War in Ukraine: at least 200 dead in Irpin since the start of the conflict

Ukraine and its Western allies on Wednesday awaited with skepticism the “reduction of military activity” around kyiv and another major city announced by Moscow following peace talks, in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said seen “positive” signs. However, the Kremlin said on Wednesday that those talks in Istanbul on Tuesday did not yield anything “very promising” or “breakthrough”.

At least 200 dead in Irpin, in the suburbs of kyiv, since the start of the conflict

At least 200 residents of Irpin, a town in the northwestern suburbs of kyiv the scene of fierce fighting, have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion, its mayor Oleksandr Markushin announced on Wednesday. “At the height of the hostilities, when there was shelling all day, people were simply buried in the gardens or even in the parks. I think around 200 or 300 people died unfortunately,” the mayor announced. of the city during a press conference.

The Ukrainians claimed on Monday to have regained control of this locality, in the hands of the Russians since the end of February. “Half the city is destroyed”, lamented Oleksandre Markouchine, specifying that “many people are still under the rubble, that’s for sure. (…) We are still looking in the basements”.

Irpin is “entirely under the control of Ukrainian forces”, but the situation there “remains dangerous”, continued the mayor, because it is “the target of bombardments from surrounding towns including Boutcha”. He finally called on the inhabitants of Irpin who have fled in recent days “not to return to the city” for the moment.

Nothing promising or breakthrough, says Russia

Talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on Tuesday did not yield anything “very promising” or “breakthrough”, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, dampening hopes of decisive progress in the negotiations. “At the moment we cannot report anything very promising or any breakthrough. There is a lot of work to be done,” the spokesman for the Russian presidency told reporters. Dmitry Peskov.

He nevertheless described as “positive” the fact that the Ukrainian side had “finally begun to formulate its proposals in a concrete way and to put them in writing”. “We carefully avoid making public statements on the substance” of the subjects of the talks, because “we believe that the negotiations must take place” discreetly, he added.

Mariupol: a building of the Red Cross bombarded

A building of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was the target of Russian bombardments in Mariupol, a strategic port in the south-east of Ukraine, a Ukrainian official said on Wednesday. “The occupants deliberately bombarded an ICRC building in Mariupol”, wrote on Telegram Lioudmyla Denisova, in charge of human rights at the Ukrainian Parliament.

“Enemy planes and artillery shelled the building, marked with a red cross on a white background, which is equivalent to the presence of wounded, civilian or humanitarian material,” she continued, adding an image view of a building marked with a red cross on the roof. “For the moment, we have no information concerning the victims,” ​​she said, without specifying how many people could have been in the building at the time of the shooting. This information is unverifiable from an independent source, Mariupol being besieged by the Russian army since the end of February with faulty communications.

Four million refugees

The number of Ukrainian refugees who have fled their country since the invasion by the Russian army on February 24 passed the 4 million mark on Wednesday, according to figures from the High Commissioner for Refugees. In total, 4,019,287 Ukrainians – mainly women and children – have left the country to flee the war unleashed by Russia, according to the updated figure from the dedicated UNHCR website. Poland alone hosts more than 2.3 million of these people.

The city of Cherniguiv bombarded, despite the promises

The city of Cherniguiv, in northern Ukraine, was bombarded “all night long”, the governor of the region announced on Wednesday, despite the announcement made the day before by Moscow of a reduction in its military activity in this zoned. “Chernigiv was bombarded all night long” with artillery and planes, governor Vyacheslav Tchaous announced on Telegram, adding that civilian infrastructure had been destroyed and that the city was still without water or electricity.

On Tuesday, Russia announced the “reduction of military activity” around kyiv and Cherniguiv after peace talks, an announcement greeted with skepticism by Ukraine and its Western allies, even if President Volodymyr Zelensky had reports “positive” signs in the negotiations.

Mariupol maternity hospital forcibly evacuated to Russia

Mariupol town hall on Wednesday denounced the forced evacuation to Russia of a maternity hospital in this besieged city in southeastern Ukraine where another maternity hospital had been bombed by the Russians on March 9.

Towards a Zelensky-Putin meeting?

The conditions for a first meeting between the Ukrainian president and his Russian counterpart since the start of the Russian invasion are now possible, kyiv and Moscow said after several hours of Russian-Ukrainian talks on Tuesday in Istanbul. “As the negotiations on an agreement on the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine entering a practical dimension (…), it was decided, in order to increase confidence, to drastically reduce military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Cherniguiv,” the Russian Deputy Defense Minister said.

“We can say that the signals we are hearing in the negotiations are positive, but they do not make us forget the explosions or the Russian shells,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Tuesday. Ukraine will agree to be neutral if it obtains an “international agreement” to guarantee its security, of which several countries would be signatories acting as guarantors, detailed the Ukrainian chief negotiator in Istanbul, David Arakhamia.

Wary Westerners

The American, French, British, German and Italian leaders were cautious after the announcement of these advances in the Russian-Ukrainian talks. “We will see if they keep their word,” US President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday, shortly after meeting with French, British, German and Italian leaders. “There seems to be a consensus that you have to see what they have to offer,” he added.

In London, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not say otherwise. London will judge “Putin and his regime by his deeds, not his words,” he said. The UK will hold a donors’ conference on Thursday to mobilize more lethal weapons for Ukraine. European stock markets have returned to optimism by ending up sharply.

Putin asks Ukrainian nationalists to “lay down their arms”

Vladimir Putin demanded on Tuesday that the Ukrainian “nationalists” in Mariupol “lay down their arms” so that we can “find a solution to the humanitarian situation” in this strategic port, according to a press release from the Kremlin published after an exchange with Emmanuel Macron.

The latter for his part considered that the conditions for launching in the coming days a humanitarian operation to help the inhabitants of this besieged city were “not met at this stage”. Volodymyr Zelensky called the Russian attacks on Mariupol a “crime against humanity, which is taking place live before the eyes of the planet”. In a videoconference before the Danish Parliament, he accused Moscow of deliberately bombing civilian shelters there.

Death toll in Mykolaiv rises to 12

Twelve people were killed and at least 33 others injured Tuesday in a Russian strike that partially destroyed the building of the regional administration of Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, according to a new report given by Ukrainian relief. Russian forces have also bombed the military airfield of Starokostiantyniv (west), destroying all fuel stocks in this city, announced its mayor.

Are Americans at risk of being arbitrarily arrested in Russia?

US citizens in Russia risk being arbitrarily arrested by authorities, the US State Department warned on Tuesday, which renewed its call not to travel to the country or to leave it immediately.

Russia accused of causing a global food crisis

Before the UN Security Council, Russia was accused on Tuesday of having caused a “world food crisis” or even of putting people at risk of “famine” by having started a war against Ukraine, the “breadbasket wheat of Europe”. Russian President “Vladimir Putin started this war. He created this world food crisis. And he is the one who can stop it”, hammered the number two of American diplomacy Wendy Sherman during a meeting of the Security Council devoted to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

On Europe 1, economist Bruno Parmentier warned of the risk of a global food crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine.

Nearly four million refugees

The number of refugees who have fled Ukraine since the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin is approaching the symbolic bar of 4 million which could be crossed in the next few days, according to the UN, estimating at almost 6.5 million the number internally displaced persons.

With 3,901,713 Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, Europe has not seen such a flood of refugees since World War II.