Here is the information to remember for yesterday:
◾ Russia claimed to have taken off a fighter to intercept three French military planes which were approaching its border above the Black Sea, an incident denied by a French military source.
◾ Ukraine claimed yesterday to have destroyed a Russian warship near the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia, a new snub inflicted on Moscow in this strategic area of the Black Sea. kyiv also says it has struck an oil depot in the Russian region of Belgorod, bordering Ukraine. In recent weeks, similar attacks against oil sites have followed one another in Russia.
◾ Two men were sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison by a Ukrainian court for transmitting sensitive information to Russia in the midst of its invasion of the country.
◾ The International Criminal Court (ICC) yesterday issued arrest warrants for alleged war crimes in Ukraine against two top Russian military officials, the heads of the Strategic Air Force and the Black Sea Fleet.
◾ French President Emmanuel Macron “admitted” Tuesday to having called for a “strategic surge” by evoking the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine, warning against “the spirit of defeat”, “which lurks” , during a press conference with his Czech counterpart in Prague.
◾ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “never asked for foreign troops to fight for his country,” a White House spokesperson said yesterday, when asked about comments by French President Emmanuel Macron. “There will be no American troops engaged on the ground in Ukraine. And you know what? That’s not what President Zelensky is asking for. He’s asking for tools and capabilities. He’s only ever asked for troops foreigners fighting for their country,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
◾ We must “defeat Russia” without “waging war” on it, said French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné last night in an interview on LCI. “We are experiencing a tipping point which must lead us to stand up to Russia and we must play the balance of power to protect the French, to protect the Europeans,” he said, adding: “Our conviction is is that we must continue to support Ukraine”, a country which was invaded by Russia on February 24, 2022.
◾ French ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Armed Forces and their counterparts from other countries allied to Ukraine will meet by videoconference on Thursday, ten days after discussing measures in Paris to strengthen military support for kyiv.