Find here all of our live #UKRAINE
12:00 p.m. : It is noon, here is the point on the news:
• Russia is getting a little closer to default. Financial rating agency S&P Global Ratings on Saturday lowered Russia’s rating for foreign currency payments to the level of “selective default”after Moscow settled a dollar debt in rubles earlier this week.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls for “a strong global response” after the bombing of Kramatorsk station, which killed at least 50 people.
• Can I vote without a voter’s card? How do I know if I am registered? Do we have to wear a mask to vote? On the eve of the first round, franceinfo answers eight questions on how to use this ballot.
• The reserve period began at midnight in France and in Corsica as the first round of the presidential election approaches. Candidates for the Elysée are therefore prohibited from disseminating any electoral propaganda, poll or results relating to the election, so as not to influence the vote. This rule also applies to the media.
12:01 : The first painting in the Morozov collection “will remain in France as long as its owner, a Russian oligarch, remains subject to an asset freezing measure”, specifies the Ministry of Culture, without giving the name of this person. The second painting belongs to the Museum of Fine Arts in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. He will stay in France “until the situation in the country allows his safe return”.
11:54 : Two paintings from the Morozov collection go “stay in France”. The Ministry of Culture announced it to AFP. One belongs to a Russian oligarch, the other to a Ukrainian museum. They had been exhibited at the Vuitton Foundation in Paris since September.
11:59 : “Mr. Putin was wrong about almost everything. This war has been a misinterpretation from the start.”
On franceinfo, this former general, now a professor of strategy at Sciences Po and HEC, talks about the mistakes of the Russian army.
11:52 : Despite being considered one of the most formidable countries when it comes to cyberattacks, Russia is struggling to gain the upper hand in the digital war between it and Ukraine. So far, his hacks have been ineffective against a country mobilized and supported by the United States. Our journalist Maxime Fayolle, from the investigation unit of Radio France, returns to this other front of the war.
(BILL OXFORD / E+)
11:40 a.m. : Russian officials have accused the video service YouTube, owned by the American giant Google, of having blocked the account of the channel of the lower house of the Russian Parliament, “Douma-TV”, and have promised retaliation. AFP journalists found that the account in question was no longer accessible on the platform.
11:39 : The financial rating agency S&P Global Ratings on Saturday lowered Russia’s rating for its foreign currency payments to the level of “selective default”, after Moscow settled a dollar debt in rubles earlier this week. The rating of the agency, for payments in foreign currencies such as the dollar, is lowered to “SD”, while the rating remains at “CC” for payments in rubles. It remains only one notch lower than SD in the scale of the agency: the note “D”, for default.
11:16 a.m. : Moscow accuses YouTube of having blocked the account of the Russian parliamentary channel.
10:51 a.m. : It was the last train that was able to connect Kramatorsk to Lviv before the bombing of the station. And on the descent, the refugees, relieved to have escaped the worst, are very worried and warn: “It’s going to be as terrible as the Battle of Kursk in World War II”. Report by Laurent Macchietti and Camille Magnard.
(MAXPPP)
10:33 am : It’s a small story in the big one. A Russian ship, however commanded by a son of a Ukrainian opposed to the regime of Vladimir Putin, was refused access to the port of Sète (Hérault). Our journalist Arthur Fradin returns to this incredible affair.
(MAXPPP)
09:31 : Political will, uncertainty of the outcome of the war, legal brakes… Even completed, the investigations will not necessarily lead to trials. We explain why in this article.
10:26 : France is also investigating war crime charges on behalf of the “universal skill”. The Pnat, the French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office, has opened several investigations concerning French nationals. “The objective is not only to trace the military responsibilities, but also the political responsibilities of the principals”explains Clémence Bectarte, lawyer at the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
10:26 : “When I interrogate a person, I check everything they say. I ask them about the time, the weather, what they heard, what noise the bomb was making, from which direction did it come, etc.”
Since 2014, this researcher from the Ukrainian NGO Truth Hounds has already presented 20 reports, interviewed more than 1,500 witnesses and traveled 156,000 kilometers across the country.
10:26 : Since the start of the war, the International Criminal Court, the UN and several countries have opened investigations into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine. On the spot, many NGOs, States and civilians are mobilizing to gather evidence of these abuses, which could one day make it possible to judge those responsible. Explanations.
(GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)
09:08 : Ukraine belongs in the European family.And today, Ukraine takes another important step towards EU membership.We will accelerate this process as much as we can, while ensuring that all conditions are respected.#StandWithUkraine https://t.co/q7Yi5gMOBH
09:08 : Europe is going “speed up the process” membership of Ukraine “as much as possible”assured during her visit to the country the President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen. “Ukraine belongs to the European family”she said.
10:24 a.m. : We start with a first point on the news:
• The reserve period began at midnight in France and in Corsica as the first round of the presidential election approaches. Candidates for the Elysée are therefore prohibited from disseminating any electoral propaganda, poll or results relating to the election, so as not to influence the vote. This rule also applies to the media.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls for “a strong global response” after the bombing of Kramatorsk station, which killed at least 50 people.
Savoie is the only department still placed on orange alert this morning, for a risk of avalanches.