LIVE – Ukraine: France “does not rule out” requisitions to accelerate military production

French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday that he “does not rule out” resorting to requisitions of personnel, stocks or production tools or requiring manufacturers to give priority to military needs over to civilian needs, to accelerate production.

“For the first time, I do not exclude using what the law allows the minister and the general delegate for armaments (DGA) to do, that is to say if the account was not there in terms of production rates and deadlines, to make requisitions if necessary or to exercise the right of prioritization”, affirmed the minister during a press conference in the presence of all the chiefs of staff.

Russian Security Council secretary accuses Ukraine of being behind Moscow attack.

“We are paying for the underinvestments of the past,” recognized Sébastien Lecornu, citing 2007 and the choice to separate from the powder industry. “We no longer have the capacity to produce it locally, it’s an aberration “, added the minister.

According to the Minister of the Armed Forces, the “average orders between 2012 and 2016 was 9.5 billion euros. In 2023, this will account for 20 billion in order credits.”

“We have completely changed times. This gives visibility to our industrialists,” said the minister.

The Ukrainian navy said on Tuesday that it had hit two other Russian ships during strikes on Sunday in annexed Crimea, after which kyiv had already announced that the first two Russian ships had been hit.

“Ukrainian defense forces managed to hit the reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs and the large amphibious ship Kostyantyn Olchansky,” in addition to the Yamal and Azov ships that had been announced on Sunday, the Ukrainian navy said.

A Russian court on Tuesday extended until June 30 the pre-trial detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested a year ago on espionage charges that he rejects.

“The Moscow City Court considered a request from the preliminary investigation authorities and extended the term of detention of Evan Gershkovich until June 30, 2024,” the press service of the Moscow courts said on Telegram.

The Russian security services (FSB) said that a national belonging to a pro-Ukraine group was killed in a bomb explosion during his arrest in the Samara region, while he was planning a attack.

“When the author was apprehended, the explosive device he had seized went off, inflicting injuries incompatible with life. The members of the security forces and the civilian population were not injured” , the FSB said according to the state agency Ria Novosti, without saying whether the explosion was intentional or accidental. According to this source, the individual was a member of the “Russian Volunteer Corps”, a Ukraine-based group fighting Kremlin forces.

Five people were injured by a rocket attack on the Russian region of Belgorod carried out from Ukraine, Russian authorities announced on Tuesday. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed thirteen rockets fired by Vampire systems over the Belgorod region during the night from Monday to Tuesday.

“For me, this episode is a personal injury”, reacts on LCI Vladimir Fédorovski, historian and former Russian diplomat, describing the attack in Moscow on Friday as an “absolute tragedy” which reminds us that “radical Islamism” is “the mortal enemy of civilization”.

Two of the suspects arrested for their participation in Friday’s attack in Moscow traveled freely between Russia and Turkey, which they left together by plane on March 2 to return to Russia, a Turkish security source said.

“The two individuals were free to travel without hindrance between Russia and Turkey in the absence of an arrest warrant against them,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

• Ukrainian forces are in a “difficult” situation near the town of Chassiv Yar, in the east of the country, where Russia is concentrating its offensive, the army announced on Monday.
• While continuing to imply a link with Ukraine, Vladimir Putin admitted on Monday for the first time that the attack near Moscow had been committed by “radical Islamists”. “Why did the terrorists, after their crime, try to leave for Ukraine? Who was waiting for them there? Those who support the Kiev regime do not want to be accomplices of terror and supporters of terrorism, but many questions arise. pose,” he said.
• The terrorist attack near Moscow left at least 139 dead and 182 injured, according to a new report announced Monday evening.
• kyiv is ready to establish “a system of export licenses” for its grain to Poland, the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture said on Monday. He is due to meet his counterparts from the Twenty-Seven this Tuesday in Brussels.
• Ten people were injured on Monday by debris from Russian missiles shot down in kyiv. This is the third air attack on the capital in five days.
• The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, urged on Monday the delivery of American Patriot anti-aircraft systems “capable of repelling any Russian attack”. “The Patriots must be stationed here and now to save human lives,” he said on X.