Joe Biden Tuesday, March 1, 2022, during his speech to Congress, with, in the background, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosy wearing a brooch in the colors of the Ukrainian flag (POOL / SAUL LOEB)
Joe Biden forcefully attacked Vladimir Putin, a “dictator” who is “more isolated than ever”, on Tuesday as Moscow stepped up its offensive in Ukraine, hitting Kiev and the major city of Kharkiv.
The Russian president “thought the West and NATO would not respond” to the invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, he launched during his first “State of the Union address ” in Washington.
But “Putin was wrong”, “we are ready, we are united”, he hammered, calling on the American Congress to offer a standing ovation in support “to the Ukrainian people” who “are not afraid of anything”.
“Putin is now more isolated than ever from the rest of the world”, because in the battle against “autocracy”, “democracies are at the rendezvous”, he added, listing the unprecedented sanctions that have been downed on Russia.
– Closed US airspace –
But “if dictators do not pay the price for their aggression, they cause even more chaos”, warned the 46th president in American history to the address of the master of the Kremlin.
The tenant of the White House also threatened the Russian oligarchs to seize their “yachts, luxury apartments and jets”.
Photo of Kiev TV tower posted on Ukrainian Interior Ministry Facebook page on March 1, 2022 ( UKRAINIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY PRESS SERVICES / – )
“When the history of this period is written, Putin’s war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger,” predicted the Democratic leader.
In fact, international pressure continues to increase on Moscow.
Joe Biden announced the banning of United States airspace “to all Russian flights”, as the European Union had done.
And the 27 states of the European Union have given the green light to the exclusion of “certain Russian banks” from the Swift messaging system, a key cog in international finance, and to the ban on the distribution of media from Russian state RT and Sputnik.
As a result of sanctions of historic magnitude, which the G7 countries threatened on Tuesday to tighten further, the main subsidiary in Europe of the largest Russian bank, Sberbank, is heading for bankruptcy.
Satellite image provided, February 28, 2022, by Maxar Technologies of part of the Russian military convoy and burnt houses near Ivankiv, northwest of Kiev (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies / – )
Seized by the Ukrainian government, which accuses Moscow of planning genocide, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest judicial body of the United Nations, for its part announced hearings on March 7 and 8.
– Karkhiv bombed –
On the seventh day of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian army reported the landing overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday of Russian airborne troops in Kharviv, the country’s second city.
Fighting was reported in this city of 1.4 million inhabitants near the border with Russia, already targeted on Tuesday by bombardments which, according to the governor, partially destroyed the headquarters of the regional administration, killing at least ten dead. Eight other people died when an apartment building was hit.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson compared the strikes to the deadly bombings of Sarajevo, Bosnia, in the 1990s.
In Kyiv, five people died when the television tower was targeted in the late afternoon. But most Ukrainian channels quickly resumed broadcasting.
Firefighters evacuate the body of a victim of the bombing of the regional prefecture, on March 1, 2022 in Kharkiv (AFP / Sergey BOBOK)
The Russian army has called on civilians living near security services infrastructure to evacuate, saying it wants to attack them to stop “computer attacks against Russia”.
The future Russian assault on Kiev raises fears of a considerable number of victims in this metropolis, which normally has nearly three million inhabitants and is endowed with a rich historical heritage.
Photos from the American satellite imagery company Maxar showed a Russian convoy stretching for tens of kilometers and heading towards the capital.
“We have the general feeling that the movement of the Russian army (…) towards Kyiv has stalled at this stage,” said a US Department of Defense official, however, citing Ukrainian resistance but also problems “logistics”, food and fuel supply.
– Between Crimea and Donbass –
The damage in the square in front of the Kharkiv regional prefecture hit by Russian bombing, on March 1, 2022 (AFP / Sergey BOBOK)
Russian forces, on the other hand, seemed to have advanced in southern Ukraine, on the shores of the Sea of Azov.
In the port of Mariupol, “all neighborhoods” are bombed, said the regional governor, citing an undetermined number of deaths.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that its troops advancing on the coast from Crimea had joined those of the pro-Russian separatist territory of Donetsk, giving them strategic territorial continuity – information that could not be immediately verified.
Residents line up outside a supermarket to buy food on March 1, 2022 in Kiev (AFP / Dimitar DILKOFF)
“We need to stop the aggressor ASAP,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted after chatting with Joe Biden.
Beyond state sanctions, Russia has been excluded from a multitude of events, from the World Cup to the Davis Cup in tennis, and many companies are withdrawing from the Russian market.
Four of the five main world shipowners have thus ceased to serve Russian ports, while the Italian oil giants Eni and the American ExxonMobil have announced their withdrawal from the country.
Like many companies, Apple has also suspended the sale of all its products in Russia.
Location of explosions or shelling since February 24 in the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city (AFP / )
The Russian government, which is striving to counter these sanctions, was preparing a new decree to stem the flight of foreign investors.
At the same time, he blocked access to a well-known independent online TV channel and radio station, Dojd and Echo of Moscow.
As a result of these tensions, the European stock markets and Wall Street ended down sharply. Oil prices continued to rise at the same time, before Wednesday’s meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+). Ditto for wheat and corn prices, at a record level in Europe.
– “Deep regret” from Beijing –
Members of the Ukrainian civil defense cross a river whose bridge was destroyed, north of Kiev, on March 1, 2022 ( AFP / ARIS MESSINIS )
Even China, which has so far not condemned the Russian invasion, on Tuesday expressed “deep regret” at the conflict.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, a million people have been displaced within Ukraine itself and more than 677,000 have left for neighboring countries, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The World Bank has announced three billion dollars in emergency aid for Ukraine, of which at least 350 million could be released this week.
Long lines of cars continued to head towards the Polish border, from Lviv, the big city in western Ukraine that had become an exit door and a center of retreat for Ukrainians and for Western embassies.
Map of Europe showing the influx of refugees from Ukraine into European countries, as of 15:00 GMT on February 28, according to the High Commission for Refugees (AFP/)
Women refugees in this city, leaving the men of their family “to defend Ukraine”, mobilized to support them, giving their blood or making camouflage nets.