Situation on the ground, international reactions, sanctions: update on the military operation led by Russia in Ukraine.
Russian forces target Dnipro
The Russian army extended its offensive on Friday to the large city of Dnipro, an industrial city on the Dnieper, a river which marks the separation between the partly pro-Russian East and the rest of the country.
“There were three airstrikes on the city, on a kindergarten, an apartment building and a shoe factory (…) where a fire then broke out”, told the Ukrainian emergency services.
The Ukrainian capital as well as Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, Kryvy Rig, Kremenchug, Nikopol and Zaporizhie are the main areas where Russian efforts are still concentrated, according to the Ukrainian army. According to her, Moscow is seeking to eliminate Ukrainian defenses in several localities west and north of the capital, Kiev, to ” to block “ the city.
Mariupol risks “an unimaginable tragedy”
Mariupol, a strategic port in southern Ukraine, surrounded and constantly bombarded by the Russians, is in a situation “desperate”according to a senior MSF official, who calls for action to avoid “ an unimaginable tragedy.
“Hundreds of thousands of people (…) are literally besieged”says Stephen Cornish, head of MSF Switzerland and one of the coordinators of the NGO’s action in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.
New penalties
Joe Biden has announced that the United States and its allies have decided to exclude Russia from the normal reciprocity regime governing world trade, which opens the way for the imposition of severe customs tariffs.
The US president also wants to ban imports of Russian vodka, diamonds and seafood.
Emmanuel Macron warned, following the EU summit in Versailles, that the Europeans were ready to take “massive penalties” once morest Russia if the war continued.
Avoid a “direct confrontation” NATO-Russia
United States President Joe Biden pledged on Friday to ” to avoid ” a “direct confrontation between NATO and Russia”because it would cause ” The Third world war “.
“We are not going to wage a war once morest Russia in Ukraine”hammered the American leader from the White House.
Fear of chemical weapons
Russia “will pay a high price if it uses chemical weapons” in Ukraine, warned Joe Biden, while Westerners are worried regarding a possible use of such weapons by Moscow.
Switzerland prohibits overflight to transport weapons
Switzerland, faithful to its doctrine of military neutrality, has decided to prohibit the overflight of its territory to all those who wish to provide military support to the belligerents in Ukraine, announced the government.
This decision does not concern the overflight of military aircraft of the parties to the conflict or of other States for humanitarian or medical purposes, including the airlift of the wounded.
Syrian fighters on the Russian side
The Kremlin allows Syrian nationals to volunteer to fight in Ukraine. The volunteers are “above all people from the Middle East, Syrians”the Kremlin said.
“We have to meet them and help them reach the combat zone”said Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Russia’s future use of ” of Syrian assassins” for ” destroy “ l’Ukraine.
Food concerns
The G7 countries have asked the international community to avoid any measure limiting food exports so as not to aggravate the current rise in prices on this market destabilized by the war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that Europe and Africa “will be very deeply destabilized in terms of food” in the next 12 to 18 months because of the war.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has estimated that an additional eight to 13 million people might suffer from undernutrition worldwide if food exports from Ukraine and Russia are permanently blocked.
2.5 million refugees
More than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the invasion, more than half of whom have been received in Poland, and around two million have been displaced within Ukraine itself, according to the United Nations High Commissioner United for Refugees (UNHCR).
Russia: “strict control” of foreign companies
The Russian prosecutor’s office ordered a “strict control” foreign companies that have suspended their activities in retaliation for the Russian intervention in Ukraine.
Russia has announced that it has restricted access to the social network Instagram, which it accuses of spreading calls for violence once morest Russians in connection with the conflict in Ukraine.
