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Russian leader says pipeline can ferry energy exports west if it is proven safe following a spate of recent explosions [File: Hannibal Hanschke/EPA]
By Edna Mohamed
Published On 12 Oct 2022
  • Discussions on bolstering Ukraine’s air defence systems are a “top priority”, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says, as a 50-nation meeting gets under way in Brussels.
  • A Russian attack on a crowded market in the town of Avdiivka kills at least seven people, the Ukrainian governor of Donetsk says.
12 Oct 2022 - 20:25
 (20:25 GMT)

UN General Assembly condemns Russia’s ‘illegal annexation’

The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia’s annexations of parts of Ukraine after Moscow vetoed a similar effort in the Security Council.

The General Assembly approved the resolution by a 143-5 vote after a significant US diplomatic effort to seek clearer condemnation of Moscow. Thirty-five nations abstained, including China, India, South Africa and Pakistan.

12 Oct 2022 - 19:55
 (19:55 GMT)

No consular access to Griner since August: US

The US has not had consular access to Brittney Griner, an American detained in Russia, since the beginning of August, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price says.

Price added that the US seeks regular and consistent consular access to Griner and other Americans detained in Russia.

12 Oct 2022 - 19:46
 (19:46 GMT)

Starlink helps restore energy, communications infrastructure in parts of Ukraine

SpaceX’s Starlink services have helped restore energy and communications infrastructure in critical areas of Ukraine, Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov says.

“Over 100 cruise missiles attacked [Ukraine’s] energy and communications infrastructure” Fedorov tweeted. “But with Starlink we quickly restored the connection in critical areas.”

12 Oct 2022 - 18:36
 (18:36 GMT)

France to deliver anti-air systems to Ukraine in coming weeks: Macron

France will deliver radar and air defence systems to Ukraine in the coming weeks, in particular, to help Ukraine protect itself from drone attacks, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.

Speaking in an interview on France 2 television, Macron did not give details on what type of anti-aircraft missiles or how many would be delivered. Paris has previously supplied Mistral shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine.

12 Oct 2022 - 18:19
 (18:19 GMT)

Finland interested in European anti-aircraft defence system: Minister

Finland is interested in the development of a European anti-aircraft defence system but would not take a central role in it, Finnish Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen told reporters after meeting with NATO peers in Brussels.

According to reports, Germany would be proposing a European and NATO-integrated anti-aircraft defence system but Berlin has yet to confirm such plans.

12 Oct 2022 - 18:11
 (18:11 GMT)

Hungary finalises deferred payments deal with Gazprom: Minister

Hungary has agreed with Russia’s Gazprom to reroute gas shipments to Hungary to the TurkStream pipeline, with the sides also finalising the terms of a deferred payment mechanism, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto has said.

After talks with Alexei Miller, head of Russian state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom in Moscow, Szijjarto also said Hungary maintained its opposition to any European sanctions hitting gas shipments and related activities.

12 Oct 2022 - 18:10
 (18:10 GMT)

Increased financial support will help end war sooner: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said increased financial support from international donors will help end Russia’s devastating war in Ukraine more quickly, citing the need for $38bn to close next year’s estimated budget deficit.

“The more assistance Ukraine gets now, the sooner we’ll come to an end to the Russian war, and the sooner and more reliably we will guarantee that such a cruel war will not spread into other countries,” Zelenskyy said in a virtual address to a high-level forum during International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, DC.

12 Oct 2022 - 17:02
 (17:02 GMT)

Putin offers to boost gas to Europe via Nord Stream 2

Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is ready to resume gas supplies to the EU via a link of the Germany-bound Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea — an offer quickly rejected by Berlin.

Putin said one of the two links of the pipeline remained pressurised despite a series of ruptures last month which caused considerable leaks, sending gas spewing out off the coast of Denmark and Sweden.

He added that if checks prove the Nord Stream 2 link is safe to operate, Russia stands ready to use the pipeline to pump gas to Europe, adding its capacity stands at 27 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year.

Read more here.

12 Oct 2022 - 16:36
 (16:36 GMT)

Top US general suggests Russian strikes on civilians are war crimes

The top United States general has condemned Russian missile strikes on Ukraine that killed civilians, suggesting they met the definition of war crimes under the international rules of war.

“Russia has deliberately struck civilian infrastructure with the purpose of harming civilians,” Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

“They have targeted the elderly, the women and the children of Ukraine,” he said. “Indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on civilian targets is a war crime in the international rules of war.”

12 Oct 2022 - 16:32
 (16:32 GMT)

Czechs tighten entry for Russian tourists

The Czech Republic will turn away Russian tourists holding Schengen-zone visas from October 25, its foreign minister says as it joins other EU member states in tightening entry rules.

The Czech Republic had immediately stopped visas for Russians except on humanitarian grounds after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February. But it had been allowing in visitors at airports who had visas issued by other countries in the EU’s Schengen travel zone.

The tightening of rules means even those with EU visas from other states will not be allowed to enter.

“While Russian rockets fall on a children’s playground and on people in Ukraine, up to 200 Russian Federation citizens travel to the Czech Republic via international airports every day,” Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said.

The ban will be for Russians holding visas for tourism, sport or culture, he added.

12 Oct 2022 - 16:21
 (16:21 GMT)

Ukraine received air defence system from Germany: Report

Ukraine has received a delivery of the German IRIS-T air defence system, Der Spiegel magazine has reported.

The German defence ministry could not immediately confirm the report when contacted by the Reuters news agency.

12 Oct 2022 - 15:46
 (15:46 GMT)

Power restored at Zaporizhzhia plant

UN atomic monitors and Ukraine’s state nuclear operator say workers have managed to restore power to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Ukraine’s Energoatom said the plant had suffered a blackout when a missile damaged a distant electrical substation.

Energoatom wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian workers found a way to repair the line and have reconnected the plant to the Ukrainian power grid.

This was the second electrical outage at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in five days.

12 Oct 2022 - 15:24
 (15:24 GMT)

Europe turns to Africa for gas as alternative to Russia

With Europe facing soaring energy prices and a cost of living crisis, leaders are looking to Africa for a new energy supplier as Europe seeks to reduce its dependence on Russia.

More here on Africa’s natural gas reserves.

12 Oct 2022 - 14:48
 (14:48 GMT)

Russian nuclear strike would trigger ‘physical response’: NATO

A Russian nuclear attack would change the course of the Ukraine conflict and almost certainly trigger a “physical response” from Kyiv’s allies and potentially from NATO, a senior NATO official said, according to Reuters.

The unnamed official warned any use of nuclear weapons by Moscow would have “unprecedented consequences” for Russia.

It would “almost certainly be drawing a physical response from many allies and potentially from NATO itself”, he said.

The official added that Moscow mainly used its nuclear threats to deter NATO and other countries from directly entering its war on Ukraine.

12 Oct 2022 - 14:23
 (14:23 GMT)

‘Never say never’ to peace talks: Kremlin adviser

In response to Zelenskyy’s refusal of talks with Putin, a foreign policy adviser to the Kremlin, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters in Moscow, “I would like to tell him [Zelenskyy]: never say never”.

Zelenskyy ruled out holding talks with his Russian counterpart after Moscow attempted to formally annex four regions of Ukraine, in a move that was widely condemned as illegal and meaningless.

12 Oct 2022 - 14:16
 (14:16 GMT)

Turkey will offer ‘mediation’ in Thursday talks: Kremlin

Moscow expects Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will “officially” offer to mediate negotiations with Ukraine, a Kremlin aide said.

“The Turks are offering their mediation. If any talks take place, then most likely they will be on their territory: in Istanbul or Ankara,” Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy adviser, told reporters in Moscow.

“Erdogan will probably propose something officially” during Thursday’s talks with President Vladimir Putin in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Turkey has good relations with Russia and Ukraine and has refrained from joining Western sanctions on Moscow.

“Turkey on principle does not join the illegal sanctions of the West. And this position of Turkey gives an additional impetus for the expansion of trade and economic cooperation,” Ushakov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before their meeting in Sochi [File: Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP]
12 Oct 2022 - 14:07
 (14:07 GMT)

Russia’s precision ammunition majorly depleted: NATO

Russia has depleted a significant proportion of its precision-guided ammunition during its invasion of Ukraine, according to a senior NATO official.

Reuters quoted the unnamed official as saying Russia’s military industry was unable to produce all kinds of ammunition and weapon systems due to Western sanctions.

He suggested it could take a few months for Russia to mobilise the 300,000 troops it is aiming for.

12 Oct 2022 - 13:48
 (13:48 GMT)

What will it take to end global energy crisis? | The Stream

As Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, its effects have resulted in a global energy crisis.

Al Jazeera’s The Stream examines the crisis and how the war has left other countries to face a brutal winter.

12 Oct 2022 - 13:26
 (13:26 GMT)

What are tactical nuclear weapons?

In an interview with CNN, US President Joe Biden said he doubts Putin would use tactical nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine.

But what exactly are these types of weapons, which have not been thought of since the end of the Cold War, and what could their use mean for the war as we understand it?

Here is everything you need to know about tactical nuclear weapons.

12 Oct 2022 - 13:06
 (13:06 GMT)

Germany rules out gas via Nord Stream 2

Germany will not accept Russian gas via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a government spokesperson said after President Putin offered to resume supplies.

The spokesperson added, however, that Russia could resume gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was not sanctioned in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Putin said earlier Russian gas could still be supplied to Europe through one remaining intact part of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but the ball was now in the EU’s court on whether it wanted that to happen.

Asked by a reporter if Germany ruled out receiving gas through Nord Stream 2, the spokesperson replied, “Yes.”

“No gas has come through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline because Russia did not deliver,” the spokesperson added at a regular government news conference.

“If Russia delivers through Nord Stream 1, there is no embargo against it at the moment.”