On the 22nd day of the invasion of Ukraine, Thursday March 17, seven Western countries including France, the United States and the United Kingdom called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, accusing Russia’s war crimes “. Joe Biden, the US President, called Vladimir Putin “a war criminal “, while an air strike hit a theater that housed civilians in Mariupol, according to the town hall.
► The site of the Russian editorial staff of RFI broadcasts Ukrainian public radio (in the Ukrainian language) from the home page.
Article updated regularly, click on this link to refresh.
The main points:
► seven western countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, Albania, France, Norway and Ireland) request a emergency meeting of the UN Security Council Thursday afternoon on Ukraine due to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country.
► Vladimir Putinthe Russian President, is a war criminal according to Joe Biden, the American president. The Kremlin judges these remarks unacceptable and unforgivable “.
► The Ukrainian authorities accuse the Russian army of having bombed the Mariupol Drama Theaterbesieged city, while ” more than a thousand people had taken refuge there. ” We will never forgive this “, assures the municipality on Telegram. The human toll is still undetermined.
► In a video address to the US Congress on Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky called on the US President to ” be the leader of the world “. Joe Biden announced new military aid of $800 million, including drones so that Ukraine can deal with Russian forces.
► Wednesday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest UN court, ordered Russia to suspend its invasion from Ukraine.
► The Council of Europe has officially excluded Russia because of its war launched against Ukraine.
Times are given in Universal Time (UT)
04:10: in Poland, the Ukrainian community is mobilizing to send bulletproof vests to Ukraine
In the historic center of Krakow, Café Nic is run by young Ukrainians. Since the start of the war, it has become an unmissable meeting place for those who want to help the people of Ukraine. With the money collected, the managers of the café decided to buy military equipment and send it to the front, explains Alexander, one of the managers, to our special correspondent Murielle Paradon:
” Most associations in Krakow wanted to deal with Ukrainian refugees in one way or another. We like ona colleagues who work in the army and who know the materialThere, we thought we could take care of that. But of course, it’s harder to buy body armor than baby diapers! »
Alexander and his friends went on the hunt for bulletproof vests on the internet and bought them in specialized shops in Poland, then abroad, because equipment has become scarce. They then had to be transported to Ukraine. Nadia, one of the managers of Café Nic, explains: “ Our organization takes care of the logistics, we have contacts on site, we have to fill out a lot of paperwork. But today, we are on our 16th truck convoy for Ukraine. »
This military equipment has become more and more expensive according to Nadia. They are funded by private donations from all over Europe.
2:50 a.m.: “ Over a thousand people were sheltering in the bombed theater, according to a local Mariupol official
Ukrainian authorities said Russia on Wednesday destroyed a theater in which more than a thousand people had taken refuge in the besieged city of Mariupol. ” We will never forgive this “, said the municipality on Telegram messaging. The human toll of this attack remains, at this stage, undetermined.
01:45: portrait of Diana Khalilova, Ukrainian born in Russia
Many Ukrainians have part of their family in Russia. And since the start of the war, they have been trying to bypass the Russian propaganda machine to show what is really going on in Ukraine. This is the case of Diana Khalilova. Clea Broadhurst and Jad El Khoury met her in Odessa, southern Ukraine.
Diana Khalilova was born in the Russian Federated Republic of Dagestan but has always lived in Ukraine. Much of his family still lives in Russia today. Since 2014, she has taken a radically different look at Moscow.
” Since 2014, I realized that I had nothing in common with the Russiansbecause I started to think a lot about the history of Russia, of this empire used to taking more and more lands, such as the oblasts of Donetsk and Lugansk as well as Crimea. »
She tried to explain to her family in Russia what was really going on in Ukraine, but she was greeted with skepticism : “ I sent my cousin an article about what happened at the maternity ward in Mariupol, saying to him: “Do you see what the Russians are doing to civilians, to pregnant women, here?”. But Russian propaganda repeats that this story is completely false, that it is theater. And he believes it! »
This categorical denial of what happened in Mariupol convinced him to break contact with the rest of his family: They don’t care if I’m okay or not, not a single message. I’ve already blocked some of them, right from the start. I cut all ties with them because it takes too much energy, I can’t counter this propaganda. »
More than ever, today, Diana feels Ukrainian.
00:40 : “ We want peace. Peace for the people of Ukraine. Peace for the world. We need peace now. These are the words of Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations.
00:30 : the United Kingdom, the United States, Albania, France, Norway and Ireland requested late Wednesday evening a emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday afternoon on Ukraine due to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country, we learned on Wednesday from diplomatic sources. ” Ihe Russia commits war crimes and targets civilians “, Estimated the British diplomatic mission to the United Nations on its Twitter account. ” Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine is a danger to all of us she added, calling for an emergency meeting.
