The essential :
- Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday accused Russia of bombing a Red Cross center in Mariupol and the city of Chernihiv, while the Kremlin showered hopes of a “breakthrough” following negotiations the day before. Since the start of the Russian invasion, the number of Ukrainian refugees has crossed the 4 million mark.
In Mariupol, 160,000 civilians remain blocked under the bombs and face “a humanitarian disaster”, living in hiding in shelters without electricity and lacking food and water, according to testimonies collected by Agence France-Presse from people who were able to flee the city. According to the town hall, the Russian forces carried out the forced evacuation to Russia of a maternity hospital, taking “more than 70 people, women and medical personnel”.
The situation around Ukraine’s nuclear power plants remains a concern. “It is vital to be on the ground to provide effective support in this extremely difficult period”, wrote on Twitter the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, visiting the city on Wednesday. Konstantinovka nuclear power plant.
10:15 p.m. – A Norwegian judge will lead the UN investigation
The United Nations on Wednesday appointed a Norwegian judge who has sat in several international tribunals to lead their investigation into “violations of human rights and international humanitarian law” committed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. Erik Mose, a former judge at the Supreme Court of Norway and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), who also presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), has been appointed chairman of the commission of newly created independent international investigation, announced the UN Human Rights Council. The president of this council, Federico Villegas, has also named the two other personalities who will be part of the team. They are Jasminka Dzumhur, human rights mediator from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Colombian Pablo de Greiff, who was the first United Nations special rapporteur for the promotion of truth, justice and reparations. .
9:42 p.m. – US wants to consult with African leaders
The Biden administration intends to consult with African leaders on the diplomatic response to the Russian offensive in Ukraine and to work to mitigate the economic effects of the conflict on the continent, two American diplomats said Wednesday in Dakar. “We seek a strong African response to Russian aggression and we welcome the opportunity to partner with Senegal and other African (countries) on the response to Russian aggression, but also on ways to deal with the implications” of the conflict, US Ambassador to the African Union Jessica Lapenn told reporters.
9:13 p.m. – half of Ukrainian territory “polluted” by Russian fire, says kyiv
Ukrainian authorities said on Wednesday that about half of Ukrainian territory had already been “polluted” by munitions used by Russian forces since the start of the invasion on February 24. “The total area of the areas polluted by explosive devices in connection with the Russian aggression amounts to 300,000 square kilometers,” said a senior Ukrainian Interior Ministry official, Yevhen Yenine, who did not provide information. further details.
8:40 p.m. – Le Drian encourages a meeting with Putin – Zelensky
“We are fully available to work with (Ukrainian) President Volodymyr Zelensky on how to provide guarantees,” said Jean-Yves Le Drian. “But the problem is that there must be a real negotiation. It might also be appropriate for President Zelensky to meet President Putin. For the moment it is not possible since President Putin refuses it,” he noted.
8:11 p.m. – BHL – Joe Biden, principles and Ukraine
In the face of dictators, it is good to call a spade a spade. As the American president did by calling Putin a “butcher”.
Read BHL’s editorial – Joe Biden, principles and Ukraine
7:52 p.m. – Jean-Yves Le Drian: “For now, to my knowledge, there is no breakthrough or novelty”
France sees “no breakthrough” in the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations nor “novelty” in the situation in Ukraine after the Russian announcements of a reduction in their military activity in the vicinity of kyiv and in northern Ukraine, a declared the head of French diplomacy on Wednesday evening. “The war continues. For the moment there is to my knowledge neither breakthrough nor novelty”, underlined Jean-Yves Le Drian on the continuous information channel France 24.
7:47 p.m. – South Ossetia separatists consider consultation to join Russia
The leader of South Ossetia, a pro-Russian territory in the Caucasus that seceded from Georgia, planned on Wednesday to organize a popular consultation to be attached to Russia. “Of course, we have to ask the people for their opinion and make sure that the people express themselves on the possibility of joining the Russian Federation”, declared Anatoli Bibilov, live on a Russian television channel. “It’s not very difficult to do without dragging. As they say, it’s a technical question,” he continued, assuring that joining Russia was an “age-old dream” of the Ossetian people.
7:37 p.m. – Putin tells Scholz that gas can still be paid for in euros, according to Berlin
The German government said Russian President Vladimir Putin assured Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday that Europe could continue to pay for Russian gas in euros and not in rubles as recently ordered by Moscow. German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Vladimir Putin had assured Olaf Scholz that payments from Europe next month “will continue to be in euros and transferred as usual to Gazprom Bank, which is not not subject to sanctions”, and that it would take care of the conversion into roubles.
6:40 p.m. — Biden discusses ‘additional’ military capabilities for Ukraine with Zelensky
United States President Joe Biden discussed with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday the “additional” military capabilities needed to help Ukraine’s military “defend its country”, the White House said. “Leaders discussed how the United States is working day and night to meet Ukraine’s key requests for security assistance” as well as “the persistent efforts the United States is making with its allies and partners to identify additional capabilities to help the Ukrainian army defend its country,” the US executive said in a statement after a call between the two presidents.
6:25 p.m. – US intelligence believes that Putin is misinformed by those around him
Vladimir Putin is ill-informed about the course of the war in Ukraine, because his advisers are afraid to reveal to him the military and economic losses suffered by Russia, a senior American official said on Wednesday. “Putin did not even know that his army was recruiting and losing conscripts in Ukraine, which demonstrates a clear break in the flow of reliable information reaching the Russian president,” said the official on condition of anonymity, assuring that he was based on declassified US intelligence.
“In our view, Putin is being misled by his advisers about the poor performance of the Russian military and the severity of the sanctions’ impact on the Russian economy, because his top advisers are afraid to tell him the truth. “, according to the same source. The senior American official also assures that there is “now constant tension between Putin and the Ministry of Defense”.
5:59 p.m. – 35 Russian diplomats expelled from Slovakia
Slovakia has decided to expel 35 Russian diplomats, the Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday, citing information provided by intelligence services. This measure is part of a long series of expulsions of Russian diplomats by several Member States of the European Union and by the United States, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The ambassador of the Russian Federation was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and given a note announcing “that the Slovak Republic has decided to reduce the staff of the Russian embassy in Bratislava by 35 people”, indicated spokesman for Slovak diplomacy Juraj Tomaga told AFP.
“We regret that after previous expulsions of Russian diplomats over the past two years, the Russian diplomatic mission has shown no intention to operate properly in Slovakia,” added Juraj Tomaga.