Russian militia leader Wagner said Friday his troops had taken the Ukrainian town of Paraskoviïvka, a town north of Bakhmout in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged allies to “accelerate” support for his country during a video intervention ahead of the Munich Security Conference (Germany) on Friday, February 17. “We need speed. Speed to finalize our agreements, speed of supplies to strengthen our struggle, speed of decisions to limit Russia’s potential. There is no alternative to speed because your life depends on it,” he argued, adding that “there is no alternative to Ukraine’s victory, no alternative to Ukraine in the European Union, no alternative to Ukraine in NATO”.
Franceinfo looks back at the highlights of the day on the warfront in Ukraine.
Wagner claims the conquest of a location north of Bakhmout
Russian militia leader Wagner said on Friday his forces had taken the Ukrainian town of Paraskoviïvka, a town bordering Bachmout to the north, the scene of the longest battle in Donbass in a year. “Despite the ammunition blockade, despite heavy losses and bloody battles, the boys completely took over the village of Paraskoviïvka,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin, quoted by his press service. As of Friday evening, these statements could not be verified by an independent source at this time.
For Emmanuel Macron “there is no time for dialogue”
“Clearly, today is not the time for dialogue” related to the war in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron declared on Friday during a speech delivered during the 59th Security Conference in Munich, Germany. For the head of state, Russia “chosen war, decided to intensify the war and go as far as war crimes.” A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, the French President has drawn a “considerable” assessment of a “catastrophic” conflict. He denounced “murders, systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure and thus a systematization of war crimes against the Ukrainian people, but also nuclear threats”.
As a year of conflict approaches, Emmanuel Macron wants to “increase our support and our efforts to help the people’s resistance and the Ukrainian army.” “We are ready for a protracted conflict, but saying this, I do not wish it,” he underlined. In this context, the French President calls on Europeans to “reinvest massively in their defense” and “reconsider our security doctrine”.
Berlin urges countries that can supply tanks to ‘really do it’
Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday urged countries that can supply main battle tanks to Ukraine to “really do it,” at a time when deliveries, mentioned by allies, are slower than expected.
Military support for Ukraine must continue, and “that implies that anyone who can deliver such battle tanks really does,” said Olaf Scholz at the Munich Security Conference. After pressure from all sides to supply Leopard 2 tanks, the Chancellor gave the go-ahead for tank deliveries by Germany and other European countries at the end of January.
A third French fighter was killed in Ukraine
A third French volunteer fighter was killed in Ukraine on Thursday, sources confirmed to Radio France on Friday. By the age of 22, he had joined the International Legion, a unit of non-Ukrainian fighters, reports France 3 Bourgogne Franche-Comté. He died after a bomb attack during fighting in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. “It was his goal, his purpose in life,” testified his mother Edith Gallozzi to France 3.
Before leaving for Ukraine, Andreas Gallozzi served “a few years ago” in the 17th Montauban Parachute Engineer Regiment, the Ministry of the Armed Forces specified to the Radio France agency.
Auchan denies contributing to the Russian war effort
In response to an investigation by Le Monde (subscriber edition) on Friday, Auchan Retail “categorically” denied allegations of contributing to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
According to documents obtained by the French daily, investigative site The Insider and NGO Bellingcat, in March 2022, a collection of products destined for Vladimir Putin’s army was organized at the local subsidiary of Auchan in Russia.
“Auchan Retail categorically denies the facts of this investigation and its interpretation,” the group said in a press release. The latter “thus reiterates that their shops, which are still open in Russia, are intended to enable the Russian population (as is the case in other parts of Ukraine for the Ukrainian population) to support themselves and that they do not provide voluntary assistance and in any provision operate other categories of consumers”.