“He had found his place, he felt very good there.” The mother of the 32-year-old Frenchman killed in action in Ukraine said to herself “very proud of him”Friday June 3, on Europe 1. This father of an 8-year-old girl “did not find its place in France” and left France for Poland, where he first joined “a humanitarian mission” with refugees, before joining the international defense legion of Ukraine. “He wanted to help people”said his mother, who is now awaiting the return of her son’s remains to Normandy. “He gave his life for a very good cause.” Follow our live.
The battle is raging in the Donbass. Ukraine claimed on Friday, June 3, to have pushed back Russian forces in Severodonetsk, a key city in the region, where Moscow is concentrating its offensive in the hope of taking full control. The Russian soldiers were even forced to retreat, according to the governor of the Lugansk region, Sergei Gaïdaï. “If before we had a difficult situation with around 70% (of the city) captured, currently they have been pushed back by 20%”, he described, despite a deluge of fire. Follow our live.
Ukraine asks for heavy weapons. Like the President of Ukraine, Governor of Luhansk region calls for heavy weapons to, he says, push the Russian artillery back away from the Ukrainian positions and avoid what happened in Mariupol. Russian forces are also heavily bombarding the Donetsk region, including Sloviansk, some 80 km west of Severodonetsk. Residents of the region lack gas, water and electricity, according to kyiv.
Putin plays down the grain crisis. The UN is worried about the risks of crisis, particularly in Africa, which imports more than half of its cereals from Ukraine and Russia. Worries brushed aside by Vladimir Putin. “There is no problem exporting cereals from Ukraine”he said in a television interview, discussing several ways to export them via Ukrainian ports, others under Russian control, or via Central and Eastern Europe.
Africa says it has Moscow’s ear. “We leave here very reassured and very happy with our exchanges”, said the current president of the African Union and Senegalese head of state, Macky Sall, after a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Sochi. He said he found the Russian president “committed and aware that the crisis and the sanctions create serious problems for weak economies, such as African economies”.