Did you miss the latest events on the tensions in Ukraine? 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Who did what ? Who said what? Where are we ? The answer below:
news of the day
Russia is closing in on a symbolic victory in Bakhmout. Yevgeny Prigojine, boss of the Wagner group, has indeed declared that the city was “virtually surrounded” by his forces. Located in the Donetsk oblast, it has been the scene of heavy fighting since the summer, to the point of being already nearly 80% destroyed.
Prigozhin called on President Volodymyr Zelensky’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 leave town. »
According to local authorities, there are only 4,500 inhabitants left in Bakhmout, which had 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 the CNA, an American research institute, explained to the AFP. White House national security spokesman John Kirby, meanwhile, downplayed Bakhmout’s importance to the Russians. He had thus estimated that “even if they manage (to take) Bakhmout and Soledar, it will not change the strategic dynamics on the battlefield”.
sentence of the day
Arms deliveries to Ukraine (…) will prolong this conflict, with sad consequences for the Ukrainian people. »
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov sent a tough message to the West, noting that the United States “continues its policy of increasing arms supplies to Ukraine and persuading their proteges to do the same”. Deliveries which “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, sentenced by a court in Minsk. Co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, he is one of the figures of opposition to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
“These monstrous sentences are revenge for standing up for human rights. It is a political order from the top of this dictatorial power,” denounced Dmitri Soloviev, tried in absentia and sentenced to eight years in prison. Belarus had 1,461 political prisoners on March 1, according to the NGO Viasna.
The trend of the day
Joe Biden receives German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on a two-day visit to the United States. The subject of war and support for Ukraine is obviously on the table of the two leaders. “The idea is to have a real working visit”, supported Nils Schmid, spokesman for foreign policy in Parliament. “This is not a state visit. It’s really about sitting down together, putting all the cards on the table, weighing the options, sharing the assessments and having a very free debate without being obliged to produce an immediate result on any of the files. »
The White House announced $400 million in additional military aid – mostly munitions. On Thursday, Olaf Scholz had meanwhile announced the strengthening of arms production in Germany, with the aim of making the country “an industrial base which makes its contribution to guaranteeing peace and freedom in Europe”.