If the Sumy region has been completely liberated, the results of the destruction of the Kramatorsk station, in eastern Ukraine, raise fears of violent clashes to come. London has also announced that it will strengthen its military aid to kyiv. Update on the war in Ukraine, on the 44th day of the Russian invasion.
A heavy toll after the destruction of Kramatorsk station
At least 50 people, including five children, were killed and around 100 injured on Friday April 8 when missiles were fired at Kramatorsk station. For several days, thousands of people had been evacuating the region through this station. Moscow immediately denied being responsible, saying it did not have the type of missile used, and accused kyiv of having “orchestrated” the strike to prevent civilians from fleeing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “unlimited evil” unleashed by Russia and “inhuman” methods. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves le Drian, on France 5, considered that this act constituted a “crime against humanity”.
The region of Sumy liberated from the Russian invader
The region of Sumy, bordering Russia in northeastern Ukraine, has been completely “liberated” from Russian forces, the head of the regional administration announced on Friday, adding, however, that the area was “not not sure” and that demining operations were in progress. With this departure of Russian troops from the Sumy region, Moscow has now completely evacuated northern Ukraine.
London sanctions Putin’s daughters and increases its military aid to Ukraine
After Washington and Brussels, it is the turn of the United Kingdom to sanction the two daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and that of the head of diplomacy Sergei Lavrov, saying that they want to attack the “lavish lifestyle of the inner circle of the Kremlin”. They are now prohibited from entering British territory, where any possible assets will be frozen.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also announced that British military aid will be stepped up for Ukraine, with the dispatch of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. Ukraine is calling on Western countries for greater military aid in order to resist the massive attack that Russia is preparing to carry out in the east of the country.
Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Boutcha
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived late Friday afternoon in Boutcha, a small town northwest of kyiv that has become a symbol of the atrocities committed by the Russian army in Ukrainian territory. She went to where mass graves were dug to bury civilians killed in combat.
Russia expels 45 Polish diplomats
Russia announced this Friday, April 8 the expulsion of 45 Polish diplomats in retaliation for an equivalent measure decided at the end of March by Warsaw. “Due to the principle of reciprocity, 45 employees of the Polish embassy and its general consulates in Irkutsk, Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg have been declared persona non grata,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. These diplomats must leave Russia by April 13.
At the end of March, Poland announced that it was expelling “45 Russian spies posing as diplomats” as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This measure was for Moscow the proof of a “conscious will to permanently destroy the bilateral relations between the two countries.”
Biden thanks Slovakia for providing S-300 missile batteries to Ukraine
US President Joe Biden on Friday thanked Slovak authorities for providing Ukraine with an S-300 air defense system to help kyiv repel the Russian invasion, a donation made possible by sending of four Patriot missile defense batteries by NATO to Slovakia.
“As Russian forces reposition themselves for the next phase of this war, I have instructed my administration to continue to spare no effort to identify and provide the Ukrainian military with the modern weapons it needs to defend its country. “, he added in a press release.
Putin would aim for a victory for May 9
French President Emmanuel Macron estimated that Vladimir Putin was betting on a victory for the Russian army in the Donbass region for May 9, the anniversary date of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945. A key reference in the Putinian logic, since the master of the Kremlin sees himself as a new Stalin.