UKRAINE. Russian invasion intensifies in eastern Ukraine. As an attack on Dombass, a Kremlin priority, is imminent, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister called on the population to evacuate “now”. In France, the Russian ambassador is summoned following a controversial tweet and is accused of relaying false information.
The Russian ambassador to France summoned by Jean-Yves Le Drian after a controversial tweet
April 7 at 11:20 a.m. On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the Russian Embassy in France split a new controversial and provocative tweet, since deleted, comparing the massacre of civilians perpetrated in the city of Boutcha, to a film set. We can see several journalists, some of them taking a picture of a cat lost in the middle of the rubble, with the carcass of an armored vehicle in the background.
“Faced with the indecency and the provocation of the communication of the Russian embassy in France on the abuses of Bucha”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian indicated, this Thursday, that he was going to convene the Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov. He also specified that France will continue “to fight against all Russian manipulation of information on the war in Ukraine”.
Faced with the indecency and provocation of the communication from the Russian Embassy in France on Bucha’s abuses, I decided to summon the Russian Ambassador to the Quai d’Orsay this morning.
— Jean-Yves Le Drian (@JY_LeDrian) April 7, 2022
At the UN, the Russian ambassador had already evoked a “staging” of the Ukrainians to evoke the corpses discovered in the streets of Boutcha, in the suburbs of kyiv. On Monday, France dismissed 35 Russian diplomats based in Paris, “whose activities are contrary to our security interests”, as the Quai d’Orsay had indicated.
kyiv calls on residents of eastern Ukraine to evacuate ‘now’
April 6 at 5:02 p.m. kyiv on Wednesday called on residents of eastern Ukraine to evacuate the region “now”, amid fears of a major and deadly offensive by the Russian army on Dombass, now the Kremlin’s priority target. , is becoming stronger. The regional authorities “call on the population to leave these territories and do everything to ensure that the evacuations take place in an organized manner”, declared Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, quoted by the Ministry of Integration on Telegram. She added that it had to be done “now” or risk “death” in the coming days.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that the Russian army was strengthening itself to “take control of the whole of Dombass” and achieve “a land bridge with Crimea”, a region annexed by Russia in 2014.
The international community will initiate new sanctions against Russia
The Dutch customs authorities have already immobilized fourteen yachts in shipyards, including twelve under construction and two in maintenance. After France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Spain, Greece decided to expel twelve of the Russian diplomats. The United States also plans to adopt new sanctions on Wednesday, in coordination with the European Union and the G7, aimed in particular at prohibiting “all new investment” in Russia. In addition, through its Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the United States has declared that it will provide additional security assistance of 100 million dollars (91.8 million euros) to Ukraine. , which will notably include anti-tank systems.
Volodymyr Zelensky before the UN
April 5 at 5:36 p.m. As the bombardments continue in southern and eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Tuesday 5 April before the UN Security Council, meeting in New York, after the global shock wave caused by the discovery of many corpses of civilians in the city of Boutcha, where Ukraine accuses Russia of massacre. The Ukrainian president returned to the various abuses committed in Boutcha: “The Russians committed summary executions there, shot women, tortured, all for pleasure”. He described “civilians being tortured and killed at point-blank range in the streets”, others “had their tongues torn out”, “parents saw their children die, parents were killed in front of their children”, he said. – he added, still before the UN Security Council. “Mass massacres have become the signature of the Russians”, lamented Volodymyr Zelensky, considering that “the worst crimes since the end of the Second World War”.
The Ukrainian president directly attacked the UN Security Council: “Where is the Security Council, where is the peace in the name of which the UN was created? This organization is supposed to fulfill its function, stop the aggressors” he launched, “The UN today authorizes this aggressor to propagate death” he added. Volodymyr Zelensky has called on UN members to hold Russia “responsible” for “war crimes” in Ukraine.
French justice opens three investigations for “war crimes” in Ukraine
April 5 at 3:02 p.m. As war continues to rage in Ukraine and the shock wave of the Boutcha massacre continues to shake the world. This Tuesday, the French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) announced the opening of three new investigations for “war crimes”. The facts referred to have allegedly been committed against French nationals in Ukraine, since the invasion by Russia. They took place in Mariupol, in the south of Ukraine between February 25 and March 16, in Gostomel, in the kyiv region between March 1 and 12 and Cherniguiv, in the north of the country, from March 24 February, said the PNAT. An investigation had already opened after the death of Pierre Zakrzewski, a Franco-Irish journalist, on March 14 near the Ukrainian capital.
The PNAT specifies that in application of the legal provisions, the jurisdiction of the French courts may be retained if war crimes have been committed outside the national territory by a French perpetrator, to the detriment of a French victim or by a perpetrator having his habitual residence in the national territory.
Since the start of the conflict, maps have played a key role in understanding the Russian military operation and in monitoring the situation in Ukraine live. Several press agencies, but also specialized institutes and French, Ukrainian and international media, offer maps and graphics updated daily. Some of these maps provide real-time tracking of the latest events, others focus on the major events of the past 24 hours.