New ground attacks and waves of drones targeted Russia, killing at least two people, shortly before the opening of polling stations for the presidential election.
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New ground attacks and waves of drones targeted Russia on Thursday March 14, killing at least two people, shortly before the opening of polling stations for the presidential election. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron said Europeans must be ready to “answer” to one “escalation” of Russia. Franceinfo takes stock of the highlights of the day.
Emmanuel Macron believes that we must be “ready to respond” to Russian “escalation”
Emmanuel Macron said that Europeans must be ready to “answer” to one “escalation” of Russia, judging that it “won’t stop there” if she wins the war in Ukraine. “We will never lead an offensive, we will never take the initiative. France is a force for peace”nevertheless declared the Head of State on the 8 p.m. television news on TF1 and France 2.
He thus intended to reassure after having sowed trouble, in public opinion and among kyiv’s other allies, by judging at the end of February that the sending, in the future, of Western soldiers to Ukraine should not be ruled out.
Attacks in Russia from Ukraine are increasing
New ground attacks and waves of drones targeted Russia, killing at least two people, shortly before the opening of polling stations for the presidential election.
Armed ground incursions and air raids have increased in recent days, sometimes far from Ukraine. The Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) said Thursday in the middle of the day that it was repelling with the army and border guards the assault of a group of “saboteurs” near the town of Tiotkino, in the Kursk region, bordering Ukraine.
Attacks against this village carried out by units from Ukraine and claiming to be composed of Russians opposed to the Kremlin had already taken place on Tuesday. Moscow then assured that the attackers had been decimated.
The “Russian Freedom Legion”, one of the groups behind previous armed ground incursions, called for the evacuation of civilians in the area and promised to “liberate the Russian regions” of Belgorod – also bordering Ukraine – and Kursk.
The Russian presidential election has started
The inhabitants of the Russian Far East have started to vote in the presidential election which should renew Vladimir Putin for a new term without opposition. Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. local time on Friday on the Kamchatka Peninsula and in Chukotka, two remote regions located in the far east of Russia, and will close on Sunday at 8 p.m. in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave within the EU .
Due to the time difference, residents of the Far East begin to vote at a time when residents of the western part of this country with eleven time zones are just getting ready to go to bed. The vote will be held over three days, including in the territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine and in Transdniestria, a pro-Russian separatist territory in Moldova.
NATO and the European Union ruled that the election could not be considered a vote “just” Or “democratic”according to officials from both institutions.
Lithuania suspects Russian services of attack against Navalny relative
Lithuania suspects the Russian secret services of being involved in the recent attack on its soil of Leonid Volkov, the former right-hand man of Alexeï Navalny who died in prison, a case which illustrates according to the United States “the very real threats” weighing on Russian opponents.
Attacked with a hammer on Tuesday evening in front of his home in Vilnius, the 43-year-old had to be briefly hospitalized after what the Lithuanian authorities described as an act of “political terrorism”.
“It appears to be the work of the Russian special services, apparently through a recruited person” locally, intelligence chief Darius Jauniskis told the press, refusing to provide information on the ongoing investigation.