- Russia launched its “military operation” in Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, 2022. 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 Tuesday, Decathlon continues its business in Russia, in Poland spies were convicted and in Koupiansk it was besieged by Russian forces.
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
Unsportsmanlike conduct for Decathlon. French sports and leisure goods group Decathlon continued to supply clothing to the Russian buyer of its stores, particularly through a “shell company” in Dubai, according to an investigation published on Tuesday by the media Disclose. While most Western companies left the country after the start of the war in Ukraine, Decathlon, for example, delivered Kalenji jogging jackets, Wedze ski jackets as well as Quechua pants and shoes to Russian Desport stores, for a total of at least 12 million dollars (around 11 million euros). Those products were transported by plane in November from Bangladesh, where they are manufactured, through Dubai, where a shell company purchased the products, according to internal documents and witness statements collected by Disclose.
A few weeks after the start of the war, Decathlon announced that it was suspending commercial activities of its stores and website in Russia. More than a year later, in the summer of 2023, the retailer finally received approval from local authorities to resell 36 stores to the Russian company ARM. But when they reopened in November, Decathlon products were available in those stores, according to images on Russian social media.
According to documents seen by Disclose, the group urgently ordered goods from its Asian suppliers. To avoid the shipments being blocked at customs, a Singapore-based Decathlon subsidiary purchased them and transported them through Dubai. Decathlon “does not conduct business in the Russian Federation, does not employ employees and does not hold shares in companies operating in this territory,” management replied to AFP. “Decathlon also makes every effort to prevent the resale on the territory of the Russian Federation of products purchased in Europe from third parties. »
Sentence of the day
The situation in Ukraine appears to have contributed to a litany of ongoing suffering, and the world's attention appears to have been exhausted by the numerous crises we face. »
We owe this somewhat disillusioned proposal to Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The evidence collected by his office “continues to document flagrant violations of international human rights law, serious violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes committed primarily by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” he said. Volker Türk was also denounced in Geneva during a week's debate this Tuesday about the invasion of Ukraine. “In the occupied territories, we have reported widespread torture and ill-treatment of detainees, including sexual violence, as well as large numbers of enforced disappearances,” he said. War in all its horrors.
The number of the day
14. So many members of a spy network for Russia were convicted by a Polish court this Tuesday. The defendants were indicted last month on charges including plotting to derail relief trains to neighboring Ukraine and surveillance of military facilities and critical infrastructure in Poland. The judge imposed prison sentences of between one month and six years on the convicts.
The 14 defendants were not present in the courtroom as they had all pleaded guilty. The members of the network are “Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians,” the spokesman for the Lublin court told AFP. Among those convicted is Maxim S., a Russian ice hockey player who plays for a Polish club in Sosnowiec. His arrest in June prompted Moscow to express its “strong protest” and demand “full explanations” from Poland.
Today's trend
This is not a festive time for Ukraine. Around Kupyansk, a city in the northeast of the country that was liberated by Kiev forces in the summer of 2023, “the situation is complicated,” said Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of the Ukrainian army, on Tuesday. “We must fight while the enemy is superior both in weaponry and in numbers,” he explained on Telegram, but made sure his men held out.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had repelled eight Ukrainian attacks around Kupiansk. He also claimed that his soldiers were increasing their pressure around the town of Bakhmout, which Moscow captured in a bloody battle over the summer. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based think tank, Ukrainian armed forces are forced to ration their ammunition, putting them in trouble when facing Russian forces showered with North Korean shells.