Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? Do not panic, 20 minutes checks in for you every night. Who did what ? Who said what? Where are we ? The answer below:
News of the day
On this Friday, the 198th day of war in Ukraine, the Russian army announced that it was sending reinforcements to the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, in response to an apparently successful breakthrough by kyiv forces in this border area of Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry, which did not comment on the subject, nevertheless announced to Russian news agencies the deployment of reinforcements in this direction, broadcasting a video showing armored vehicles, howitzers and trucks driving in large numbers on roads not geolocated.
The day before kyiv had claimed to have reconquered some 700 km2 in this region of northeastern Ukraine in recent days, in particular the city of Balakliïa, as well as about twenty localities. “We no longer control Balakliïa. Attempts to dislodge Ukrainian forces are underway, but the fighting there is fierce and our troops are held up on the outskirts” of the city, a senior Russian administration official, Vitali Gantchev, confirmed to Rossiya 24.
For his part, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said from Brussels on Friday that the deployment of reinforcements by Moscow showed that Russia was paying “a huge price”.
sentence of the day
“We have documented that prisoners of war have suffered torture and ill-treatment and that in some places of detention they do not have adequate food, water, health care and sanitation facilities. »
These are the words of Matilda Bogner, who heads the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine. The latter spoke during a situation update by videoconference from Odessa, indicating that the UN had documented more than 400 “arbitrary detentions” and “enforced disappearances” by Russian forces in Ukraine as well as 51 arbitrary arrests by Ukrainian forces. The UN is also aware of at least four pregnant POWs held by Moscow.
The number of the day
16,000. According to the NGO OVD-Info, more than 16,000 people who demonstrated against the Russian offensive in Ukraine have been arrested in Russia since the end of February. Russian authorities have imposed hundreds of fines on people accused of “discrediting” the military, sometimes based on a simple online conversation. According to the NGO, more than 230 people who denounced the conflict are also being prosecuted, in particular for “disseminating false information” about Russian troops, an offense introduced in March and punishable by fifteen years in prison.
The trend of the day
Local and regional elections began Friday across Russia, in the absence of credible opposition in the face of waves of repression exacerbated since the offensive of the Kremlin in Ukraine. According to the Electoral Commission, 44 million voters are called to ballot in 82 regions. In many regions, the polls will take place over three days, a mode of operation adopted in 2020 to limit the influx and the risk of infection with Covid-19. But many Russian activists have accused the authorities of using these long ballots to more easily rig the votes, the ballot boxes being stored for a long time before they are counted.
It should be noted that this election is taking place in a climate of repression aggravated by the attack in Ukraine. Dozens of government critics have been arrested or fled the country in recent months and most independent media outlets have been shut down.
Imprisoned opponent Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s main detractor, nevertheless called on Russians to vote, following a strategy of “smart voting” which consists of voting for the candidate best placed to beat that of the Kremlin. A strategy of “smart voting” which has already had some local successes in the past, but without profoundly changing the Russian political landscape, still largely dominated by Vladimir Putin’s party.