Russia is more and more isolated from the world which watches dumbfounded its invasion of Ukraine. For a week and the entry of Russian tanks into the country, multiple economic sanctions targeting Moscow and oligarchs close to the Kremlin have been decided to try to weaken Vladimir Putin’s desire for war. But the head of state nevertheless remains determined to go all the way, until “all the objectives are achieved”.
An attitude that cost him dearly in the eyes of the Western powers. They have been denouncing for a week this aggression to the sovereignty of Ukraine but also the behavior of the Russian president, described by Joe Biden as a “dictator”. Vladimir Putin is also accused by several states of committing “war crimes”, while a dozen civilians were killed on Tuesday, and the inevitable assault on the capital, Kiev, should considerably increase the balance sheet.
Civilian casualties
At least eight people were killed in an airstrike on a residential area in Kharkiv, a major city in eastern Ukraine. The bombardment of the central square of Kharkiv killed at least ten people. In Kiev, five people died when the TV tower was targeted late Tuesday afternoon. And the toll will undoubtedly get worse. On the seventh day of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian army reported the landing overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday of Russian airborne troops in Kharkiv. Fighting was reported in this city of 1.4 million inhabitants near the border with Russia.
Emergency services personnel pull out a body from the damaged Kharkiv city hall on March 1, 2022, destroyed by shelling by Russian troops.
(Photo by Sergey BOBOK / AFP)
The Russian army has called on civilians living near security services infrastructure to evacuate, saying it wants to attack them to stop “computer attacks against Russia”. Thus, the future Russian assault on Kiev raises fears of a considerable number of victims in this metropolis, which normally has nearly three million inhabitants and is endowed with a rich historical heritage.
“We are really going to the siege of Kiev, and the battle will increase very much in power, explains in an interview with L’Express Michel Goya, historian and former colonel of the navy troops. “We see that Russian strategy has changed. At first, there was restraint in the use of the strike force, whether artillery or air force (…) But the Russian army decided to change strategy and to employ these means because, for them, it is the only way to neutralize the defenses of the cities”, he analyzes.
A convoy of Russian tanks heading for Kiev
Satellite photos released overnight from Monday to Tuesday by the American satellite imagery company Maxar showed a Russian convoy stretching for tens of kilometers and heading towards the Ukrainian capital from the northwest.
“The Russian army is reorganizing its military efforts to try to remedy poor planning and execution” of its assault due to a “erroneous” analysis of “the will and the capacity for resistance of the Ukrainians”, explains to AFP the ISW, the Institute for the Study of War.
Moscow’s troops, although “much larger and more capable” than their adversaries, have thus experienced “significant failures” in Kiev and Kharkiv against “remarkably effective” Ukrainian forces, continues this American research center.
Bombing and “war crimes”
Faced with these bombings and attacks of which the whole world is aware, the Western community has pointed to possible “war crimes” committed by Moscow. Vladimir Putin will be “held responsible” for possible war crimes, has thus warned the British government. “It is clear both to Putin but also to the commanders in Moscow, on the ground in Ukraine, that they will be held accountable for any violations of the laws of war,” British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic said on Tuesday. Rabb on SkyNews.
A view of the square outside the damaged local town hall in Kharkiv, March 1, 2022, destroyed following shelling by Russian troops.
(Photo by Sergey BOBOK / AFP)
Same accusation coming from the side of Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the Russian bombardment of Kharkiv a “war crime”, and stressed that the defense of the capital Kiev was the “priority”.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) had already announced on Monday the opening “as quickly as possible” of an investigation into the situation in Ukraine, citing “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”. “I have reviewed the Office’s findings from the preliminary examination of the situation in Ukraine and have confirmed that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with the initiation of an investigation,” Karim Khan said in a statement. communicated.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced
The images of refugees trying to flee the war also create a lot of emotion in the Western population. The High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identified at the end of Tuesday afternoon exactly 677,243 people who had fled since February 24 the violent fighting between Russian troops and the Ukrainian army, in this country populated by more than 37 million. of people in the territories controlled by Kyiv.
Passengers wait for a train bound for Poland at Lviv station on the third day of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offensive on February 26, 2022
afp.com/Yuriy Dyachyshyn
Furthermore, the UN estimates the number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine at one million. “There has been a lot of attention on those fleeing to neighboring countries, but it is important to remember that most of those affected are in Ukraine,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR’s head for Ukraine. .
The UN and its partner organizations then launched an emergency appeal to raise 1.7 billion dollars to provide the humanitarian aid that Ukraine, invaded by Russia, will need. “We are witnessing what could become the worst refugee crisis in Europe this century,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Of this total amount, 1.1 billion dollars should make it possible to help 6 million people in the country itself for an initial period of three months, specifies a press release from the organization.