LIVE – War in Ukraine: Putin must “pay”, insists Biden, who announced new sanctions

Joe Biden confirmed in a press release on Friday that there is a battery of several hundred new sanctions to ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin “pays an even higher price for aggression (toward Ukraine) and repression” in Russia.

“If Putin does not pay the price for the death and destruction he is causing, he will continue,” the US president warned in a statement, announcing moves to target individuals linked to the imprisonment of Russian war opponent Alexei Navalny. The machine, as well as hundreds of units, help Moscow overcome restrictions already in place.

The European Union adopted its 13th set of sanctions against Russia after a two-year war of aggression against Ukraine.

“The package aims to further restrict access to Russia’s military technology, for example to drones, and to add new companies and individuals to the list of participants in Russia’s war effort” The number of entries on the list now exceeds 2,000, a significant deal. a blow to Russia’s military and defense,” the EU said in a statement.

“This package of measures provides for an unprecedented number of 194 individual designations, including 106 individuals and 88 organizations. The Union has now exceeded the overall threshold of 2,000 registrations on the list to support Ukraine,” the EU details. “The new registrations target ten (Russian) companies and individuals involved in transporting North Korean weapons to Russia, the North Korean Defense Minister, as well as several Belarusian companies and individuals providing support to the Russian armed forces.

The Russian army has carried out nearly 100 attacks on the Ukrainian eastern front in the past 24 hours, about half of which were around Marinka, a new “hot spot” along the Evdiyvka region, the Ukrainian army said on Tuesday.

“The enemy tried 43 times to break through the defense of our troops” in the Marinka area, located in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian General Staff clarified in its morning report. The city of Marinka was completely destroyed by the Russian army in December. The front in the area has largely frozen since then, but in recent days Moscow has stepped up its offensive to the west.

The general staff cites in particular the areas of Novomykhalivka and especially Pobeda, whose victory the Russian army claimed on Thursday, just days after capturing the town of Avdivka, after months of bloody fighting.

India’s foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that some of the country’s nationals had registered for “support jobs” in the Russian military, saying it was working with Moscow to secure their leave.

The Hindu daily reported on Wednesday that around 20 Indians are stranded in various border towns on the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine. According to the newspaper, at least three of them were “forced” to fight alongside the Russians.

The Ministry of External Affairs did not confirm that Indians had played a combat role in the conflict but said in a statement that “it is aware that a few Indian nationals have signed up for support jobs with the Russian military.”

After two years of war, many Ukrainian soldiers are exhausted, as our special correspondent in Kyiv explains.

Vladimir Putin hailed the “official heroes of the people” fighting for the Kremlin in Ukraine on “Defenders of the Fatherland” Day, a tribute to the armed forces on the eve of the second anniversary of the attacks in Russia on Friday. Ukraine.

“In recent years, companies of the military-industrial complex have increased the production and distribution of the most requested weapons to the troops,” the Russian president also welcomed in a video released by the president, amid the war effort. led by Moscow.

In its daily report published on Friday morning, the Ukrainian General Staff reported nighttime attacks by Russian drones and missiles in the country, noting that the Ukrainian Air Defense shot down 23 drones.

In Dnipropetrovsk region (middle-east), Governor Sergey Lysak reported on Telegram a “terrible night”, where rescuers “searched among the rubble of heavily damaged buildings” with “completely destroyed” apartments.

Ukraine has been the victim of Russian missile and drone attacks on Friday, one of which killed three people in Odessa (south).

“Russian troops once again attacked Odessa with drones and missiles,” Ukrainian police said on Telegram, adding that fire broke out in civilian structures before being brought under control. “As a result of the bomb blast, three people died,” the police added.

The head of state decided to organize a working meeting in support of Ukraine in Paris this Monday. Two years after the Russian invasion, the conference will help find solutions and aid for Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron calls on Europeans for a “collective explosion”.

• President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the US Congress to approve additional military aid to his country, during an interview broadcast Thursday on Fox News, the favorite channel of conservatives, who are currently blocking the $60 billion envelope. “Can Ukraine survive without the support of Congress? Of course. But not all of us,” Zelensky said, referring to civilian casualties since the Russian invasion nearly two years ago. . According to the Ukrainian leader, the cost of helping Kiev today is far less than the potential cost of confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin later if he wins the war against Ukraine.

• Weakened by the failure of its summer counter-offensive and a growing shortage of ammunition, the Ukrainian army faces an “extremely difficult” situation at the front, according to the own admission of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had to resign last week. Fort city of Avadivka (East). And the Russian military on Thursday claimed it had also captured the village of Pobeda in the east, which Kiev did not immediately confirm, insisting it was fighting “in the area”.

• In the occupied part of Kherson region (south), Ukrainian forces on Thursday claimed to have “killed or seriously wounded” about sixty Russian soldiers in an attack on a training ground.

• The IMF will disburse $880 million to Ukraine, in line with the third tranche of a $15.6 billion aid plan adopted in March 2023, the organization announced Thursday, nearly two years after the Russian invasion. This assistance must still be approved by the Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund.

• A US Treasury Department spokesman said on Thursday that the United States would announce new sanctions against Russia on Friday, which would “target more than 500 entities linked to its supporters and its war machine.” “This will be the largest installment since the start of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine”, just two years ago, on February 24, 2022, she said.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday evening that he had told European Commission President Charles Michel that the border blockade by Polish farmers was “totally unacceptable”.

• Vladimir Putin on Thursday flew a thirty-minute flight on a Tu-160M ​​supersonic strategic bomber of Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces. According to Russian news agencies, it took off from the runway of an aircraft factory in Kazan, capital of the central Russian republic of Tatarstan. The Tu-160M ​​is an impressive heavy bomber capable of long-range nuclear and conventional strikes.

• France has trained nearly 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, France’s armed forces ministry said during a press briefing on Thursday. These training courses, provided “in France or in Poland”, focus on the operation of specific equipment, such as French Caesar cannons, specific techniques (mine clearance, tactical first aid), as well as more general knowledge of training. In combined arms combat, the ministry said.

• French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting a meeting with leaders of other countries in support of Ukraine on Monday in Paris, two years after the start of the Russian invasion, the Elysee announced Thursday. It will “bring together several heads of state and government or their ministerial representatives for a meeting in support of Ukraine”, the French president indicated.

Hello everyone and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to events in Ukraine.