Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Between the strong declarations, the advances on the front and the results of the battles, here are the main points of the day.
The fact of the day
A Moscow court on Wednesday ordered the temporary closure of the nightclub that hosted an “Almost Naked” themed party with celebrities. “The activities of the Mutabor nightclub are suspended for 90 days,” said the statement from the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow, citing a “violation of sanitary and epidemiological requirements in the catering sector.”
At the end of December, a scandal broke out in Russia after the appearance of videos on social networks showing personalities from the Russian entertainment industry more or less naked at a party. If the Kremlin had refused to comment, Russian diplomacy had nevertheless called on these people to “become aware of the depth of the problem” and to “improve”, while the conflict in Ukraine has accentuated the conservative turn in Russia. Following this evening, several participants, including the organizer, actress and presenter Anastassia Ivleyeva, the pop star, Philipp Kirkorov, and the daughter of Vladimir Putin’s political mentor, Ksenia Sobchak, publicly apologized.
Sentence of the day
Sometimes our partners’ hesitations regarding financial and military assistance to Ukraine only increase Russia’s courage and strength. »
Volodymyr Zelensky sent a wake-up call to his Western allies during a press conference in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, during the first leg of his surprise tour of the Baltics. “We need to pay attention to Putin’s rhetoric. He’s not going to stop. He wants to occupy us completely,” he added before warning: “We must understand that Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova could be the next victims if we do not hold on. » Remobilize in the face of danger, a classic but often effective technique.
The number of the day
392. This is the number of schoolchildren who will be evacuated from the Russian city of Belgorod for fear of Ukrainian strikes. From this Wednesday, for a period of “twenty-one days”, “392 schoolchildren will leave Belgorod for school structures in other regions: 112 children will rest in the Voronezh region, 280 [dans celle de] Kaluga,” announced the town hall of this town of some 335,000 inhabitants located near the border with Ukraine. In total, “1,300 schoolchildren are ready to leave the Belgorod region,” she added.
Today’s trend
Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, three countries bordering the Black Sea, will sign an agreement on mine clearance in Istanbul on Thursday. Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the three countries have feared being affected by drifting mines, several of which have already been spotted and recovered without damage off their coasts.
The Bulgarian government specified that this Initiative aims to “guarantee security in the Black Sea against the threat of mines that emerged following Russian aggression against Ukraine”. But Sofia wants to clarify that this is a “totally peaceful” initiative. [qui] is not directed against any country” nor does it intend to “replace the presence or activities of NATO”.
Ankara, which has managed to manage its relations with Moscow and kyiv, also insists on the fact that this agreement “intended to contribute to the security of navigation in the Black Sea, was not formed against or as an alternative to a country or to a structure, but was created solely for defensive purposes.”