War between Ukraine and RussiafileOn the 50th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States decided to supply heavy weapons to Kyiv for the first time. Every day Russian forces claim control of a new part of Mariupol, the besieged port where thousands of casualties are feared.
In summary :
– Russia has suffered one of its biggest material setbacks since the invasion of Ukraine began, the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, was “severely damaged” by a munitions explosion, according to Moscow, and by rocket attacks, according to Moscow. to Kyiv.
– Joe Biden has promised his Ukrainian counterpart a massive $800 million in new military aid, including heavy equipment that the United States has so far been reluctant to deliver.
– Every day Russian forces claim control of a new part of Mariupol. Moscow says it has been in control of the city’s commercial port since Wednesday, which has been under siege since the invasion began on February 24.
9:16
Ireland sends its foreign minister to Kyiv. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney is traveling to Kyiv on Thursday, his office said, marking the first visit by a foreign minister from a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council since the war began in Ukraine. Simon Coveney, who is also Defense Minister, will meet his two counterparts, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, and will visit areas directly affected by the Russian invasion. “His discussions with the Ukrainian government will focus on how Ireland can continue to provide political, security and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine,” his office said.
8:58
New hope for evacuations in Mariupol. Ukraine announced a resumption of evacuations of civilians along nine humanitarian corridors, including from the besieged city of Mariupol in the south-east of the country, after being suspended from Kyiv after a day of suspension over Russian ceasefire violations. “Nine humanitarian corridors are planned today,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Telegram.
7:29
In the streets of Boutcha. Boutcha looks like a corpse behind the bombed-out Hostomel bridge, which is miraculously holding up. A deep silence reigns in the morning around the church of Saint-André-le-Premier-Appelé-et-tous-les-Saints, broken from time to time by the roar of the engine of the Grouz 300 truck responsible for the takeover to the morgue the bodies just dug up from the city’s largest mass grave. Read the report of our correspondent in Ukraine, Stéphane Siohan.
7:17
New British sanctions. The UK has announced it will add 178 pro-Russian separatists to the list of sanctions, as well as new Russian oligarchs and their families, as well as the wife of the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov. Jersey authorities, a dependency of the British Crown, announced the freezing of “assets estimated at more than $7 billion suspected of being linked to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich”. For its part, Moscow announced that it would sanction 398 American parliamentarians as a retaliatory measure.
7:16
Hit or sunk the Russian flagship in the Black Sea? The cruiser Moskva, flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was “severely damaged” by a fire-caused ammunition explosion, Russian state authorities reported on Thursday, citing the Ministry of Defense. According to Moscow, the crew has been fully evacuated and an investigation to determine the cause of the fire is underway. For their part, Ukrainian authorities claimed that the Moskva River was on fire after a rocket attack.
7:15 a.m
Zelenskyj goes after Macron. French President Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to denounce a “genocide” by the Russian army in Ukraine was “very hurtful,” Zelenskyy lamented, after Macron decided not to use the term “genocide” used by Joe Biden. “I would say that Russia unilaterally unleashed a brutal war, that it is now clear that war crimes were committed by the Russian army and that it is now necessary to find those responsible,” Macron said.
7:15 a.m
US heavy weapons delivered to Ukraine. In a phone call with Zelensky on Wednesday, Joe Biden announced the delivery to Kyiv of a large quantity of equipment from US military stockpiles, including artillery, armor, radar, anti-tank missiles and unmanned coastal defense ships and drones, according to the White House statement. The White House recently appeared to abandon the distinction it had made between supplying “defensive” equipment, which it allowed, and “offensive” equipment, which it refused. This massive new military aid was promised when Russia threatened to attack Kyiv again.