War in Ukraine | Zelensky got hot

Russian soldiers were “parachuted into Kyiv to kill or capture” the Ukrainian president and his family on the very first day of the invasion, February 24.

William Theriault
The Press

In an interview with the magazine TimeVolodymyr Zelensky explained that in the early hours of the war, Russian forces arrived in his country’s capital with two options: assassinate him or take him prisoner.

In the company of his wife, the president woke up his two children, in the noise of the bombardments which were beginning. Several shots were fired in the government quarters, and bulletproof vests were given to the president and his entourage. “Before that night, we had only seen this kind of thing in films,” said the head of the presidential administration, Andriy Yermak.

The face of the war would have been very different if the Russians had succeeded in their operation that day, underlines Justin Massie, professor with the department of political science of the UQAM.

“Zelensky is a figurehead who represents leadership and inspiration to the international community,” he says. Much of Ukraine’s resistance comes from its ability to mobilize leaders and generate excitement. »

Moscow confirms targeting Kyiv

The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that it bombed the Ukrainian capital when UN Secretary General António Guterres was there. The workshops of the space company Artyom and three power plants were affected. The body of Ukrainian journalist Vira Ghyrytch of Radio Liberty was found in the rubble. Four other people were injured, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Assuming this kind of attack is “a middle finger to the United Nations”, according to Justin Massie.

The UN is trying to obtain a humanitarian corridor in Mariupol

The United Nations doggedly sought on Friday to negotiate an evacuation of civilians from the increasingly hellish ruins of Mariupol. The mayor called the situation inside the steelworks, which has become the last bastion of the southern port city, as dire, where citizens are “begging to be saved”. Ukrainian forces have also fought to repel Russian attempts to advance in the south and east, where the Kremlin seeks to seize the industrial region of Donbass. Artillery fire, sirens and explosions could be heard in some towns.

The Russians behind the attack on a Nobel Prize, according to the United States

US officials say it was Russian intelligence that attacked Dmitry Muratov, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and publisher of the Independent Russian Newspaper Novaya Gazeta. On April 18, Muratov was on a train on which an assailant threw red paint containing acetone, a flammable chemical, at him. The journalist also published the same day photos of him where we can see the results of this offensive, on his Telegram account.

G20: an invitation to Putin

Despite strong pressure from the West to exclude Russia from the G20, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced on Friday that he had invited Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to the summit, scheduled for November in Indonesia. US President Joe Biden “has publicly expressed his opposition to President Putin’s presence at the G20”, reported White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. Jakarta argues rather that its role as host forces it to adopt an “impartial” position.

Justin Massie recalls that unlike the G7, the G20 includes countries that have affinities with Russia. This is particularly the case of China, but also of Brazil or India, he specifies.

Canada maintains ties with Russia

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed on Friday that the Canadian Embassy in Moscow was maintaining its activities in order to “keep communications open to seek an end to this illegal war”. The right decision to make, according to Justin Massie. “Not discussing with an enemy nation is counterproductive,” explains the professor. You gain nothing by stopping talking, even to your enemy. »

American fighter killed in action, the Pentagon reacts

Willy Joseph Cancel, a former US Marine who joined a private paramilitary company to defend Ukraine, was killed Monday while trying to fight Russian forces. The 22-year-old had been in a war zone since mid-March. “We continue to urge Americans not to travel to Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN after the announcement.

The Netherlands reopens its embassy in Kyiv

The Netherlands, which had decreed the closure of its embassy in Kyiv on February 20, four days before the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, has just announced its reopening. “It is important that we can have an embassy on the ground in Kyiv,” Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said. “We have a close working relationship with Ukraine which we support diplomatically, humanitarianly and militarily. The move comes shortly after the Russians reopened fire on Kyiv, which had previously been spared for about two weeks.

Lavrov urges NATO to stop arming Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged NATO and the United States to stop delivering weapons to Kyiv, if they “are really interested in solving the Ukrainian crisis”. In an interview published Saturday by the official New China Agency, Mr. Lavrov also affirmed that the Russian offensive in Ukraine is proceeding “according to plans”. “A continuous flow of weapons of all kinds entered Ukraine through Poland and other NATO countries,” Lavrov said. “If the United States and NATO are really interested in solving the Ukrainian crisis, then first of all they must wake up and stop delivering weapons and ammunition to the Kyiv regime,” added the head of Russian diplomacy. .

With Frederik-Xavier Duhamel, The PressAgence France-Presse, The Canadian Press, Tea Washington Post, Time and The Guardian