today
MEDIA
RT France, the French branch of the Russian channel RT suspended in the European Union, announced on Saturday its “closure” the day after the freezing of its bank accounts.
“After 5 years of relentlessness, the authorities in power have therefore achieved their ends: the closure of RT France (…) The General Directorate of the Treasury has decided to freeze the bank accounts of RT France, making it impossible to continue our activity”, announced on Twitter Xenia Fedorova, president and director of the chain.
RUSSIAN AIR DEFENSE
The Russian army said on Saturday that it had carried out “offensive operations” in the region of Zaporizhia, in southern Ukraine, which enabled it to take “advantageous positions”.
“In the direction of Zaporizhia, as a result of offensive operations, units of the Eastern Military District took more advantageous lines and positions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, without giving further details.
“INDECISION KILLS” UKRAINIANS
Ukraine deplores the “general indecision” of its Western allies who refused the day before to provide it with heavy tanks, a decision “which kills our fellow citizens even more”, according to an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency.
“The indecision of these days kills even more of our fellow citizens”, regrets Mykhaïlo Podoliak, calling on the allies of kyiv to “think faster”. “You will help Ukraine with the necessary weapons anyway and realize that there is no other option to end the war.”
LEOPARD TANKS
The foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries on Saturday called on Germany to deliver Leopard heavy tanks to Ukraine “immediately” in order to help it stop Russian aggression.
“We, the Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian foreign ministers, ask Germany to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine now,” Latvian Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter. “This is necessary to stop Russian aggression, help Ukraine and quickly restore peace in Europe”, he added, stressing that “Germany, as Europe’s leading power, has a special responsibility in this regard.”
THE CHALLENGE OF MAINTENANCE
Ukraine continues to ask its allies to provide it with heavy tanks to launch its counter-offensive. A request remained a dead letter, Westerners highlighting in particular the difficulties of maintenance.
RT FRANCE
Moscow promised this Saturday to take retaliatory measures against French media in Russia, after the bank accounts of RT France, the French branch of the Russian channel RT which is suspended in the EU, were frozen.
“The freezing of RT France accounts will lead to retaliatory measures against French media in Russia. They will be remembered if the French authorities do not stop terrorizing Russian journalists,” warned a source within Russian diplomacy, quoted by Russian news agencies Ria Novosti and Tass.
UPDATE ON THE SITUATION
Meeting in Germany, Ukraine’s allies failed to agree on the delivery of heavy tanks demanded by Volodymyr Zelensky. On the ground, fighting is intensifying in the Zaporizhia region, according to the Russian occupation authorities. Here are the highlights of the past 24 hours.
AID TO UKRAINE WITHOUT HEAVY TANKS
Ukraine’s allies announced substantial new arms deliveries to Ukraine, but failed to agree on the delivery of heavy tanks. A decision that showers the hopes of kyiv, which demands them urgently, but will now have to wait for further discussions, and a green light from Germany.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that the allies, whom he noted had promised to support Ukraine “as much as necessary”, would inevitably have to face the facts.
FORMER US MILITARY KILLED IN DNIPRO
A former US soldier, a member of an elite commando unit and who had deserted in 2019, was killed in Ukraine this week, the US Navy announced.
“The Navy can confirm that a former sailor was killed in Dnipro on January 18,” one of its spokespersons said in a statement, adding that he could not add anything “on the reasons for which this former sailor was in Ukraine”. The soldier, Daniel Whitney Swift, had belonged to the prestigious elite unit of the Navy Seals, attached to the US Navy.
Hello and welcome to TF1info to follow the news of the war in Ukraine this Saturday, January 21, 2023.