DIRECT. War in Ukraine: Macron wants to call Putin to ask for "a truce in bombings and drone attacks"

The essential

• Fresh Russian strikes targeted Kharkiv and Kherson on Thursday, killing at least two civilians and plunging the city into darkness and cold. 

• The EU has adopted new sanctions against Russia.

• Hundreds of civilians have been summarily executed in Ukraine, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

• According to the Ukrainian Minister of Defence, “Russia is planning a new large-scale offensive next year”.

  Towards “kyiv”, abounds the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army.

06:41

UN Assembly adopts resolution on human rights violations in Crimea 

This resolution notably condemns Crimea for the purpose of aggression against Ukraine.

Beyond that, the votes for this resolution allow us to see the countries that support Russia. 

06:28

The sending of US Patriot missiles, a red line for Moscow 

The United States is reportedly ready to send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine.

This information from CNN triggered a warning from the Russian Embassy in the United States, which spoke of "unforeseeable consequences".

Yesterday, it was the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, who reacted during a briefing in Moscow.

Asked about Russian warnings that sending the Patriot system would be "provocative", Pentagon press secretary Gen. Pat Ryder said the comments would not influence US aid to Ukraine.

“The United States is not at war with Russia and we are not looking for conflict.

Our goal is to provide Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself”.

06:22

US to expand Ukrainian military training program

For the time being, the United States limited the training of Ukrainian soldiers to the armaments they supplied to kyiv.

Change of strategy.

This time, Washington will develop, from January, its program with the aim of training more soldiers and giving them broader skills.

Joint maneuvers will be organized with the aim of teaching the Ukrainian military to coordinate infantry maneuvers with artillery support, according to the spokesman for the US Department of Defense, General Pat Ryder.

This program should train in Germany about 500 Ukrainian soldiers per month. 

06:18

Belarus holds 'combat readiness' drills

Belarus is holding a surprise inspection of its armed forces, after repeated warnings from Ukraine of a threat from its Moscow-aligned northern neighbor.

06:00

Russia targeted Kherson more than 16 times on Thursday, kyiv says

“Since the beginning of this day alone, Russia has bombed Kherson more than 16 times!

Only in one day!

“, lambasted President Volodymyr Zelensky Thursday evening in his daily address on social networks, also deploring “brutal Russian attacks” in the Donbass (east) and in the Kharkiv region (northeast).

05:48

Macron wants to call Putin

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday he intended to call his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

"The most urgent subject today is to continue to call for a truce in bombings and drone attacks," he said during a press conference after a European summit. in Brussels.

"I intend to call on President Putin on this subject because very clearly these attacks (..) for a good part of them are war crimes, they (target) civilian infrastructure, civilians themselves", he said.

"It's not the nature of the special operation he launched, of the war he launched at the beginning, which was a territorial conquest," he added.

05:39

EU adopts new sanctions against Russia

The 27 member states of the EU agreed on Thursday evening to adopt new sanctions against Russia, in response to the war initiated by Moscow in Ukraine.

Nearly 200 individuals and entities have been added to the EU blacklist, including Russia's armed forces and three of the country's banks.

Blacklisting leads to a freezing of assets and a ban on entry into EU territory.

Started in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea, this list already includes 1,241 individuals and 118 entities.

05:30

Hi there !

Welcome to this direct dedicated to the war in Ukraine and its consequences.