Russian strikes increased in kyiv on Tuesday March 15, twenty days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while the fourth round of negotiations to try to find a solution to the conflict resumed, after a break on Monday . From “deep contradictions” persist in the Russian-Ukrainian talks which will continue on Wednesday, but a “compromise” is still possible, said an adviser to the Ukrainian president, Mykhaïlo Podoliak.
Two journalists working for Fox News killed
Two journalists, a Franco-Irish Fox News cameraman and a Ukrainian journalist who accompanied him, were killed near kyiv in an attack which also left one injured, the American television channel announced on Tuesday.
Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova died on Monday in Horenka, northwest of the capital, “when their vehicle was the target of fire”, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement. Reporter Benjamin Hall, who was with them, was injured in the attack.
A curfew decreed in kyiv
The mayor of the capital, faced with increasing Russian strikes, decreed a 36-hour curfew between Tuesday 8 p.m. (7 p.m. Paris time) and Thursday 7 a.m. (6 a.m. Paris time). The city lives “a dangerous and difficult moment”, said Vitali Klitschko.
A strike on an apartment building caused the death of at least four people, according to the mayor of kyiv. In this region, Dnipro airport suffered “mass destruction” after two Russian bombardments, according to regional authorities.
20,000 people evacuated from Mariupol
About 20,000 people were able to leave the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol, Tuesday, March 15, through a humanitarian corridor, announced the Ukrainian presidency. These civilians were evacuated in 4,000 cars, said in a press release the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. Up to 300,000 people nevertheless remain trapped, holed up in cellars and deprived of everything.
In total, some 29,000 people were evacuated on Tuesday from several cities in Ukraine besieged by Russian forces, according to the same source.
Russian journalist Marina Ovsiannikova fined
Marina Ovsiannikovaan employee of a Russian TV channel who broke into a newscast to denounce the offensive in Ukraine, was fined 30,000 rubles (about 250 euros at the current rate) and released on Tuesday. However, this audience was not directly devoted to her action on the air, but to a video broadcast at the same time on the internet in which she denounces the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine.
Although released, she still faces criminal charges punishable by heavy prison sentences. She could be convicted for publishing“false information” on the Russian army, a crime punishable by a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is ready to offer him “consular protection”either at the Embassy or by granting him asylum.
European leaders meet Volodymyr Zelensky
The Polish, Czech and Slovenian Prime Ministers met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv on Tuesday to “to reaffirm the unequivocal support of the whole of the European Union for the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and to present a comprehensive package of measures in support of the Ukrainian state and society”. it’s about the first visit by foreign leaders to the beleaguered Ukrainian capital since the start of the Russian invasion.
After the meeting, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called on the EU to “very quickly give Ukraine candidate status”, and assured that “we will try to organize defensive weapons”.
“Ukraine will not be able to join NATO”
“It must be admitted” that Ukraine will not be able to join NATO, declared Volodymyr Zelensky, while this issue is one of the reasons given by the Kremlin to justify its invasion of the country.
“We heard for years that the doors were open, but we also heard that we couldn’t join. It’s the truth and it must be recognized”said the Ukrainian president.
Three million refugees
More than three million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion by the Russian army, announced Tuesday a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva. Every second that passes, a child in Ukraine becomes a refugee, said the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). A total of 97 children have been killed since the start of the war, according to President Zelensky.
New European sanctions
The European Union has banned the export to Russia of its luxury sedans, champagne, jewelry and other items prized by elites supporting Vladimir Putin.
A list of luxury products and goods, approved by the Member States, has been published in the Official Journal. It is 14 pages long and covers products from the EU leisure, luxury and technology sectors. These measures constitute the fourth set of sanctions adopted by the European Unione against Moscow, since the Kremlin’s decision to attack Ukraine militarily.