VSn the weekend, the fighting continued to rage in Ukraine, and in particular in Bakhmout, the nerve center of the clashes. At the same time, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President was the surprise guest of the G7 in Japan. In Greece, the right has won the legislative elections according to exit polls. In France, the government is launching a public consultation on global warming. In Marseille, drug trafficking has still claimed victims: three people have died. On the sporting side, La Rochelle lifted the second Champions Cup in its history in rugby.
- Moscow claims to fully control Bakhmout, which kyiv denies
“On May 20, 2023, at noon, Bakhmout was taken in its entirety”. On Saturday, Yevgeny Prigojine, the boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, claimed the total capture of this epicenter city of fighting in eastern Ukraine, which has been going on since last summer, indicating that he controls “every centimeter”. “The operation to capture Bakhmout lasted 224 days […] There was only Wagner here,” he added, in a video posted on Telegram.
A little later in the evening, it was Moscow which claimed to have “liberated” Bakhmout. “As a result of the offensive actions of Wagner’s assault units, with the support of the artillery and aviation of the ‘South’ unit, the liberation of the city of Artemovsk is complete”, certified the Russian Defense Ministry, using the Soviet name of Bakhmout.
READ ALSOHow Wagner is looking to get out of the war in UkraineIf confirmed, it would allow Russia to post victory after a series of humiliating setbacks. But kyiv was quick to deny this information. By its president, initially: “Bakhmout is not occupied by Russia today”, declared Volodymyr Zelensky, without specifying his remarks.
Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, then clarified the situation, assuring that his troops no longer controlled an “insignificant” part of the city, but continued to advance on its flanks. For her part, Ganna Maliar, the Deputy Minister of Defense, indicated that the Ukrainian troops “have partially surrounded the city”.
- Volodymyr Zelensky, surprise guest of the G7 in Japan
On Saturday, the Ukrainian president arrived in Hiroshima, Japan, to participate in meetings with the G7 countries, but also with their guests, including Brazil and India. This visit allowed him to obtain new promises of military equipment as well as “unshakeable” diplomatic support from the G7 countries. “By inviting President Zelensky to Japan, we have shown the unwavering solidarity of the G7 with Ukraine,” said Fumio Kishida, Japanese Prime Minister.
The United States announced an additional military aid of 375 million dollars, in the form of ammunition, anti-tank missiles and armored vehicles in particular, a few days after having accepted that the Western countries holders of their F-16 planes deliver them to Ukraine. The Ukrainian head of state also scored points with Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, who promised him that India would do “everything possible” to resolve the conflict.
READ ALSOG7: leaders decide on new sanctions against RussiaThe only black spot of the weekend for Volodymyr Zelensky is the missed meeting with Lula, the Brazilian president, because of their respective overloaded agendas.
- In Greece, the conservatives win the legislative elections
The Greeks were called to the polls this Sunday to renew the 300 deputies of Parliament. The first polls carried out confirm the predictions: the outgoing Prime Minister’s right-wing party would come out on top, winning between 36 and 40% of the votes. Behind New Democracy comes the left-wing party Syriza of the former head of government, Alexis Tsipras (between 25 and 29%) then the socialist party Pasok-Kinal (between 9.5 and 12.5%).
If these results were to be confirmed, Kyriakos Mitsotakis could find it difficult to form a stable government for lack of an absolute majority, the latter having ruled out any alliance, in a country whose political culture is not based on compromise. For his part, Alexis Tsipras made appeals to the leader of the Pasok-Kinal socialist party, Nikos Androulakis, for an alliance, but the latter made demands.
READ ALSOGreece: Mitsotakis conservatives lead in legislative electionsIf it is impossible to form a government in the next two weeks, which many analysts predict, a new election will have to be called and should be held at the end of June or the beginning of July. The winner of this second ballot would then benefit from a bonus of up to 50 seats likely to give him a stable majority.
- A consultation to adapt to a warming of 4°C
“The global reality of global warming is essential […] we must therefore prepare concretely for its inevitable effects on our territory and on our lives. This is why we want to give our country a clear trajectory in terms of adaptation” in order to “build a model of resilience as close as possible to the realities on the ground and to avoid mal-adaptation”, launched Christophe Béchu, Minister for Ecological Transition.
To do this, it will launch a public consultation on Tuesday to define the reference warming trajectory for the adaptation of France. Supposed to run until the end of the summer, it will be used to define the next French adaptation plan to climate change, expected by the end of the year.
READ ALSOClimate: the government’s plan to adapt to + 4°CThe government wants to provide for a “more pessimistic scenario” than that concluded during the Paris agreement, aimed at limiting global warming to 2°C. But since France is already at + 1.7°C, new objectives should be set in order to correspond “to the probable trend in the absence of additional measures”, in which global warming would be 3°C, and therefore 4°C in mainland France.
- In Marseille, three dead in a shooting
Shortly after 5 a.m., people driving by car opened fire with Kalashnikovs on another vehicle in which there were five men, in a rather residential area of the XIe district of Marseille, we said from a police source. The victims had left a nightclub shortly before and had driven several hundred meters when their car was targeted.
Three of the men targeted, aged in their twenties, were fatally injured, the fire doctor noting their deaths on the spot. The other two were not injured and one of them fled, the other remaining at the scene. The investigation was handed over to the federal police.
READ ALSOMarseille: three young men shot deadThe attackers’ car was found burned down shortly after. It is “a modus operandi that we know well in drug trafficking”, declared Frédérique Camilleri, the police chief of Bouches-du-Rhône. She added that “among the occupants of the car [visée] three were known to the police for drug trafficking and came from a city which is known for drug trafficking”.
According to an AFP count, this new attack brings the toll of violence against a background of drug trafficking to 21 dead since the beginning of the year, with 19 shot dead, one lynched to death and one found in the trunk of a burned car, presumably shot dead.
- La Rochelle once again on the roof of Europe
It is a capital performance that the rugby players of La Rochelle achieved on Saturday. For the second consecutive year, they won the Champions Cup, Europe’s biggest competition, again against Leinster (27-26).
The match had however started very badly for the French: they were trailing 17-0 after 12 minutes of play. This final could have turned into a correction. “I looked the guys in the eye and saw that they weren’t worried,” admitted iconic second row Romain Sazy. History proved him right.
Because the second period will be entirely yellow and black. The test of Colombre and the transformation of Hastoy in the 72nd is a deliverance for the Rochelais, who then take a small point in advance. Despite the last Irish waves, the defense was impassable until the final whistle, delivering an entire city.
But the season is far from over for La Rochelle, which is now on a quest for the Top 14 in order to add a new line to its list. READ ALSOChampions Cup: feat of La Rochelle, which retains its title against Leinster