Russian pressure on the city of Avdiivka is increasing: attacks continue 24 hours a day, Ukrainian sources say. The idea is that the Kremlin wants to ensure control over Russia until the presidential elections in March 2024. President Vladimir Putin praised the soldiers deployed at the front: “The future of Russia – he said – depends on the soldiers fighting in the special operation.” . Ukraine is not allowed to take part in the games in Paris. The Minister of Sports opened the hypothesis of an Olympic boycott when, after months of deliberation, the IOC decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate as neutrals and without coats of arms and anthems: “If the IOC tolerates the participation of the henchmen of the bloody regime will be ours Make participation impossible.”
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dossier – Traces of war
Live news from the Ukraine-Russia conflict
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11:02
Putin: “The West is trying to destroy us, but it won’t succeed”
02:49
Ukraine is considering not taking part in the Olympics. The Sports Minister: “Participation is impossible if the IOC tolerates henchmen of the bloody regime”
11:07
Russians attack Avdiivka in Donetsk: “Putin wants to take it before the vote”
“Despite the terrible weather conditions, Russian troops are attacking Avdiivka in Donetsk around the clock, launching an average of 30 to 40 massive bombing raids per day to capture the city in every possible way,” the city's military chief Vitaliy Barabash said, according to UNIAN. “Along the entire defensive line of the city, the enemy is carrying out offensive operations, accompanied by the use of artillery guns and rockets, mortar shelling, tank attacks and aircraft work,” he told Ukrainian public television. According to the US think tank ISW, Putin gave the order to take Avdiivka before the March elections.
A destroyed apartment in Lyman, Donetsk region
(afp) 11:02
Putin: “The West is trying to destroy us, but it won’t succeed”
Western leaders like Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande have tried to “weaken, crush” Russia. “But they will never succeed.” President Vladimir Putin said this today, Ria Novosti reported, explaining that the two leaders “admitted that they had no intention of implementing the Minsk agreements and used them to prepare Ukraine to take advantage of hostilities.” “It is an attempt to sideline Russia, to weaken it. And ultimately to be destroyed. Nothing will work for them. Never,” emphasized the president.
03:01
Zelenskyy at Milei's inauguration in Argentina, the Kremlin: “We will not judge him by his statements in the election campaign, but by those he makes afterwards”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the inauguration of Argentine President-elect Javier Milei. Zelensky congratulated him shortly after the election and thanked him for his “clear support for Ukraine”. At the inauguration ceremony, Russia will be represented by its ambassador to Argentina. The Kremlin “took note of a number of Milei’s statements during the election campaign,” the spokesman said Dmitry Peskov. “But we will focus mainly on the statements and judge him that he will make after taking office,” Peskov added
02:57
Moscow launched 100 air and missile strikes within 24 hours
Russia almost took off 100 airstrikes across the country in the last 24 hours: “The enemy fired 28 missiles and 27 airstrikes, firing 59 times from multiple launch systems at Ukrainian military positions and populated areas,” said a post from the Ukrainian General Staff. Several regions in the east were attacked, including Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk, where some of the fiercest fighting took place. The attacks come a day after Ukrainian authorities said they had intercepted cruise missiles for the first time in nearly 80 days, as Western intelligence assessments warned that Russia was likely to expand its bombing of civilian infrastructure over the winter. In recent months, the attacks have predominantly been carried out with drones.
02:49
Ukraine is considering not taking part in the Olympics. The Sports Minister: “Participation is impossible if the IOC tolerates henchmen of the bloody regime”
Ukraine may not take part in the Paris Olympics. The Minister of Sports of Ukraine Matviy Bidnyi He said Kiev would “evaluate whether participation in the Paris Olympics next year is in the nation's interest.” Participation would not be possible unless the IOC changed its “unconstructive position.” The International Olympic Committee has decided that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete in Paris as long as they are neutral without flags, coats of arms or anthems. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Russians and Belarusians were initially banned from competing internationally.
“We must not make hasty decisions. “It will be a balanced decision and we must communicate it to the public,” he explained, “but if the IOC continues to tolerate the participation of the henchmen of the bloody (Russian) regime, it will make our participation impossible.”
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