What there is to know
The town of Bachmout, a symbol of the war in eastern Ukraine, could fall “in the coming days,” NATO Secretary General warned on Wednesday, March 8. The Russian paramilitary group Wagner, for its part, demanded the capture of the eastern part of the city. His fall would “clear the way” for the Russian army in eastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Follow our life.
The European defense ministers want to “activate the war economy mode”. Meeting in Stockholm on Wednesday in the presence of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and her Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiï Reznikov, they must work out a plan for supplying ammunition to Ukraine despite stockpiles under pressure, with a first component that urgently amounts to one billion euros. The Ukrainian army, which is firing thousands every day to hold off Russian soldiers, is facing a critical shortage of 155mm shells for its guns.
Antonio Guterres on the way to Kiev. Arrived in Poland on Tuesday, the UN chief drove to the Ukrainian capital during the day, where he is to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In particular, the two men must highlight the continuation of the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain. For Antonio Guterres, this is the third trip to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
Macron and Biden exchanged views on Ukraine again. On the phone Tuesday, the French and US Presidents discussed “their support for Ukraine as Russia’s brutal invasion entered its second year, including their commitment to continue to keep Ukraine safe and to impose sanctions on Russia for its aggression,” it said in the White House statement.
Kyiv denies any involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. On September 26, 2022, four huge gas leaks, preceded by underwater explosions, were discovered on gas pipelines connecting Russia with Germany, all in international waters. The data collected by the American secret services indicate that the perpetrators of the sabotage of the two gas pipelines were “opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin”, writes the “New York Times” on Wednesday. “Even though I like to collect funny conspiracy theories about the Ukrainian government, I have to say that Ukraine had nothing to do with the Baltic Sea disaster.” tweeted Mykhailo PodolyakAdvisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.