Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has again called on his Western allies to equip Kiev with more air defense systems after Russian attacks left five people dead, according to Ukraine. Follow the latest information.
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Volodymyr Zelensky, the former comedian turned warlord
12:02
ZELSKI PUSHES THE WEST
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday reiterated his call for his Western allies to equip Kiev with more air defense systems after Ukraine said five people were killed in Russian attacks.
Attacks on the Black Sea port city of Odessa overnight Friday and Saturday killed three people, including a child, and destroyed a nine-story building, officials said. Ukrainians.
At the same time, bomb attacks killed a 76-year-old man in the Kharkiv region near the Russian border and another person in the Kherson region, according to regional authorities.
“Russia continues to attack civilians,” President Zelensky complained on social media.
“We need more air defense from our partners. We must strengthen Ukraine's air defense shield to better protect our people from Russian terrorism. More air defense systems and more missiles for air defense systems save lives,” he said.
09:29
INVESTIGATION OF A POSSIBLE CONNECTION
The German Defense Ministry said on Saturday it was investigating possible wiretapping of confidential conversations between senior officers in its air force about the war in Ukraine.
“We are checking whether communications with the air force were intercepted, the military counterintelligence (BAMAD) has taken all necessary measures,” a ministry spokesman told AFP.
The case came to light after what closely resembled a recording of a conversation between German officers was broadcast on Russian social media accounts close to the Kremlin, according to German media.
The latter speak in particular of the hypothesis of the use of German-made Taurus-type long-range missiles by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and their possible effects, especially if they were to attack targets such as the Crimean Bridge connecting the Kerch Peninsula. Crimea to the west and Russian territory.
09:00
“NO Franco-German clash”
The head of French diplomacy believes that there is no division between France and Germany, despite the obvious differences between President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Ukraine.
“There is no Franco-German conflict, we agree on 80% of the issues,” assures Stéphane Séjourné in an interview with the daily Le Monde published on Saturday.
The most visible point of contention currently concerns the form of aid to be given to Ukraine in the face of the Russian steamroller, while a vital amount of more than $60 billion remains blocked in the United States.
During the support conference for Kiev organized by Paris on Monday, the French leader appeared to implicitly attack countries such as Germany, which has long hesitated to supply certain heavy weapons to Kiev.
“I spoke to my German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, we’ll see each other in Paris next Tuesday. There is a desire to talk to each other,” continues Stéphane Séjourné. “There is no drama because we have the same goal of supporting Ukraine,” he also emphasized.
06:49
Two dead in Russian drone strikes in Ukraine
At least two people were killed in Russian drone attacks in the Kharkiv (northeast) and Odessa (south) regions of Ukraine on the night from Friday to Saturday, the Kiev authorities reported.
A young man was killed and several people, including a 3-year-old child, were injured when a Russian drone hit a residential building in the port city of Odessa, authorities said.
“The three-year-old child suffers from abrasions on the leg and is under medical supervision,” said the region's governor, Oleg Kiper, who reported six adults were also injured.
In the village of Velykyi Burluk, about 100 kilometers from Kharkiv, a house was hit by a drone, resulting in a fire. The body of a 76-year-old man was recovered from the rubble, police said.
Thousands of people attended the funeral in Moscow on Friday March 1 of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's main critic who died in prison on February 16 under difficult circumstances. According to the specialized NGO OVD-Info, police carried out “at least 67 arrests in sixteen cities” throughout the day, including six in the Russian capital, during rallies in honor of the former anti-corruption activist.
Emmanuel Macron will bring together the heads of the main parties at the Élysée Palace on Thursday morning to discuss “the situation in Ukraine,” AFP learned from the presidential office and several political leaders.
France is doing everything to prevent a collapse of Ukraine without waging war against Russia, the head of French diplomacy emphasized. “Everything we do is to avoid war and of course not to cause a certain level of concern to the French,” assured Stéphane Séjourné when asked about the possibility of sending European soldiers to Ukraine the French President had mentioned earlier this week.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte signed a security agreement with Ukraine on Friday during a trip to Kharkiv, the country's second city to fight a Russian invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.
Russian diplomat chief Sergei Lavrov began a two-day visit Friday to Turkey, whose leaders are trying to bring Russian and Ukrainian officials together again. The Russian Foreign Minister attended the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya (South), an annual meeting to which countries friendly with Ankara are invited, where he met his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.
The editorial team of TF1info