he just made an offer and told everything how it was. the war was brutal. it's not the chechen war. some decided to go and some didn't. so i decided instantly, i wasn't even thinking about the amnesty. yes, of course, amnesty is great and my term is long. i had other motives, my relatives died there and i was ready to serve the motherland if needed at any time. we asked him about his previous crimes. and if he feels that serving involved is an opportunity for comics to redeem themselves for us or through us church, i 1st went to serve in a security force in chechnya in 2002. there were many issues to deal with in the motherland. i served until 2005 and was wounded in

a special operation. but after that, i worked here and there, studied to become a construction worker. to be honest, i didn't manage to find myself. i began to break the law and got locked up after the war. i was young, may be mentally unstable, may be, i didn't understand something in my own reality. i didn't make any further plans for the time after the contract. i was thinking about the guys i was thinking about the performance of the salt group. we thought about the job and serve this faithfully as we could. we tried to be useful. so i personally saw death 10 to 15 times in front of my eyes. there it was, i left the trench for a 2nd and my friend was killed. i believe i ever deemed myself when, in fact, told us how he joined a private military company on about the equipment and supplies on the battlefield. along with the relations with the group leda, describing wagner as a brotherhood. thus,

after the head of wagner came to us and told us everything. the federal penal service speaks to us whether we want to go. if we're ready, if we understand what we're getting into, and in 2 to 3 days, he comes back and then begins all the paperwork, all the bureaucratic issues. i don't know the details. i haven't delved into a too deeply abroad. we talked to and he took me away as he promised he said he'd come and he did, and we flew there by plane than by helicopter. and then we arrived at the training base. we are given 2 pairs of the best uniform rations we have. good timely deliveries. wagner. this is my family, my brothers. i can call them sit down to talk, drink tea, go somewhere, help out. if need it. they have their own brotherhood. the main thing is for them to do their job. i'm proud in general that i served that i met the boss. i'm proud that i shook his hand. he taught me a lot. spock is convinced that russia will win,

despite fighting against foreign mercenary. i'm western backers of the k of regime captured, ukrainian soldiers have been brainwashed. he tell them the thermal if still they will. they have a lot of propaganda there. they think that they will soon take moscow, but they're afraid of wagner. i kept this one ukrainian and he told me all sorts of nonsense. i think many guys are ready to serve with us because they start seeing the reality. even though there is information on the internet. they're still heavily zombified. here we had our 1st battle. there were mercenaries, there swedes, norwegians, poles, and many others. we fought with dignity, and we shot everyone. the task was completed in full and then we left as russian advances on the battlefield. continues soto, the west sloan, doesn't live. an indication perhaps that the culprit in ukraine is slipping through the ha more than 18000 people have lost their lives in the devastating

earthquakes that rip through turkey and syria. in recent days, the scenes of devastation around the epicenter are simply shocking. so far in turkey alone, more than 17000 death had been confirmed and over 71000 people injured. former high rise apartment blocks had been reduced to rubble with signs of those still trapped, getting more difficult to the attack. nevertheless, the search for survivors goes on the city of adiana in south eastern turkey is one of the most affected areas are teas. peter scott reports from the scene on how the emergency services and locals themselves are trying to cope with the terrible aftermath of this disaster. on the outskirts of the city of id i'm on, it was instantly clear that has been much more badly affected. the d a back here, which was around 3 hours drive away. now when we were coming in, there was a stream of ambulances, emergency service vehicles coming and going. there were shops carrying heavy excavators to help with the efforts here. and there also vans puts with

humanitarian aid and volunteers had in, in to do what they could do. now to one of the voices that we spoke. so he told us that less than 10 percent of these buildings in the city are safe to live in, meaning that 90 percent of either been destroyed, all have to be knocked down at some points. the internet is also very patchy here and the phone lines are frequently down that makes it difficult for the relatives to get in contact with each other and for the emergency services to also work care . the temperatures a still minus 0 celsius at night, which makes it very cold and crates challenges of its own. here we were walking down the street before and we saw relatives morning next to the bodies of their lost ones. now again, as you can see, it does seem to be gathering pace. but as you travel around the city, you can still see that there are many buildings to the emergency service workers haven't touched yet. the sites and breed families struggling to contain their grief

is all too common on the streets about a young man located just 150 kilometers north east of the epicenter. and as the unzip this belly at building here that hasn't been touched by the earthquakes, the government's estimate to the number of deaths here to be 900 on tuesday with 5000 wounded residence though. say the figures are much higher. we spoke to one man standing next to the body of a young boy, wrapped in a blanket joseph venom. yes, this is the son of my younger brother lying here recovered the body of my brother this morning. and now we've received the body of my 10 year old nephew, we're now waiting for the bodies of the 2 daughters of my brother to be recovered all for them to be rescued a life i many of the people we spoke to here said that help was slow to arrive in the days after the earthquakes hit turkey, as presidents at one himself admitted that it had been short. cummins, but the relief effort now appears to be gathering pace and especially steam from algeria, reportedly restaurant 2 children on wednesday. there was apparently no sign of

their relatives. people here angry that for days on and rescue team still haven't managed to reach many homes. woman told us it was the poor here suffering the most . many of the buildings on the streets have been completely destroyed without it has taught the people he was lived there, still gathering around desperate for any news of their friends and relatives with the hours march on the fair is that this is turning into more of a recovery operation than a rescue. 17 bodies have just been found in this building and they're about to be removed. humanitarian aid is starting to get through to the city with people cuing to get badly needed food, water and clothing. as soon as the earthquake struck, thousands of volunteers flocked to the airports in the stumble to join the search and rescue efforts in the disaster area. although the him, he stumbled, i'm a lawyer originally from a donna, but now i live in his temples. i came here to rescue people from the class building so much any of us could have found ourselves inside one of these buildings. there

were 34 families living in this building before the earthquakes. hope is fading fast, but every now and again still some one is found alive against the odds. a little girl called elidah owes her life to volunteers like nish met in united. elijah is now doing well and recovering in a hospital. but unfortunately, we have recovered many bodies of the people who lived harrison that this building has been completely destroyed, touched on one of the highways leading to yemen as a stream of ambulances, trucks carrying excavators and vans, filled with volunteers and aid. the sound of sirens fills the air as a long road ahead for this city and others like it. and it's hard to imagine when his residence will be able to return. but when the dust eventually settles many, the people here will have questions about how this disaster was handled in the upheaval masses of beloved pads were also killed or have gone missing. some no have been saved from the ruins and r t. crew spoke to one rescuer who pulled the dog out

of the rubble. maybe this is nicer. you will get maybe a nice, nice good name. my why why is this is nice name i low neighboring theory. i was also heavily impacted by the earthquake and response. russia has provided fire fighting and rescue crews and syria to assist in dealing with the aftermath. russian aircraft have been extinguishing fires that are rapid amid the disaster. inter kia service meant for quick to deliver medical and humanitarian aid to serious effected areas. as is western sanctions,

particularly from the us, have been blocking vital aid from getting into syria after the disaster. as you can see on this map, major aircraft carriers have been avoiding syrian territory arch. he heard from last the mohammed, a theory, and based in germany who personally faced barriers when he wanted to send money to help the victims in his homeland. he says his donation was rejected by the go fund me platform due to the sanctions. i lost my cousin and her son, and i wanted to other people and then i try to find contacts. i can, i can maybe get 10020000 euros to send it to the people. so i know that we get that . and i tried, i tried again, i'm calling to see out i need, i need, i need, i need that form where i can get this money. and after the service people

find me is. busy using it, and they, and they, and they get the money. and i was accused, it drives me to, to go more to go public. and just to my time the people who are here since this is what is happening. exactly. do not forget us. we are still there that so people live once that i can see and we need your help in order to go back as we live. while syrians are struggling to deal with the earthquakes aftermath. western powers are not only preventing humanitarian aid from reaching syria, but also trying to use a crisis to de stabilize the nation. both dana shabani made those comments in an interview with going underground hosted by option returns the. you can watch the full interview on our tea throughout the day or on our website, r t dot com. here's the short preview. what is make it 3 times worse?

is the american and european sanctions. again, the cilia which would event us from updating our means and, and ways of helping the people hard job and that oven while they were talking, that they allow the unlimited in a system which is absolutely not true. unfortunately, action there, they were only talks about governments as if they don't see people and syria. and if you compare between b s p one day, how that was immediately dispatched to debbie, would they had that plug this back to see i you see that there is no here, minute did and consideration a tone that would do us and come to they only put the political, a bomb, and humanitarian when you have people who chopped on, that bearable grains and below has become humanitarian aid. because these are the

ones that kind of move that over. and in order to save people from under that i'm and i for the light helmet action i from following the media. i feel as if the west has taken the a portion of deals the of the antiquated in order to have. no, i tell them into the sensors again as they're and they call it a humanitarian while it is a terrorist organization and all of them on to prove that the white helmets were working, hand in hand with isis and syria against the seed and people. and that's all for now. be sure to check out our t dot com for all the latest breaking news and updates. we'll see right back here at the top of the hour.