Iranian drones enabled strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure
According to the latest update from the British Ministry of Defense, while these strikes were largely due to air and sea cruise missiles, drones supplied by Iran were also among the weapons used.
Explosions in Odessa
Two Russian Oniks-type missiles were shot down in the Odessa region, according to Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odessa regional military administration.
“This morning the enemy launched another missile attack on the Odessa region. Two Oniks-type missiles were fired from a coastal missile system in temporarily occupied Crimea. Air defense units destroyed them,” he wrote on Telegram.
Six Moldovan TV channels suspended because of their coverage of the conflict
A review by the Broadcasting Council of Moldova found a “lack of correct information in the coverage of national events, but also of the war in Ukraine”. The suspensions aim to “prevent the risk of misinformation, or attempts to manipulate public opinion”.
Four of the six suspended channels – First in Moldova, RTR Moldova, NTV Moldova and TV6 – regularly retransmit programs from Russian television channels which were banned on Friday by the European Council as part of a new wave of sanctions against Russia.
The body of a one-year-old child found in the rubble in the Dnipro region
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said rescuers found the body of a one-and-a-half-year-old child, killed by a Russian missile on December 16, under the rubble of his house in Kryvyi Rih . A total of four people were killed in this attack.
Putin talks to officials of Russian operation in Ukraine, Kremlin says
Yesterday, the president spent the whole day at the headquarters of the forces involved “in the special military operation” in Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The Russian Head of State notably “held a meeting” there with the participation of the Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, and the Chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and “had separate meetings with the commanders” of the various branches of the army involved in the operation, according to the same source.
“I would like to hear your proposals on our actions in the short and medium term,” Putin said during the meeting, excerpts of which were broadcast by Russian public television.
A portrait of Zelensky sold for more than 150,000 euros
The portrait of the Ukrainian president, taken for the cover of Time magazine, was sold for 6 million UAH, or 150,000 euros. All proceeds from the auction will be used to purchase electric generators for schools in the Kyiv region.
A meeting with Putin Lukashenko on Monday
Russian and Belarusian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko are due to meet in Minsk on Monday for a summit intended to further strengthen their alliance. Belarus, Russia’s only ally in this warloaned its territory to allow the Russian assault on kyiv at the start of the invasion on 24 February.
According to Mr. Lukashenko, the summit will be “above all (devoted) to the economic sphere”, but the two leaders will also talk about “the politico-military situation around (their) countries”.
Ukraine tries to restore power
Throughout the country, interventions are underway to restore electricity after the Russian strikes.
“Our engineers and repair crews have already started work during the air strike and are doing everything possible to restore power generation and supply. That takes time. But it will be done, ”said the Ukrainian president.
In kyiv, the mayor Vitali Klitchko specified that only a third of the inhabitants had water and heating, and 40% electricity. In Kharkiv (north-east), the second largest city in the country, the authorities announced in the evening that they had restored power to 55%. According to regional governor Oleg Sinegoubov, 85% of the region’s inhabitants had access to electricity on Friday evening.
Zelensky Calls Today’s Russia “Nazi”
In an interview on LCI, Volodymyr Zelensky only envisages peace negotiations by recovering “our own lands”, the territories currently occupied by the Russians. Putin “does not want peace. Or else a peace that is consistent with his vision of things. “At that time, we will have to speak with a Russia ready to respect its interlocutor and which is beginning to give us back what belongs to us in accordance with international law. It is with a Russia like that that I will be ready to negotiate, but not with the Russia that we have at the moment, a Nazi Russia. »
“Nazi” is a term usually used by Vladimir Putin to describe Ukraine. “President Putin’s tactics (are) as dirty as Hitler’s in his time,” he had denounced before, speaking of the bombing of energy infrastructure.