World News
Russia has the right to use nuclear weapons: former president Medvedev reiterates his threats on the last day of annexation votes
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Steph Deschamps / September 28, 2022
Russia threatened again on Tuesday to use nuclear weapons, on the last day of the annexation referendums it is organizing in four regions of Ukraine, denounced as “shams” by Kiev and its allies. The former president and number two of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev assured that Moscow will defend these new territories that it intends to incorporate after these votes, “including with strategic nuclear weapons ».
Asked whether these statements represented the official position of the Kremlin, its spokesman Dmitry Peskov recalled the Russian military doctrine, which provides for the possibility of nuclear strikes if territories considered Russian by Moscow are attacked. However, after the referenda, “in these territories, there will be cardinal changes from the legal point of view, from the point of view of international law and because of all the respective consequences (of the measures taken) to ensure security,” said Peskov.
These nuclear threats, which are taken seriously in the West, come on the last day of annexation votes organized by Moscow in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk (east) and the Russian-occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporijjia (south). The results could be announced as early as Tuesday evening or Wednesday.
These polls, organized in a hurry in the face of the success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in early September, follow the pattern of the annexation of Crimea in 2014. These five regions represent a little more than 20% of Ukraine’s surface. Vladimir Putin assured Tuesday that these votes were aimed at “saving the local populations”, Moscow justifying its invasion by accusing Kiev of Nazism and orchestrating an alleged genocide of Russian speakers.
The G7 countries have vowed to “never recognize” their results, while Washington has promised a “severe” response through additional economic sanctions. The EU considers these “referendums” as “illegal” and all those who participated in their organization will be sanctioned, said the spokesman for the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell. Even China, Russia’s main partner, has voiced criticism without going so far as to denounce them.
The authorities set up by Moscow in the areas to be annexed have assured us that “provisional results” should be announced at the earliest on Tuesday evening or in the following days. The Russian Parliament will then have to vote on a text formalizing the integration of the four regions into Russia. “What do we expect from this event? Stability, economic stability and confidence in the future,” said the leader of the Lugansk separatists, Leonid Passetchnik.
At the same time, Russia continues to mobilize its reserves to recruit 300,000 fighters for its invasion of Ukraine, seeking to counter the counter-offensive by Ukrainian troops who, with the help of Western arms supplies, took back thousands of square kilometers of territory in early September.
This recruitment campaign, conducted at times in a chaotic manner, has pushed many Russians to leave the country, an exodus confirmed on Tuesday by two of the country’s neighbors, Georgia and Kazakhstan, while an influx is also observed on the borders of Mongolia and Finland.
Georgia reported 10,000 Russians crossing the border every day since the mobilization was announced. Kazakhstan reported that 98,000 Russian citizens have arrived since September 21. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has promised to protect Russians fleeing to Kazakhstan, a traditional Russian ally that has distanced itself from the invasion of Ukraine.
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Sylvie Claire / July 21, 2024
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone on Friday, with the former US president claiming to have promised the Ukrainian president to “end the war” between Ukraine and Russia should he return to the White House. “As your next president of the United States, I will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives,” said the Republican presidential candidate.
Donald Trump frequently claims that he would be able to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine very quickly on his return to power, but never provides details of how he would achieve this. Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the phone call, during which he congratulated the billionaire on his official nomination the previous day as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.
Donald Trump’s frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as his criticism of other Nato countries, is causing concern among Ukraine’s Western allies. In February, he threatened that, if he returned to the White House, he would no longer guarantee the protection of Atlantic Alliance countries against Russia if they did not pay their share, even claiming that he would “encourage” Moscow to attack them. The former American president also used his power over the Republicans to block a $61 billion military aid package for Kiev for months in Congress, which was finally adopted at the end of April.
In his posting on X on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky said he had “agreed with President Trump to discuss, in a face-to-face meeting, the steps to be taken towards a just and lasting peace” in Ukraine.
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Former Ukrainian far-right MP murdered in Lviv: “All leads are being investigated, including Russia”
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Steph Deschamps / July 21, 2024
In a message on Telegram, the Ukrainian National Police said she had succumbed to her injuries in hospital after being the target of an assassination attempt.
“I always say that no place is safe in Ukraine,” lamented Lviv mayor Andriï Sadovy, denouncing a ‘heinous murder’ and offering his condolences to the victim’s relatives.
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, the attack took place on Friday evening, at around 7.30pm, when an unidentified individual fired at Irina Farion, seriously wounding her in the head. “All surveillance cameras are being checked, witnesses are being interviewed and several districts (of Lviv) are being examined. All leads are being investigated, including the one leading to Russia”, reacted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X on Saturday.
Interior Minister Igor Klimenko told a briefing in Lviv on Friday evening that the suspected killer could have been lurking around Irina Farion’s home for several days.
According to him, investigators are currently focusing on the possibility of a murder motivated by a “personal grudge” linked to the victim’s activities, but are not ruling out a “commissioned assassination” either.
The 60-year-old language teacher and linguist was a member of parliament for the nationalist Svoboda party between 2012 and 2014.
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Sylvie Claire / July 18, 2024
At least six people died in a shopping mall fire on Wednesday in Zigong, southwest China, and thirty others were rescued, China’s state broadcaster CCTV said. “Rescue teams are continuing their search,” the media outlet added.
Images broadcast by the channel and others shared on social networks show thick black smoke rising from a building overlooking a shopping street in this city 1,600 kilometers from the capital Beijing, in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
The fire broke out in the early evening in a shopping mall at the foot of a 14-storey building, CCTV reported.
“At 8:20 pm, the fire was extinguished and 17 people were rescued. Others are still trapped, and rescue operations are continuing”, said the station in an initial report on the situation.
Fires and other fatal accidents are frequent in China, due to the sometimes lax application of safety standards. In January, at least 39 people perished in a store fire in central China. According to the authorities, the fire started in the basement of a store when workers “broke the rules” during construction work. At the time, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for lessons to be learned from the disaster to prevent further tragedies. The same month, a fire in a residential building claimed at least 15 lives.
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