Eyes turn again to Zaporijjia. The nuclear safety of the Ukrainian power plant (south-east) is in a “precarious state”, alerted, Wednesday March 22, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in a communicated.
On the ground, the Russian attacks continue. At least eight people were killed overnight in a drone attack on Rzhyshchiv in the Kyiv region, regional police chief Andrii Nebytov said.
Ukrainian crews trained in ground-to-air defense in France
Ukrainian airmen are being trained in France in ground-to-air defense as well as survival in the event of ejection in hostile terrain, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces announced on Thursday. “We are training Ukrainian crews in France, in particular in ground-to-air defense and survival in the event that their aircraft is shot down”, detailed the deputy delegate for information and defense communication, General Yann Gravethe, during a weekly press briefing.
On the other hand, “we do not train Ukrainian pilots, neither in piloting nor in the use of weapons systems”, he specified, thus denying information from the Figaro reporting on the training on Mirage 2000 of Ukrainian pilots on French soil.
Ukraine wants to “take advantage” of Russian fatigue
Ukraine said on Thursday it expects “very soon to take advantage” of Russian fatigue in Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting in the east of the country and where Russian forces, with the paramilitary group Wagner in the front line, have suffered significant losses. . “The aggressor does not despair of taking Bakhmout at all costs, despite the losses in men and equipment,” Ukrainian ground forces commander Oleksandre Syrsky said on Telegram.
The Russian troops mobilized en masse in and around Bakhmout “are losing considerable strength and are becoming exhausted”, he assured.
Zaporizhia: the safety of the nuclear power plant in a “precarious” state
The nuclear safety of the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporizhia (southeast) is in a “precarious state”, warned the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in a press release. . According to the organization, the “last emergency power line” of the plant, damaged since March 1, remains “disconnected and under repair”. However, it allows it as a last resort to ensure nuclear safety and security, in particular by cooling its reactors.
The plant has relied on electricity from a single main external 750 kV line for three weeks, and “any damage (to this line) will result in the total loss of all offsite power to the plant”. “Nuclear safety within the (plant) remains in a precarious state,” said Rafael Grossi. “I once again call on all parties to commit to ensuring nuclear safety and protecting the security of the plant.” On March 9, the gigantic power station, occupied by the Russian army, had been cut off from the Ukrainian electricity network for 11 hours after a Russian strike.
Zelensky, near Bakhmout, promises military victory
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Wednesday near Bakhmout, epicenter of the front and symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the east of the country, where he promised a military victory over “terrorist” Russia, the day after a call for peace launched without convincing from Moscow by the Chinese head of state Xi Jinping. The declarations of the Ukrainian president, who came to reinforce his troops as close as possible to the fighting near Bakhmout, then in Kharkiv, a large city in the northeast, followed new deadly strikes by the Russian army.
These claimed the lives of at least eight civilians in the Kiev region, and hit a residential building in Zaporijjia (center-east) head-on, killing at least one person and injuring dozens. “We will definitely respond […] to all attacks on our cities,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message. “Here in the Donbass, in the Kharkiv region, wherever the Russian Evil has come, it is obvious that this terrorist state cannot be stopped. other than by our victory,” he added.
Washington rejects Moscow complaints over delivery of depleted uranium shells to kyiv
The United States rejected the complaints of Russia, which criticized the announcement, by Great Britain, of the imminent delivery of ammunition containing depleted uranium to Ukraine. Moscow had judged that such a choice would represent a “serious aggravation” of the conflict, threatening to “replicate”. John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, called the Russian arguments “misleading”.
These shells, effective against tanks and armored vehicles, “are not radioactive”, and “do not even approach” the category of nuclear weapons, he added. “It’s a common type of ammunition, used particularly for its armor-piercing ability,” said John Kirby, warning that if Moscow “is worried about its tanks and the soldiers operating them,” they can “just cross the border to bring them back to Russia”. The United States is by far the largest source of military aid to Ukraine, but does not provide depleted uranium, said John Kirby.
Belarusian opponent Tikhanovskaya urges her country to break ties with Moscow
Belarusian opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, traveling to Washington on Wednesday, urged her country to sever relations with its “colonialist” Russian neighbor. “It is time to oppose Russian interference in the internal affairs of Belarus,” she pleaded during a press conference in Congress. Moscow “supports the illegitimate regime” and “carries out colonialist actions”, accused the 40-year-old opponent, who had run for president in 2020 against Alexander Lukashenko, the strong man of the country, in power for three decades .
Forced into exile, she is now the face of democratic forces in Belarus and the enemy of a regime whose brutal abuses she tirelessly denounces. From Washington, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa called on the Belarusians to break their “close relations with the Russian aggressor”. “The military aggressor freely uses our territory, our airspace to attack and threaten Ukraine”, she regretted, calling on the Russian army to “totally withdraw from Belarus”.
Deadly Russian strikes: Ukraine “will respond to all attacks” from Moscow
Ukraine “will respond to all Russian attacks”, launched Volodymyr Zelensky, after a Moscow drone attack that killed at least seven people in the Kiev region, and a strike against a building in Zaporijjia (center-east) .
“We will definitely respond to the occupier to all attacks against our cities […] All Russian strikes will receive a military, political and legal response,” he said in his daily speech, after a trip near Bakhmout, on the front, then in Kharkiv (northeast).