Almost two weeks into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fighting continues across the country. This morning, at least 10 people died on Tuesday in Russian fire on the city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Furthermore, in the port city of Mariupol, un children’s hospital reportedly destroyed by Russian airstrikes, local authorities said in an online message on Wednesday. A first assessment reports 17 injured adults among hospital staff. Note that on the images that we have been able to consult so far, we cannot see any victims and we do not yet know who is the author of the bombardments.
However, the Russian military has promised the entry into force ofa new truce this Wednesday morning, to allow the evacuation of other civilians. The ceasefires will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time (07:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. GMT) around six areas hit by the fighting: corridors have been defined in particular to evacuate civilians from Energodar to Zaporozhe (south), from Izium to Lozova (east) and from Sumy to Poltava (northeast), where a corridor had already allowed the evacuation of thousands of civilians on Tuesday.
For its part, the Ukrainian government has expressed its readiness to discuss the Russian demand that Ukraine remains neutral and does not enter NATO.
New European sanctions
Representatives of EU member states also approved on Wednesday new sanctions against Russian leaders and oligarchs and their family members involved in the Russian aggression against Ukraine. These sanctions traditionally consist of a freezing of assets and a ban on entry into the EU.
It should also be noted that the United States has definitely rejected Poland’s proposal to deliver its Mig-29 planes to the US military and then hand them over to Ukraine, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Warsaw said it was ready to make its Mig-29 planes available to the United States. This surprise announcement had caused a diplomatic imbroglio with Washington, which rejected the offer, believing that it could be the source of “serious concerns“for NATO.