the controversial bill on military mobilization passed at first reading

2024-02-07 12:09:46

UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – The majority of elected officials voted in favor of the new law presented to the Ukrainian Parliament. A second vote after amendments could allow the text to be adopted.

The controversial bill on military mobilization in Ukraine was passed in first reading on Wednesday. In kyiv, Russian strikes on a building left at least five dead and several dozen injured. The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell is currently visiting the Ukrainian capital and had to take refuge in an air raid shelter. Le Figaro takes stock of the situation.

Ukraine votes in first reading for controversial military mobilization bill

Ukraine’s parliament voted on Wednesday at first reading for a controversial bill on military mobilization to allow the army to replenish its ranks after two years of war with Russia, MPs announced.

A total of 243 elected officials voted in favor of this document against a required minimum of 226, several parliamentarians wrote on social networks. To be adopted, however, the text must still be the subject of parliamentary debates, proposed amendments and a vote on second reading, a procedure which can take weeks.

At least five dead in Russian attack «massive» sur Kiev

At least five people were killed in Ukraine on Wednesday, including four in a residential building in the capital after a new air attack «massive» of Russia, during a visit by the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell. Present in kyiv since the day before, Josep Borrell had to take refuge in an air raid shelter, noted an AFP journalist. “Yet another massive attack on our state. Six regions were targeted by the enemy”President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.

Several waves of missiles and drones fell on the country, killing at least three people in kyiv and another in Mykolaiv (south), according to the respective authorities, and inflicting damage on residential sites. In the capital, the alert was triggered shortly before 6:00 a.m. local time (04:00 GMT), and lasted three hours. Several series of loud explosions resonated in the city, according to AFP journalists on site.

64 explosive devices sent by Moscow

In total, Russia launched 44 missiles and 20 explosive drones at Ukraine, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armies Valery Zaluzhny said on Telegram. According to him, these include 36 cruise projectiles of various types, three ballistic missiles and 5 S-300 missiles. Of this total of 64 devices, Ukrainian forces intercepted 29 cruise missiles and 15 drones, added the same source.

In Kiev, debris from a downed missile fell on a 17-story residential building in the Golosiïvsky district (south), causing a large fire and killing four people and injuring at least 32 others, according to the town hall. A fire truck used a large crane to extinguish the fire with jets of water and firefighters also entered the building late in the morning, noted an AFP journalist on site.

On several upper floors, smoke was billowing from the windows and the walls were blackened. “I even saw the missile flying, it rose then flew with its tail on fire, I couldn’t see where, then it hit”, told AFP a resident, Valentyna Kozatchouk, a 63-year-old retiree. According to her, all the doors leading to the landing and the stairwell were blown out and the windows on her balcony were damaged.

19,000 people deprived of electricity

Another resident, Oksana, and her 3-year-old daughter were awakened by the explosion. “Between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. we heard very loud missiles and, with the last detonation, the strongest, the windows exploded”, this 43-year-old woman told AFP. On the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, high-voltage lines were damaged, leaving 19,000 consumers in the Dniprovsky and Desniansky districts without electricity, the Energy Ministry said in a statement.

In Mykolaiv, a man died from serious injuries after the attack which destroyed the roofs of around twenty houses and damaged gas and water pipes, said Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych. Kharkiv, the country’s second city located in the east, came under fire from S-300 missiles, said regional governor Oleg Synegoubov. A woman was slightly injured and infrastructure damaged, he said.

In the Lviv region (west), a missile hit an industrial site in the town of Drogobych, around fifty kilometers from the Polish border, without causing any casualties, regional governor Maksym Kozytsky said on Telegram. However, another missile was able to be shot down in this region, according to the same source.

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