Russian strikes continue on Ukrainian territory, causing several casualties and material damage.
Le Figaro
takes stock of the situation this Tuesday, February 6.
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Baby killed, three women injured in Russian strike
A two-month-old baby was killed and three women were injured Tuesday in a Russian strike in northeastern Ukraine, the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Synegubov, announced.
“Around 2:30 a.m. (00:30 GMT), a three-story hotel was destroyed in Zolochiv (...), following two S-300 missile strikes by the
Russian occupiers,” the official said on Telegram.
“A two-month-old child died.
Three women were injured and are hospitalized
,” he lamented.
According to the official, the baby was
“born on December 4, 2023”
and the three women injured
“by shrapnel”
are aged 21, 28 and 39 years old.
The mother of the deceased child is among those hospitalized, said Oleg Synegoubov.
In total, according to him,
“seven houses, 19 civilian infrastructures (stores, cafes, kiosks), and two local administrative buildings”
in particular were
“damaged”
in the Russian nighttime strike.
The general prosecutor's office, the national police and Ukrainian rescuers released several photos showing in particular a tangled roof, and firefighters working in the rubble in the middle of the night.
Zolochiv is a small town located north of Kharkiv, less than 25 km from the border with Russia, and had nearly 8,000 inhabitants before the Russian invasion in 2022.
Further south, the body of a 59-year-old man was discovered in the Kherson region in the rubble of a building hit by another Russian night bombing, according to the regional prosecutor's office.
Military aid to Ukraine: Russia bans imports from Ecuador
Russia announced the suspension of the importation of bananas from Ecuador, a few weeks after Quito indicated that it wanted to exchange old Soviet military equipment with the United States, which Washington then intends to deliver to Ukraine.
In a press release published by Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance service, the organization said it had
“suspended”
from
“February 5”
the authorization of five Ecuadorian exporters, citing the detection of a pest insect.
However, more than 9 out of 10 bananas imported into Russia come from Ecuador, according to Russian media.
The same ban decision is applied
"from February 9"
, according to Rosselkhoznadzor, for certain flowers from Ecuador usually imported into Russia.
These restrictive measures come after Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared on January 10 that he accepted Washington's offer to exchange old Soviet military equipment for new generation American weapons with an estimated value of around 185 million euros.
The United States had specified that the weapons exchanged by Ecuador would then be sent to Ukraine to help it on the battlefield against Russia.
This bilateral agreement aroused the anger of Moscow.
“Such a reckless decision was taken by the Ecuadorian side under serious pressure from external interested parties
,” Russian diplomatic spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced last week.
Maria Zakharova, in front of the press, had in passing recalled, according to her,
Ecuador's contractual
“obligation”
“not to transfer (this Soviet equipment) to a third party without having obtained the agreement of the Russian side”
.
Daniel Noboa, born in the United States, had however estimated a few days earlier that Ecuador, according to him, was within its rights because it was only
"scrap"
, thus assuring that Quito
"would continue the agreement in all cases"
.
The Ecuadorian leader spoke in December 2023 with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, on the sidelines of the inauguration of Argentinian Javier Milei in Buenos Aires.
Since the start of its assault in Ukraine almost two years ago, Moscow has for its part sought to strengthen its economic and diplomatic ties with the
“Global South”
, including South American and African countries, in particular to circumvent Western sanctions.