Russian drones hit the Ukrainian port of Odessa, on the Black Sea, authorities announced on Tuesday morning April 4. “The enemy has just hit Odessa and the Odessa district with UAV attacks” (unmanned aerial vehicles), the local administration reported on Facebook. “There is damage”, she added, without further details. Follow our live.
Finland joins NATO. After three decades of military non-alignment, Finland joined NATO on Tuesday, a strategic turning point caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In a ceremony laden with symbols, the Nordic country, which shares a 1,300 kilometer long border with Russia, will become the 31st member of the Alliance, on the anniversary of its creation, April 4, 1949. After the presentation of the membership documents to the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, guardian of the founding treaty of the organization, the Finnish flag will be hoisted in the courtyard of honor of NATO headquarters in Brussels at 3:30 p.m., between those of the Estonia and France, in alphabetical order.
Destruction at 2.4 billion euros. In Ukraine, the destruction in the culture and education sectors caused by the war has already cost 2.4 billion euros, according to an assessment made by Unesco and obtained by Radio France. Eastern Ukraine is the most affected area, according to Unesco. The Karkhiv and Donbass regions concentrate nearly 60% of the destruction.
Macron in China. Emmanuel Macron is expected in China on Wednesday, convinced that Beijing remains “unavoidable” in the face of the many challenges of the world, starting with the war in Ukraine, which the Chinese position can, according to Paris, make “to fall over”. Due to its proximity to Russia, “China is the only country in the world in a position to have an immediate and radical impact on the conflict, one way or the other”estimated the Elysée before this three-day state visit by the French president.