Mariupol theater bombed
In Mariupol, in the south-east of the country, a theater housing “hundreds of civilians” was heavily damaged by a Russian airstrike. “The plane dropped a bomb on the building where hundreds of civilians were sheltering. It is impossible to establish the toll immediately, because the bombing of residential areas continues, ”wrote the town hall on Telegram, posting a photo of the theater, the central part of which is destroyed.
The Russian Defense Ministry, quoted by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, denied carrying out the airstrike and instead blamed the Ukrainian nationalist battalion Azov.
According to local authorities, more than 2,000 civilians died in Mariupol, which has been besieged and shelled by Russian forces for several days.
US gives $1 billion in military aid
A few hours following a vibrant speech by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr ZelenskyWednesday before the American Congress, the American president, Joe Biden, announced to have awarded an additional US$800 million in military aid, bringing the total to US$1 billion.
Ukraine will notably receive 800 Stinger air defense systems, 9000 anti-tank systems, around 7000 small arms, 20 million ammunition and drones.
Putin “war criminal”
Responding to a journalist, the American president, Joe Biden, launched, without further details, regarding his Russian counterpart: “He is a war criminal”.
“Unacceptable and unforgivable” remarks, replied the Kremlin. “We consider unacceptable and unforgivable such rhetoric from the head of state, whose bombs have killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti.
The International Court of Justice takes a stand
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the United Nations, on Wednesday ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine. Two of the fifteen judges voted once morest, those from Russia and China.
“The Russian Federation must immediately suspend the military operations it started on February 24, 2022 on the territory of Ukraine,” said Joan E. Donoghue, presiding judge of the ICJ, whose seat is in The Hague. , in the Nederlands.
Continuation of negotiations
Another round of talks between Kyiv and Moscow was scheduled for Wednesday. After Tuesday’s negotiationsRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that a neutral military status for Ukraine was “seriously considered” by both sides.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, described Russia’s demands to end the war as becoming “more realistic”.
Hopes for diplomatic progress rose following Mr Zelensky admitted on Tuesday that his country would not join NATO.
According to the British daily Financial Timesthe Ukrainians, however, doubt the commitment of Vladimir Poutine in favor of peace. They fear that Moscow is trying to buy time to regroup its forces and resume its offensive.
With Agence France-Presse
