► Moscow has blocked the RFI website, which broadcasts information in fifteen languages including Russian. An alternative URL address allows access to the site in French and in Russian. RFI in Russian is also available on Telegram: https://t.me/RFI_Ru via a VPN and in Russia in French via satellite on Hotbird.
► RFI’s Russian editorial site broadcasts Ukrainian public radio (in the Ukrainian language) from home page.
The main points:
►The connection enter here Ukrainian Zaporizhia nuclear power plantin the south of Ukraine, under Russian control since the beginning of March and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been restoredannounced the Ukrainian operator, Energoatom.
►Ursula von der Leyen is back from kyiv, where she was this Saturday, June 11. The European Commission gives itself a week to complete the assessment of the Ukrainian application for EU membership.
► Ukrainian soldiers deliver to Sievierodonetsk one of “toughest battles” since the beginning of the war to resist the Russian forces which now control a large part of this strategic city in the East where, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, “the fate” of the Donbass region is at stake. The Russian army pounded the city on Saturday to wrest total control, but the depletion of ammunition is increasingly felt, especially on the Ukrainian side. ” The Donbass holds “, assured Volodymyr Zelensky this Saturday.
► France is ready to participate in a “operation” to lift the blockade of the port of Odessa, city in southern Ukraine, and to export Ukrainian cereals to countries in need, the French presidency announced on Friday. “We are at the disposal of the parties so that an operation is put in place which would allow access to the port of Odessa in complete safety, that is to say to be able to allow boats to pass despite the fact that the sea is mined,” said a presidential adviser.
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9:00 am: Igor Strelkov, the bitterness of the Russian nationalist in the face of the war in Ukraine
The former military leader of the Donbass separatists has become a harsh critic of the military operation in Ukraine. Igor Strelkov is today one of the most violent detractors of Russian military strategy. Renowned for his ultranationalist positions, he actively comments on the course of the war on social networks and spares neither Vladimir Putin nor his Minister of Defense, reports Anastasia Becchio, of the International service of RFI.
” The special military operation is a total failure “says Igor Strelkov, arms crossed, facing the camera, against the background of the flag of Novorossia, this territory, which includes the south and east of Ukraine, which those nostalgic for the Russian empire dream of conquering. Since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, the reserve colonel of the FSB, fine mustache, graying hair cut short, has been very present on social networks to say all the bad things he thinks of the war that the Russia leads to its neighbour: In Ukraine, they simply laugh at us. Not you and me, but they laugh at all those people who think so well, who have such wonderful strategic concepts and such wonderful tactical solutions. “, he quips.
Since being sidelined in August 2014, when he had to leave his short-lived stronghold of Sloviansk in the Donbass, the bitter former “Defence Minister” of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic”, chomping at the bit and does not hesitate to criticize the course of the war in Ukraine
► Igor Strelkov, the bitterness of the Russian nationalist in the face of the war in Ukraine
08:40: Russian strike on western Ukraine injures at least 22
A Russian strike on the city of Chortkiv, in western Ukraine largely spared from violence, left at least 22 injured on Saturday evening, including civilians, according to a first report communicated on Sunday by the regional governor, Volodymyr Trouch. ” At 7:46 p.m. yesterday, Chortkiv was hit by four missiles, all fired from the Black Sea “said Mr. Trouch during a press conference broadcast on Facebook, adding that the injured were all hospitalized.
08:10 : Connection restored between the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and the IAEA, announces kyiv
The connection between the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporijjia, in the south of Ukraine, under Russian control since the beginning of March, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is restored almost a month and a half after the loss of transmissions, announced the Ukrainian operator, Energoatom.
The connection had been lost on May 30, “when the Russians cut off the Ukrainian mobile telephone operator Vodafone at Energodar”, the plant’s site, “awith which the IAEA has a data transmission contract “said Energoatom in a press release. ” Thanks to the joint efforts of Energoatom and Vodafone, on Friday June 10, the connection between the site’s nuclear material monitoring servers and the IAEA was restored. “Added Energoatom in this press release published Saturday evening on Telegram.
Since the end of May, however, “all data for this period had been stored on secure servers and transferred to the IAEA immediately after the connection was restored (Friday),” the statement said. The IAEA said this week ” actively working to arrange a visit to the Zaporizhia plant, which Ukraine opposes as long as the site is occupied by the Russians.
Ukraine believes that such a visit “would legitimize in the eyes of the international community the occupation” of the site by Russian forces, according to Energoatom. “The situation is untenable,” pleaded the head of the AIE Rafael Grossi. Before adding: “this is why IAEA experts must go” on site.
08:00: Passed under the Russian flag, the old McDo restaurants renamed “ Vkusno & tochka ” in Russia
The former restaurants in Russia of the McDonald’s group, which announced its departure after more than 30 years of presence in response to the conflict in Ukraine, have been renamed “Vkusno & tochka” (Tasty and that’s all) by their new Russian owner. This was stated during a press conference by the general manager of the Russian group Oleg Paroïev. Its owner Alexandre Govor has assured that the 51,000 ex-employees of McDonald’s across Russia will keep their jobs.
07:36: fierce fighting in Sievierodonetsk
According to a member of the Donetsk military administration, “all the major towns in the free territory” of this region “have been without electricity” since early Saturday evening. He cites Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Konstantinovka, Druzhkivka and Bakhmut.
On television, the governor of the Lugansk region Sergiï Gaïdaï described a “difficult” situation in Popasna, Sievierodonetsk and near the Siversky Donets river, the level of which has dropped so much that he fears new Russian attempts to cross it to establish a new bridgehead near Bilogorivka. ” In Tochkivka, very strong fights are underway “, he also said.
In Sievierodonetsk, the Ukrainian defense is entrenched on the site of an Azot chemical plant. ” Constant fighting continues “Said Serguiï Gaïdaï. ” The enclosure of the Azot factory is powerfully bombarded for hours, using large caliber weapons “, he detailed, referring to “ street fights with guns “but also the destruction” floor by floor by Russian artillery from buildings used as shelters by Ukrainian forces.
For several days, fighting has also been intense in the Mykolaiv region, neighboring the port city of Odessa, in the south of the country. The Russian advance was halted on the outskirts of the city, however. The operational command specified that the Russian forces had fired missiles on the suburbs of this city, a “ continuous fire which puts the civilian population under psychological pressure “.
07:25: “ The Donbass holds says Volodymyr Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated this Saturday evening that Ukrainian forces recaptured Tavriyské, in theKherson region. In that of Zaporijjia, certain successes have been noted, he added. The Russian army is still pounding the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city. The area around Chortkiv in western Ukraine was also shelled in the evening, regional governor Volodymyr Trouch said. ” Do you remember how Russia hoped to take all of Donbass in the first days of May? The Donbass holds “, also launched Volodymyr Zelensky.
06:40 : EU to publish opinion on Kyiv’s candidacy within a week
Ursula von der Leyen is back from kyiv, where she was this Saturday, June 11. The European Commission that she presides is giving itself a week to finish assessing the Ukrainian application for EU membership. The aim is to have an “opinion”, a recommendation, ready for the summit of the 27 Heads of State and Government, which opens on June 23, reports our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Benazet.
The President of the European Commission promised this Saturday to Ukraine to ” do everything to support it in its European ambitions », a promise which however goes beyond the leeway available to the Commission.
The College of European Commissioners is meeting this Sunday for an orientation debate, and it is Friday that the Commission should publish its official opinion on Ukraine’s candidacy.
It is legal and technical work that the Twenty-Seven expect from the European Commission. But its president intends to lend her political support to Ukraine, as Ursula von der Leyen told Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv.
►EU: in a week, Brussels will publish its opinion on kyiv’s candidacy
06:30: Hello and welcome to this live.
You can find our live from yesterday by following this link.