Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? Do not panic, 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.
The fact of the day
Promised, sworn, spit, Moscow only targets military targets. However, in its strike on a restaurant in Kramatorsk on Tuesday evening, the Russian army did not only kill soldiers. Twelve people died, including three minors. Russia nevertheless insists on Thursday, claiming to have killed, in this strike, two generals and dozens of other Ukrainian officers, as well as about twenty foreign military instructors.
“As a result of a high-precision strike (…), two generals, up to 50 officers of the Ukrainian forces and up to 20 foreign mercenaries and military instructors who participated in a meeting (…) were eliminated”, a the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
sentence of the day
A weakened Putin represents a greater danger”
This is Josep Borrell’s warning. For the head of European diplomacy, Vladimir Putin has been “weakened” by the mutiny of the Wagner group, which causes a risk of “instability” for Russia. The Russian president “is carrying out an internal cleansing” with the arrest of generals and is looking for “who is behind this attempt at armed rebellion”, he underlined.
This mutiny has shown “deep cracks” in the system put in place by Putin and “it will have consequences for us”, warned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “It is important that we double support for Ukraine, for military capacity and financial aid,” she pleaded on her arrival.
The number of the day
50 billion. This is the amount that Ursula von der Leyen has also proposed for a new aid prosecutor’s office to support Ukraine until 2027, as part of an extension to the EU’s multi-annual budget.
The Secretary General of NATO, the Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, guest of the summit, also pleaded for lasting aid to Ukraine, which aims to join the Atlantic Alliance and the EU. “We must continue to support Ukraine so that it remains a sovereign and independent country, otherwise the debates on membership will no longer be relevant,” he warned.
The trend of the day
On the ground, kyiv is progressing. The Ukrainian army said it was making progress around Bakhmout, in the east of the country, despite “a fierce battle”. “We are advancing near Bakhmout and it is continuing,” Ukrainian ground forces commander Oleksandre Syrsky said on Telegram.
For several weeks, the Ukrainian army has been attacking the flanks of Bakhmout, the epicenter of the fighting in the Donbass, progressing little by little, while the Russians for the moment retain control of the interior of the city which they conquered in May. . “The offensive of our forces in the directions of Melitopol, Berdyansk and Bakhmout continues”, indicated for his part Ganna Maliar, the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defence. “Our troops are eating away every inch of enemy ground in what is a fierce battle. They are progressing, ”she welcomed on Telegram.