A peace conference for Ukraine begins this morning in Switzerland in the Burgenstock hotel complex, in the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia is not. On the ground, the Ukrainian army is in difficulty, Russia is on the offensive in the East and North-East of Ukraine.
3 mins
With our special correspondents in Kramatorsk, Anastasia Becchio And Boris Vicith
The Russian army is not releasing pressure in the Donbass, it is even making some slow advances in certain points. By the Ukrainian general staff’s own admission, the situation is particularly tense around the town of Chassiv Iar. Capturing this small town near Bakhmut would bring Russian forces closer to their goal of taking Kramatorsk, the region’s main city, which is still under Ukrainian control.
Destroyed, Tchassiv Iar is almost entirely emptied of its 12,000 inhabitants. The Russians continue to nibble away at Ukrainian positions, also further south, in the Pokrovsk and Khourakhove sector. They carry out airstrikes in surrounding villages.
Read alsoCrossed drone and missile strikes in Ukraine and Russia
Lack of men and ammunition
The soldiers met here do not hide that the conditions are difficult. They lack men and ammunition. The Russian offensive in the neighboring Kharkiv region, further north, has somewhat stripped the Donbass front. “ I don’t have enough people anymore, because we had to transfer units to other warmer sectors », laments a platoon leader, who operates near Tchassiv Iar. He also regrets the delays in Western aid deliveries which causes additional losses. Recent announcements of additional Western aid are greeted here with relief.
But these deliveries come a little late, according to another officer, who regrets that the ammunition reaches them “ in volumes just sufficient so that they do not have to go “.
Also listenCan aid to Ukraine hold?
Cede territories?
The situation is delicate, concedes “Achille”, an engineer originally from Dnipro, mobilized in January and section commander of an anti-aircraft defense unit. But there is no question of giving in: “ Some people think they can force us to cede our territories without asking our opinion. If we start negotiations now, we will lose. For us, this is unacceptable. A State incapable of defending its territory, which cedes part of its territory, loses its credibility on the international scene. On the other hand, I feel sorry for our soldiers, we don’t have men to replace them and we don’t have many weapons either. »
On the station platform, a soldier waits in front of the Intercité which will take him to kyiv. Originally from Mariupol, this sergeant, with arms covered in scars, engaged in the army since 2015, believes that territorial concessions will be inevitable. “ We must take back at least the territories that were under our control in 2022. There, people still remember us and are waiting for us. But as for the areas occupied since 2014, they have almost seen the growth of a generation who today hate us. What will we do with them? Shall we send them to Russia? They will say, just like me: I was born in Donbass, I grew up there. But the difference is that, for them, the enemy is not Russia, it is us “. Before entering the train, the sergeant adds: we will hold our positions as long as we can, but we need more help.
In the Donetsk region, Kherson and Zaporizhia are claimed by Russia. Vladimir Putin has also set his conditions to a dialogue with kyiv: the withdrawal of these regions and the non-adhesion ofUkraine to NATO. Conditions immediately rejected by the kyiv regime.
Men tempted to leave Ukraine for fear of mobilization
The longer the war lasts in Ukraine, the more some men are tempted to leave the country, for fear of being mobilized into the army. This week, Hungarian authorities announced that they had boarded a truck coming from Ukraine, inside which 32 Ukrainian males were hiding, trying to enter the territory of the European Union, despite the travel ban outside the country, for men aged 18 to 60. Cases of attempted crossings seem to be increasing, particularly since the tightening of the law on mobilization in the Ukrainian army last May, reports our correspondent in kyiv, Stéphane Siohan.
This week’s arrest in Hungary is not an isolated case. For months, men old enough to be mobilized have been trying to cross abroad, by road, but also on foot, towards Romania, through the Carpathian mountains, at the risk of dying from the cold, or while trying to swim across the Tisza River, which separates Ukraine from Hungary and Romania. In this turbulent waterway, at least 35 men have drowned since the start of the Russian invasion, the real number undoubtedly being much higher.
According to Ukrainian customs, around twenty individuals are arrested every day while trying to flee Ukraine, and at the beginning of May, Slovakia, another neighboring country, announced that the number of Ukrainians who attempted to finding refuge there had doubled compared to the previous year. It is difficult to estimate the number of men who have attempted the big move: perhaps 30,000 according to some sources, ultimately a relatively modest figure compared to the country’s male population.
According to a national survey carried out this winter, the main reason given for not wanting to serve in the army is above all the fear of captivity, of disability, and above all of death, a universal feeling.
Read alsoSwitzerland hosts a conference on peace in Ukraine from which Russia is excluded