It is the 27th day of the conflict. Nearly a month after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as the bombardments continue on the country’s major cities, the Ukrainian president for the first time said he was open to “trying to address everything that upsets and displeases Russia”. On Monday evening, a Russian attack near Donetsk left five dead and 19 injured. Situation on the ground, international reactions, sanctions: Europe 1 takes stock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The main information to remember:
- A Russian attack on Monday evening in Donetsk leaves five dead
- More than 3.5 million refugees
- Zelensky ready for a compromise on the Donbass
- Mariupol refuses to capitulate
- U.S.-Russia relations close to ‘breaking’
Five dead in an attack near Donetsk
The town of Avdiivka, very close to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, was the target of a Russian attack on Monday evening, killing at least five people and wounding 19, said Tuesday Lioudmila Denissova, in charge of Human Rights to the Ukrainian Parliament. “Five civilians were killed and 19 injured,” the Ukrainian official said on her Telegram channel, indicating that Avdiivka had been “the target of artillery fire and (Russian) aerial bombardment, completely destroying the village”. Avdiivka, which in peacetime is home to 30,000 inhabitants, is located in the northwestern suburbs of Donetsk, an industrial center in eastern Ukraine held since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists backed by Moscow.
In Lissitchansk, 150 km northeast of Donetsk, two more people were killed, three injured and eight rescued from the rubble following another strike by the Russian army, she said. In another message on her Telegram channel published later in the morning, Lyudmila Denisova said that a Russian tank fired in the Kharkiv region, eastern Ukraine, at a car carrying a family with two children. . The family allegedly shouted that they were civilians and waved a white flag, to no avail, she said. The parents and their 9-year-old daughter died and a 17-year-old boy was injured, she added.
Kremlin says talks with Ukraine not ‘substantial’ enough
The Kremlin ruled on Tuesday that the ongoing talks with kyiv were not “substantial” enough. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for his side to “compromise” on the Donbass, which he wants to submit to a referendum. “A certain process (of negotiations) is taking place, but we would like it to be more energetic, more substantial,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidency, told reporters.
He was questioned about the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who said on Monday he was ready to discuss with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “compromise” on Donbass and Crimea to end the hostilities launched by Russia on February 24. . Volodymyr Zelensky also warned that such an agreement would however have to be ratified by the Ukrainians by referendum.
A survivor of the Nazi camps killed in a bombing in Ukraine
A Nazi concentration camp survivor, Boris Romantschenko, was killed in the bombing of the building where he lived in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, the German Buchenwald and Mittelbau Memorials Foundation said on Monday. – Dora.
Mariupol refuses to capitulate
Ukraine will not “lay down its arms and leave the besieged city” of Mariupol (south), declared its deputy Prime Minister, ignoring a Russian ultimatum. The European Union has denounced the indiscriminate destruction in the besieged city as a “major war crime” and decided to double its financial support for arms purchases sent to kyiv.
Russian oligarch Abramovich’s yacht docked in Turkey
A yacht belonging to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has docked in southwestern Turkey, a country that does not apply Western sanctions against Russian oligarchs, including the owner of the Chelsea club.
U.S.-Russia relations close to ‘breaking’
Russia on Monday summoned the US ambassador to Moscow and accused President Joe Biden of bringing Russian-US relations “to the brink”.
Ukraine: 3.5 million refugees
Nearly 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since February 24, according to the UN count released on Monday. Some 90% of them are women and children: Ukrainians between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave their country. Poland alone hosts more than half of the refugees.
Moscow abandons negotiations with Tokyo, Japan protests
Japan on Tuesday “strongly” protested against Russia’s decision to abandon negotiations for a peace treaty between the two countries because, according to Moscow, of Tokyo’s “unfriendly position” on the conflict in Ukraine.
Facebook and Instagram banned in Russia
A Moscow court has banned Facebook and Instagram in Russia, saying they are carrying out “extremist” activities.
Oneweb folds on SpaceX
The OneWeb satellite operator, which had to suspend its planned launches with the Russian Soyuz rocket due to the Ukrainian crisis, announced on Monday that it would resume them using the services of the American SpaceX to continue the deployment of its constellation.
Zelensky: no NATO membership, because the Alliance is afraid of Russia
“We all have already understood this. We are not accepted (in NATO), because they (its member states) are afraid of Russia. That’s all. And we have to calm down and say: OK , (there will be) other security guarantees,” Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday in an interview with Suspilne, a Ukrainian regional state media.
“There are NATO countries who want to be guarantors of (Ukraine’s) security (…) who are ready to do everything that the Alliance would have to do if we were members of it. And I think it’s a normal compromise,” added Volodymyr Zelensky.
France sends 55 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukraine
France on Monday sent 55 tonnes of medical equipment, computers, children’s milk and generators to Ukraine via Poland, the French Foreign Ministry announced.
Russia blocks the site of the French channel Euronews
The Russian media regulator on Monday blocked access to the site of the French channel Euronews, a new media banned in Russia amid increased control over information related to the offensive in Ukraine. The reason for this blocking was not specified.
Zelensky rejects any ultimatum and wants to meet Putin
“Ukraine cannot accept any ultimatum from Russia. We must first destroy us all, only then their ultimatums will be respected,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.
He also insisted on the need for a “meeting”, “in any form whatsoever”, with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “stop the war” in Ukraine. “I believe that without this meeting it is impossible to fully understand what they (the Russians) are ready for in order to stop the war,” Zelensky said in an interview with Suspilne, a Ukrainian regional state media.