MAP. War in Ukraine: “heavy losses”, snowstorm, Crimean treasures… Update of the day

According to the NATO chief, Ukraine has continued to inflict “heavy losses” on Russia in recent weeks as bad weather rages across Russia, Ukraine and occupied Ukraine. Meta’s spokesman has been charged with “terrorism” by Russia, Ukraine has recovered Crimean treasures and an 18-year-old Russian is on trial for criticizing the Russian offensive. Here is what you should note from the information on the situation in Ukraine this Monday, November 27, 2023.

Update on the situation in Ukraine Monday, November 27, 2023. | INFOGRAPHY WEST FRANCE View in full screen mode

Update on the situation in Ukraine Monday, November 27, 2023. | INFOGRAPHY WEST FRANCE

Ukraine continues to inflict “heavy losses” on Russia, NATO chief says

Ukraine continues to inflict “heavy losses” to Russia after fighting among themselves “most intense” since the war began in February 2022, Atlantic Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, AFP reports.

“The Ukrainians were able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian invaders, both in soldiers and combat capabilities.”Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference, adding that these military losses had occurred in recent weeks. Since Kiev launched its counteroffensive in the spring, Ukrainian forces have not achieved a decisive breakthrough, and some allied countries are worried about this, the press agency recalls.

But for the NATO chief “Even though the front hasn’t moved”Ukrainian forces continued to be very effective on the battlefield. “We have to distinguish between the fact that the front line is not moving significantly and the fact that there is very, very intense fighting going on.”he explained.

Ukraine continues to fight “brave” And “We continue to support them”He emphasized, adding that Germany and the Netherlands, for example, granted ten billion euros in aid to Kiev in November and that the allies, including the USA, sent more anti-aircraft systems to protect the population.

Kiev also claims to have regained its position on the left bank of the Dnieper in the south of the country a few weeks ago. The entrenchment of Ukrainian positions on this side of the Dnieper, confirmed by Russian bloggers and military experts, could represent the largest advance by the Ukrainian army in several months.

“Mega storm”: 4 dead and 2 million people without power

Violent gusts of wind and huge waves: Severe weather described as a “megastorm” killed four people and left around two million people without power in Russia, annexed Crimea and other occupied territories in Ukraine, authorities and media reported by AFP on Monday .

Dubbed the “storm of the century” and “megastorm” by Russian media, the violent storm that has persisted since Sunday has hit Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed in 2014, southern Russia and partially occupied territories hardest. from Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson in Ukraine, according to the Russian Energy Ministry.

A man’s body was found in Sochi, a popular seaside resort, according to regional authorities, who advised residents not to go near the water. Another man disappeared in Crimea “Watch the waves” died, an adviser to Crimea’s governor, Oleg Kryuchkov, told public television. One person was also killed on board a boat in the Kerch Strait, which connects Crimea with Russia, and a body was found in Novorossiysk in the Krasnodar Region, Russian authorities were quoted by AFP.

On Monday at 7 a.m “around 1.9 million people” There was no electricity in these areas “due to unfavorable weather conditions”, the Russian Energy Ministry said in a press release. In Crimea alone, this storm left 400,000 people without power, the energy company Krymenergo was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin received reports of this “Weather disasters” and ordered his government to take measures to help affected regions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

In the Krasnodar region, where the seaside resorts of Sochi and Anapa are located, hundreds of trees and numerous metal structures on the beaches were uprooted by the wind on the night from Sunday to Monday, resulting in injuries, the local branch of the Russian ministry said for emergency situations.

State of emergency in Crimea, snowstorm in Ukraine

According to AFP, the Black Sea overflowed highways in Crimea and Russian television broadcast images of waves breaking over cars trying to drive in the middle of the water. Crimea’s governor, Sergei Aksionov, declared a state of emergency and announced a day of rest on Monday due to bad weather on this peninsula, which was annexed in 2014. Impressive waves can be seen, for example, in this video published on X by the Polish media TVP World.

“We have experienced a real “Armageddon”: the residents cannot remember ever having seen wind and waves of such power.”Crimean parliament speaker Vladimir Konstantinov told the Russian TV channel Rossia 24. In Sevastopol, more than 500 marine animals were killed when the local aquarium was flooded by the storm, the city’s governor, Mikhail Razvojaev, wrote on Telegram.

A Russian court on Monday indicted Andy Stone, spokesman for American social media giant Meta, in absentia and ordered his detention “Promotion of terrorist activities”while the company is classified “Extremist” in Russia, reports AFP.

“The court granted the investigator’s request and decided on a restraint in the form of a pre-trial detention against Andy Mark Stone.”who is not in Russia, said a court spokeswoman, Olga Nazarova, quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax.

He is accused of doing this “promoted terrorist activities using his official position”a crime punishable by 20 years in prison, the court said.

The Russian Interior Ministry added the name of Andy Stone, Meta’s communications director, to the list of wanted people on Sunday, the press agency recalls. Russia officially designated the American group, parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, as an organization in October 2022. “Terrorist and extremist”This opens up the possibility of serious legal action against its users in the country.

Facebook and Instagram have also been blocked in Russia since the offensive in Ukraine began and cannot be accessed without a virtual private network (VPN), as have Twitter and many media sites critical of the government. Before the ban, millions of Russians used meta-applications, especially Instagram, a network that, despite its blocking, remains very popular among young people in the country. In April 2022, Russia added Meta leader Mark Zuckerberg to the blacklist of people banned from entering its territory.

18-year-old Russian charged with criticizing Russian offensive

The trial of an 18-year-old student, the youngest Russian to be charged with spreading “false information” about the Russian army, began this Monday in Odintsovo, a western suburb of Moscow, reports AFP. Maxime Lypkan, who faces up to 10 years in prison, was arrested last February, shortly after celebrating his 18th birthday, while planning to organize a protest against the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

The hearing took place behind closed doors and without the presence of the defendant, who was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Chekhov, near the Russian capital, on Friday at the court’s request. “The trial will take place behind closed doors because, according to a (forensic) report, he was found to be partially irresponsible for his actions.”said his lawyer Alan Katchmazov, who was present at the hearing, to AFP. According to Alan Katchmazov, his client is accused of broadcasting “False information about the Russian army”for publishing information on his Telegram channel and on YouTube “a well-known maternity ward (in Ukraine) that, according to Maxime, was allegedly bombed by Russian soldiers”.

“We are very worried about Maxime”, confided before the hearing to his mother Elena. According to another of Maxime’s lawyers, Antonina Levotchskaya, the young man was “forcibly shaved” and had “Conflicts with cell neighbors” when he was in custody. The defense hopes Maxime will be released due to his undisclosed diagnosis.

As an activist against the offensive, he had just finished his school career and was supposed to study law at university to become a lawyer. Before his arrest, Maxime Lypkan had planned to organize a protest entitled “A Year of Hell” on the second anniversary of the start of Russia’s intervention in Ukraine on February 24, but authorities banned the gathering. At 6 a.m. on February 21, the police showed up at his door and arrested him. The next hearing is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, AFP reports.

After a long legal battle, Ukraine regains Crimean treasures

Ukraine announced on Monday that it had recovered a valuable collection of archaeological treasures that Crimea had loaned to a museum in Amsterdam shortly before Russia’s annexation of that peninsula in 2014, after a long legal battle with Moscow, AFP reports. “After almost ten years of legal proceedings, objects from four Crimean museums presented in the exhibition “Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea” in Amsterdam have been returned to Ukraine.”the National Museum of History of Ukraine said in a statement.

The Ministry of Culture described the restitution as “great historic victory”. “Only the Ukrainian people should own these objects of historical value”Acting Minister Rostyslav Karandeev emphasized in a statement obtained by AFP. “It is very important for us to preserve and protect our history, our traditions and our historical heritage. This is what we fight for on the battlefield.”he added.

According to the Ukrainian Customs Service, the archaeological collection, which weighs 2,694 kilograms, “arrived with a truck from Amsterdam” equipped with“a temperature maintenance system, in special boxes”. Known as“Gold of the Scythians”According to the news agency, this collection will be kept in Kiev until Ukraine regains control of Crimea, a nomadic people, the National History Museum said.

After the annexation of Crimea by Russia, Ukraine and four museums on the occupied peninsula demanded the return of these priceless objects. However, the University of Amsterdam Archaeological Museum Allard Pierson had said this would not happen until a judge decided which party the pieces should be returned to.

In June, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands decided to return the collection to the Ukrainian state “and not to the Crimean museums” controlled by Russia since the annexation, AFP recalls. This rich collection of objects spans from the second century AD to the early Middle Ages “belongs to Crimea and must be there”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded on Monday.

Since the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has accused Moscow’s troops of looting its art objects, particularly a collection of Scythian gold on display in a museum in Melitopol, a southern city now occupied by Russia.