Live War in Ukraine: Macron expected in China on Wednesday, “the only country that can have a serious impact on the conflict”

The European Commission estimates that 30% of Ukrainian land is contaminated by mines. He has donated 50 bomb and mine detection dogs to Ukraine. Nine of them are already on the ground.

Denmark and Norway will jointly transfer 8,000 artillery shells to Ukraine, the Danish Ministry of Defense has announced.

According to reports by the Ukrainian government, the World Bank, the European Commission and the UN, the war has caused $2.6 billion in damage to Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

According to the UK MoD, Russia is looking to sponsor a replacement for Wagner along with other private military companies. “This comes against the backdrop of a highly publicized dispute between the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Wagner Group. Russian military leaders may prefer an alternative PMC over which they have more control. However, no other known Russian PMC currently approaches the size or power of the Wagner.

Emmanuel Macron is expected in China on Wednesday. He believes Beijing is “indispensable” in addressing many of the world’s challenges, starting with the war in Ukraine, which the Chinese position could “tip” according to Paris.

“China is the only country in the world in a position to have an immediate and serious impact on the conflict in one direction or the other,” Élysée assessed before the French president’s three-day state visit. Emmanuel Macron, together with the heads of some sixty French companies, including Airbus, EDF or Véolia, will emphasize the energy transition, one of the planetary challenges Paris considers essential to progress with Beijing.

Contract signatures are awaited.

According to the US War Institute, drone footage shows Wagner Group and Russian flags planted in the ruins of administration buildings. According to ISW, the Russians will now try to consolidate this position in the center of the city and advance westward through dense urban areas towards Khromov.

According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, Shell is involved in the Far East Sakhalin-2 gas project. As a result, Russian gas giant Novatek got the green light from Putin to transfer money to Shell. Novatek also announced that it has filed an application to acquire the shares of Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Sakhalin-2 gas project.

According to the Russian Navalny Live site, air defense systems have been installed near Putin’s residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

In his last daily video intervention, the Kremlin called on the UN to get away with crimes on Ukrainian soil. President Zelensky confirmed that it cannot hide behind its seat in the Security Council. He returned to his visit to the Chernivtsi region, “one of the most emotionally difficult journeys”. He noted that Russian soldiers set up a command post at the Yahidne school and took all the villagers into the basement of the school. From March 3 to March 30 last year, Zelenskiy said, the occupiers housed more than 300 people in the school’s basement, an area of ​​less than 200 square meters. “We will never forgive”.

According to the latest update on civilian deaths from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 765 additional civilian deaths were recorded in Ukraine in March 2023. In total, 8,451 people have been killed since the war began. and 14,156 injured. “After the Russian Federation’s 13-month war against Ukraine, gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have become shockingly routine,” says UN human rights chief Volker Turk.

According to the American newspaper The Washington PostMoscow has ordered the construction of several kilometers of trenches around the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. According to the daily, there are many jobs posted for construction workers with an attractive salary of $90 per day. This would have allowed Moscow to place these trenches within days, according to satellite images.

“The IOC makes the decision, but the IOC is engaged in a full series of consultations and the word of the host country’s president is important in the context of these consultations,” announced the sports minister on Monday and the Olympic Games’ Amélie Oudéa-Castera questioned some media during a trip to Nice about the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Paris Olympics. .

“In this case, we must all be firm around Ukraine at the same time, and on the other hand, we know that there is a UN policy of non-discrimination against people based on their nationality or their passport”, Amelie Odea- underlined. Castera.

On Monday, the boss of the Wagner group claimed responsibility for seizing a key building in the city of Baghmoud, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine. But during his daily press conference on the same day, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov did not report that any Russian troops had advanced in Bagmouth, and did not even mention the city by name.

The staff of the Ukrainian army, for its part, confirmed that the Russian attacks were repulsed.

The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Russia’s Kaliningrad region on Wednesday to discuss safeguarding the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

Local authorities announced early Tuesday that Russian drones had struck and damaged the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa.

“The enemy has attacked Odesa and the Odesa district with attacks by UAVs” (unmanned aerial vehicles), the local administration said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Quoting Yuri Krug, head of the Odessa District Military Administration, the report said Ukraine’s air defense forces were on duty and warned of the possibility of a second wave of attacks.

Odessa was a favorite vacation spot for many Ukrainians and Russians before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine erupted.

Finland becomes NATO’s 31st member this Tuesday, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday, hailing “a historic day”. It was the “fastest” accession process in recent alliance history, he said.

In response, Russia on Monday announced its intention to strengthen its military capabilities near the country, viewing NATO expansion as a threat.

And welcome to this new live dedicated to the Russian offensive in Ukraine.