Lhe war in Ukraine is still raging, with heavy fighting and gunfire in Bakhmout (in the east of the country), but kyiv is already thinking about reconstruction. Speaking by video to politicians and experts gathered in Berlin for an international conference devoted, precisely, to the reconstruction of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky urged the participants to “take a decision to plug the hole of the budget deficit Ukrainian” of 2023. This deficit is estimated at 38 billion dollars. “It is a very large sum of 38 billion dollars (…) these are the salaries of teachers, doctors, these are social benefits, pensions”, he insisted.
At the opening of the meeting, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for “starting now” this reconstruction, believing that it was “nothing less than creating a new Marshall Plan for the 21e century “.
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The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also present at this conference, for her part considered “staggering” the extent of the destruction in Ukraine. “The World Bank estimates the cost of the damage at 350 billion euros (345 billion dollars), it is certainly more than what a country or a union can provide alone. We need everyone on deck,” she said.
In London, during his first speech in Downing Street, the new British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, denounced “the terrible war” waged by Russia in Ukraine, giving his support to kyiv to win it. Volodymyr Zelensky quickly responded to him on Twitter, congratulating him on his arrival at 10 Downing Street and saying he was “ready” to “continue to strengthen” the links between Kyiv and London. In the evening, the Ukrainian president said he hoped for a “strengthening” of his country’s relations with London. “I am convinced that the partnership between our countries and the traditional British leadership in the defense of democracy and freedom will continue to grow stronger”.
Steinmeier in Kiev
The conference in Berlin began just as German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Kyiv for his first visit to Ukraine.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was “rejoicing at his meeting” with Volodymyr Zelensky “and with the population in the north of the country” where he wants to “get an idea of their life in the middle of the war”, according to a text sent by his door -speech, Cerstin Gammelin.
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Before meeting his Ukrainian counterpart, the German president was due to visit the small town of Korioukivka, in the north of the country near the Belarusian border, which had been occupied by Russian troops.Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s visit, originally scheduled for kyiv a week ago, was canceled for security reasons.
Indeed, since October 10, the Ukrainian capital has been, for the first time in months, bombarded by Russian missiles and kamikaze drones of Iranian manufacture which have mainly targeted energy infrastructure and left a dozen dead.
This series of massive strikes by Moscow forces on kyiv and many cities against critical Ukrainian infrastructure led the national operator Ukrenergo to impose “restrictions on energy consumption in all regions” of the country, it said. he indicates.
On the ground after eight months of conflict, the fighting was raging, particularly in Bakhmout, a city in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, which the Russian army has been trying to conquer for months.
Civilians killed in Bakhmout
At least seven civilians were killed and three others injured on Monday in this city, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram on Tuesday.
In a residential area of Bakhmout, AFP journalists saw bloodstains on the ground following what residents said was a deadly attack the day before.
“I found a body here without a head. I’m in shock,” said Sergii, 58, who declined to be named, adding: “He was a man. He was just walking down the street. »
AFP journalists also saw thick smoke rising above the city in the morning.
“There were advances overnight but we cannot give details at the moment, the situation is complicated,” a Ukrainian soldier engaged in the defense of the city told AFP, under cover of the army. ‘anonymity.
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In southern Ukraine, pro-Russian authorities in the city of Melitopol, controlled by Moscow forces, announced that a car bomb had exploded near local media offices, injuring five people.
In the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, in the face of advancing kyiv forces, evacuations of civilians continued on Tuesday, pro-Russian authorities said.
“As of October 24, 22,367 residents of the Kherson region have been taken to the left bank of the Dnipro,” said the pro-Russian occupation administration, which said it “expects” the departure of “about 50,000 people” of this area in total “in the near future”.
A Russian nuclear attack would be an ‘enormously grave mistake’
Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that Russia’s use of a nuclear weapon would be an ‘enormously serious mistake’, as Moscow claims Ukraine is preparing a ‘dirty bomb’, a claim denied by kyiv and Western countries . “Russia would be making an immensely serious mistake if it used a tactical nuclear weapon,” the US president warned.
Russia’s accusations of Ukraine’s possible use of a ‘dirty bomb’ fit a classic Moscow tactic: ‘blaming others for what they intend to do’, warns NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday. “Russia continues to falsely accuse Ukraine of making a dirty bomb. This is absurd: why would Ukraine use a dirty bomb on its territories which it wants to liberate? “said Jens Stoltenberg to AFP-TV.