Cover image: The rooftops of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on July 5, 2023. PA
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted on Thursday evening August 3 that his counter-offensive was difficult, but he assured that his troops dominated the Russian forces. “The occupiers are trying with all their might to stop our guys. The fighting is very violent”he acknowledged in his daily message, nevertheless ensuring that “whatever the enemy does, it is the Ukrainian army that dominates”. The president spoke of fighting in the key areas of Lyman, Bakhmout and Avdiivka, in the east of the country, but also on the southern front.
- The German defense minister on Thursday reaffirmed his reluctance to deliver cruise missiles requested by kyiv to repel the Russian forces and thus follow the example of the United Kingdom and France. A decision on the Taurus, air-to-ground cruise missiles with a range of over 500 kilometers, “is not a priority”said Boris Pistorius on the sidelines of a visit to a brigade of alpine hunters in Bavaria. “The Objections” German “are obvious”he continued.
- Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia reached a deal on Thursday to disconnect from the Russian-controlled power grid and plug into the EU system. The Prime Ministers of these Baltic NATO member countries signed a declaration in which they pledge to complete this transition by February 2025.
- The European Union announced Thursday to toughen its sanctions against Belarus because of its support for Moscow. in its war in Ukraine, extending its blacklist and restricting exports, especially for technologies intended for drones. These new sanctions, endorsed unanimously by the Twenty-Seven, are intended to “guarantee that Russian sanctions cannot be circumvented via Belarus”targeting goods and technologies “highly sensitive”explained the European Commission.
- The head of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, accused Thursday Russia, before the Security Council of the UN, of ” blackmail “ on the Black Sea grain agreementfrom which she withdrew in July, and” assault “ on the global food system. “Every member of this Council, every member of the United Nations must tell Moscow that
It’s enough. It is enough to use [l’accord céréalier de] the Black Sea to blackmail. It is enough to treat the most vulnerable people on the planet like a bargaining chip. Enough of this unjustified and inadmissible war”hammered the Secretary of State.
Find our live from Thursday August 3 by clicking on this link.
Read all our articles, analyzes and reports on the war in Ukraine
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Analysis. Russian oligarchs cash in on war effort in Ukraine
Testimonials. Letters from Olga and Sasha: “I am a pacifist, but I can no longer be. The war changed my fundamental nature”
Grandstand. “The democratic opposition must encourage the Russians to end the war and move on to rebuilding the country”
Reporting. In Moscow, daily life under drone attacks
Cards. Maps of the war in Ukraine, since the Russian invasion of February 2022