Russia has reported a “terrorist” attack that caused two deaths on its soil, near the Ukrainian border. Charges denied by Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced Thursday, March 2, an attack “terrorist” after Moscow reported an incursion of “saboteurs” Ukrainians in a region of southwestern Russia bordering Ukraine, which kyiv has denied. For its part, Ukraine has ordered vulnerable people to evacuate the city of Kupiansk, on the northeastern front, which is at risk of being taken by Russian forces. Here’s what to remember from the day.
The Kremlin denounces a “terrorist” attack
According to the Russian authorities, two civilians were killed and an 11-year-old child injured after “saboteurs” opened fire on a car in the village of Lyoubetchané, in the Bryansk region, located just on the border with Ukraine. In a speech broadcast on television, Vladimir Putin denounced an attack by “neo-Nazis” and “terrorists” having “opened fire on civilians”. “We will crush them”he launched.
In the evening, the security services claimed that the situation was “under control”, “Ukrainian Nationalists” having been pushed back to Ukraine and targeted there by “a massive artillery strike”. According to them, a “large number of explosives” were discovered and clearance operations were in progress. The Ukrainian presidency has denied these allegations, seeing them as a “deliberate provocation” which aims, according to her, to justify the military offensive that Moscow has been carrying out in Ukraine for more than a year.
Ukraine orders partial evacuation of Kupyansk
“Mandatory evacuation of families with children and residents with reduced mobility has begun in the community of Kupyansk due to the constant shelling of the territory by Russian forces”, said the military administration of the Kharkiv region. The governor claimed that several localities, including Kupiansk, had been shelled by Russian forces.
This town located about a hundred kilometers from the city of Kharkiv had nearly 30,000 inhabitants before the war. It was taken by the Russians in the early days of the invasion a year ago. The Ukrainians retook the city in September after a lightning counter-offensive.
A “brief” exchange between Russian and American ministers
On the sidelines of a G20 meeting in India, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a “Short” interview with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, their first since the start of the war in Ukraine, revealed an American official. “I said to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (…): ‘End this war of aggression, engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and lasting peace'”then confirmed Antony Blinken.
In front of the G20 participants, the US Secretary of State demanded that Russia renew the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, which expires on March 18. The agreement, concluded in July and renewed for four months in mid-November, helped alleviate the world food crisis caused by the war, with the export of some 20 million tonnes of cereals.
Russia tightens sanctions against critics
Russian MPs passed amendments punishing even harsher language deemed hostile to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, now including members of paramilitary groups such as Wagner. These changes introduce penalties for criticism aimed at fighters “volunteers” Russians. This term is regularly used by the authorities to describe the mercenaries of the paramilitary group Wagner, very active on the front in eastern Ukraine.
According to these amendments, “discredit” soldiers or “volunteers” Russians participating in the conflict will now be liable to a maximum of seven years in prison, compared to five years previously. These amendments were adopted in the second reading, the most important of the Russian legislative cycle. They will then have to be definitively approved at third reading, then validated by the Upper House of Parliament and signed by Vladimir Putin, generally a formality.