Sweden and Finland submitted applications for NATO membership on Wednesday, a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as a Russian soldier appears in Kyiv for the first war crimes trial since the start of the conflict.
On the ground, Moscow said that nearly 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers entrenched for weeks in the huge Azovstal factory in Mariupol (south-eastern Ukraine) had surrendered and “taken prisoner”.
AFP
And on the diplomatic front, the Kremlin announced the expulsion of 34 French, 24 Italian and 27 Spanish diplomats, in retaliation for those of Russian diplomats shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. An act “firmly condemned” by Paris and described as “hostile” by Rome.
In Brussels, the ambassadors of Sweden and Finland – the latter country shares 1,300 km of border with Russia – presented their candidature file to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who hailed “a historic moment at a critical time for our security.
AFP
Turkey, a member of NATO, is however opposed to their membership. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped that the other countries of the organization “will hear (his) concerns”.
Consultations are underway to try to lift Ankara’s opposition, according to a diplomatic source.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said she wanted her country’s accession to be ratified “as quickly as possible”, which, like Sweden, had for decades observed a policy of military non-alignment.
“clear signal”
Nearly three months after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the trial of a 21-year-old Russian soldier, accused of having killed a 62-year-old civilian in late February, opened on Wednesday in Kyiv.
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This is the first trial for war crimes since the beginning of the conflict. The soldier, Vadim Chichimarine, pleaded guilty. He faces life imprisonment.
The Kremlin said it had “no information” about the trial and the defendant, assuring that the numerous war crimes charges against the Russian army are “fakes or staged”.
For Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, this trial is “a clear signal”. “No executioner (…) will escape justice”, she promised, saying that she had opened more than 11,000 investigations for war crimes, at a time when international institutions are also investigating alleged abuses committed by Russian troops.
In The Hague (Netherlands), the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, announced the deployment to Ukraine of a team of 42 investigators and experts, i.e. the largest mission in terms of personnel ever sent to the country. land by this body.
And Washington announced on Tuesday the creation of a “conflict observatory”, initially endowed with six million dollars, to “collect, analyze and widely share evidence of war crimes” attributed to Russia in Ukraine.
Surrenders in Azovstal, according to Moscow
On the site of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, “959 (Ukrainian) fighters, including 80 wounded, have become prisoners” since Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
Information that Kyiv had still not commented on in the middle of the day.
Ukraine assured last week that more than 1,000 of its soldiers – including 600 wounded – were in this huge steel complex, the last bastion of resistance to Moscow forces in the city ravaged by fighting.
AFP
The Russian army is concentrating its efforts “on blocking our units near Azovstal” with artillery fire and air strikes, the Ukrainian general staff reported on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense had hailed “Ukrainian heroes” who had “fulfilled their mission”. He had also indicated that they would be exchanged for Russian prisoners to allow them to return to the country “as quickly as possible”, which seemed to confirm that some of these men were indeed in Russian hands.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky nevertheless said on Tuesday that “the evacuation mission” of the soldiers still inside the Azovstal steelworks “continued”, without specifying the number of soldiers concerned.
AFP
This mission notably involves “the most influential international mediators”, according to the president, who discussed it with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on the telephone on Tuesday.
The total capture of Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Sea of Azov, besieged from the beginning of March by the Russians and dearly defended by the Ukrainians at the cost of vast destruction, would constitute an important step forward for Moscow in this conflict.
AFP
It would allow him to control a strip of territory ranging from the Crimean peninsula (south), which Russia annexed in 2014, to the territories of Donbass (east) already in the hands of pro-Russian separatists.
The talks between Moscow and Kyiv “are not advancing”, estimated Wednesday the Kremlin, which accused the Ukrainian negotiators of “total lack of will” to find a political solution to the conflict.
The day before, the Ukrainian presidency had said that the talks were suspended because of Russia.
“Prolonged phase”
On the ground, the war is entering a “prolonged phase”, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Tuesday.
Along the front line in the Donetsk region (east), seven people have been killed and six injured in the past 24 hours, according to the Ukrainian presidency.
In the neighboring region, that of Lugansk, four people were killed on Wednesday, said its governor Serguiï Gaïdaï, who also announced the discovery of two bodies in the village of Pryvillia.
Russian forces are trying to break through near Popasna and towards Severodonetsk, one of the major cities in the region under Ukrainian control, he added, citing “the intensification of shelling on the civilian population”.
Russian forces are conducting “offensives along the line of contact” in the Donetsk region, and partially in the neighboring region of Lugansk, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry warned on Tuesday.
The Russian army is trying “to encircle and destroy the regrouping of Ukrainian armed forces in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions”, confirmed Mr. Reznikov.
After weeks of fierce fighting around small villages in these regions, the Russian army is gradually advancing.
In Sydorovié, AFP journalists saw fields in flames and witnessed bombardments against this small village.
And “the enemy is reinforcing” its troops “to carry out an offensive in the direction of Polohy and Orikhiv”, not far from Zaporijjia, in the south-east of Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian general staff.
In the Kharkiv region (northeast), on the other hand, Ukrainian forces announced on Monday that they had repelled troops from Moscow and regained control of part of the border with Russia.
AFP
The east of the country has been the priority objective of Russian troops since their withdrawal from the vicinity of the Ukrainian capital at the end of March.
Mr. Reznikov on Tuesday called on Ukraine’s Western allies for more coordination in arms deliveries to kyiv.
Paris will intensify its deliveries to Ukraine “in the days and weeks to come”, promised Mr. Macron to Mr. Zelensky during their call on Tuesday.
Brussels has offered “exceptional new macro-financial assistance” for Ukraine amounting to “up to 9 billion euros in 2022”, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
And the Commission also presented a 210 billion euro plan on Wednesday to free itself “as quickly as possible” from Russian gas imports.
Reference-www.tvanouvelles.ca