8:45 am: Reopening of humanitarian evacuation corridors after a suspension
Ukraine on Thursday announced a resumption of evacuations of civilians via nine humanitarian corridors, including from the besieged city of Mariupol in the south-east of the country, after a day of suspension due according to kyiv to Russian violations of the ceasefire. . “Nine humanitarian corridors are planned today,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.
8:26 a.m .: Australia tightens sanctions on Russia after another British salvo on Wednesday
Fourteen Russian public companies are targeted by sanctions imposed by Australia on Thursday, in order to reduce Russia’s ability to “continue to finance Putin’s war”, according to the press release from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne. “The Australian Government reiterates its unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for the people of Ukraine. We again call on Russia to immediately withdraw its military forces from Ukraine,” she wrote.
The United Kingdom announced Thursday to expand the list of people sanctioned to include 178 pro-Russian separatists, new Russian oligarchs and their relatives, as well as the wife of the head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov. The authorities of Jersey, a dependency of the British crown, have announced the freezing of “assets estimated at more than 7 billion dollars suspected of being linked” to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Moscow announced for its part to sanction 398 American parliamentarians as a reprisal measure.
7:50 am: “War crimes” in Ukraine, says Marine Le Pen
Guest of the 4 Truths on France 2, Thursday morning, Marine Le Pen spoke of “war crimes” in Ukraine. “I consider that these are war crimes from the moment civilians are thus murdered. I immediately requested a UN investigation into those responsible for these horrors,” she said. “I think those who are guilty of this should be removed from the Council of Nations. »
The presidential candidate returned to “the need, in the future, to try to ensure that NATO resumes contact with Russia when a peace treaty has been found”.
1,932 civilians killed
More than a month and a half after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russians on February 24, the human toll is difficult to establish. But according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 1,932 civilians have died since the start of the war, including around 500 men, 300 women, and 85 children. The report counts 2,589 injured.
7:08 am: Charges of genocide “unacceptable” for the Kremlin
The Kremlin on Wednesday deemed it “unacceptable” that US President Joe Biden accuses his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of “genocide” in Ukraine. “Our disagreement is categorical and we consider such attempts to distort reality to be unacceptable, especially since they come from the President of the United States, a country whose actions in recent history are well known”, commented Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also spoke on Wednesday of a “genocide” in Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron refused to denounce a “genocide” in Ukraine by the Russian army. A position deemed “very hurtful” by Volodymyr Zelensky.
6:35 am: Washington promises massive new military aid to Ukraine
The US president on Wednesday announced $800 million in new military aid to Ukraine, including heavy equipment. According to the Pentagon spokesman, these include the latest generation artillery pieces used until recently by the American army in Afghanistan. The list of equipment includes 40,000 shells, 10 mobile anti-artillery radars, two anti-aircraft radars, 300 “kamikaze” drones, 500 missiles and “thousands of other anti-tank systems”, in addition to 200 armored transport vehicles of troops and 100 light armored vehicles.
6:18 am: Tension between kyiv and Berlin, Olaf Scholz does not go to Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that he was not considering going to kyiv at this stage as requested by the Ukrainian president.
This invitation comes against a backdrop of tensions between Germany and Ukraine, after Volodymyr Zelensky’s refusal on Tuesday to receive German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, criticized for his diplomacy of rapprochement with Russia when he was Minister of Angela Merkel. kyiv did not receive an “official” request from Berlin for a visit by Mr. Steinmeier, Mr. Zelensky later said.
When asked by public radio RBB whether he would go there, the German chancellor merely reiterated that he was in regular contact with the Ukrainian head of state and that he was also went to kyiv shortly before the outbreak of the Russian invasion on February 24, suggesting that a visit was not on the agenda.
6:09 am: Ukraine, “a crime scene” for the International Criminal Court
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the Briton Karim Khan, described Wednesday Ukraine as a “crime scene”, during a visit to Boutcha, near kyiv.
“Ukraine is a crime scene. We are here because we have good reason to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court are being committed,” he said during a visit to this city where hundreds of civilians, according to the Ukrainian authorities. , were found dead after the Russian occupation.
Polish President Andrzej Duda, visiting kyiv, said on Wednesday that Russia was not waging a simple war in Ukraine but was guilty of “terrorism” and “cruelty”.
5:50 am: Russian cruiser Moskva ‘badly damaged’ after missile fire, Ukrainians say
Russia’s Moskva missile cruiser, flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, was ‘severely damaged’ by an ammunition explosion caused by fire, Russian state agencies reported on Thursday, citing the Defense Ministry . Ukrainian authorities said Wednesday evening that missile fire had caused the fire. “Neptune missiles protecting the Black Sea have caused significant damage to this Russian ship,” said Ukrainian governor of the Odessa region, Maxim Marchenko. “He burns with intensity. And with this rough sea, it is impossible to know when they will be able to receive help, ”explained an adviser to the Ukrainian president, Oleksiï Arestovitch.
The Moskva was commissioned from the time of the Soviet Union in 1983 and participated in the Russian intervention in Syria from 2015. In the early days of the invasion of Ukraine, it took part in a attack on Serpents’ Island, near the Romanian border, during which 19 Ukrainian sailors were captured to be later exchanged for Russian prisoners.
This is one of the biggest material setbacks suffered by Russia since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
For NATO, “the question of accepting the membership of Finland and Sweden does not even arise”
With the Russian offensive in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland, historically neutral, are now considering joining the Atlantic Alliance. Their candidacy could arrive by the summer, before the exceptional NATO summit scheduled for June 20 and 30 in Madrid.
All the details to read here in our article.
5:48 am: Washington reaffirms that Russia wants to “destroy Ukraine and its civilian population”
American diplomacy on Wednesday evening justified Joe Biden’s accusation of “genocide” against Russia on Tuesday, saying that Russian forces wanted to “destroy Ukraine and its civilian population”.
“I think once we can get all the evidence together, we’re going to end up coming to the same conclusion as President Biden, because what’s happening on the ground is not an accident,” he said. CNN channel number three in American diplomacy, Victoria Nuland. “It is an intentional decision by Russia and its forces to destroy Ukraine and its civilian population,” she added.
A “genocide” according to Biden, not according to Macron: what exactly are we talking about?
The American president has twice denounced a Ukrainian “genocide” by the Russians on Tuesday evening. Asked about the question, Emmanuel Macron refused this qualification, saying he wanted to “be careful with the terms” while denouncing war crimes. So many terms which, in principle, correspond to a precise definition.
Decryption here in our article.
5:46 a.m .: Moscow threatens to strike “command centers” in kyiv
The Russian army on Wednesday threatened to strike command centers in the Ukrainian capital kyiv, which Moscow has given up for the time being, accusing Ukraine of shooting and sabotage on Russian territory.
“We see attempts of sabotage and strikes by Ukrainian forces on targets on the territory of the Russian Federation. If such events continue, strikes will be carried out by the Russian military on decision-making centers, including in kyiv, which the Russian military has refrained from doing so far,” Igor said. Konashenkov, the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry.
What to remember from Wednesday
• France has delivered more than 100 million euros of military equipment to Ukraine since the start of the conflict.
• The leader of the pro-Russian separatists in Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine, claimed that his troops now controlled “80 to 90%” of this Ukrainian region.
• Russia has announced that US and NATO arms convoys are “legitimate military targets”.
• Finland will take its decision “within a few weeks” on a possible candidacy for NATO as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
• The Russians announced the surrender of 1,026 Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol, which the mayor of the city denied.
• The bodies of more than 1,500 Russian soldiers, whom “nobody wants to recover”, rest in Dnipro, according to the deputy mayor of the city.
• Joe Biden accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of perpetrating a “genocide” in Ukraine, which Emmanuel Macron refused to do on Wednesday. Ukrainian President Zelensky called the refusal “very hurtful”. At the same time, the ICC prosecutor considered that Ukraine had become a “crime scene”.
5:45 am: Hello everyone, welcome to this live where we will follow the situation around the conflict in Ukraine, this Thursday, April 14, on the 50th day of the Russian invasion.