LIVE – War in Ukraine: six dead in Russian strikes in several regions of the country

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At least six people were killed following Russian bombings in several Ukrainian regions, including Zaporizhia, which was already the victim of deadly strikes the day before, local authorities announced. According to Ivan Fedorov, the governor of the Zaporizhia region, three people were killed and eight injured during a Russian missile strike targeting “an industrial facility”.

It is no longer in France’s interest to “discuss with Russian officials”, declared Stéphane Séjourné after a rare telephone conversation between the ministers of the Russian and French armies on counter-terrorism, which took place resulted in divergent reports. “It is not in our interest today to discuss with Russian officials since the press releases that come out, the reports that are made are lies,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs declared to France24 and RFI from Abidjan, in Ivory Coast.

The Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has just announced that another drone was shot down above the roof of reactor number 6. “Today a kamikaze drone was shot down above the factory. He fell on the roof of unit 6,” the plant said, cited by Reuters, attaching a photo of reactor No. 6, now shut down.

LCI was able to speak with Ukrainian soldiers who managed to get their hands on a Russian army tank. Details from our special correspondent, Charline Hurel.

Russian strikes have in recent weeks affected 80% of Ukrainian thermal power plants and half of hydroelectric power plants, the Ukrainian Minister of Energy reported Monday, denouncing “the largest attack” against the country’s energy sector. “We can say that up to 80% of thermal power plants were attacked, more than half of the hydroelectric power plants. And a large number of relay stations” of electrical transmission, declared the minister, German Galushchenko, in a conference Press.

The ministry’s press service told AFP that the thermal power plants had been “damaged” by these strikes without, however, being able to specify the level of damage. “This is the largest attack against the Ukrainian energy sector,” he added, referring to this wave of strikes which continues and has notably caused long power outages in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city. .

Tajikistan officially denied on Monday the existence of a terrorist recruitment network by kyiv on its territory. “This statement by a Russian official has no basis,” Tajik Foreign Ministry spokesman Shokhin Samadi told TASS. Earlier, the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Nikolai Patrushev, publicly spoke of such recruitment of mercenaries in the republic from the former Soviet Central Asia.

Ukraine on Monday rejected Russian accusations of a drone attack on the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, saying the site was hit by a Russian device. This plant has been occupied by the Russian army since the start of the invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

Russia “hit the Zaporizhia power plant with its drones and claims that the threat to the plant and to nuclear security came from Ukraine,” the Ukrainian government center for combating disinformation said on Telegram. He considered that the accusations are part of a “campaign of provocations and false information” against Ukraine.

Three people were killed following Russian bombings in the Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia, already the victim of deadly strikes the day before, local authorities announced on Monday. “Three people were killed and three others injured,” said the head of the regional administration, Ivan Federov.

On Sunday, three people had already been killed in Russian strikes in the region, according to Ukrainian authorities. According to Ivan Federov, Moscow struck eight populated areas in the region “357 times” in the last 24 hours.

The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in China on Monday, his services announced, for an official visit aimed at strengthening ties with Beijing, Moscow’s key diplomatic and economic partner. The Russian Foreign Ministry will stay in the capital until Tuesday, where it is expected to have “an in-depth exchange of views (…) on a number of ‘hot topics’ with its Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, according to a statement from the Russian ministry, citing “the Ukrainian crisis and the situation in the Asia-Pacific region”.

• “Ukraine will lose the war” if… Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday that his country would lose the war if expected $60 billion in U.S. aid remains blocked in Congress, as Russia increases its pressure. “If Congress does not help Ukraine, Ukraine will lose the war,” he said in a gravelly tone during a videoconference exchange with ambassadors from the Ukrainian government’s fundraising platform, United24. “Without support from Congress, it will be difficult for us to win, or even survive” as a country. “If Ukraine loses the war, other states will be attacked,” he warned.
• kyiv accused of targeting Zaporizhia power plant. Russia claimed that Ukrainian drones had attacked the territory of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia which it has occupied for two years, with one of the devices having exploded, according to Moscow, above the dome of reactor number 6. It added that the radiation level was normal. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) subsequently indicated on X that its experts had “confirmed the physical impacts of drone attacks at the Zaporizhia plant today, including on one of its six reactors”, without attributing them by name to Ukraine.
• The Russian army “repulsed” from Chassiv Yar. The situation around Chassiv Iar, a small town located west of Bakhmut target of Russian attacks, is “difficult and tense”, indicated the Ukrainian army, which however affirmed that the Russians had been “repulsed”. This key locality, perched on a height, is now “under constant fire”, according to kyiv. “The Russians are trying to carry out assault actions both directly on the localities of Bogdanivka and Ivanivské, which surround Chasiv Yar. They are also trying to carry out offensive actions between these localities,” said Oleg Kalashnikov, the spokesperson. of a brigade engaged in fighting on the spot.
• Russia worries Europe. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, candidate of the European People’s Party (EPP) for the European elections in June, underlined in Athens the importance of “defending prosperity and security” in Europe in the face of “attacks” of Russia. “Russia does not only seek to erase Ukraine from the face of the earth”, “Russia’s aggression is broader” with “hybrid attacks against Europe”, “manipulation of social networks or “instrumentalization of migrants”, she judged.

Hello everyone. Welcome to TF1info to follow the latest news around the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022 after the Russian invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin.