The main information at midday
- The thirty member countries of NATO on Tuesday launched the process of ratification for the accessions of Sweden and Finland, a historic decision for the two Nordic countries dictated by the war led by Russia in Ukraine.
- “We must break” the enemy, Volodymyr Zelensky launched in his daily address Monday evening, “it is a difficult mission, which requires superhuman time and effort. But we have no other choice,” stressed the Ukrainian leader in his address to the nation.
- Sergey Eliseyev, 51, a Russian official from the powerful security services (FSB), took over the government of the Ukrainian region of Kherson, occupied by Russian forces, on Tuesday.
12:30 p.m .: Russia accuses Ukraine of torturing prisoners of war
Russia said on Tuesday it was investigating the torture allegedly suffered by Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces and released during a prisoner exchange with Ukraine. “The Russian Investigative Committee verifies the facts of inhuman treatment of Russian soldiers prisoners of Ukraine,” said this powerful body responsible for criminal investigations in Russia, in a press release.
Russia and Ukraine have carried out several exchanges of prisoners of war since the Russian offensive against its neighbor on February 24. The latest dates back to June 29 and involved 144 Ukrainians and as many on the Russian side.
11:15 am: Kadyrov stages the capitulation of Zelensky in a parody video
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has posted a parody video on Telegram, in which a lookalike of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen signing Ukraine’s surrender to Russia. “I, the current President of Ukraine, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, accept an unconditional surrender of all our armed forces, on land, at sea and in the air”, launches in a frightened voice the false Volodymyr Zelensky, who is actually a Russian comedian.
10:25 am: NATO launches ratification for the accessions of Sweden and Finland
The thirty member countries of NATO launched this Tuesday the ratification process for the accessions of Sweden and Finland, announced the secretary general of the Alliance Jens Stoltenberg.
“The signing of the accession protocols launches the process of ratification in each of the member countries”, he explained before the ambassadors of the countries of the Alliance initialed these protocols.
One country, Turkey, made its ratification conditional on compliance with the commitments made by the two Nordic countries at the Madrid summit on the fight against terrorism.
Four mathematicians win the Fields Medal, including Ukrainian Maryna Viazovska
Four mathematicians received the Fields medal on Tuesday in Helsinki, including the Ukrainian Maryna Viazovska, the second woman to receive this prestigious distinction since the creation of the award in 1936.
The other three winners of this award given every four years, considered the equivalent of a “Nobel of mathematics”, are the researcher based in the United States June Hu, the Briton James Maynard and the Frenchman Hugo Duminil-Copin.
The second woman to win the award in its 80-year history, Maryna Viazovska was born 37 years ago in Ukraine, then in the Soviet Union. Since 2017, she has been a professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, in Switzerland.
The mathematician received the award for solving a version of a centuries-old geometric problem, demonstrating the densest packing of identical spheres beyond three-dimensional space – in this case the amazing dimension 8 where the symmetry is optimal.
9:30 am: A former FSB head of the government of the occupied Kherson region
A Russian official from the powerful security services (FSB) took over the government of the Ukrainian region of Kherson, occupied by Russian forces, on Tuesday. Sergei Eliseyev, 51, until then first deputy to the head of the government of the Russian region of Kaliningrad (North-West), “has become head of the government of the Kherson region”, indicated Monday evening on Telegram Vladimir Saldo who heads the Russian occupation administration.
9 a.m.: Ukraine renews Pope’s invitation to visit kyiv
The spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleh Mykolenko, insisted on Monday in Lugano (Switzerland) on the importance of a visit by Pope Francis to kyiv. “The Ukrainian side has repeatedly invited the Pope to visit Ukraine. We believe that this visit will strengthen the pontiff’s role in restoring peace on Ukrainian soil and uphold the spirit of Ukrainians,” he said.
8:50 a.m .: Ukraine will receive the first tranche of one billion euros in aid before the summer holidays
European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said the first disbursement of one billion euros under the new financial assistance program to Ukraine will be made by the start of the summer holidays. ‘summer. He made the announcement on Monday in Lugano (Switzerland), while speaking at a high-level international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“We are currently working to provide an additional €9 billion in new exceptional macro-financial assistance. The first part will take place before the summer holidays. It is a billion euros. After approval by the European Parliament and European Union member states,” Dombrovskis said.
World consumption of natural gas severely affected by the war in Ukraine
Global gas consumption is expected to decline slightly in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine, which should curb demand growth for years to come. “Global natural gas consumption is expected to contract slightly in 2022 and grow slowly over the next three years as the war in Ukraine pushes up prices and stokes fears of continued supply disruptions,” according to a quarterly report from the company. International Energy Agency.
7:05 a.m .: Swedish Prime Minister promises support for kyiv and sanctions for Moscow
Visiting kyiv and its suburbs on Monday, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson called for increased European support for Ukraine and for new sanctions against Russia, whose army is advancing in eastern Ukrainian territory. “Russia must not be allowed to make gains through its violation of international law and other fundamental principles,” Andersson said during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “The best way to win this war is to build support for Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia through new sanctions,” she said.
6:50 a.m.: “We must smash” the enemy “we have no other choice »
“We must break” the enemy, Volodymyr Zelensky launched in his daily address Monday evening, “it is a difficult mission, which requires superhuman time and effort. But we have no other choice,” stressed the Ukrainian leader in his address to the nation.
5:55 a.m .: NATO begins the accession process for Sweden and Finland on Tuesday
The thirty member countries of NATO launch this Tuesday the process of ratification for the accessions of Sweden and Finland, a historic decision for the two Nordic countries dictated by the war in Ukraine. “We are preparing to welcome two new allies with formidable military forces and capabilities,” said Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway.
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde and her Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto took part in the final discussions at the organization’s headquarters in Brussels on Monday, ahead of the planned signing of accession protocols and the start of the ratification process in each of the members of the Covenant. Turkey had agreed to the launch of this procedure at the summit of NATO leaders in Madrid.
A “Marshall Plan” for Ukraine?
An international conference opened Monday in Lugano, Switzerland, to draw the outlines of the future reconstruction of Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal and Speaker of Parliament Rouslan Stefantchouk met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to lay the foundations of a “Marshall Plan” for the country.
The urgency is to help the population affected by the war before, secondly, to finance thousands of reconstruction projects and, in the long term, to prepare a European, green and digital Ukraine, explained Denis Chmygal.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to propose the creation of a new fund for Ukraine, which could reach 100 billion euros, according to informed sources. And for Denis Chmygal, Russian assets frozen in Western countries alone are valued at between 300 and 500 billion dollars.
5:50 am: The latest highlights on the ground
– Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered Russian forces to continue their offensive in eastern Ukraine. Sunday evening, the staff of the Ukrainian army had announced the withdrawal of the units engaged in Lysychanskkyiv’s last stronghold in the Lugansk region, which Moscow says it now fully controls.
– For the Ukrainian forces, the urgency is now to contain the Russian advance towards the west and two major cities in the neighboring region of Donetsk: Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. The streets of Sloviansk were almost deserted on Monday morning, according to AFP journalists on the spot.
– HAS Siverskbetween Lyssytchansk and Sloviansk, the Ukrainian soldiers seem to want to hold a line of defense between this city and Bakhmout, more to the south. Its inhabitants evoke increasingly intense bombings in recent days.
– HAS Kharkovthe second city of Ukraine, in the northeast, three civilians died in bombardments which occurred before dawn on Monday, according to local authorities.
5:45 am: Hello everyone, welcome to this live where we will follow the situation around the conflict in Ukraine, on the 132nd day of the Russian invasion.