DIRECT. War in Ukraine: Westerners promised to “deliver a total of 321 heavy tanks” to kyiv

According to figures from central banks, money transfers from Russia to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Georgia have reached record levels of around 300-500% compared to l ‘last year.

The former Russian mercenary from the Wagner group who took refuge in Norway and who has just been released by the Norwegian police would have provided damning testimony. According to Reuters, he said he saw some of his comrades being shot at as they tried to flee the Ukrainian front. In addition, Andrei Medvedev, 26, says he feared for his life after seeing Russian prisoners enlisted by the Wagner group being killed or mistreated.

According to the energy supplier in Ukraine difficulties on the power supply especially in the regions of Odessa and Donetsk. Some facilities were bombed. On the other hand, the situation has stabilized in kyiv and the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will summon the Hungarian Ambassador to Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko called comments made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban about Ukraine “totally unacceptable”. Orban said Ukraine was a no man’s land and compared it to Afghanistan. According to him, Budapest is pursuing a deliberate move aimed at “destroying Hungarian-Ukrainian relations”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it wants to buy generators for one million euros for schools and hospitals without electricity after the numerous bombings.

In his latest video intervention, Ukrainian President Zelensky denounced the “hypocrisy” of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and invited its leader, Thomas Bach, to visit Bakhmut, one of the hottest points of the war with Russia .

“I invite Mr. Bach to Bakhmut so that he can see with his own eyes that neutrality does not exist”, he said, adding: “It is obvious that any neutral flag of Russian sportsmen is stained with blood “. Despite repeated calls from Ukraine to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics scheduled for Paris, the IOC said on Wednesday “studying” the possibility of allowing them to participate under a neutral banner.

In its daily statement, the British Ministry of Defense returned to the shelling of the Russian barracks in Makiivka, near the city of Donetsk on January 1, 2023. According to intelligence, Russia most likely suffered more than 300 casualties during the this bombardment. “We estimate that the majority were probably killed or missing, rather than injured.” The Russian Ministry of Defense had admitted to having suffered losses, reporting 89 dead.

“The difference between the number of victims acknowledged by Russia and the probable true total highlights the pervasive presence of disinformation in Russian public announcements”, underlines the ministry, adding: “It is generally the result of a combination of deliberate lies authorized by senior leaders and inaccurate reporting by more junior officials, eager to downplay their failures in the Russian culture of “blame and sack”.

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles has announced that the Leopard tanks that Spain will send to Ukraine as part of the decision taken by Western allies will arrive in Ukraine as early as this spring, once development procedures have been completed. According to her, these tanks are currently based in Zaragoza.

Mstyslav Chernov’s documentary “20 Days in Mariupol” depicting the first weeks of the Russian invasion, won the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States. “The film captures the start of the Russian invasion, the bombing of a maternity ward and the rescue of the author and his Associated Press colleagues from the town surrounded by Russian troops,” the production team said. of the film which also included photographer Evgeniy Maloletka and field producer Vasilisa Stepanenko.

North Korea has condemned the US decision to send tanks to Ukraine. According to Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Washington “crosses the red line further” by accusing the United States treated as “archcriminals” of being responsible for the war in Ukraine. “Behind this decision is the sinister desire of the United States to achieve its goal of hegemony” by continuing to fuel a “proxy war to destroy Russia”, she continued. She assured that Pyongyang will “always” stand with the Russians.

The fund of 100 billion euros intended to modernize the German army, announced by Olaf Scholz after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “will not be enough”, warned Boris Pistorius on Friday. Germany, which on Wednesday announced the delivery of heavy tanks to kyivis thus confronted, according to the minister, with new purchasing expenses which were not planned at the beginning of the Russian attack.

“The Latvian Ambassador, (Maris) Riekstins, has been ordered to leave the Russian Federation within two weeks,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday, deploring Riga’s “total Russophobia” to whom “ bears full responsibility for the current situation”. Extreme diplomatic tensions related to the war in Ukraine have arisen between the two countries in recent days.

“I would like to say, having read some statements from Moscow, how appalling, shocking they are. It is an unworthy provocation on a day like today, ”said the head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna on Friday, in reference to Vladimir Putin’s remarks against “neo-Nazis in Ukraine “.

Vadym Omelchenko, the ambassador of Ukraine in France underlined Friday evening the urgency for kyiv to receive as soon as possible the heavy tanks promised by several countries to face the Russian army.

Asked about BFMTV, the ambassador announced that “many countries have officially confirmed their agreement to deliver 321 heavy tanks to Ukraine”. According to him, kyiv needs this help “as soon as possible”. “If it waited until August or September it would be too late,” he warned.

And welcome to this direct dedicated to the war in Ukraine.