LIVE – War in Ukraine: Emmanuel Macron will receive Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday at the Élysée

Emmanuel Macron will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart on Friday at the Elysée to discuss Ukraine’s needs, announced the French presidency.

Ukrainians paid tribute Tuesday in memory of the hundreds of children killed in two years of Russian invasion, hours after a new attack injured two in the city of Dnipro. More than 600 children have died and 1,420 others have been injured in hostilities in Ukraine since the invasion began in February 2022, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement. These are only the cases that the UN has been able to verify while the real number of victims of this armed conflict, the worst in Europe since the Second World War, is probably much higher, according to this organization.

Russia assured that it would “not interfere” in France, in reaction to suspicions targeting it after the discovery of coffins near the Eiffel Tower, and denied any disinformation campaign targeting the Paris Olympic Games. ⬇️

The French president is expected to announce the formation of an international coalition to send military instructors to Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron, who has been working on this project since last February, should take advantage of Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to France for the D-Day commemorations. ⬇️

Kremlin has not ruled out that Russian forces could strike French instructors if they were sent to Ukraine. “No instructor involved in training Ukrainian soldiers has immunity” from the strikes, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov told the press. “It doesn’t matter whether they are French or not,” he added.

For several days, the French president has been seeking to bring together a European coalition to send military instructors to Ukrainian soil. A proposal which until now did not achieve consensus, but whose creation Emmanuel Macron could announce during the D-Day commemorations, according to information from LCI. ⬇️

Ukraine claims that Italy is preparing to provide it with a new anti-aircraft defense system, while kyiv is increasing calls to the West to help it strengthen its control of the skies in the face of Russian bombing.

“Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed that his country will provide Ukraine with a second SAMP/T air defense system,” Andriï Iermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, assured on Telegram.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his country needs at least seven additional modern anti-aircraft systems, including two to defend the Kharkiv region (north-east), the target of a Russian offensive since May 10. In particular, he calls for the powerful American Patriot systems.

According to information from LCI, Emmanuel Macron wishes to announce the creation of a coalition of European military instructors, during the commemorations of the Allied Landings on June 6.

The French president is seeking to form this coalition with other European partners, which involves for the first time sending European soldiers to Ukrainian soil. An option which does not have consensus in the EU. It still appears to be conditional, and requires confirmation.

An LCI team had to take refuge in a shelter during a Russian bombing on the Eastern Front. A report to be found here: ⬇️

Find here the most significant information from the last 24 hours:

• Three people, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed Monday in Russian attacks in eastern and northeastern Ukraine, where Moscow has claimed constant advances in recent weeks, according to a new report announced Monday. Ukrainian authorities.

• The three men suspected of having placed coffins on Saturday at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, in a possible foreign interference operation, escaped indictment on Monday and remain free. Last Saturday, on the Quai Branly, these three people had placed “five real-size coffins covered with a French flag, with the words “French soldiers of Ukraine”.

• Ukraine is preparing for new power cuts following a new Russian bombing campaign that caused massive destruction of its electricity infrastructure, the country’s authorities warned on Monday, after drastically increasing electricity prices .

• Kiev City Hall has deemed it too dangerous to allow the LGBT+ community to organize a rally in the city’s metro, as it cannot do so in the street due to Russian strikes. The Ukrainian capital has not seen a Gay Pride event since the Russian invasion in 2022. The event was hosted last year by the city of Liverpool, in the United Kingdom, where the Pride competition took place. Eurovision instead of Ukraine.

• US Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 15 to participate in the Ukraine Peace Conference, the White House announced. She will highlight “the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to encouraging Ukraine’s efforts to secure a just and lasting peace, based on Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the principles of the United Nations Charter “.

• Ukraine will ask its allies to grant its army greater freedom to strike with Western equipment on military targets inside Russia, after the United States partially lifted restrictions on certain weapons supplied in kyiv.

Hello everyone, welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to monitoring the war in Ukraine.