► Six dead in a Russian strike in the east and the south
Five people were killed in a Russian strike against the town of Kostiantynivka, in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, and a sixth died in another attack in the south of the country, the authorities announced on Friday March 24. authorities.
“Three women and two men died” in Kostiantynivka, located about twenty kilometers west of Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting with the Russian army, indicated the state service for emergency situations on Telegram. The strike that occurred overnight from Thursday to Friday hit a building housing a humanitarian reception center in this city, relief workers said.
In addition, on Friday morning, a woman was killed and four other civilians injured by artillery fire in the village of Bilozerka, in the Kherson region (south), added the prosecution. Houses, power lines and gas pipelines were damaged by the bombardment, he said.
► The UN accuses Ukrainians and Russians of “summary executions” of prisoners of war
The UN on Friday accused Ukrainian and Russian forces of carrying out dozens of summary executions of prisoners of war during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We are deeply concerned by the summary execution of 25 Russian prisoners of war and persons hors de combat” as well as that of “15 Ukrainian prisoners of war”said Matilda Bogner, head of the United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine.
► Macron in China to work with Xi “in the direction of a return to peace”, according to the Élysée
French President Emmanuel Macron will take advantage of his “state visit” in China from April 5 to 8 for ” to work “ with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping “in the direction of a return to peace” in Ukraine, the Elysée said on Friday.
The Head of State’s trip will take him to Beijing but also to Canton, announced the French presidency, assuring that Emmanuel Macron was “committed to maintaining a constant and demanding dialogue with China”.
► Ursula von der Leyen announces a conference on children abducted by Russia
The European Union will organize a conference to locate the children kidnapped in Ukraine by Russia and bring them back to their country, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Thursday March 23 after a summit in Brussels.
“In partnership with the Ukrainians, (Polish) Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and I have launched an initiative to repatriate these children abducted by Russia. For this we will organize a conference (…) we want to exert international pressure so that all possible measures are taken to trace these children.”she said at a press conference.
► Blinken does not rule out negotiations on Ukraine’s borders in the long term
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken opened the door Thursday to possible negotiations on the contours of Ukraine, while reiterating that it will be up to the Ukrainians to decide.
Speaking before a parliamentary committee in Washington, he reaffirmed that any eventual peace with Russia will have to be “just and sustainable”that is, which respects the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but “how it is defined precisely on the ground, we expect Ukrainians to tell us”.
He thus seemed to endorse the fact that the Ukrainians would have difficulty in recovering all the territories annexed by Russia, in particular Crimea.
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