The conflict continues in Ukraine. The country announced this Thursday several victims in the Donetsk region, invaded by Russian opponents. The European Union will carry out an operation to find the children kidnapped in Ukraine by Russia – 16,000 children would have been deported. Ursulan von der Leyen said this justified the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court on March 17 against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky asks his European allies to quickly deliver weapons. He recalled the need to provide him with long-range missiles and modern combat aircraft to win the fight against the enemy, more than a year after the start of the war.
The main information:
- Denmark has alerted the Nord Stream consortium to the presence of a suspicious object.
- In Donetsk, Russian strikes left several dead.
- The EU will hold a conference on children abducted by Russia.
- The Ukrainian president has asked Europe for military aid.
UN accuses Ukrainians and Russians of ‘summary executions’ of prisoners of war
The UN on Friday accused Ukrainian and Russian forces of committing summary executions of prisoners of war during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We are deeply concerned about the summary execution of 25 Russian prisoners of war and persons hors de combat” as well as that of “15 Ukrainian prisoners of war”, said Matilda Bogner, head of the human rights monitoring mission. United Nations man in Ukraine.
According to Matilda Bogner, the UN has documented such executions of Russians by Ukrainian armed forces, “often ‘perpetrated’ “immediately after capture on the battlefield”. The UN is aware of five investigations carried out by kyiv which implicate 22 victims, but “we are not aware of any prosecution against the perpetrators” of these crimes, she added.
Macron in China to work with Xi “in the direction of a return to peace”, according to the Elysée
French President Emmanuel Macron will take advantage of his “state visit” to China from April 5 to 8 to “work” with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping “in the direction of a return to peace” in Ukraine, the official said on Friday. ‘Elysium. The Head of State’s trip will take him to Beijing but also to Canton, announced the French presidency, assuring that Emmanuel Macron was “committed to maintaining a constant and demanding dialogue with China”.
This trip at the beginning of April had been announced at the end of February by the president, but the dates and the cities concerned had not yet been revealed. “The French and Chinese presidents will have in-depth discussions on the war in Ukraine to work towards a return to peace and this in respect of international law, in particular the sovereignty of the territorial integrity of Ukraine” , explained the Elysée.
Leroy Merlin intends to sell all of its stores in Russia
French Leroy Merlin, a giant in the sale of DIY equipment and one of the main foreign employers in Russia, announced on Friday that it wanted to sell all of its stores in this country to “local management”, more than a year later. the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. Adeo, the parent company of Leroy Merlin, has indicated “its intention to cede control” of the company, established for 18 years in Russia, its second market after France.
This operation “must make it possible to preserve the jobs of the 45,000 employees and to perpetuate the activity of the company”, argues in a press release the French group, owned by the Mulliez family. The operation will be subject to the approval of the competent authorities in Russia, specifies the press release, which quotes “a work started several months ago in compliance with the applicable regulations”.
Several brands owned by the Mulliez family remained very established in Russia, despite the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. The 113 Leroy Merlin stores in this country represent between 18 and 20% of the company’s total turnover. Adeo explained last year that it was maintaining its activity in Russia but that it was suspending all new investment, citing the risk of “expropriation” in the event of withdrawal, a threat waved by the Russian authorities.
Council of Europe welcomes Ukraine’s progress against corruption
The Council of Europe on Friday hailed the progress made in preventing the corruption of parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors in Ukraine, in the midst of a Russian invasion. In a report published on Friday, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) is pleased that the country has “satisfactorily implemented or dealt with in a satisfactory manner 15 of the 31 recommendations” addressed, “even if there is still work to be done”.
“GRECO would like to recognize Ukraine’s deep commitment to the work it is carrying out, at an extremely difficult time for this member state, plunged into a war of aggression declared by the Russian Federation,” a statement read. of the Council of Europe.
“This period of conflict forced the country to adopt martial law, declare a state of emergency and adjust its priorities. In such a context, it is remarkable that Ukraine has nevertheless continued its work of implementing recommendations of GRECO”, continues the Council of Europe.
New balance sheet in Donetsk
Three people were killed in a Russian strike on the town of Kostiantynivka, in Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, and a fourth died in another attack in the south of the country, according to a new and revised official report. on the decline.
“The bodies of three women were pulled out of the debris” of a damaged building in Kostiantynivka, about twenty kilometers west of Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting with the Russian army, indicated the State service for the Emergencies on Telegram. The rescue services have thus revised downwards their previous toll, reporting three women and two men killed in this attack which hit a building housing a humanitarian reception center in this city during the night of Thursday to Friday.
Report of five victims in Donetsk
Five people were killed in a Russian strike against the town of Kostiantynivka, in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the State Service for Emergency Situations announced on Friday. “Three women and two men died” in the strike of a Russian missile which hit a one-story building hosting a humanitarian reception center in this locality located about twenty kilometers west of Bakhmout, epicenter of fighting with the Russian army, relief workers said on Telegram.
Denmark will bring up an object described as suspicious by Putin
Denmark has invited the Nord Stream consortium to participate in the recovery under the Baltic Sea of a cylindrical object spotted near the sabotaged Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, described as suspicious by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The Energy Agency has offered the owner company, Nord Stream 2, to participate in the recovery operation,” it said in a statement Thursday evening, six months after the spectacular sabotage operation against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.
The date of the operation is not yet known, as is the response from the operator, of which the Russian Gazprom is the majority shareholder. The object, which has not been identified but does not constitute a security risk according to the agency, must be reassembled with the help of the Danish Defense. The agency released a photo of the object, which it says is 40 cm high and 10 cm in diameter. “It is possible that the object is a maritime smoke buoy. This will be the subject of further examinations”, writes the agency.
Ursula von der Leyen announces a conference on children abducted by Russia
The EU will organize in partnership with Warsaw and Kiev a conference to help locate children abducted in Ukraine by Russia and their return to their country, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Thursday.
“It’s a horrifying reminder of the darkest times in our history, the deportations of children that are happening there. It’s a war crime,” German official said after summit in Brussels. “We know that 16,200 children were deported, only 300 have since returned,” she continued at a press conference.
She added that “these criminal actions fully justify the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court” on March 17 against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for “unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children during the Russian invasion.
Zelensky asks Europeans for missiles and combat aircraft
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday thanked the Europeans for their military aid but warned that warnings about the supply of long-range missiles and fighter jets risked prolonging the war. Returning from the Kherson region, near the southern front, the president called, via videoconference from a train, the European leaders meeting at the summit in Brussels.
The connection was interrupted once, but the Ukrainian president was able to deliver his message, said a European official. He warned against refusing to supply his forces with long-range missiles and modern fighter jets. “We cannot delay the transfer to our soldiers of weapons that can protect Ukrainians from terror. First of all, these are long-range weapons,” Volodymyr Zelensky said, according to a video posted on his Telegram account. . “We need more modern aircraft” than the MiGs already sent to kyiv, he added.