The Russian army on Friday September 9 sent armored vehicles and guns as reinforcements to the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv where kyiv is leading a counter-offensive. On the side of Zaporijjia, kyiv denounced the abuses perpetrated by the Russian forces on the personnel of the plant. Franceinfo looks back on the highlights of Friday, September 9 on the front of the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian staff at Zaporizhia power plant victim of Russian abuses, according to kyiv
The boss of the Ukrainian operator of the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, Petro Kotin, denounced Friday the abuses perpetrated by the Russian forces on the personnel, evoking torture, murders and kidnappings. “With the occupation, a regime of police harassment of staff was gradually put in place. The situation today is very difficult with torture, beatings, kidnappings”said Petro Kotin in an interview with AFP.
According to him, two people were notably “beaten to death” by Russian forces, which have controlled this nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, since March. “A diver was captured and then ended up in hospital unconscious. He died three hours later”while a bombing killed another employee and a driver, he added, denouncing a persecution of pro-Ukrainians by the Russians. “People are psychologically broken”explained the boss of the public company Energoatom, which manages the Ukrainian power plants.
Russian army sends reinforcements to Kharkiv after Ukrainian counter-offensive
The Russian army sent armored vehicles and guns as reinforcements to the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv where kyiv is waging a counter-offensive, Russian news agencies reported on Friday, publishing images transmitted by the Ministry of Defense. In these images, also broadcast by the official media of the Russian army, Zvezda, we can see several military trucks towing heavy guns and armored vehicles, on a dirt road, then an asphalt road.
Sending Russian reinforcements to Ukraine shows Moscow is paying “a huge prize”, reacted by following the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken.“The number of Russian soldiers in Ukraine is huge and unfortunately President Putin has indicated that he will send even more people”added Antony Blinken during a press conference. The Russian Ministry of Defense, for its part, did not official statement immediately. The announcement of this deployment of reinforcements comes as the Ukrainian forces have affirmedsee a breakthrough in the Kharkiv region, bordering Russia in northeastern Ukraine.
EU approves new financial aid of five billion euros
The 27 finance ministers of the EU gave the green light on Friday to a new aid of five billion euros to Ukraine to help it cope with the consequences of the war. This assistance in the form of a loan, proposed on Wednesday by the Commission, represents the second tranche of a maximum package of nine billion for 2022 announced in May by the President of the European executive, Ursula von der Leyen.
“The new €5 billion loan will be used for the day-to-day running of the (Ukrainian) state and the country’s essential infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals”said Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura after a meeting in Prague with his EU counterparts. The Twenty-Seven had approved on July 12 a first aid of one billion euros, within the framework of this “macro-financial assistance”. This sum was disbursed at the beginning of August.
Suspicions of war crimes in a village recaptured from the Russians
Ukrainian authorities on Friday exhumed two bodies in Grakové, in the north-east of the country, for which they suspect a war crime, in this village taken back from Russian forces, AFP journalists noted. Police from the Kharkiv region, where the village is located, and the prosecutor’s office from the neighboring town of Chuguyv conducted the exhumation in the presence of about 20 journalists.
On the spot, Serguiï Loutsaï, a resident of Grakové, told the press that he buried the bodies under the threat of armed Russian soldiers in March, shortly after the start of the invasion launched on February 24. “They came to my house, I was with my 70-year-old father. I was afraid that they would threaten him”said Serguii Loutsai. “They told me to come and dig a hole”he added.
The investigation, led by the prosecutor’s office, will have to establish the causes and circumstances of the death of the two men, in particular through the autopsies and the testimony of the main witness, Serguiï Loutsaï, explained to AFP a member of the prosecution team, who did not wish to give their name.
Eight civilians killed in Russian strikes in the east of the country
Eight civilians were killed on Thursday and 17 others injured in Russian strikes on the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmout, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Friday, a day after the army announced a territorial gains against the Russians.
“Bakhmout was the most affected city: eight people were killed during the day, 17 others were injured”reported Mr. Kyrylenko on Telegram. “Twenty houses, six buildings, four stores, the Maison de la Culture and the administrative center of the city were damaged” in these Russian strikes, he said, adding that the market had been “under the lights” Russian artillery. Bakhmout, which had 70,000 inhabitants before the start of the conflict at the end of February, no longer has access to water or electricity for the fourth consecutive day, detailed the same source.