RT News - February 10th 2023

Many powerful explosions from apparent drone strikes are reported in major Ukrainian cities early this morning, destroying electrical power infrastructure. The Russian advance continues, Igor Zhdanov reports from the front lines where the Russian military say it's now easier to work.
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Africa: South Africa's president is mocked by the political opposition as he delivers his state-of-the-nation address and brawls break out in parliament. That's as he declared a 'state of disaster' in the country over its crippling energy shortages which he warned about in previous weeks. Karabo Letlhatlha reports.
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Africa: DRC. UN peacekeeping forces have killed eight civilians and wounded almost 30 others in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after protesters vented outrage about a lack of progress in combatting terrorism in the region. The "peacekeepers" opened fire to "protect the convoy" which was returning from a re-supply trip to Goma. The UN peacekeepers are supposed to be helping eliminate the continued terrorism from Rwanda's M23 "rebels" (Please see previous posts to catch up).
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Africa: Burkina Faso. France will continue to withdraw from Burkina Faso after continued protests from it's citizens. 22 more civilians and 3 policemen have been killed in the latest terror attack, previously they have said they consider France to be assisting the terrorists. It's been going on for at least 8 years. Ouezen Louis Oulon reports. Please catch up on previous posts.
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The Wagner Group explained why they no longer need to use prisoners as volunteers. Steve Sweeney explains and talks to one of the Wagner Group recruits.
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Earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria: More than 18,000 are now reported dead after the quakes and aftershocks of this week. More than 70,000 have been injured in Turkiye. Rescue efforts continue and aid from countries kind and thoughtful enough to send it is welcomed with open arms and huge thanks. USA continues to impose sanctions and the embargo whilst simultaneously saying things like this https://twitter.com/RepJoeWilson/status/1623703800396537861 Peter Scott reports from Turkey
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Western sanctions on Syria make it all but impossible to send aid. (QS I know this personally as I wanted to send a modest donation and some duvets - it's impossible). Waseem Mohamed also tried and reports. Just this week (after the earthquake) OPCW decided to publish a very illegal report regarding "findings" of chemical weapons - USED IN 2018 and the source was not official or from OPCW. QS posted text and website references about this on 8th Feb, plus a report from Donald Courter, last report on this https://rumble.com/v28qzmg-rt-news-february-8th-2023.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=3)
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The west are using the disaster to further destabilise Syria. Afshin Rattansi's Going Underground show will be available on Rumble soon, (QS I will post it a.s.a.p; I haven't seen it yet - can't find it on the website yet either to link)
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Show more

Below via RT website 1) --- German inflation accelerates
2) --- Republicans push to end Ukraine aid
3) --- Zelensky takes credit for derailing Minsk agreements
3a) --- Ukraine is taking care of Europe – Zelensky
3b) --- UK offers to train Ukrainian pilots
3c) --- Zelensky reveals what he does to Scholz
4) --- Kremlin reacts to Nord Stream sabotage claim
4a) --- Top Russian lawmaker labels US president a ‘terrorist’
4b) --- White House responds to new Nord Stream investigation
5) --- Record investment helped Russia survive sanctions – Bloomberg
6) --- Russia continues to boost forex reserves
7) --- Russia didn’t start the fight but will finish it – Putin
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10 Feb, 2023 05:14

1) --- German inflation accelerates

Consumer prices rose 8.7% year-on-year in January, official data shows

Germany’s inflation rate rose 8.7% on the year in January and 1.0% on the month, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said in a press release on Thursday.

According to the preliminary data, consumer prices, harmonized to compare with other European Union countries, rose by a less-than-anticipated 9.2% year-on-year. Compared with December, prices increased by 0.5%, Destatis said.

Analysts had expected harmonized data to grow by 10.0% on an annual basis and increase by 1.2% on the previous month, according to Reuters.

“Because core inflation will remain high in 2023, a fundamental easing of inflation is not in sight,” chief economist at Hauck Aufhaeuser Lampe Privatbank, Alexander Krueger, told the media outlet.

The EU’s largest economy suffered from record inflation last year due to a surge in energy prices brought about by a drop in gas deliveries from Russia amid Ukraine-related sanctions. Issues with pipeline maintenance and then the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines further exacerbated the tight supplies. Last month, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the German economy would avoid a sharp decline but is set to enter a technical recession.
https://www.rt.com/business/571221-germany-inflation-accelerates-report/
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10 Feb, 2023 04:47

2) --- Republicans push to end Ukraine aid

The lawmakers argued continued US military aid to Ukraine is “inadvertently contributing to civilian casualties”

Republicans in Congress have introduced a resolution seeking to halt US aid to Ukraine, citing the massive cost to taxpayers, the risk of escalation with Moscow, and the toll on America’s own arsenal after some $30 billion in arms transfers.

Led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, 11 Republicans put forward the “Ukraine Fatigue Resolution” on Thursday, which states that Washington “must end its military and financial aid to Ukraine” while urging “all combatants to reach a peace agreement.”

“President Joe Biden must have forgotten his prediction from March 2022, suggesting that arming Ukraine with military equipment will escalate the conflict to ‘World War III,’” Gaetz said in a press release announcing the resolution. “We must suspend all foreign aid for the war in Ukraine and demand that all combatants in this conflict reach a peace agreement immediately.”

Arguing that the United States is in a period of “managed decline,” Gaetz said the problems will only get worse if the government continues to “hemorrhage taxpayer dollars” in a foreign conflict.

The resolution includes a list outlining the staggering American military largesse for Ukrainian forces since last year, stating that “munitions donated to Ukraine have severely depleted United States stockpiles, weakening United States readiness in the event of conflict.” It went on to cite a recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies which found that, at the current rate of production, it will take more than 12 years to replenish the US stock of Javelin missiles, underscoring the strain on American arsenals.

Moreover, the lawmakers argued military support to Kiev was “inadvertently contributing to civilian casualties” on all sides, echoing previous comments from Gaetz, who has said the weapons would only “prolong the killing.”

Long a vocal critic of US aid to Ukraine, Gaetz’s resolution was joined by 10 Republican co-sponsors, among them Reps. Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Anna Paulina Luna, Mary Miller, Barry Moore, Ralph Norman and Matt Rosendale.

Though a growing number of House Republicans are increasingly wary of the aid – among them House Speaker Kevin McCarthy – senior lawmakers in the Senate have been more supportive. In December, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell declared that “providing assistance for Ukrainians to defeat the Russians is the number one priority for the United States right now,” claiming that view was broadly shared among the GOP.
https://www.rt.com/news/571262-republicans-ukraine-aid-resolution/
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9 Feb, 2023 18:52

(QS comment - Zelensky was told he would "hang on a some tree in Khreshchatyk" by the fascists controlling Ukraine .gov on behalf of western interests. Also please read https://www.kyivpost.com/post/6652 )

3) --- Zelensky takes credit for derailing Minsk agreements

The Ukrainian president claimed he personally refused to implement the deal for peace in Donbass

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky personally refused to implement the 2015 Minsk agreements – a roadmap for peace in the east of the country, which was co-sponsored by Germany and France.

He made the admission during an interview with Der Spiegel published on Thursday as he continues his tour across Europe.

Zelensky said he viewed the agreements as a “concession” on Ukraine’s part, and never once actually sought to implement them. Instead, they were merely used to exchange prisoners with the two breakaway Donbass republics.

The president claimed he openly told that to then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Russian President Vladimir Putin back in 2019, with all of them acting “surprised.”

“But as for Minsk as a whole, I told Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel: ‘We cannot implement it like this,’” Zelensky stated. “I told [Putin] the same as the other two. They were surprised and said: ‘If we had known beforehand that you would change the meaning of our meeting, then there would have been problems even before the summit.’”

The Minsk agreements, originally brokered in 2014 and further expanded in 2015, envisioned a roadmap for reconciliation between Ukraine and the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The two regions rebelled against the country’s new authorities in the aftermath of the 2014 Maidan coup in Kiev, which ousted democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovich.

Ukraine’s failure to implement the agreement, which would have seen the breakaway territories reintegrated with the country but retain a special status, ultimately led to the ongoing conflict.

Since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, multiple politicians have taken credit for the failure of the Minsk agreements, admitting they were merely a ruse to give Ukraine time to build up its military. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko was the first to admit last year that Kiev never intended to abide by them and used the deal to “create powerful armed forces.”

Merkel and another original signatory of the Minsk agreements, former French president Francois Hollande, have also since confirmed that this was actually the true goal of the deal.

Moscow considers these admissions to be evidence that the negotiations were conducted in bad faith and that the Ukrainian government and its backers had always intended for the Minsk agreements to flop and for the Donbass crisis to be resolved by force. Russia claims that its military campaign in Ukraine, launched last February, preempted an offensive planned by Kiev with NATO’s help. Ukraine, Germany, and France “lied to the people of Donbass, as they had a terrible fate planned for them, which Russia prevented,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said back in January.

“Germany, France and Ukraine were playing a swindle game with the Minsk agreements. Now is payback time,” he stated at the time.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571243-zelensky-minsk-agreements-failure/
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9 Feb, 2023 16:10

3a) --- Ukraine is taking care of Europe – Zelensky

The Ukrainian president used a controversial slogan before alleging Moscow wants to destroy the “European way of life”

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has claimed to EU lawmakers that Moscow poses to a threat to the entire continent. The leader was speaking at the European Parliament on Thursday as part of a tour to rally support and weaponry for Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia.

Starting his address with the slogan ‘Glory to Ukraine’, which is commonly associated with World War II-era Nazi collaborators but is widely used in present-day Ukraine, Zelensky reiterated Kiev’s aspirations to join the EU, describing it as “home.”

“We want to come home to Europe,” the Ukrainian leader told the assembled lawmakers in Brussels, adding: “I’m here in order to defend our people’s way home.” Zelensky went on to describe Russia as “the most anti-European force” in the world, alleging that Moscow is intent on destroying the “European way of life” for all 27 members of the EU.

“This is our Europe, these are our rules, this is our way of life,” Zelensky stated, earning applause from the audience. “Europe will always be, and remain Europe as long as we are together and as long as we take care of our Europe, as we take care of the European way of life.”

Joining the EU has been a significant talking point for pro-Western Ukrainian politicians for decades. Yet little to no actual progress had been made along that path prior to hostilities breaking out between Moscow and Kiev last February. The conflict has greatly sped up the accession process, with Ukraine receiving EU candidate status in June.

Zelensky’s European tour began a day earlier when he traveled to the UK, meeting leaders and lawmakers in London. The president inspected the ongoing training of Ukrainian troops on British soil and secured additional support from the UK.

“I am proud that today we will expand that training from soldiers to marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring Ukraine has a military able to defend its interests well into the future,” said a statement from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after he met Zelensky.

Ukraine has consistently increased its demands for advanced weaponry from the West, including tanks, drones, fighter jets, and longer-range missiles. Kiev has insisted that the hardware is needed to drive Russian forces out of territories that Ukraine claims as its own. Moscow has repeatedly urged the West to stop “pumping” Ukraine with weaponry, maintaining that continuous military aid will only prolong the hostilities, rather than change their ultimate outcome.
https://www.rt.com/news/571234-ukraine-russia-european-life/
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8 Feb, 2023 11:36

3b) --- UK offers to train Ukrainian pilots

PM Rishi Sunak has announced plans to expand assistance to Kiev’s marines and aviators

The UK will step up its military assistance to Ukraine in the coming year and will expand its training program to include fighter pilots and marines, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office stated on Wednesday. The announcement comes as Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky visits London.

The training will be in addition to the recruit training program already running in the UK, which has already seen 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers brought to battle readiness in the last six months, Downing Street said, stating that it hopes to upgrade the skills of a further 20,000 troops in 2023.

“I am proud that today we will expand that training from soldiers to marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring Ukraine has a military able to defend its interests well into the future,” said Sunak in a statement.

His office also noted that last week a number of Ukrainian troops had arrived in the UK to learn how to command the Challenger 2 tank after Sunak announced the delivery of the hardware to Kiev last month. Additionally, London said it will offer longer-range capabilities to Ukraine in the hopes of helping Kiev relieve the pressure on its frontlines.

Ukraine has repeatedly demanded more advanced weaponry from the West, including tanks, drones and longer-range missiles, arguing that it needs such capabilities to push back Russian forces and take control of territories that it claims as its own.

After the US, Germany, and UK announced the delivery of Leopard 2, M1 Abrams and Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine last month, the Kiev stepped up its demands to also include US-made F-16 fighter jets. Berlin and Washington, however, have so far refused to send them, fearing they could be used to strike Russian territory and thus escalate the conflict further.

Downing Street’s statement comes as Zelensky is making his first trip to the UK since fighting broke out between Moscow and Kiev in late February of last year. The president is expected to address the British parliament and hold talks with Sunak about further military aid to Ukraine.

Sunak’s office also said it would soon announce more sanctions on Russia, which will target individuals who are accused of helping President Vladimir Putin “build his personal wealth,” as well as companies who are “profiting from the Kremlin’s war machine.”

watch https://rumble.com/v28rb06-zelensky-arrives-at-downing-street-with-rishi-sunak.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=4

https://www.rt.com/news/571162-uk-ukraine-pilot-training/
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9 Feb, 2023 22:06

3c) --- Zelensky reveals what he does to Scholz

The Ukrainian president admitted he keeps needing to “force” the German chancellor to send military aid

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has revealed he keeps needing to “force” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to send arms to Kiev, constantly reminding him the deliveries are purportedly beneficial for the whole of Europe. The president made the revelation in a lengthy interview with Der Spiegel published on Thursday.

Germany did a “good job” of delivering Iris-T anti-aircraft systems and ammunition for them last year, Zelensky said, while appearing to admit that Kiev has been actively spying on Berlin.

“We have changed our relationship and understanding. We received IRIS-T anti-aircraft systems, for which I am very grateful to Germany. You saved a lot of lives. I told the chancellor: Olaf, listen, we’re short on rockets. I know that you don’t have any more yourself, we also have an intelligence service. I know you give us everything you have,” Zelensky stated, adding that Scholz somehow managed to push manufacturers into producing munitions for Iris-T faster.

The looming supply of modern tanks to Ukraine has also proved to be a “difficult” issue for Kiev and Berlin, as Scholz was reluctant to do so. Zelensky claimed he has had to constantly remind the chancellor about the purported importance of such support and its alleged value for the whole of Europe.

“Now we are yet again in a difficult phase with this debate about the German tanks, it is emotional and complex. I have to force him to help Ukraine and constantly convince him that this help is not for us, but for the Europeans,” Zelensky stated.

Germany has long been reluctant to deliver modern tanks to Kiev, with Scholz giving in to Kiev’s demands on January 25 and pledging to send in 14 Leopard 2 armored vehicles, as well as allowing other European operators of the German-made tanks to re-export them to Ukraine. Apart from that, Berlin also pledged to send in some 187 older Leopard 1 models to Ukraine from its stocks as well.

Moscow has repeatedly urged the west to stop “pumping” Ukraine with assorted weaponry, maintaining that continuous aid would only prolong the hostilities rather than change the ultimate outcome of them.
https://www.rt.com/news/571252-zelensky-scholz-forced-aid/
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9 Feb, 2023 14:08

4) --- Kremlin reacts to Nord Stream sabotage claim

A fresh article alleging a US role in the explosions highlights the need for an international probe, Dmitry Peskov says

Russia is concerned by attempts to silently wind down the investigation into last year’s explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has said. A report by renowned American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, blaming the US for the sabotage, should spur attempts to find out what happened, he stressed.

Articles such as the one by Hersh show “the need for an open international investigation into this unprecedented attack on this critical infrastructure,” Peskov told the media on Thursday. “It’s impossible to leave this without finding the perpetrators and punishing them.”

Russia has already spoken about data which “points to the involvement of the Anglo-Saxons [the US and the UK]” in this incident, and there is “certain overlapping” between this information and the report by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, the Kremlin spokesman said.

Peskov argued that although Hersh’s journalistic investigation cannot be viewed as source material, “it’s a very important piece, which… must provoke the acceleration of the international probe. But we, on the contrary, witness attempts to silently wind down such international investigation.”

The bombshell report, which came out on Wednesday, claimed the US was behind the blasts on the Nord Stream pipelines. An informed source told Hersh that explosives were placed on the pipelines in the Baltic Sea back in June 2022 by US Navy divers under the guise of a NATO exercise, and were detonated in late September.

The sabotage of Nord Stream 1, which delivered Russian natural gas to Europe through Germany, along with the newly completed Nord Stream 2, rendered the infrastructure inoperable.

Separate probes into the explosions being carried out by Germany, Sweden and Denmark have yet to produce any concrete results. German Public Prosecutor General Peter Frank said last week that even the suspicion “that there had been a foreign sabotage act [in this case], has so far not been substantiated.”

What happened to the Nord Stream pipelines was a “very dangerous precedent” because “if someone committed such a thing once, they can do it anywhere in the world a second time,” Peskov warned.

“There aren’t that many countries in the world that are capable of carrying out such sabotage,” he added.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571231-kremlin-nord-stream-us/
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9 Feb, 2023 07:42

4a) --- Top Russian lawmaker labels US president a ‘terrorist’

Joe Biden has earned the title by ordering the destruction of Europe’s energy infrastructure, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin claims

Speaker of the Russian parliament Vyacheslav Volodin has branded US President Joe Biden a “terrorist” after a report by iconic American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh blamed Washington for sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines last year.

Volodin said on Thursday that Biden’s State of the Union address, in which he claimed that the US was “a nation that stands as a beacon to the world,” reminded him of “statements by the leaders of the Third Reich.”

The ramifications of this “ideology of exceptionalism” were uncovered in the investigation by Hersh, the Russian MP wrote in a post on Telegram.

The State Duma speaker was referring to a report published by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist on Wednesday, in which he claimed that the US was behind the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines last September. According to an informed source who talked to Hersh, explosives were planted at the key pipelines in the Baltic Sea back in June 2022 by US Navy divers under the guise of a NATO exercise. They were later detonated remotely.

Nord Stream 1 and 2 had been important routes for the delivery of Russian gas to Europe through Germany.

“If [Harry S.] Truman became a criminal, who used nuclear weapons against civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then Biden became a terrorist, who ordered the destruction of the energy infrastructure of his strategic partners: Germany, France, the Netherlands,” Volodin said.

The sabotage of the pipelines by the Americans was “an act of intimidation of its vassals, who decided to develop their economy in the interests of their own citizens,” he wrote.

The revelations by Hersh should be grounds for an international investigation to “bring Biden and his accomplices to justice,” and to make sure that the nations affected by this “terrorist attack” are paid compensation, Volodin added.

The Biden administration has denied the report by Hersh, with the National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson calling it “utterly false and complete fiction.”

The Russian authorities have for months been pointing to the fact that the only side that benefited from Nord Stream being rendered inoperable was the US, which saw its supplies of liquified natural gas to Europe increase massively following the sabotage.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571210-biden-volodin-nord-stream/
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8 Feb, 2023 18:46

4b) --- White House responds to new Nord Stream investigation

Officials have categorically rejected reporting by a legendary US journalist who claimed Washington blew up the pipelines

US President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday blasted Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh for claiming that Washington was behind last year’s sabotage of Russia’s Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, saying reporting by the veteran investigative journalist was “utterly false and complete fiction.”

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson denied the report, hours after Hersh posted his article on Substack. The former New York Times journalist, who rose to fame when he exposed the My Lai massacre of Vietnamese civilians in 1969, claimed that US Navy divers planted explosives on the Nord Stream conduits under cover of the BALTOPS 22 NATO exercise last June in the Baltic Sea.

The bombs were remotely detonated three months later, rupturing three of the four Nord Stream natural gas pipelines, Hersh said, citing an unidentified “source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.” Biden personally approved the sabotage plan, according to the report, and the Norwegian navy helped pick the locations for placing the explosives.

Biden’s decision to destroy the pipelines came after more than nine months of secret debate among US national security officials, Hersh said. The president told reporters in early February of 2022 that the US would “bring an end” to Nord Stream 2 if Russian forces launched an offensive against Kiev. Asked how, exactly, that would be achieved, given that the pipeline was in Germany’s control, he said, “We will, I promise you, we’ll be able to do it.”
https://youtu.be/OS4O8rGRLf8

Hersh has won several major awards for his newspaper and magazine articles, as well as his books. He was credited with exposing the Abu Ghraib torture scandal in 2004 and claimed in 2015 that President Barack Obama’s administration fabricated the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden.

After the Nord Stream explosions in September, US officials denied involvement and suggested that Russia may have sabotaged its own pipelines. In light of Hersh’s reporting, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that the White House “must now comment on all these facts.”
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https://www.rt.com/news/571193-white-house-denies-nord-stream-sabotage/
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10 Feb, 2023 05:13

5) --- Record investment helped Russia survive sanctions – Bloomberg

Domestic companies have been boosting capital spending to adjust to new economic realities

Russia has weathered Ukraine-related Western sanctions by boosting investment in domestic production and new supply routes, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing statistics and analysts.

According to the report, capital expenditure rose 6% last year, while many economists expected it to drop by as much as 20% shortly after the Ukraine conflict broke out.

The Bank of Russia said in a recent report that most Russian businesses either increased investment in 2022 or kept it at the same level as in the previous year. As a result, output shrank by merely 2%, much lower than economists predicted when the latest sanctions were first introduced.

The restrictions have left Russia cut off from many imports, and Russian companies were forced to either boost spending to replace now unavailable foreign equipment and software, or invest into setting up new routes to secure supplies from alternative markets. Four out of five of the most capital-intensive sectors of the Russian economy increased investment spending, including transportation, mining, real estate, and science and technology, according to the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat).

One of the country’s biggest steelmakers, Severstal, shifted investment away from projects that were at risk of disruptions due to sanctions, and is currently investing in domestically produced information technology for the metals industry. Major banks, like Sber and VTB, are also investing to replace foreign software. Last month, reports emerged that the lenders plan to start issuing stickers containing NFC (Near-Field Communication) chips to replace foreign contactless payment services, like Apple Pay and Google Pay, which are no longer working in Russia.

The volume of investments in commercial real estate last year hit a historic high of 487.2 billion rubles ($6.8 billion), 21% higher than in 2021, according to a study by real-estate firm NF Group.

“The volume of investments was record-breaking with a minimal share of foreign capital. Russian investors are becoming owners of the vast majority of premium properties in various segments and this trend is likely to continue until the outgoing companies sell all their assets,” the broker said.

Gas and oil producers, meanwhile, also boosted spending on either transport infrastructure or to fund a reorientation of exports from the West.

“This trend should support fixed investment in the years to come,” Tatiana Orlova of Oxford Economics told Bloomberg.

Many businesses also profited from government grants and programs supporting import substitution. According to Rosstat, state financing was among the biggest sources of capital expenditure, amounting to some 17.8%.

“Difficult times will pass, while projects will remain – they are long-term, so we aren’t stopping anything,” Sergey Yanchukov, head of Mangazeya group, a diversified company whose main activities are gold mining, construction and development, told the news outlet. He noted that the company sees it “necessary to move forward” and invest for the future.
https://www.rt.com/business/571154-record-investment-russia-sanctions/
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6 Feb, 2023 05:30

6) --- Russia continues to boost forex reserves

The country’s holdings are approaching $600 billion, according to the central bank

Russian foreign exchange reserves surged by $3.1 billion last week, the Bank of Russia revealed on Thursday.

The holdings amounted to $597.7 billion, having increased by 0.5% during the week ending January 27, driven by a positive revaluation of currencies, the central bank reported in its regular update. As of January 20, Russia’s forex reserves totaled $594.6 billion.

Russia’s international reserves, which are highly liquid foreign assets held by the Bank of Russia and the country’s government, consist of monetary gold, Special Drawing Rights (SDR) with the IMF, and foreign currency held within the country.

Roughly half of the holdings were frozen by Western central banks in early March as part of anti-Russia sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. In addition to freezing the funds, Western countries banned operations related to their management.

The remaining holdings consist of gold and foreign currency held within the country, as well as Chinese yuan assets. Prior to the conflict, Russia’s forex reserves had reached a historical high of $643.2 billion.
https://www.rt.com/business/570876-russia-forex-reserves-rising/
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9 Feb, 2023 19:19

7) --- Russia didn’t start the fight but will finish it – Putin

Ukraine began the war in 2014 by targeting civilians in Donbass, the Russian president said

Moscow is trying to end the conflict in Ukraine, which was started by Kiev following the 2014 US-backed coup, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

“Let me repeat: we did not start the military activities, we are trying to end them,” the president said in a meeting with aviation industry executives in Moscow. Ukrainian nationalists first resorted to force in 2014, with the coup d’etat in Kiev, followed by events in Crimea and in Donbass, he argued.

“They started the war,” Putin said. “For eight years, that war continued – a war to exterminate people who live there, who feel themselves related by blood to Russia and Russian culture. How long were we supposed to tolerate that?”

The Russian president also accused Ukraine of violating the agreements and commitments made with Western mediation, in an apparent reference to the Minsk Protocols. The Franco-German proposal officially aimed to peacefully resolve the conflict between Kiev and Donbass, but leaders of both Western countries at the time – as well as the Ukrainian government – have since admitted the Minsk accords were a ploy to buy time.

Putin has previously said the Ukraine conflict could have been avoided had the US not backed the nationalist coup in 2014. He has also accused the West of not caring for Ukrainian lives, using them as “cannon fodder” and pawns in a geopolitical proxy war against Russia.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, launching a military operation in aid of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR/LPR), which it recognized as independent states. Moscow has since accepted their request to become part of Russia, along with the formerly Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye.

The US and its allies imposed economic sanctions against Moscow and sent over $120 billion worth of money, weapons and supplies to Ukraine, while insisting they are not a party to the conflict. Putin noted the West did not expect how effectively Russia would counter their economic war, and that even Western analysts are now forced to admit it.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571248-putin-ending-ukraine-war/
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25 Nov, 2022 22:10

7a) --- Putin weighs in on root cause of Ukraine conflict

The Western-backed Maidan lit the fuse for almost a decade of turmoil, the president claims

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine would never have happened if there hadn't been a coup in Kiev in 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted on Friday. He was referring to the violent overthrow of the elected president Victor Yanukovich.

Speaking to mothers of Russian soldiers, Putin stressed that the Maidan resulted in direct foreign control over Ukrainian institutions, which Russia has no choice but to oppose.

At the turn of the century, Russians were told everything would be great if they accepted outside control, and started “playing on someone else’s field,” Putin said. It was those outsiders seeking to control Russia that have created the current situation, “including in the zone of the special military operation,” he added.

Without naming the West specifically, Putin said the outsiders had significant influence in Ukraine as well, but after 2014 they gained total control over the country.

I understand that we have not gathered here for serious discussions of political issues, but still, if there had not been a coup d'état in Ukraine in 2014, none of this would have happened. Simply none of it.

The US “midwifed” the Maidan protests, in the infamous words of Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, resulting in a successful power grab, fueled by nationalists. Putin described them as “open neo-Nazis” who glorify WWII Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, killer of Russians, Poles, Jews and “everyone down the line, on Hitler’s orders.”

“That’s who, that’s what, our boys in the zone of the special military operation are fighting,” the Russian president said. He argued that many Ukrainians opposing them “do not even understand what they are doing."

“They are playing someone else's game, but we have to fight for our interests, for our people, for our country. And that’s what we’re doing,” the Russian president said.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.
https://www.rt.com/russia/567197-putin-ukraine-operation-avoided/
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