Press review: Russia to send aid to Afghanistan and Turkish-made drones hit Donbass – Press review

Kommersant: Gazprom will fill its gas storage in Europe

As winter approaches and the energy crisis in Europe, Russia has decided to promote its status as a reliable gas supplier. Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked Gazprom to start filling its nearly empty underground storage facilities in the EU. According to experts, before winter, the company will not be able to pump more than 5 billion cubic meters there provided that the transit increases not only through Belarus but also through Ukraine, which Gazprom has been avoiding for a while. However, even this promise to fill the underground facilities was enough for the price of gas in Europe to start to fall.

According to Putin, the filling of EU storage facilities will allow Gazprom to fulfill its contractual obligations and supply gas to European partners during the autumn-winter period while creating a more favorable situation on the European energy market. in general. He stressed once again that the energy crisis, for which several European officials had already blamed Gazprom, is linked to a decrease in gas production from Europe and deliveries of liquefied natural gas, mainly from the United States. United.

At the same time, Gazprom scrupulously respected the contractual volume by refusing to increase supplies via Ukraine beyond the contractual figures. Its low supplies in Europe have been one of the company’s arguments in favor of launching its new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline which has yet to be approved by the German regulator. Both the Kremlin and Gazprom have indicated that they see the new pipeline as the only way to increase deliveries to Europe.

According to Sergey Kapitonov, gas industry analyst at the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO Energy Center, with more than a month before the onset of winter, Gazprom, at the maximum level of deliveries, will be able to pump about 5 billion cubic meters of gas with Europe’s storage capacities of 8.7 billion. “Another problem is that for this increase in supplies, the company will have to step up pumping through the Yamal-Europe pipeline and through the Ukrainian corridor,” he noted. The expert believes that this will lower the pressure on gas prices in Europe.

However, one cannot expect prices to drop significantly. Raiffeisenbank’s Andrey Polishchuk agrees that the filling of European underground storage facilities will have a temporary impact on prices which currently react to any statement. However, this does not mean additional sales volumes and a lot will depend on the weather during the winter period. The expert noted that Asia will continue to be the main driver of gas prices. “If there are high prices, the suppliers will direct the main LNG volumes there again which, of course, will lead to a further spike in fuel prices in Europe,” he said. The expert noted that the launch of Nord Stream 2 could partly solve the problem by allowing additional volumes to be delivered this year.

Izvestia: Russia tops the climate disparity index

Russia emits much less greenhouse gases than other major economies in the world, but it will feel the impact of global warming more than others. A group of American scientists has calculated a global geographic index of climatic inequalities. As noted in an article in Science Advances magazine, it reflects the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions from the national economy and the expected warming of the country’s climate in the 21st century. Russia ranked first among 192 members of the United Nations.

This does not mean that Russia produces the fewest emissions, but that the damage caused to nature by global warming will be disproportionate to the emissions produced by Russia. The main producers of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, Asia and North America are at the bottom of the list because, due to their geographical location, they will suffer much less from global warming.

“The greatest amount of greenhouse emissions are produced by the coastal areas of Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, as well as by Europe, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the Atlantic coast of the United States. While it is the Arctic that suffers the most with more than half belonging to Russia. So it turns out that our country loses the most from climate change, “said Igor Shkradiuk, expert to the public council of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Scientists have pointed out that 90% of all harmful emissions are produced on only 8% of the land. At the same time, the most significant increase in temperature, up to 8 degrees Celsius before the end of this century, is expected beyond the Arctic Circle where there are no greenhouse gas emissions. .

For Russia, the issue of climate disparities is particularly pressing since most of the country is located in the taiga zone and the boreal forest zone, according to Andrei Avramenko of MGIMO. “The scientific community has recognized the important role of Russian forests in absorbing transboundary greenhouse gas emissions. However, being an exporter of carbon-intensive products, from 2026, the absorbing country will have to pay the European carbon tax. Since global warming is catastrophic in the Russian tundra and the Arctic, the price Russia will pay for global climate change is too high, let alone climate justice, ”the expert explained.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Kiev hits Donbass with Turkish drone

The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhny, has officially confirmed the use of a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone against the positions of the People’s Militia in the Donbass. It is not known whether the decision was his or coordinated with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Ukrainian media point out that “the device eliminated an artillery piece with a guided bomb on the line of engagement”.

Speaking to the newspaper, military expert Vladimir Karnozov noted that the use of Bayraktar TB2 in a political situation in Ukraine was only a matter of time. Moscow has sounded the alarm on the purchase of this military equipment. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi on September 29, warned that the conflict in eastern Ukraine could escalate following Kiev’s acquisition of the news weapons. The expert added that this drone is a modern and effective tool in medium-intensity military conflicts for countries lacking air force. He noted that Ankara not only sold the drone to Kiev, but also trained the Ukrainian military in its use.

Kiev received the first batch of six drones and three control stations in 2019. In September 2021, Ukraine and Turkey signed an agreement for 48 more drones. Professor of the Academy of Military Sciences Vadim Kozyulin, however, is convinced that the actions of the Zelensky administration will have no impact on Russian-Turkish relations. The problem lies in the general change in political understanding of the world situation. “The circulation of weapons in areas of possible military conflicts is no longer regulated by anyone”, noted the expert.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russia to help Taliban with advice and food

Moscow will soon send a shipment of food and medicine to Afghanistan, in the hope that the US, EU and NATO will bear the brunt of the country’s restoration, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a video address to a meeting of foreign ministers from Afghanistan’s neighbors in Tehran. The participants concluded that it is necessary to establish relations in one way or another with the Taliban (banned in Russia).

The senior Russian diplomat said that today it is of vital importance to create normal living conditions in Afghanistan, as this alone can eliminate the main threats emanating from this country, namely terrorism, the flow of migrants illegal and drug. Participants indicated that they expected large-scale efforts from the global community for comprehensive aid to Afghanistan. With this in mind, the Russian Foreign Minister noted that Moscow is ready to support Afghanistan independently and immediately. While demanding that the West help Afghanistan, Lavrov, like other participants, made no demands on the Taliban. Afghanistan’s neighbors still maintain their expectations of the movement that an inclusive government be formed, representing at least all of the country’s ethnic groups.

Senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Sotnikov, in a commentary to the newspaper, was convinced that if the Taliban opted for the creation of an inclusive government, it would not happen to so early. “Of course, that is not the question of the near future. Now the Taliban must control the whole country, that is the most important thing it faces. There is resistance that the Taliban does not. can neither eliminate nor reach an agreement with, noted the expert.

Kommersant: Russia will relaunch vaccine propaganda campaign

According to Kommersant’s sources, the internal politics department of the presidential administration has started to organize a new information campaign on the coronavirus vaccination. The previous campaign was recognized as ineffective due to insufficient attention to regions and overly aggressive propaganda. On October 16, Russian State Duma Vice President Pyotr Tolstoy even said that the state had lost the information campaign against the coronavirus. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also admitted that the government has not done everything to raise awareness about the lack of alternatives and the importance of vaccination. According to the national anti-coronavirus portal, as of October 22, 49.1 million Russians had completely completed the inoculation, while 53.5 million had received their first injection.

According to the Kommersant source, the vaccine propaganda has been recognized as too aggressive and negative – too much emphasis has been placed on a possible fatal outcome while now the emphasis will be on that by getting a jab, it will be. possible to lead a normal life, go to the movies and restaurants and take classes. Awareness will also be raised in the regions with the help of volunteers and experts, while the ideological struggle with anti-vaccines will intensify.

On October 27, the Institute of Experts in Social Research (EISI) organized a roundtable where experts recommended that the authorities establish a clear logical link between the lifting of epidemiological restrictions and vaccination, and advised to form a separate institute in charge of the vaccination campaign. EISI’s chief pandemic expert Gleb Kuznetsov believes the fight with anti-vaccines must be curbed since they are not the ones blocking the vaccination process as the experience of other countries shows that the awareness campaign should be well organized and thought out. According to him, one of the most effective measures is a personal invitation for vaccination. “A large number of people have not been vaccinated not because they are anti-vaccine, not because they do not want to, but because they did not have the time or rather the choice. of this period. It is difficult to do. undergo medical intervention when you are not even sure that it is useful, “explained the expert.

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