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3:12 p.m. : Ukraine requests a humanitarian corridor to evacuate the civilians present in the Azovstal steelworks, where the last Ukrainian fighters from Mariupol are entrenched. These inhabitants “don’t trust the troops” Russians, writes the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Twitter. Vladimir Putin has called on his army to “block off this whole area so that not a fly will pass” and promise “life saves” to fighters.
2:18 p.m. : Let’s recall the main news of this Thursday:
• Didn’t you see the debate last night? We summarize it for you in this article and we checked 12 claims from the finalists here.
• The campaign continues. Marine Le Pen is in the Somme, from where she criticized “arrogance” of his rival, before a final meeting in Arras (Pas-de-Calais). Emmanuel Macron, he is traveling to Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis).
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed the “hit” of the “Liberation of Mariupol”, a strategic port besieged for a month and a half. He said that the Russian army would not storm the steelworks where the last Ukrainian fighters and civilians are entrenched.
1:53 p.m. : Italy should “soon to interrupt Russian gas deliveries for ethical reasons”, says the Italian Minister for Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani. The term “soon” is relative: it envisages the end of purchases within 18 months, whereas the objective so far was 24 to 30 months. Italy is one of the main gas consumers in Europe, and imports 95% of its consumption.
1:46 p.m. : Ukraine will receive “in the next few days” heavy weapons from Eastern European countries, says German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. “It’s about battle tanks, armored vehicles, or other possibilities [de matériel] that countries can cede”, she explains. Germany, she says she can no longer give weapons, lacks sufficient stocks for her own army.
1:08 p.m. : Loukoil, the largest Russian oil producer, announces the resignation of its president, Vaguit Alekperov. In early March, he called for the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine to be quickly halted, a rare position. A week ago, he was placed on the list of Russian personalities sanctioned by the United Kingdom.
1:01 p.m. : A Moscow court fined Google 126,000 euros for not having deleted content at war in Ukraine “prohibited” in the eyes of Russian justice. These are videos posted on YouTube: telephone conversations of people presented as Russian soldiers, who evoke heavy losses, and a call from the Ukrainian radical group Pravy Sektor to organize attacks in Russia.
12:39 : It’s noon, what to remember from the news?
• This is a historic low. The debate between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron attracted 15.6 million viewers. The two candidates are already back on the field. Follow this new campaign day in our live.
• Didn’t you see the debate last night? We summarize it for you in this article and we checked twelve claims from the finalists here.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that “the liberation of Mariupol is a success”. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanichyna says “1,020 bodies of civilians, only civilians” are gathered in morgues of “the whole Kyiv region”. Follow the situation in our live.
11:47 : Olga Stefanichyna reports to AFP that “1,020 bodies of civilians, only civilians” in mortuaries “the whole Kyiv region”. At the beginning of April, Russian forces began to withdraw around the Ukrainian capital for reposition in the East.
11:41 a.m. : More than 1,000 bodies of civilians are in morgues in the kyiv region, the Ukrainian capital, says Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanichyna.
11:21 a.m. : The commitment of French in Ukraine is part of a “a certain revolutionary romanticism” and perpetuates an old tradition of the French extreme right, explains to AFP Jean-Yves Camus, political scientist specializing in the ultra-right. “Ukraine is also seen as an entirely European and Christian region”, he continues. “Finally, pro-Ukrainians are drawn to the Ukrainian nationalist tradition and the myth of the insurgent army of Stepan Bandera, who during World War II collaborated with Nazi Germany (before opposing it) and fought against the ‘Soviet Red Army.’
11:14 a.m. : Sacha, who has distant family ties in Ukraine, is Argentinian : “We are in a free and democratic country, and in this war, it is the civilians who suffer the most”, he says to explain his commitment. Exhausted by the battle he fought last month, he takes the time to give news to his wife and children on the other side of the Atlantic.
11:21 a.m. : Volunteers from all countries flock to Ukraine to fight in the Donbass. In kyiv, where franceinfo met them before their departure for the East, the instructions are displayed in Ukrainian and English. Sitting in the canteen, four Brazilians have their instructions translated by a Portuguese woman. Even the commander has chosen an international nom de guerre: John. He struggles to remember all the countries of origin of his soldiers: Taiwan, Great Britain, Scotland, Spain, Lithuania, Sweden, Georgia. French people also left there. In all, twenty nationalities. Here is our report.
10:57 : Yulia, a Ukrainian woman in her thirties who fled the bombed city of Mykolaiv a month ago, will give birth to her daughter in the Dordogne, where she has found refuge, reports France Blue Perigord. In France, there is jus soli, but Yulia’s daughter will be Ukrainian. She plans to return home. “There’s my husband there, and all my family.” Her husband cannot come to see her for the delivery, the Ukrainian law prohibits it because he is of fighting age. He will live the birth of his daughter on video, with the mobile phone.
10:29 : “At first I just wanted to help friends, a married couple and their animalssays Nadezhda. I started a collection on Instagram. I recorded a video and it went viral. Two days later, I realized that it was not only my friends, but also 72 others who needed humanitarian aid.“We relate in this article how, in Russia, solidarity is organized to help Ukrainian refugees.
09:42 : “The situation is difficult, even critical”, admitted shortly before a commander of the Azov battalion, one of the last two combat units in Mariupol. In addition to the last Ukrainian fighters, several hundred civilians, lacking food and water, are entrenched in the Azovstal factory, according to kyiv.
09:42 : The Russian president assures that his forces have taken control of Mariupol with “hit”, which kyiv does not confirm at the moment. Vladimir Putin also told his Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, that an attack on the Azovstal site was not “not appropriate” and that it was necessary to besiege “the area in such a way that not a single fly will pass”.
09:34 : Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that “the liberation of Mariupol is a success”.
09:10 : It’s 9 o’clock, here are the main titles:
• Marine Le Pen hesitant and on the defensive? Emmanuel Macron arrogant and on the attack? In the aftermath of the debate between the two rounds, comments and analyzes are multiplying. Follow the different reactions in our live.
• Pensions, inflation, unemployment… After the face-to-face between Emmanuel Macro and Marine Le Pen, we checked, twelve statements from the finalists.
• Four civilian evacuation buses managed to leave Mariupol after several days without a humanitarian corridor, according to the Ukrainian government. Follow the situation in our live.
• We will have to wait a little longer. PSG is not yet champion of France, despite his victory in Angers (3-0). The fault of OM, winner in extremis against Nantes (3-2), which delays the deadline for a few days.
08:54 : The establishment of a humanitarian corridor starting from the martyr city of Mariupol failed yesterday. kyiv and Moscow had rejected the responsibility for this failure.
08:46 : Four civilian evacuation buses left Mariupol after several days without a humanitarian corridor, according to the Ukrainian government.
07:27 : When and how will the siege of Mariupol, a martyr city in southern Ukraine, end? Impossible to say precisely. “We are ready to leave Mariupol with the help of a third party”armed with weapons, “in order to save the people entrusted to our care”, says a commander of the Azov battalionone of the last two combat units in the port city.