On Tuesday, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's army admitted that his forces had to withdraw to the “outskirts” of Marinka, a town near Donetsk that Moscow reportedly took control of on Monday. According to him, this no longer exists as it is completely destroyed. Follow the latest information live.
18:29
PRESSURE ON MULTIPLE FRONTS
The commander of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrsky, emphasized on Telegram on Wednesday that the situation in the east of the country was “difficult”. Russia “continues its intensive offensives towards Kupyansk, Lyman, Siversk and Bakhmut.”
The country “has recently significantly increased the use of armored vehicles and kamikaze drones and continues to conduct intense artillery fire,” he added.
14:12
Appeal against Yekaterina Dountsova rejected
While Russia's election commission rejected journalist Ekaterina Dountsova's candidacy for the presidential election on December 23, the latter has just lost her appeal against that rejection, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
She defended her vision of a “humane” Russia, “peaceful, friendly and ready to work with everyone on the principle of respect.” The former community representative now intends to work on founding her own political party that will defend “peace, freedom and democracy,” quoted the Associated Press. Read our article taking stock of the rejection of this application.
12:09
GIGANTIC LNG PROJECT UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Russian Deputy Energy Minister Alexander Novak reiterated that the gigantic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Arctic, Arctic LNG 2, had started despite American sanctions that threatened its launch.
“The Arctic LNG 2 plant is currently under construction and the first stage has already started operations. We expect the first deliveries from this project to take place as early as the first quarter of next year,” he said. reported the Russian Deputy Prime Minister. According to media reports, Russian gas giant Novatek, which owns 60% of the megaproject, invoked “force majeure” in early December, a legal clause that allows companies to suspend deliveries due to factors beyond their control.
11:55
DRONE ATTACK IN ODESSA
Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a message posted on Telegram that “around midnight the occupiers…” [les Russes] We dropped drones on the Odessa region. “One person died and four others were injured,” the minister added, noting that residential buildings had been damaged.
11:39
FENCER WANTED BY RUSSIA
Sergey Bida and his wife Violetta Brida, two fencers who left Russia for the United States after the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, are on Moscow's wanted list. They are suspected of having taken part in a championship in the USA without Russia's consent. Update on this topic in our article.
10:24
DELIVERY OF A FRENCH PILOT SHIP
Transport Minister Clément Beaune announced on Monday on the social network X (formerly Twitter) the delivery of a “second pilot ship to support Ukraine”.
“When he leaves Dunkirk, he will enable the supply of grain to better feed the world,” he wrote, promising a “total commitment (…)” and “a solidarity that will not end.”
10:11
RUSSIA REDIRECTS ITS OIL EXPORTS TO ASIA
Russia has shifted almost all of its oil exports to China and India, generating revenues at levels comparable to 2021, its deputy prime minister in charge of energy, Alexandre Novak, announced on Wednesday. According to him, Russia, which is subject to a variety of Western sanctions because of its offensive in Ukraine and especially its hydrocarbons, today sells 45-50% of its oil to China and 40% to India.
“If so far we have supplied Europe with 40-45% of the total export volume of oil and oil products, we assume that this figure will not exceed 4-5% by the end of the year,” explained Alexandre Novak in an interview with Russian TV channel Rossia 24.
09:27
A SECOND WINTER OF WAR
In Bakhmut on the Eastern Front, winter is just beginning. The fighting is currently taking place in freezing cold and extreme conditions. A team from TF1's 20H was able to witness it at the front together with Ukrainian soldiers. You can find a report below.
09:22
A Russian swimming star who will not compete in the 2024 Olympics
Kliment Kolesnikov, a rising Russian swimming star, will not compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. “So far it is unacceptable for me under the current conditions” to take part in the competition, he explained in an interview with AFP, explaining that he did not want to be a “black sheep” among the other athletes who would come in next summer the French capital. “The other guys are joining in and competing as if nothing had happened, and we will not have the right to have a delegation (…), nor a flag or an anthem,” adds the world record holder in the 50m backstroke.
In early December, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in the Paris Games (July 26 – August 11) on the condition that they compete under a neutral banner, excluding team events, and that they do so did not actively support the Russian offensive in Ukraine and overcome the qualification hurdle. So far in this case there are only eleven, eight Russians and three Belarusians, against around sixty Ukrainians, according to the IOC.
07:41
RELATIONS BETWEEN UKRAINE AND NATO
In a message posted on the social network on Tuesday, his ministers and the chairman of the Rada, Ukraine's unicameral parliament, said.
“Ukraine's strategy in its relations with the alliance is clear. It's about creating the foundations of security for Ukraine and for all of Europe (…). Foreign policy, institutional measures in the country: everything must be as meaningful as possible,” he wrote.
07:27
“DAMAGED” SHIP
Russia confirmed on Tuesday that one of its ships had been damaged in an attack by Kiev in annexed Crimea, a new move by Moscow in the Black Sea that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed. Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed by his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about “damage” suffered by the large landing ship Novocherkassk in that attack in Crimea, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press, without giving further details.
The Defense Ministry, citing the RIA Novosti agency, said that the boat was damaged “at night during an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces with cruise missiles” in the city of Feodosia. The Ukrainian army claims to have “destroyed” this ship, which was said to be carrying Iranian-made Shahed drones, which were widely used by Moscow in the conflict. According to Crimean Governor Sergei Aksionov, the attack also left one dead and two injured, as well as damage to six buildings.
06:30
Kherson
At least one person was killed and four others injured on Tuesday in a Russian bomb attack on a train station in Kherson, southern Ukraine, where civilians were preparing to evacuate, the interior minister said.
“Kherson, in the evening. About 140 civilians were waiting at the train station for the evacuation train to depart. Then the enemy began a massive bombardment of the city,” Igor Klymenko said on Telegram. One police officer was killed and two civilians and two police officers were injured by shrapnel, he said.
06:30
Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Current information on the conflict can be found here.
Ukrainian army commander-in-chief Valery Zalouzhny announced on Tuesday that his troops had withdrawn to the “outskirts” of Marinka, a city in the east of the country that Moscow had reportedly taken under control the previous day. “The fact that we have moved to the outskirts of Marinka and in some places have already exceeded the boundaries of the locality should not cause public outcry,” Zaluzhny said at a news conference.
According to him, Ukrainian soldiers are still in the northern part of the city, but his forces have “prepared a defensive line outside this place” to which they can retreat. Given the destruction, Marinka “no longer exists,” he said.
Russia claimed on Monday to have taken control of this city five kilometers southwest of Donetsk, the main city under Russian occupation in the region. Marinka had been converted into a stronghold by the Ukrainian army since 2014 and began a conflict with pro-Russian separatists led by Moscow, who had taken over the city of Donetsk in particular.
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TF1 REPORT – Snow, freezing cold, rodents… at the front, a second winter of war in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin welcomed the capture of Marinka, which he said kept Ukrainian artillery out of Donetsk and gave Moscow forces “a larger operational space” in the region.
Valery Zalouzhny estimated Tuesday that Russia “has the strength today to concentrate its efforts to destroy a city like Bakhmut in three months,” referring to the longest and deadliest battle of the war. Last May, Russia captured the city of Bakhmut, also in the east, which led to enormous destruction.
For months it has been besieging another stronghold in Donbass, Avdiivka, in the hope of encircling it. “I fully understand that our fighters are doing a very difficult job in extremely difficult conditions,” Zaluzhny added.
The editorial team of TF1info