RT News - February 2nd 2023

Donbass: Lugansk three people have been killed in shelling overnight by Ukraine forces using nine US supplied HIMARS rockets directly into a residential only area. HIMARS are precise weapons, it was no accident. In Krematorsk, two are killed and eight more are injured. There are no military targets in the area, Ukraine blames Russia but Russia says they only target military and has been caused by Ukraine air-defence.
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Human rights watch says Kiev has failed to investigate its use of banned, rocket-launched landmines, which have injured hundreds of civilians. RT speaks to a doctor in Donetsk who says victims, including children, continue to be hospitalized. Roman Kosarev reports (see previous posts about the landmines, intended only to maim civilians, fired directly into civilian only areas, including towns and cities)
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Crimea, Sevastopol. Seven people have died and two more injured after a fire broke out in worker's accommodation. More to follow.
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The IMF predicts the Russian economy will grow in 2023. That's despite western leaders declaring sanctions imposed on Moscow would bring the nation to its knees. Eunan O'Neill and Chris Emms discuss the resilience of Russia's economy despite all the odds and extreme efforts from the west.
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India is set to overtake major world economies this year, surpassing the United States and solidifying its role on the global stage.
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Africa/Belarus: Pres. Lukashenko is on a scheduled tour of southern Africa. It's the first time Belarus has visited Zimbabwe. He was warmly greeted by Zimbabwe people and was given a stuffed lion amongst other gifts, he took them over tractors and Belarus secured a deal to ship 3,500 Belarus tractors to the country (QS I don't know if the dog he's holding was a gift or if he was just cuddling it for show😎) He pointed out that US (etc) sanctions Zimbabwe because they have taken control of their own wealth. Multipolar world. Mary Mundeya, a local correspondent reports.
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Palestine: Israeli Defence Forces strike a Palestinian target in the Gaza Strip, following a rocket launched from Palestinian territories overnight. The demolition of Palestinian homes continues without commentary from US or any other backers of Israel. Maria Finoshina reports from the demolition sites.
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Twitter: Caleb Maupin reports on how the press were able to get away with complete fabrications about Russia (QS: watch report and I will try to find and post more details and written reports for next post)
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Africa: Somalia and her neighbours (Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti ) are to join forces to eliminate Al-Shabab, an Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group. (QS: let's hope they take some "live ones" and find out who is funding them and bring them to task, including governments - in fact especially governments)
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full write-up on this evening's post
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Below, via RT website
A) --- Putin sets mission for Russian military
1) --- Israeli jets strike Gaza
1a) --- Russia issues warning to Israel
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1 Feb, 2023 17:47

A) --- Putin sets mission for Russian military

The president said he wanted to “eliminate the possibility” of Ukraine bombing the country’s border regions

Ukraine should not have the ability to target Russian border regions, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, adding that this was a mission for the defense ministry in Moscow. His comments came a day after Ukrainian shelling struck near a pipeline in Bryansk Region, and amid rumors the US is preparing to give Kiev longer-range projectiles.

“Of course, the priority mission is to eliminate the very possibility of attacks, but that’s a task for the military,” Putin said during a videoconference about infrastructure work in the border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, as well as Crimea.

Some 3,700 residents of the border villages in Belgorod Region have been displaced by Ukrainian artillery attacks, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said at the meeting, adding that the government had set aside funding to provide them with housing and everything else they need.

Authorities in Belgorod and Bryansk registered two Ukrainian artillery strikes each on Tuesday. In Bryansk Region, one projectile fell into a field near a substation of the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline. The flow of oil has not been affected, but pipeline staff are on high alert, Transneft said in a comment about the incident.

Three villages in the region of Belgorod and one in Kursk were also targeted by Ukrainian cannons and rockets on Tuesday, according to reports from the zone of combat operations. This was in addition to more than 150 rounds fired on the Donetsk People’s Republic.

The government in Kiev has repeatedly asked its Western backers for longer-range missiles, such as the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which has a range of some 300km. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US had secretly sabotaged the HIMARS rocket artillery systems delivered to Ukraine, so they cannot launch the ATACMS even if Kiev somehow manages to obtain them.

On Tuesday, however, Reuters reported that Washington was preparing to include a different missile with a range of up to 150km, still enabling Kiev’s forces to strike deep inside Russia. The Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) consists of an airplane bomb mounted on a rocket engine and can be fired from the HIMARS.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian intelligence chief Kirill Budanov threatened that “there will be problems inside Russia” until Kiev restores the borders it lays claim to. Budanov’s words follow the public comments of Alexey Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, who spoke in December about the prospect of “blasts” all over Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly warned Washington that providing heavy weapons to Ukraine risks crossing Russia’s “red lines” and involving the US and NATO in the conflict directly. The US and its allies insist they are not parties to the hostilities, but continue to arm Kiev.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570821-putin-military-ukraine-shelling/
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2 Feb, 2023 01:59

1) --- Israeli jets strike Gaza

The IDF said it targeted “chemical material production” and “weapon manufacturing” sites

Israel launched airstrikes against several “terrorist” targets in Gaza on Thursday morning, hours after a rocket fired from the area was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.

“The IDF is currently striking in Gaza,” the Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a tweet around 3 am on Thursday morning. About 30 minutes later it shared some details about the targets of the raid, claiming that “IDF fighter jets struck a production site for raw chemical material production, along with a weapon manufacturing site belonging to the Hamas Terrorist Organization.”

There were no immediate reports of casualties, but video clips circulating on social media purportedly showed several explosions in central Gaza, one of the world's most densely populated areas.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli military intercepted one rocket fired from the strip, and missile warning sirens reportedly blared again in Sderot and nearby towns shortly before the overnight strikes. Last Friday, several rockets fired from Gaza into Israel also triggered retaliatory strikes against Hamas targets.
https://twitter.com/JoeTruzman/status/1620948733361008641

“The IDF holds Hamas responsible for all terrorism activity emanating from Gaza and it will face the consequences of the security violations against Israel,” the military added.

The latest flare-up of violence comes after Israeli security forces raided the Jenin refugee camp in the northern part of the West Bank last Thursday, killing ten Palestinians, according to local authorities. Israeli officials said the army intended to arrest terrorist suspects, who opened fire and were killed.

On Friday night, seven people were killed and three more injured outside of a synagogue in East Jerusalem, before the gunman, a 21-year-old Palestinian, was killed by police. In another incident in the city’s Silwan neighborhood just hours later, a 13-year-old Palestinian attacker was “neutralized” by two armed civilians who carried licensed guns
https://www.rt.com/news/570838-israel-idf-gaza-strikes/
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1 Feb, 2023 21:37

1a) --- Russia issues warning to Israel

PM Netanyahu told CNN he was “looking into” sending the Iron Dome to Kiev, prompting a reaction from Moscow

Anyone so much as speculating about sending weapons to Ukraine is escalating the conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In an interview to CNN on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he did not rule out the possibility of sending Iron Dome missile defense systems to Kiev – something his predecessor rejected outright.

“All countries that supply weapons [to Ukraine] should understand that we will consider these [weapons] to be legitimate targets for Russian armed forces,” Zakharova told reporters in Moscow.

“Any attempts – implemented or even unrealized but announced, for the supply of additional, new or some other weapons – have led and will lead to an escalation of this crisis. And everyone should be aware of this,” she added.

Zakharova was responding to claims by multiple media outlets that Netanyahu was “certainly looking into” the possibility of dispatching Iron Dome systems to Ukraine. The quote does not appear in CNN’s writeup of the interview, or the two video segments posted online, however.

Netanyahu, who recently returned as prime minister after 18 months out of power, sat down for an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. The network did quote him on the possibility of mediating the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, and the cryptic answer about the recent drone attack on Iranian military industry.

“I never talk about specific operations … and every time some explosion takes place in the Middle East, Israel is blamed or given responsibility – sometimes we are, sometimes we’re not,” Netanyahu told Tapper.

Tehran has unofficially blamed Tel Aviv – and Kiev – for the attack on Isfahan over the weekend. While the top aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky cheered the attack, the foreign ministry in Kiev claimed ignorance of it.

Iron Dome is a short-range system Israel has used against rockets launched by Hezbollah and Hamas. The previous government rejected Ukraine’s demand to send them over last October. Defense Minister Benny Gantz explained in November that Israel doesn’t have “a large enough production base” to satisfy Ukraine’s needs, while a senior military adviser said the country was loath to antagonize Russia, which has a large military presence in neighboring Syria.

Israel’s hypothetical change of course might have something to do with the US, which funds the Iron Dome to the tune of $1 billion a year. Washington recently announced it would raid the stockpile of artillery ammunition intended for Israel in order to supply Ukraine instead, which Netanyahu told CNN he was perfectly fine with.
https://www.rt.com/news/570829-russia-israel-iron-dome-ukraine/