The gaze of the international community remains on the east. Moscow exhibits, Monday, May 9, its army to celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, a show of force in order to galvanize its troops struggling in Ukraine, where sixty civilians perished according to kyiv in the bombing of a school . Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is due to deliver a long-awaited speech, will have the opportunity to send new warnings after repeatedly brandishing the nuclear threat.
However, Russia has so far only been able to claim complete control of one major city, Kherson (south), and the military offensive that many experts predicted as dazzling has been marked by disappointments, in particular logistics.
- School bombed in eastern Ukraine kills 60
Sixty people were killed in the bombing of a school in the Lugansk region of eastern Ukraine on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday. “Just yesterday, in the village of Bilogorivka, in the Lugansk region, a Russian bomb killed 60 civilians,” said Volodymyr Zelensky during a videoconference intervention at a G7 summit.
On Sunday morning, the governor of the Lugansk region, Serguiï Gaïdaï had reported that “there were a total of 90 people” on the spot at the time of the strike. “27 were saved,” he added, adding that the temperature had been very high on the site after the explosion. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is “horrified” by the bombardment and has called for civilians to be spared, his spokesman said on Sunday.
- Russia prepares for its May 9 parade
Russia celebrates this Monday the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, which will be the occasion for a show of force in the middle of the campaign of Ukraine to the penalty. In recent years, President Vladimir Putin has used this parade to show off the might of his army, sometimes unveiling new state-of-the-art weapons. And this edition should be no exception to the rule.
While this parade is usually followed closely by Western capitals, the Russian despot will have a new opportunity to send warnings, while Moscow has repeatedly brandished the nuclear threat. This date could mark an important turning point in the Ukrainian conflict, the Russian president having at heart to declare a victory or significant progress in Ukraine.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, “The plane of the Apocalypse”, an Ilyushin Il-80 specially designed to allow the Russian president to continue to fly the country from the air in the event of nuclear war, will fly over Red Square, in Moscow. In the Russian capital, the departure of the military procession is scheduled for 10 a.m. local time (9 a.m. in France), it has already set off elsewhere. Several weapons that can fire nuclear missiles, such as the Iars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic system and the shorter-range Iskander system, will also be paraded.
- The G7 ready, in principle, to wean off Russian oil
The G7 nations, which on Sunday accused Vladimir Putin of ‘shaming’ Russia with its actions in Ukraine, have pledged to wean themselves off the russian oilbut without giving a specific timetable. “The entire G7 today pledged to ban or phase out imports of Russian oil,” the White House said in a statement on Sunday.
This decision “will deal a blow to the main artery irrigating the economy of (Vladimir) Putin and deprive him of the income he needs to finance his war” against Ukraine, says the American executive. The G7 held its third meeting of the year by videoconference on Sunday, with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It lasted a little over an hour, according to the Americans.
- Zelensky accuses Russia of having “forgotten everything that was important for the victors” of 1945
“Russia has forgotten everything that was important to the victors of World War II,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Sunday, on the eve of commemorations in Russia on May 9 celebrating the victory over Nazi Germany.
The Head of State castigated in a video message on Sunday evening “heavy bombings” in several Ukrainian regions, including one that led to the death of 60 people in a school in the east, “as if it were not the 8 May today, as if tomorrow was not the 9th, when the key word should be peace for all normal people”.
- UK imposes new trade sanctions against Russia
The British government on Sunday announced a new round of trade sanctions against Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine, including export bans on Russian industry and higher tariffs, including on the palladium. “This significant sanctions package will inflict even more damage on the Russian war machine,” International Trade Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in a statement.
- US First Lady Jill Biden visits Ukraine
US First Lady Jill Biden visited Ukraine on Sunday for a brief surprise visit, her spokesperson said, and met with her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelenska at a school near the Slovakian border. .
“I wanted to come for Mother’s Day. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war must stop,” she told reporters, saying that “the American people stand by their side of the Ukrainian people”. Jill Biden was in Slovakia this week, including meeting with Ukrainian refugee families, and her foray into Ukraine had been kept secret until the last moment.