Vladimir Putin faces the nation. The Russian president will deliver his traditional speech to the Russian people on Thursday, February 29, an annual high mass at which he defines Russia's priorities, two weeks before an unopposed presidential election. The Kremlin chief is scheduled to speak at 12 p.m. (10 a.m. Paris time) at Gostiny Dvor, a convention center near Red Square in Moscow. He appears to be in a better position than a year ago, when his army faced humiliating retreats in southern and northeastern Ukraine. Since then, the Ukrainian army's counteroffensive, launched in the summer of 2023, has failed and is on the defensive due to a lack of ammunition due to the lack of agreement in Washington and the number of Russian soldiers being more numerous and better armed. Follow our live stream.
Great progress on the Eastern Front. The Russian army managed to capture the fortress town of Avdiivka in mid-February and is continuing its advance in this sector, to the great satisfaction of Vladimir Putin, who hailed “an important victory.” This loss of the city represents the largest Ukrainian defeat after the failure of the counteroffensive.
The topics of the speech were kept secret. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to discuss the themes of the speech, saying only that the president wrote it personally. For his part, Vladimir Putin stated that his speech would “of course” take into account the presidential elections taking place on March 15-17 and make it possible to set “goals for at least the next six years,” that is, the duration of the leader's mandate. of the state in Russia.
Transnistria asks Russia for support. Authorities in this pro-Russian separatist region of Moldova adopted an official statement on Wednesday calling for Russia's “protection” from the Moldovan government. According to this statement, quoted by Russian news agencies, the separatist authorities are calling on Moscow to implement “measures to protect Transnistria in the face of increasing pressure from Moldova,” including “an economic blockade.”