The essential
The leader of the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk said on Monday that his forces had completely conquered the port area of the strategic city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, which has been besieged for more than a month.
Horrified by abuses blamed on Russian forces in Ukraine, EU foreign ministers began discussing a sixth package of sanctions against Russia on Monday, but consensus is becoming increasingly difficult to find.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the first European leader to be received by Vladimir Putin since the start of the intervention in Ukraine, said he was "pessimistic" about the Russian president's "logic of war".
France has decided to expel six Russian spies who operated under cover of their embassy in Paris and "whose activities have proven to be contrary to (its) national interests", the Foreign Ministry said on Monday evening.
05:31
Diplomatic disappointment
After his meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Austrian Chancellor declared that he "had no illusions" as to the continuation of the conflict with the possibility of a rapid ceasefire.
Even Karl Nehammer is the first European leader to have been received by the Russian president since the start of the invasion in Ukraine, thus estimating that "there is little interest on the Russian side for a direct meeting" with the president Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
05:20
The Battle of Mariupol
The pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk announced on Monday that they had completely taken possession of the port area of the city of Mariupol, a strategic area in the south-east of the country besieged for nearly forty days.
05:10
Ukraine prepares for a Russian assault in the East
“According to our information, the enemy has almost completed its preparation for an attack on the east.
The attack will take place very soon,” Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandre Motouzianik warned Monday evening.
In Washington, a senior Pentagon official confirmed that Russian forces are strengthening around the Donbass, and in particular near the strategic town of Izium.
"We have seen Russian efforts to resupply and reinforce in Donbass," said the official, mentioning in particular a column of tanks north of Izium.
The pressure of the Russian army on the Donbass will go crescendo.
AFP
05:00
Hello
Welcome to this live which will allow you to follow the news on the Ukrainian front throughout the day, after 48 days of fighting.