8:40 a.m.: Evacuation of civilians from Mariupol will begin at 10 a.m.
The town hall of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol announced on Saturday the start, at the end of the morning, of the evacuation of civilians from this strategic port in the Sea of Azov surrounded by Russian and pro-Russian forces.
“The evacuation of the civilian population will begin at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT),” the town hall said, referring to a temporary ceasefire agreement with Russia which will be in effect on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time (0800-1400 GMT). ).
“In total, it will take several stages of evacuation, spread over several days so that each person wishing to leave can do so,” added the same source on his Telegram account.
The civilian evacuation corridor leads to the Ukrainian town of Zaporozhye, 220 kilometers to the northwest.
6:38 a.m .: Russia announces ceasefire to allow evacuation of civilians from Mariupol
Russia announced a ceasefire on Saturday to allow the evacuation of civilians from two cities in eastern Ukraine, including the strategic port of Mariupol under blockade, following consultations between representatives of Kiev and Moscow.
From 07:00 GMT, “the Russian side declares a regime of silence (of weapons) and the opening of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha”, said the Russian Ministry of Defense, quoted by the Russian news agencies.
6:30 a.m .: Russia cuts itself off from the internet and the media to wage its war in Ukraine
Russia’s sweeping crackdown on media and social media signals the government’s determination to drown out any dissenting voices on the Ukraine conflict, even if it means cutting off Russia’s internet from the rest of the world, experts say.
In fact, between the blocking of Facebook and a new drastic law once morest independent media, the Russian population now has almost no access to official speeches.
President Vladimir Putin thus intends to impose his official narrative on the invasion of Ukraine, presented as a limited peacekeeping operation aimed at protecting Russian-speaking Ukrainians from “genocide”.
“It’s censorship of last resort. The Russians are so desperate at this point that they are unplugging a platform instead of blocking certain pages as they usually do”, reacts Steven Feldstein, a specialist at the Carnegie think tank. Endowment for International Peace.
The Russian media regulator on Friday ordered the blocking of Facebook, which it accuses of blocking media close to power (the RT channel and the Sputnik site) in Europe.
Russia thus enters the very restricted club of countries banning the largest social network in the world, along with China and North Korea.
4:25 a.m .: King Philippe cancels his ski vacation because of the invasion in Ukraine
King Philippe did not go on a skiing holiday with the royal family because of the war in Ukraine, write Het Nieuwsblad, De Standaard and Het Belang van Limburg on Saturday, with confirmation from the Palace.
Skiing holidays were on the royal family’s agenda during this relaxing break. King Philippe eventually canceled the trip while Queen Mathilde and the royal couple’s children departed.
According to the Palace, the decision is linked to the war in Ukraine. As commander-in-chief of the army, the King wishes to be kept informed of the state of the situation.
The royal couple were also due to travel to Congo next week for an official visit but that trip was postponed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
3:50 am: The strategic port of Mariupol subject to a “blockade” by Russian forces
The strategic port of Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine, is subject to a “blockade” by the Russian army and “ruthless” attacks, the mayor said on Saturday, calling for the establishment of a corridor humanitarian.
“For the moment we are looking for solutions to humanitarian problems and all possible means to get Mariupol out of the blockade,” said Vadim Boïtchenko, in a message published around midnight local time on the town hall’s Telegram account.
“Our priority is to establish a ceasefire so that we can restore vital infrastructure and set up a humanitarian corridor to bring food and medicine into the city,” he continued. .
The capture by Moscow of this city of some 450,000 inhabitants, located on the shores of the Sea of Azov, would be an important turning point in the invasion of Ukraine. It would make it possible to make the connection between the Russian forces coming from annexed Crimea, which have already taken the key ports of Berdiansk and Kherson, and the separatist and Russian troops in the Donbass.
3H10: Moody’s downgrades Ukraine’s rating by two notches
Credit rating agency Moody’s announced on Friday that it had downgraded Ukraine’s long-term debt rating by two notches because of the Russian-induced war, and is threatening to downgrade it further.
The rating was changed from B3 to Caa2, in other words, Moody’s considers the credit risk to be very high. “The two-notch downgrade in Ukraine’s ratings and the decision to keep the ratings on watch for further downgrades were triggered by Russia’s escalating military invasion of Ukraine,” says Moody’s in a statement.
The agency stresses that the invasion jeopardizes Ukraine’s ability to service its debt. Moreover, the invasion has a serious “impact” on Ukraine’s economic and fiscal strength “due to the considerable damage to its productive capacity”.
Moody’s further believes that the forthcoming international financial support “will not be sufficient to fully offset the liquidity risks” and financial requirements to repay debt given the cost caused by the invasion.
2:30 a.m .: Biden wants to “strengthen the relationship” with Finland
Joe Biden felt that there was currently “an opportunity to further strengthen the relationship” between the United States and Finland, Friday by receiving his Finnish counterpart, but without either of the two openly discussing a possible NATO membership.
Finland, a country bordering Russia, “is an important ally of the United States, a strong partner in defense matters, and a partner of NATO, to strengthen the security of the Baltic Sea”, said the president. American in the Oval Office. “I want to thank you for your leadership. We need it today,” Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said. “We have a long-standing partnership, very good relations, and I hope (…) that we can strengthen them, between the United States, Finland and all the Nordic countries,” he said. he adds. Neither of the two leaders spoke on the question of Finland’s potential membership of NATO.
1:20 am: New meeting Monday of the UN Security Council on the humanitarian aspect
The UN Security Council will meet once more urgently on Monday at 3:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. in Belgium) on the humanitarian crisis triggered in Ukraine by the invasion of Russia, at the request of the United States and Albania. , we learned Friday from diplomatic sources.
Following this public session, consultations behind closed doors between the 15 members of the Security Council will follow, this time at the request of Mexico and France, on the initiative of a draft resolution which remains not materialized, a diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
12:50 a.m.: British journalist shot and wounded in an ambush near Kiev
A British journalist was shot in an ambush near the Ukrainian capital. Stuart Ramsay, Sky News’ chief correspondent, was injured in the lower back as gunfire targeted a car transporting his team to Kyiv on Monday.
Cameraman Richie Mockler was also hit by two bullets but was protected by his body armor before the team managed to escape and take cover. They were later rescued by Ukrainian police.
Sky News broadcast footage of the incident on Friday evening. According to the victims, the attack was carried out by Russian commandos.
The Sky News team have since returned to the UK.
12:25 a.m .: Russia blocks Facebook and punishes “lies” regarding the army with prison
Russia on Friday blocked Facebook, restricted access to Twitter and cracked down on the media, introducing heavy prison terms for spreading ‘false information regarding the military’ amid an Israeli invasion. ‘Ukraine.
The measures taken strengthen the arsenal of the authorities to control the account they give to the Russian population of the invasion of Ukraine, presented as a limited operation aimed at protecting Russian-speaking Ukrainians from “genocide”.
An amendment introduces various penalties of up to 15 years in prison for spreading information aimed at “discrediting” the Russian armed forces.
A second provides sanctions for “calls to impose sanctions on Russia”, which faces harsh Western retaliatory measures for its invasion of Ukraine.
12:10 am: Italy seizes Russian oligarch’s yacht
Italy announced on Friday that it had seized the yacht of a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin and targeted by European Union sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The Italian police have just seized the Lady M, a yacht worth 65 million euros belonging to Alexei Mordashov, stationed in Imperia (Liguria, north-western Italy), in accordance with recent sanctions from the EU”, announced on his Twitter account the press adviser to the head of the Italian government Mario Draghi, Ferdinando Giugliano.
