SUISSE
German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said he did not “understand” Switzerland’s refusal to deliver Swiss ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft armored vehicles supplied by Germany to Ukraine to defend once morest the Russian invasion. “Some countries have ammunition, nevertheless are reluctant for historical reasons to deliver it to Ukraine,” he said. “We are in discussions with Switzerland, and I must say it clearly: I do not understand why Switzerland does not make ammunition for the Guepard available”, asserts the one who is also Minister of Economy and Climate.
BAKHMOUT
Ukrainian soldiers are “firmly” holding their positions in Bakhmout, where the situation is “the most difficult” once morest Russian troops, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday. “This is the most difficult point, the hottest at the moment”, he underlines. “It’s not easy for our soldiers in the east, but it’s not for nothing that we talk regarding the ‘Bahmut Fortress’. Our fortress is alive,” continued the Head of State.
“ALARM SIGNAL”
“The invasion of Russia was a wake-up call and highlighted the importance of our common security and defense policy,” Josep Borrell said on Wednesday. “The EU has reacted strongly and we will continue to support Ukraine. Ukraine must win the war in order to be able to win the peace”, assures the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs.
SERGEI LAVROV IN FRONT OF THE PRESS
An exercise rare enough to be underlined. From Moscow, Sergei Lavrov answered questions from journalists live. “This war began long before the Russian special operation in Ukraine”, the name still used by the Kremlin for the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, assured the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
At the same time, Sergei Lavrov denounced the “propaganda” of the West. : “This informational dumbing down of the population has become a norm for Western governments”.
Sergei Lavrov in front of the pressSource : TF1 Info
SERGEI LAVROV IN FRONT OF THE PRESS
An exercise rare enough to be underlined. From Moscow, Sergei Lavrov answered questions from journalists live. “This war began long before the Russian special operation in Ukraine”, the name still used by the Kremlin for the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, assured the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
At the same time, Sergei Lavrov denounced the “propaganda” of the West. : “This informational dumbing down of the population has become a norm for Western governments”.
NEW SANCTIONS AGAINST MOSCOW
Ursula Von der Leyen detailed the 10th set of sanctions once morest Russia which will be proposed by the Commission on February 24, which will mark one year of the war.
Some of these new measures include banning the export of technologies and industrial products to Russia (such as electronics, specialized vehicles, machine parts, spare parts for trucks and jet engines, etc.) ) worth 11 billion euros.
Then, checks will be submitted for validation on “47 new electronic components that can be used in Russian weapons systems”. Then, and this is a first, “third country entities” will be added to the sanctions, such as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, drone suppliers.
Finally, Kremlin propagandists and “other military and political commanders” will be identified and listed by the EU, according to the European Commission statement.
NO ADDITIONAL BUDGET
NATO members failed to reach conclusions on a new commitment for defense spending, Jens Stoltenberg said following a meeting with defense ministers in Brussels. While adding that it was “obvious that we must spend more”, and that Member States should commit to devoting at least 2% of GDP to defence.
AGREEMENT ON CEREALS
Ukraine’s grain export deal – crucial to stem the global food crisis – is in “difficult” situation, says UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths, hoping it will be renewed on March 18 . This agreement sealed in July 2022 between the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey has made it possible to limit the serious global food crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
According to the European official, the grain agreement “works in tandem” with the agreement between the UN and Russia on Russian fertilizer exports. Moscow has complained that its exports of fertilizer, a staple for global agriculture, are de facto blocked despite not falling under sanctions imposed by Western countries since the start of the war .
RUSSIAN LOSSES
Russia has suffered a significant loss of its military power, including a good part of its most modern equipment, and Ukraine is in full modernization, according to the annual report of the institute specialized in defense IISS. The publication of the 2023 edition of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Military Balance comes almost a year following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
The institute notes a change in the composition of the Russian armored fleet. About half of its T-72B3 and T-72B3M tanks and many of its T-80s were lost, so the Russian military had to field older equipment to compensate for these losses. According to the IISS, Russia has lost 6-8% of its tactical combat aircraft, but losses reach 10-15% on certain types of aircraft.
NATO SUPPORT
Discussions between NATO members continue on Wednesday on arms shipments to Ukraine, which is seeing its stocks run out. On Tuesday, the United States announced a contract for more than half a billion dollars to produce 155mm shells for delivery
SANCTIONS ON IRAN
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would propose sanctions for the first time targeting Iranian economic operators involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“For the first time, we are also proposing to sanction Iranian entities, including those linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,” Von der Leyen told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg. Sanctions that would target new trade bans and controls on technology exports, including drones, helicopters and missiles.
A YEAR ON THE FRONT
On the occasion of one year of the war in Ukraine, LCI offers you an original document on the ground, with our reporters. To discover this Wednesday evening on the 26.
“A year at the front”: an unpublished document from LCISource : TF1 Info
RUSSIAN LOSSES, ACCORDING TO kyiv
Between February 24, 2022 and February 15, 2023, 139,770 Russian soldiers died in Ukraine, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces, or 690 more dead in 24 hours. On its social networks, the army regularly communicates on the losses inflicted on the enemy, less on its own. And according to her, Russian deaths are at their highest in February, with 800 deaths on average per day.
$5.6 BILLION REQUESTED
The UN has requested $5.6 billion (€5.2 billion) to cover the humanitarian needs this year of 11.1 million people in Ukraine and 4.2 million refugees and host communities in Europe. “Almost a year later, the war continues to cause death, destruction and displacement every day, and on a staggering scale,” said UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths.
INTERVIEW
Opposing Vladimir Putin’s regime, director Kirill Serebrennikov left Russia in the spring of 2022. “Tchaikovsky’s Wife”, the last film he shot in his country, will be released on French screens this Wednesday. The opportunity for TF1info to question this artist who observes the war in Ukraine between anger and consternation.
NATO DEFENSE BUDGET
NATO countries should spend at least 2% of their GDP on defence, the German Defense Minister said at the meeting of NATO Defense Ministers in Brussels. Boris Pistorius, however, felt that “spending just 2% will not be enough. It must be the basis for everything that follows. The German government is currently debating it and will soon reach an agreement”.
UPDATE ON THE SITUATION
As Western stocks are emptied in favor of kyiv, the United States announced a new shell contract for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Moldova is worried regarding a Russian attack and closes its airspace, without further details. Find the highlights of the last 24 hours in the conflict in Ukraine.
THE PATE OF UKRAINIAN CHILDREN
Thousands of Ukrainian children would have ended up in Russian “re-education” camps, according to a US report by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, quoted by the Guardians. In detail, at least 6,000 children would have passed through one of these centers in 2022, several hundred of whom would have been detained there for weeks or months.
They were reportedly taken to 43 camps across Russia, including Crimea and Siberia, for “a pro-Russian patriotic and military education”, according to the report. There would be on the program in these centers an academic apprenticeship, visits to patriotic sites, interviews with veterans, or even training on firearms.
THE GLOSSARY OF WAR
On February 24, 2022, at 4 a.m., the Russian army’s offensive in Ukraine began. One year of a conflict of an unprecedented type since 1945 in Europe. With the war, it is also a whole new vocabulary that has imposed itself in our daily life.
FORCED RECRUITMENTS?
Are Ukrainians recruited in the street, by force? For the first time, the Ukrainian army confirms the authenticity of a video, shot in Odessa, and seeks to know if the soldiers who appear there exceeded their function. The Verifiers recently looked into these numerous sequences circulating on social networks. An article can be found here.
War in Ukraine: forced recruitment?Source : TF1 Info
FOLLOW LIVE
Hello everyone, welcome to this direct dedicated to the follow-up of the war in Ukraine and its consequences. Throughout the day, you will find the latest information and reactions on this subject, almost a year from the start of the conflict.
