► Three dead, six injured in Russian strikes on kyiv
Three people were killed and six others injured in Russian strikes on kyiv on Wednesday, the capital’s military administration said. “A one-story building was damaged” by one of these strikes, she added, without giving further details. In all, Russia fired 70 missiles at the country, according to the Ukrainian military.
“Due to the shelling, the water supply is suspended throughout Kyiv. The specialists (…) are working to restore it as soon as possible”, said the mayor of the city, Vitali Klitschko, calling on residents to stock up on water. The entire city of Lviv, in western Ukraine, is also without electricity due to Russian strikes.
Nuclear power plants were also disconnected from the network in the process. “Due to a drop in frequency in the Ukrainian energy system, the emergency protection system was activated at the Rivne, Pivdennoukrainsk and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants, which led to the automatic disconnection of all generating units”indicated the operator EnergoAtom.
► “Massive power outages” in Moldova after Russian strikes in Ukraine
Moldova was the victim on Wednesday of “massive power outages” following Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy sites, according to Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu.
“Following Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine’s energy system over the past hour, we have massive blackouts across the country,” he said on Facebook, while Moldova was already facing major energy problems in connection with the war in Ukraine.
► The Kremlin says it has no doubts about the “success” of its offensive
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it had no doubts about the ” hit “ of its military offensive in Ukraine. “The future and the success of the special military operation are not in doubt”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press after the summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.
► Macron announces that he will have “direct contact” with Putin “in the coming days”
President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that he would speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin“in the next few days”. “I expect to have direct contact with him in the coming days on the subjects of civilian nuclear power in the first place and the Zaporijjia power plant”. He will first meet with the Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, said the French President on the sidelines of a visit to the Salon des Maires at Porte de Versailles in Paris.
► Beginning of the trial of a famous opponent of Putin and the conflict in Ukraine
The trial of a Russian opposition figure detained for criticizing the military offensive in Ukraine opened in Moscow on Wednesday. This affair illustrates the relentless repression by the Kremlin of all critical voices.
Ilia Yashin, 39 years old and a Moscow city deputy at the time of his arrest, is accused of having “spread false information” on the Russian army with “incitement to hatred”a charge punishable by ten years in prison.
The prosecution accuses him of having denounced, during a live speech on YouTube, “killing civilians” in the Ukrainian town of Boutcha, near kyiv, where the Russian army has been accused of abuses, which Moscow denies.
Ilya Yashin is one of the last prominent opponents of President Vladimir Putin to have not left Russia in the face of a crackdown, which has pushed many Kremlin critics to prefer exile to prison.
► The European Parliament describes Russia as a “State promoter of terrorism”
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday a text qualifying Russia as“state promoter of terrorism” in the war in Ukraine, calling on the 27 countries of the European Union to do the same.
In the text, adopted by 494 votes in favor (58 votes against and 44 abstentions), MEPs believe that Russia is «a state that promotes terrorism and a state that uses terrorist means”.