Find all our live #UKRAINE here
12:22 pm : If the Ukrainians have not mastered the air since the beginning of the Russian invasion, drones are their strong point. In Kiev, the Aerovidka unit uses them to spot and neutralize Vladimir Putin’s armored columns. Explanation in this report by Etienne Monin and Gilles Gallinaro.
12:17 pm : It’s noon, here’s a new point on the news:
• The Russian army continued to carry out airstrikes on Chernihiv, local authorities announced, despite Moscow’s announcement yesterday of a reduction in its military activities in the area. Follow us live†
• Multiple candidates participate now at the great oral organized by the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) in Besançon (Doubs). On this occasion, franceinfo offers you: an overview of the programs pretenders to the Elysée on agriculture.
• Has Salah Abdeslam replaced Mohamed Abrini in the November 13th commandos in the short term? During the trial of these attacks, the special court of assizes of Paris is questioning the main defendant this afternoon about the course of a night of terror. It will follow in this life.
After Yvan Colonna’s death, an investigative report that franceinfo could consult explains in part why no one intervened during his attack in Arles prison. This is what you can read there†
11:50 am : Tiergarten/Str. D. 17. June real morning
11:50 am : In Berlin, Germany, unknown people covered a tank with a Ukrainian flag at the Soviet memorial. This was subsequently removed. The Russian embassy calls for a “desecration of the monument”† reports the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A letter has been sent to German diplomacy demanding prosecution of the perpetrators.
12:04 pm : The flight of Ukrainians continues. The number of refugees who have left their country since the invasion by the Russian army on February 24 crossed the symbolic bar 4 million people, according to figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Europe has not experienced such migrations since the Second World War.
11:21 am : Russian troops in Kiev are being transferred to Donbass and Mariupol, Ukrainian presidential adviser Alexei Aresovich said, during the Ukrainian television marathon devoted to the war. However, he adds that the Russian army will keep some of its troops on the outskirts of the capital to prevent Ukrainian troops from reaching other regions. According to him, the active phase of hostilities should last “another week, if not more”†
11:57 : French companies must apply the sanctions taken against Russia, “all the punishments and nothing but the punishments”said Bruno Le Maire. This statement comes a few days after the Ukrainian president urged French companies to leave Russia. Decathlon and Renault have suspended their activities there, but Auchan or Leroy Merlin, on the contrary, have decided to stay. “Each company can make different decisions depending on its local situation”said the Minister of Economic Affairs about: European 1†
11:49 : The Russian army has also fought near Irpin, on the outskirts of Kiev, according to Vadim Denisenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. “At this stage, it cannot be said that the Russians are reducing the intensity of their operations towards Kiev and Chernihiv”says the manager on Rada TV.
09:46 : The head of Chernihiv’s regional administration, Vyacheslav Chaus, says Moscow has not reduced its military activity in the region, as promised yesterday. The Russian army hit the town of Nijyn, he said, and attacked Chernihiv all night. “Civil infrastructure, libraries, shopping malls, many houses have been destroyed.”
11:47 † The Russian army has continued to carry out airstrikes on Chernihiv, local authorities say, despite Moscow’s announcement yesterday that it is scaling back its military activities in the region.
09:23 : Remembering the Russian intervention in Syria also helps to understand Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukrainewhat looks like a miscalculation. “It is possible that he was goaded by what is seen as an operational success in Syria, and that he blinded himself”, says Isabelle Facon. as he noted “impunity” which allowed his ally Bashar Al-Assad to use chemical weapons. Far from the strong reaction of the West to defend Ukraine.
(AMER AL-HALBI / AFP)
11:46 † “We are unfortunately still in the same Russian logic: indiscriminate bombing, so-called humanitarian ‘corridors’ designed to then accuse the adversary of disrespecting them and conversations for no other purpose than to pretend to negotiate.”
Russia also wages psychological warfare. In Syria, she managed to play endless negotiations and procrastination on humanitarian corridors. This method is also applied to Ukraine, as explained by Jean-Yves Le Drian, but also by specialists that we interviewed†
11:45 am : In Mariupol as in Syria, “I don’t think the aim is to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians, but it is about terrorizing the population”explains Emile Hokayem, Syrian conflict analyst† Isabelle Facon, a specialist in the Russian army, summarizes the strategy as follows: relentlessly bombing to “eroding support for the armed forces and driving the population out”†
11:45 am : The Russian army says it has changed its strategy in Ukraine, but continues to besiege Mariupol. The fate of this large port city in the southeast of the country, where the Ukrainian authorities say at least 5,000 deaths, invite comparisons with the siege of Grozny in Chechnya, but especially with the Russian intervention in Syria. I leaned on the parallels between Russia’s modus operandi in the two countries†
(ANADOLU AGENCY / AFP)
11:44 am : It’s nine o’clock, here’s a new point on the news:
• After the death of Yvan Colonna, an investigative report that franceinfo could consult explains in part why no one intervened during his attack in Arles prison. This is what you can read there†
† “I want to lower the petrol price”, said Debout la France’s candidate Nicolas Dupont-Aignan this morning on franceinfo. Follow his interview in our lives†
† “We will judge the actions, not the announcements†† responded Anne-Claire Legendrespokesman for the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, as Russia pledged yesterday to reduce fighting around the cities of Kiev and Chernihiv, after peace talks in Istanbul.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the “recent terrorist attacks” in Israel, while three attacks in one week at least 11 dead. The United Nations is calling for an immediate end to the violence.
10:13 am † “We will judge the actions, not the announcements. (…) We have to be very careful with the assessment we make of the progress of the negotiations (…) We have seen in the past several rounds that no results are possible .”
Anne-Claire Legendre responded to franceinfo this morning the announcement of Russia to reduce fighting around the cities of Kiev and Chernihiv, following peace talks in Istanbul.
07:27 : Every day several hundred Ukrainian children arrive in France. According to the Ministry of Education, there are 5,266 students, spread over 3,301 in schools, 1,508 in colleges and 439 in high schools. To organize their reception, a “Ukrainian unit” was set up in rue de Grenelle. We tell you how the members work†
10:00 am. : Russia was accused yesterday before the UN Security Council of provoking a provocation “global food crisis” after they started a war against Ukraine, “bread basket of Europe”† In particular, the French Ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Rivière, stated: “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine increases the risk of famine around the world. People in developing countries are the first to be affected.”
09:57 : Several daily newspapers return to announced Russian military withdrawal around Kiev and another major Ukrainian city, a “diplomatic enlightenment” promised by Moscow after peace talks in Istanbul. ‘Westerns are waiting for signs of military de-escalation on the ground’no matter how mediocre Release†
