Posted yesterday at 11:35 p.m.
What you need to know today
- the New York Times broadcasts images showing, according to the American daily, the assassination of at least eight Ukrainian resistance fighters in Boutcha on March 4.
- Russia suspends gas deliveries to Finland as of now.
- Fighting continues in the Luhansk region of Donbass.
- Mariupol has officially surrendered.
“Walk to the right, you female dogs,” Russian soldiers say to Ukrainian hostages placed against a fence.
the New York Times released a video on Friday showing eight soldiers in what the US daily describes as their last moments before their March 4 assassination in Boutcha.
« Les otages sont là, placés contre une clôture », dit la personne qui filme la scène. « Un, deux, trois… assurément quatre, cinq, six », compte le témoin.
Les Ukrainiens sont forcés de se mettre au sol et la vidéo s’arrête là-dessus, la suite des choses ayant été rapportée par huit témoins rencontrés par le New York Times – un survivant, des témoins, des policiers et des militaires, est-il écrit.
Neuf Ukrainiens auraient été tués ce jour-là, selon le New York Times, qui s’appuie aussi sur une vidéo filmée par drone le lendemain, le 5 mars, montrant les cadavres des Ukrainiens – dont l’un est vêtu d’un chandail du bleu caractéristique du drapeau ukrainien – encadrés par deux soldats russes montant la garde à leurs côtés au 144, rue Yablonska, à Boutcha.
Aussi publiées : les photos des jeunes hommes ukrainiens de leur vivant. « C’étaient des maris, des pères, des employés d’épicerie ou d’usine qui menaient des vies ordinaires avant la guerre », écrit le New York Times.
Il y a des textos, aussi, envoyés à leurs êtres chers.
« N’appelle pas, je t’appellerai plus tard », écrit l’un.
« Nous sommes encerclés, explique un autre à son ami. Pour l’instant, nous sommes cachés. Ils tirent depuis des véhicules blindés […]. »
Stéphane Beaulac, professor of international public law at the University of Montreal, notes that these documents are invaluable. He adds that he would not be surprised if they were added to the numerous pieces of evidence that the “unprecedented delegation sent by the International Criminal Court” to Ukraine would accumulate.
As shocking as they are, these images released by the New York Times – like any other evidence collected – will be studied “with the very high standards of criminal justice that prevail just as much in matters of international criminal law”, observes Mr. Beaulac.
In the same way, he also points out, “even if [le président des États-Unis] Joe Biden” already speaks of genocide, “this crime among all crimes” meets very specific criteria which, for Ukraine as for other countries, must be met before it can be affirmed.
Russia continues to attack eastern Ukraine
Vendredi, la Russie a revendiqué des avancées dans l’est de l’Ukraine, affirmant avoir presque achevé la conquête de la région de Louhansk, dans le Donbass, où se concentre son offensive.
Au moins huit personnes, dont un enfant, auraient été blessées par une frappe de missile russe sur un centre culturel fraîchement reconstruit à Lozova, dans l’est de l’Ukraine, ont annoncé vendredi des responsables ukrainiens.
Le siège de Marioupol serait terminé. Le porte-parole du ministère russe de la Défense a affirmé que le complexe sidérurgique d’Azovstal avait été « entièrement libéré ».
Le chef sur place des hommes du régiment Azov, Denys Prokopenko, un large pansement au bras droit et le gauche tuméfié, avait indiqué dans une vidéo que « le commandement militaire supérieur [avait] gave the order to save the lives of the soldiers of [la] garrison and stop defending the city”.
Continuation of the trial of Vadim Chichimarine
The war crime trial of Vadim Chichimarine, the 21-year-old Russian soldier who earlier this week admitted killing an innocent man on a bicycle, has continued.
PHOTO YASUYOSHI CHIBA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Vadim Chichimarine, a Russian soldier accused of killing a civilian during the invasion of Ukraine, sits in the dock at the Kyiv Court of Appeal.
“Given all the evidence and all the testimonies, I believe that Mr. Chichimarine is not guilty of the crime with which he is accused,” said Viktor Ovsiannykov during his closing argument, asking the judges to “acquit [son] customer,” noted an AFP journalist.
On Friday, Vadim Chichimarine said: “I am sincerely sorry. »
The verdict will be known on Monday. He faces life imprisonment.
On the political front
Furthermore, through the Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, Germany made it clear on Friday that, contrary to what the European Commission is considering, his country is not in favor of new debt on the model of the plan post-COVID-19 stimulus package to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Canada has announced a new wave of sanctions against the regime of Vladimir Putin by now banning the import of vodka, caviar and Russian diamonds.
Russia, for its part, has designated “foreign agents” two of its opponents in exile, the former world chess champion Garry Kasparov and the former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
PHOTO STÉPHANE MAHÉ, ARCHIVES REUTERS
Garry Kasparov, a former world chess champion, has lived in exile for almost 10 years.
Moscow accuses them of being “sources in Ukraine to finance their activities”.
Garry Kasparov is a longtime opponent of President Vladimir Putin and has lived for almost 10 years in exile in the United States.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was one of Russia’s most powerful businessmen in the 1990s, before coming into opposition with the Kremlin when Mr Putin came to power in 2000.
With Agence France-Presse