France, Turkey and Greece will lead “a humanitarian operation” evacuation “in the next few days” of the besieged city of Mariupol, in southern Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday March 25. The objective is to evacuate “all those who wish to leave” the Ukrainian city, he added after a European summit in Brussels, specifying that he had to discuss the subject with Russian President Vladimir Putin “within 48 to 72 hours”. Franceinfo summarizes what to remember from the developments of the day.
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The Commission responsible for joint purchases of gas
The European Commission has received a mandate from EU member countries to carry out joint gas purchases. “Group purchasing, the ability to define long contracts together, is the best instrument to bring down the price of our gas and therefore we have given the Commission a mandate to do so”on the model of group purchases of anti-Covid vaccines, declared Emmanuel Macron at the end of a European summit in Brussels, while the war in Ukraine is causing energy prices to soar.
Russian army focuses on eastern Ukraine
The Russian army claims to have achieved the initial objectives of the military operation it has been conducting in Ukraine since February 24. Russian Deputy Chief of Staff Sergei Rudskoy announced on Friday that Russian troops would now focus on the “release” from eastern Ukraine. “The combat capabilities of the Ukrainian forces have been significantly reduced, which allows (…) to concentrate the bulk of the efforts on the main objective: the liberation of Donbass”, he said during a press briefing. At the same time, the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations seem to be slipping. “The positions converge on the secondary points. But on the main [questions] politicians, we are treading water”thus released Vladimir Medinski, the chief Russian negotiator.
Ukrainian air force command center bombed
The command center of the Ukrainian air forces in Vinnytsia (center) was hit on Friday by a salvo of Russian cruise missiles, announced the air force command on Telegram. These strikes caused “significant damage”according to the Ukrainian army. “The consequences of this missile strike by the occupiers are being assessed”said the command.
Moscow unveils official report
The figure announced by Russia is disputed, but already bears witness to a heavy toll: Russia acknowledged on Friday the death of 1,351 of its soldiers since the start of its military offensive in Ukraine a month earlier. “During the special military operation, 1 351 soldiers were killed and 3 825 wounded”, declared the assistant to the chief of staff of the armies, Sergei Roudskoy, during a press briefing. According to a senior NATO official, who relies in particular on information from the Ukrainian authorities and Western intelligence services, the toll is much heavier than announced by the Russian authorities, the number of Russian soldiers killed in combat rather between 7,000 and 15,000.
Joe Biden is in Poland
US President Joe Biden arrived in the Polish town of Rzeszow on Friday, about 80 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. Arriving from Brussels, he must be received by Polish President Andrzej Duda at the airport of this city located two and a half hours by road from Lviv, the main city in western Ukraine, where refugees are flocking.