A new “massive” Russian air attack in Ukraine left at least five dead and around forty injured on Wednesday. These Russian strikes notably targeted kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, where debris from a downed missile fell on a residential building, killing four people and injuring forty. An attack in Mykolaiv (south) left one dead and destroyed the roofs of around twenty houses.
“We will respond to every missile, every (Iranian-made explosive drone) Shahed,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily video message, sending condolences to the families of the victims.
Information to remember
⇒ Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin will be broadcast this Thursday
⇒ The security of Ukraine is also that of Europe, recalls Josep Borrell in kyiv
⇒ Two Russians sentenced for trying to join or recruit for the Ukrainian army
Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin broadcast this Thursday
The interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin by American presenter Tucker Carlson, close to Donald Trump, will be broadcast this Thursday on his site, this former television star announced Wednesday on his Instagram account. The interview will be published at 6 p.m. Washington time (11 p.m. GMT and midnight French time), he said in a black and white post, on which the faces of the two men are displayed.
Tucker Carlson, a close friend of Donald Trump who was a long-time star host on the Fox News channel, recently traveled to Moscow for the first interview given by Vladimir Putin to a Western journalist since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The controversial but very famous host in the United States was recently fired from Fox News and has since hosted a show rebroadcast on X (formerly Twitter). The visit of the American presenter, who has repeatedly criticized American support for Ukraine in recent months, was extensively covered by Russian state media.
The White House said Wednesday that this new interview with Vladimir Putin was not necessary to understand the “brutality” of the Russian president. “What Vladimir Putin did in Ukraine should be obvious to everyone, just as (should be) the fictitious and ridiculous reasons with which he tries to justify” his action, a spokesperson for the American executive, John Kirby.
Josep Borrell faces Ukrainians’ impatience with ammunition in kyiv
“Ammunition, we need ammunition!” This is a pressing reminder that the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell was able to hear during each of the interviews he had on Tuesday and Wednesday in kyiv. Europe has already provided some 28 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine in almost two years, he stressed to his Ukrainian interlocutors. But, pressed for questions, he also agreed that the Europeans’ promise to deliver a million shells by the end of March cannot be kept.
For months, the Ukrainian authorities have been demanding rapid deliveries of ammunition, essential for their army to resist Russian assaults. Volodymyr Zelensky “asked for more ammunition, drones and air defense systems”, Josep Borrell admitted on Wednesday on X (ex-Twitter), after his interview with the Ukrainian president. His Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kouleba did not say anything else, urging the European Union to quickly “increase” its deliveries of artillery shells, during a press conference alongside Josep Borrell. “We feel this shortage of ammunition every day,” recalled Dmytro Kouleba.
Ukraine’s security is also that of Europe, recalls Josep Borrell
In an interview with AFP, Josep Borell also recalled that Ukraine’s security is also that of Europe. Asked about the risks of weariness in Europe and the United States after almost two years of war, the head of European diplomacy affirmed that “Europe must understand that the war in Ukraine also concerns its own security.”
“It is also our security that is at stake. It is not only because the Ukrainians are our friends, but because the security of Europe is at stake here,” he stressed.
Experts fear end of US and NATO aid if Trump is re-elected
Stoppage of American aid to Ukraine, “collapse” of NATO and weakening of the “leadership” of the United States: American diplomats and experts, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are alarmed of the consequences of a re-election of Donald Trump next November.
Under the aegis of the unsuccessful 2016 presidential candidate facing Donald Trump, Columbia University in New York – where Hillary Clinton now teaches international relations – held a conference on Wednesday on “the future of Ukraine” after almost two years of war against Russia. “We are at a pivotal moment, not only for Ukraine, but also for the West and for NATO,” warned the former head of American diplomacy (2009-2013) whose mandate ended had corresponded to the start of a deterioration in American-Russian relations after the re-election in 2012 of President Vladimir Putin.
For the former senator from New York, “the way in which we, the United States, react or fail to react will have an immeasurable impact on the world order of the 21st century.” Washington is kyiv’s main military supporter with more than 110 billion already released by Congress, but the world’s leading power has failed for months to vote for new funds for Ukraine.
Two Russians sentenced for trying to join or recruit for the Ukrainian army
Two Russian citizens were sentenced Wednesday to several years in prison for “treason”, accused of having sought to integrate or recruit for the Ukrainian army, cases of this type are increasing in the country.
Andrei Vassiurenko, a student at a maritime university in Karelia, northwest Russia, was sentenced to 9 years in prison on various charges including “terrorist activities” and “incitement to treason”, the agency reported state press Ria Novosti. According to the agency, he was placed in detention in March 2023 after launching “calls to join the ranks of the Ukrainian army to participate in hostilities”.
Beslan Tsechoyev was sentenced to five years in prison by a court in Ingushetia, a Russian republic in the Caucasus, for “trying to join the Ukrainian armed forces” and for “arms trafficking”, Ria Novosti reported. Few details are known about these trials, as well as other “treason” cases that have multiplied since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, because they are taking place behind closed doors.