In Boutcha, storage under construction
Boutcha (Ukraine), April 15, 2022. Galina Bondar buries her 32-year-old son, who was killed by a bullet in a street in Boutcha, in the yard of a house in Boutcha. He informed the Ukrainian territorial defense about the Russian positions in the city of Boutcha. LP/Philippe de Poulpiquet
Images of civilians being murdered in the streets of this wealthy Kiev suburb, which was liberated by Russian soldiers on April 2, 2022 after more than a month of occupation, went around the world. The bereaved place their hopes in Ukrainian and international justice. You can find our journalist’s report here.
Defence, energy, Russia… The German model was turned upside down by the war
Shaped by the atrocities of the Nazis, Germany has long wanted to be pacifist. The country had let its military prowess crumble and was content to be Europe’s leading economy. With the Russian offensive, all these certainties fell away.
Three days after the invasion, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced “a new era” and provided a special amount of 100 billion euros to modernize the army.
Without Russian gas, Germany is now buying LNG at significantly higher prices, which threatens to permanently weaken the competitiveness of certain industrial sectors.
As for the strategic and military turning point, it took place in pain. From artillery to battle tanks, Olaf Scholz has been criticized for going too slowly.
“Come back to us! ”: the call from the mother of a Frenchman who died in Ukraine
His name was Andreas Gallozzi. This former soldier had joined the international legion to fight alongside the Ukrainians against Russian forces. He died at the age of 22 in the Donbass region. Andreas is the third French fighter to die in Ukraine.
“They were attacked by the Russians and unfortunately his position was hit by a shell and he received shrapnel in the neck,” testified his mother, Edith Gallozzi, to France 2. She had respected his son’s choice. But today she appeals to other volunteer soldiers: “Come back to us! (…) There are so many mothers who will still cry. Don’t go like that, it’s a waste. You are young, you lose your life. Maybe there’s something else to do besides guns. »
The pressure on China is growing
Munich, February 18, 2023. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi presented his country as an advocate of peace and sees it as a task for Moscow and Kiev to “sit around the same table to find a political solution” to the conflict. Portal/Wolfgang Rattay
The Munich meeting also allowed for an interview between the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during which the foreign minister warned of the “impact and consequences” for China if it were found to be providing “material support” to Russia. in his war in Ukraine.
The Europeans hope to persuade Beijing to use its influence over the Kremlin lord to end the war.
To the east, a Ukrainian unit withstands Russian attacks and freezing cold
Fed on dehydrated noodles, cookies and other sweets, the soldiers of the “Witcher” unit are busy at their headquarters, a small abandoned house near the front line in the Bakhmout region of eastern Ukraine.
Almost a year into the war, “Virus” and his men say the morale of the Ukrainian resistance remains high, despite the slim chance of an imminent end to the conflict.
“No effort is too high” for the Ukrainian victory, says Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov, on February 18, 2023 in Munich, on the sidelines of the security conference. Strange ANDERSEN/AFP
On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (Germany), former world chess champion and President of the NGO Human Rights Foundation Garry Kasparov took the view that a Ukrainian victory was the “prerequisite for democracy in Russia” and that no spending (by Westerners) was “excessive for Ukraine”.
Germany fears that Russia will attack other countries if they win in Ukraine
Ukraine must win its fight against Russian invasion, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, warning that a Russian victory could embolden Moscow to attack other countries.