- On Thursday, February 24, 2022, Russia launched its “military operation” in Ukraine. Every evening 20 Minutes offers you a look back at the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
- A powerful statement, a key figure, the underlying trends… Here you will find the essential information to better understand a war of unprecedented proportions on European soil.
- This Friday, the Russian army launched its third wave of attacks since October 10 against the city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine.
Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? Every evening at 7:30 p.m. 20 Minutes takes stock for you. Between the strong statements, the progress on the front and the results of the fighting, here are the most important points of the day.
The fact of the day
A strategic city or a symbol? Both my captain. The Russian army launched its third wave of attacks since October 10 against the city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, systematically bombing its center. Mayor Vitaly Barabach reported attacks “from all sides” on Ukrainian television. There are 30 to 40 massive strikes every day in the city. » The Russian military uses guided aerial bombs and has recently started using cluster munitions.
According to Ukraine, the Russians specifically want to seize a coking plant that they consider strategic. Avdiivka briefly fell into the hands of pro-Russian separatists armed by Moscow in July 2014, before falling back under Ukrainian control. Since then, the largely destroyed city has marked the front line in this area and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. According to Vitaly Barabach, despite the fighting and bombing, around 1,350 people still live in Avdiivka, while the city had around 30,000 residents before the war.
Sentence of the day
We count on the vigilance of the Chinese authorities to ensure that no structure in China, especially private ones, contributes directly or indirectly to Russia’s illegal war effort. »
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was in Beijing on Friday for a joint press conference with her counterpart Wang Yi. She took the opportunity to repeat a kind of European warning to Beijing, which has recently made a strategic rapprochement with Russia.
The number of the day
13,500. More than 13,500 Ukrainian civilians have managed to leave Russia since July through a humanitarian corridor set up in the border region of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, Kiev said on Friday. Among them are 1,653 children, said the Ukrainian Ministry of Reintegration, citing the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
Today’s trend
The Drone War, episode… a lot. Russia said on Friday it had destroyed 16 Ukrainian drones in the south of the country and over the annexed Crimean peninsula.
On the night of Thursday to Friday, “an attempt by the Kiev regime to use aerial drones to carry out a terrorist attack on locations on the territory of the Russian Federation was foiled,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. Air defense systems destroyed 16 drones, including 13 over the Crimean Peninsula and three over the Volgograd region. »
The Ukrainian military, in turn, said its air defense systems shot down three Iranian-made attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight.