- Russia launched its “military operation” in Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, 2022. Every evening at 7:30 p.m., 20 Minutes brings you a summary of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that has turned into a war that claims dead and injured every day… and thousands of refugees.
- Who did what? Who says what? And who supports whom and why? You will learn everything about the course of negotiations and the events of this crisis that is shaking Russia, Ukraine, Europe and even the United States.
- This Friday, Russia is one step closer to taking Bakhmout as Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz meet to discuss supporting Ukraine.
Did you miss the latest events on tensions in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Who did what? Who says what? Where are we ? The answer below:
news of the day
Russia is nearing a symbolic victory in Bakhmout. Indeed, Yevgeny Prigoyine, head of the Wagner Group, has stated that the city is “virtually surrounded” by his troops. Located in Donetsk Oblast, it has been the scene of fierce fighting since the summer and has already been almost 80% destroyed.
Prigozhin called on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s troops to withdraw: “Before, we faced a professional Ukrainian army. (…) Today we see more and more old people and children. They fight, but their life in Bakhmout is short, a day or two. Give them a chance to get out of town. »
According to local authorities, only 4,500 residents live in Bakhmout, down from 70,000 before the war. “The Russian command wants to control the entire Donetsk region, and Bakhmout is the main gateway to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk,” Michael Kofman, director of Russian studies at CNA, an American research institute, told AFP. White House national security spokesman John Kirby, meanwhile, downplayed Bakhmout’s importance to Russians. He had therefore estimated that “even if they manage to take Bakhmout and Soledar, it will not change the strategic dynamics on the battlefield”.
phrase of the day
Arms deliveries to Ukraine (…) will prolong this conflict, with sad consequences for the Ukrainian people. »
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov sent a harsh message to the West, noting that the United States “continues its policy of increasing arms sales to Ukraine and persuading its protégés to do the same.” Deliveries that “will not have a decisive impact on the outcome of the offensive,” he believes, but which “will prolong this conflict, with sad consequences for the Ukrainian people.”
The number of the day
10. Like the number of years in prison for activist Ales Bialiatski, convicted by a Minsk court. As co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, he is one of the opposition figures against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
“These outrageous sentences are a revenge for our standing up for human rights. It is a political order from the top of this dictatorial power,” denounced Dmitri Soloviev, who was tried in absentia and sentenced to eight years in prison. According to the NGO Viasna, as of March 1, Belarus had 1,461 political prisoners.
The trend of the day
Joe Biden receives Chancellor Olaf Scholz on a two-day visit to the United States. The issue of war and support for Ukraine is obviously on the table of the two heads of state. “The idea is to make a real working visit,” said Nils Schmid, foreign policy spokesman in Parliament. “This is not a state visit. It’s really about sitting down, putting all the cards on the table, weighing the options, exchanging the assessments and having a very free debate, with no obligation to reach an immediate conclusion on any of the files. »
The White House announced $400 million in additional military aid – mostly ammunition. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Olaf Scholz announced that armaments production in Germany would be strengthened with the aim of making the country “an industrial location that would contribute to securing peace and freedom in Europe”.