[EN DIRECT] The war in Ukraine at the heart of the Davos forum

► 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 war and the risks it poses to the recovery of the world economy will be at the heart of a meeting of the planet’s eliteswho meet from this Monday in Davos.

► The martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine have been extended for three months, until 23 August.

► Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Sunday in kyiv that he was determined to do everything possible to to help Ukraine become a member of the European Union.

► Ukraine will not agree to a ceasefire with Russia and will not accept no agreement with Moscow implying a ceding of territory, says a close friend of Volodymyr Zelensky. For its part, Russia says it is ready to relaunch the talks.

► The fighting escalates in the Donbass, in eastern Ukraine, with the Russian Defense Minister claiming that the conquest of the Luhansk region was almost complete. In this region, Sievierodonetsk and Lyssytchansk, now surrounded by Russian forces, constitute the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance.

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4:10 am: Volodymyr Zelensky expected in Davos

The Ukrainian president continues his videoconference tour with world leaders. Volodymyr Zelensky will speak this Monday before the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is meeting again in Davos after two years of suspension due to the pandemic. He should take advantage of this platform to call for more aid, financial and military.

04:05: More than 100 million uprooted people in the world

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed the number of uprooted people above 100 million for the first time, the United Nations warned on Monday. ” The number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights abuses and persecution passed the dizzying 100 million mark for the first time, driven by the war in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts “, writes the High Commissioner for Refugees in a press release.

04:00: A mayor appointed by Moscow injured in an explosion

The Moscow-installed mayor of Energodar, a city in southern Ukraine hosting Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, was injured in an explosion on Sunday (May 22nd), a Ukrainian official and Russian news agencies said. Andrei Shevtchik was appointed mayor of Energodar after Russian troops took control of this city and of the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant located on its territory. ” We have precise confirmation that during the explosion, Shevchik, the self-proclaimed leader of “the people’s administration”, and his bodyguards were injured “, announced on Telegram Dmytro Orlov, elected mayor of Energodar. The latter added that they were in the hospital ” with injuries of varying severity “, but the circumstances of the explosion remain to be clarified. There were no other injuries in the blast, he added.

Quoting a source from the emergency services, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti specified that Mr. Shevtchik is in intensive care. The explosion was caused by an “improvised explosive device”, according to the other Russian agency TASS, citing a source in the police force.

A city of nearly 50,000 inhabitants, Energodar was built in the 1970s around the nuclear power plant which is located on the Dnipr river opposite the city of Zaporijjia, held by the Ukrainians. The plant was the site of confrontation from the first days of the conflict, raising fears of a possible nuclear disaster in a country whose history is marked by the explosion of a reactor in Chernobyl in 1986.