A Russian bombing on the Ukrainian town in the Donetsk region, in the east of the country, left at least two dead and two injured this Friday, a local official said. A new attack as Russia has increased bombings in recent weeks in urban areas, in particular to destroy essential infrastructure and damage the electricity and railway network, killing many civilians. Russian forces are also gaining ground in the area of the former fortress town of Avdiïvka, conquered in February, while Ukraine is awaiting the increase in American aid.
Information to remember
⇒ The Kremlin responds to Macron on sending ground troops
⇒ Two dead in eastern Ukraine
⇒ 150,000 Russian soldiers killed, according to Paris
The Kremlin responds to Macron
The Kremlin on Friday judged “very dangerous” the comments of French President Emmanuel Macron who reaffirmed his controversial position on the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine.
“France, in the person of the French head of state, continues to constantly raise the possibility of its direct engagement on the ground in the conflict around Ukraine. This is a very dangerous trend,” he said. the press the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov.
Two dead in Russian bombing
A Russian bombing on the Ukrainian town of Kurakhove, in the Donetsk region, in the east of the country, left at least two dead and two injured this Friday, a local official said.
Russia has increased bombings in recent weeks in urban areas, particularly to destroy essential infrastructure and damage the electricity and rail networks, killing many civilians. “The central part of the city was hit, several buildings were damaged. Two people were injured, two others were killed,” wrote the head of the Kurakhove military administration, Roman Padoun, on Facebook.
150,000 Russian soldiers killed, according to Paris
Nearly 150,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the start of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to French estimates communicated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in an interview published Friday in the European edition of the Russian newspaper independent Novaya Gazeta.
“Russia’s military failure is already here. We estimate Russian military losses at 500,000, including 150,000 deaths,” declared Stéphane Séjourné. “Why all this? It can be summed up in two words: for nothing,” he added. The estimate of the number of Russian deaths is slightly lower than that revealed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last February, when he reported 180,000 Russian soldiers having died in two years of war.
UK wants to raise more funds
The head of British diplomacy David Cameron visited Kiev this Thursday and announced the United Kingdom’s intention to bring together its partners next month to raise funds to meet Ukraine’s military needs, announced his services. His visit comes just over a week after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced an additional aid of 500 million pounds sterling (584 million euros) to reach three billion pounds a year (3.5 billion euros). ‘euros), as well as the supply of new ammunition.
These include precision-guided bombs, air defense missiles and equipment for 100 mobile air defense teams to enable Ukraine to shoot down Russian drones and missiles, according to British diplomacy. In kyiv, the head of British diplomacy notably met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Denys Chmygal and his counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, according to the British Foreign Office.
NATO condemns Moscow’s “malicious activities”
NATO countries said this Thursday that they were “deeply concerned by the malicious activities” of Russia “recently carried out on the territory of the Alliance”, while assuring that these will not “dissuade them from continuing to support Ukraine.”
In a statement, the Allies denounced “hostile state activities affecting Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom.” “The incidents in question are part of the intensification of activities that Russia is carrying out throughout the Euro-Atlantic area, and in particular on the territory of the Alliance, using intermediaries” .
“These are acts of sabotage, acts of violence, cyber activities, electronic disruptions, disinformation campaigns and other hybrid activities,” they detail, adding that these “hybrid activities […] constitute a threat” to their security.