Russian authorities promise bounties for capturing and destroying Western tanks
During his press briefing, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Vladimir Putin, reaffirmed: “Western tanks supplied to kyiv will be burned, and thanks to the awards of companies and regions, there will be more enthusiasts”.
Dmitry Peskov was referring here to the bonuses offered by certain institutions or companies. So, the governor of the Trans-Baikal Republic, Mikhail Osipov, introduced bounties for capturing and destroying Leopard and Abrams tanks.
‘Give them what they need’ and ‘let’s get it over with’: Boris Johnson calls on UK government to send planes to Ukrainians
In an interview he gave to Fox News, and relayed here by The Independentformer British Prime Minister Boris Johnson slammed Rishi Sunak’s government for its desire to rule out the delivery of military planes to Ukraine for the time being.
“Now is not the time to postpone any way of supporting Ukraine, now is the time to redouble it. Give them what they need,” he said.
For him, the Westerners will end up sending their hunters anyway, so it is a question of “saving time”: “Every time we said that it would be a mistake to send such or such armament, we ended up doing it and it turned out to be the right decision.”
Taking the example of anti-tank missiles, he posed: “In fact, they were indispensable. And the same with tanks”. “Give the Ukrainians what they need as soon as possible. Let’s get this over with,” he insisted.
Gas: Norwegian Prime Minister assures that his country is not a “war profiteer”
Still richer thanks to gas revenues multiplied by the conflict in Ukraine, Norway is not a “war profiteer”, defends its Prime Minister in an interview with AFP on Wednesday, a few days before a new plan help in Kyiv.
Jonas Gahr Støre brushes aside the accusation advanced by those who would like Oslo to do more for Ukrainians and suggests that his country will soon become one of the very first donors.
“Norway is a lucky country,” he said after visiting a gas liquefaction plant in Melkøya, near Hammerfest in the Arctic. “We have the means to make a difference and I am aware of this responsibility”.
Since last year, the Scandinavian kingdom has been working hard to help compensate for the collapse of Russian gas deliveries to Europe, of which it has become the main supplier, thus helping it to spend the winter warm.
Incidentally, Norway considerably fills its coffers, taking advantage of the runaway gas prices, still at a high level today after hitting historic highs last year as a result of the war.
This year, the government is planning a record budget surplus of 1.127 billion crowns (104 billion euros) which will supplement the country’s sovereign wealth fund, already the largest in the world with more than 13.400 billion crowns in assets.
Inside and outside the borders, voices have been raised for the Nordic kingdom to redistribute at least part of this windfall to the Ukrainians, under penalty of being considered a “war profiteer”. “It’s a notion that I categorically reject,” says Jonas Gare Støre. “For 50 years, Norway has explored, at its own risk, and produced energy resources, oil and gas,” he explains. “It’s not Norway that sets the prices.”
More than 60 American Bradley tanks on their way to Ukraine
US military command announced Wednesday that a shipment of more than 60 Bradley tanks was on its way to Ukraine. On the way but by sea: because the machines were loaded on the Arc Integrity boat where they were embarked a week ago in North Charleston, South Carolina. The delivery – the first under an aid package deal valued at $2.85 billion – is due to call in the UK tomorrow.
It must, according to the hopes formulated by the Americans, provide “additional offensive and defensive capabilities” to the Ukrainians.
The Kremlin assures that deliveries of long-range missiles to Ukraine would not deter the Russian offensive
While Westerners have promised to bring new weapons and vehicles to Ukraine, the Kremlin is bombing its chest on Wednesday.
The Russian presidency assures that the possible delivery of long-range missiles to the nation it has invaded would not deter the Russian offensive.
The Kremlin thus estimated on Wednesday that the potential delivery of longer-range missiles to Ukraine by the United States would “not change the course of events” and that Russia would continue its offensive at all costs.
Missile supplies with a range of 150 km would lead “to a heightening of tensions, to an increase in the level of escalation. We see it, this would involve additional efforts for us, but it will not change the course of events, the special military operation will continue,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Imprisonment in absentia for a Russian journalist critical of the Russian army
A Russian journalist and former MP, Alexander Nevzorov, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison on Tuesday for allegedly spreading “false information” about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine.
From the first weeks of its assault on Ukraine launched on February 24, 2022, Russia implemented heavy penalties to suppress any criticism of its offensive and the army.
“Alexander Nevzorov is sentenced to an eight-year prison sentence to be served in a penal colony,” said judge Evguénia Nikolaeva of the Basmanny court in Moscow according to Russian agencies.
The prosecution had requested nine years in prison, while his lawyer had requested the acquittal of his client, who went into exile abroad and runs a YouTube channel with nearly two million subscribers.
At the end of March 2022, the Investigative Committee, responsible for the main cases in Russia, announced the opening of an investigation against Alexander Nevzorov, 64, accusing him of having “knowingly published false information on a deliberate bombardment of a maternity hospital in Mariupol (south-eastern Ukraine, editor’s note) by the Russian army”.
Russia consistently denies any bombings of civilian sites in Ukraine, blaming them on Ukraine.
Japan prepares a G7 summit for the 1 year of the Russian invasion in Ukraine
Japan, which has held the presidency of the G7 since January, plans to hold a virtual summit of the group of seven industrialized powers on February 24, the anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Kyodo agency reported on Wednesday, citing official sources. .
Netanyahu says he is considering military aid to Ukraine
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that his country was considering military aid for Ukraine, while offering to mediate in the conflict between kyiv and Moscow. “Well, I’m definitely looking into it,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview. on the American channel CNN, who asked if Israel was planning to offer any aid to Ukraine, such as its Iron Dome air defense system.
Benjamin Netanyahu has so far refrained from taking a strong side with Ukraine, keen to spare Russia, which controls the airspace of Syria neighboring Israel and usually turns a blind eye to Jewish state operations. against Iran.
He confirmed that the United States had transferred to Ukraine artillery ammunition that had previously been stored in Israel, and suggested that the Jewish state was acting on its side to hinder the production in Iran of weapons for the Russia.
“The United States has just taken a huge part of Israel’s ammunition to send it to Ukraine. Israel is also acting, frankly, in ways that I will not detail here, against Iran’s arms production which are being used against Ukraine,” the Prime Minister said.
Ukrainian and Western officials accuse Iran of supplying drones to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, which Tehran denies.
Benjamin Netanyahu said he was asked to act as an unofficial mediator after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, but did not follow through because he was then in opposition.
He added that he was ready to intervene as a mediator if the belligerents and the United States asked him to. “I’ve been around long enough to know there has to be a right time and the right circumstances. If they come up, I’ll definitely consider it,” he said.
Victory of Russia, 3rd World War or 100 years war: the nightmare scenarios in the event of a continuation of the conflict in Ukraine according to Marine Le Pen
Marine Le Pen does not believe in a military victory for Ukraine. At least not by his own means. She developed three nightmare scenarios that she felt were looming in the absence of a negotiated peace:
“Either Russia wins and it’s a disaster, or Ukraine wins but that will mean that NATO has intervened, otherwise it’s not possible, and it will be World War III, or else we deliver offensive material drop by drop and we create the Hundred Years War”.
“Ukraine has lost half of its men, it cannot face a power like Russia,” she said. Returning to her desire to see France take “the lead” in the demand for peace, she appealed: “I ask that Emmanuel Macron organize a major conference for peace even if Ukraine is obviously attacked her”.
Marine Le Pen “continues” to oppose the delivery of offensive weapons to Ukraine
Asked on franceinfo about her opposition to the delivery of offensive weapons to Ukraine the day after the French announcement of the dispatch of 12 additional Caesar guns to the front, Marine Le Pen maintained her position.
“I keep saying that for offensive weapons,” she said. “We are parting with our weapons to deliver them to Ukraine. Our army, which is already on the bone, sees equipment it might need going abroad,” she regretted. “We no longer talk about peace. France should take the lead in demanding peace,” she added.
EU-Ukraine summit Friday in kyiv, a “strong signal” sent to Moscow
Ukraine and the European Union will hold a summit in kyiv on Friday, the Ukrainian government welcoming this “strong signal” sent to Moscow almost a year after the start of the Russian invasion.
For its part, the Russian army, on the offensive in recent days, claimed Tuesday the conquest of a village near Bakhmout, hot spot of fighting in eastern Ukraine. The summit with the twenty-seven is an important step, several months after kyiv obtained the status of official candidate for EU membership.
In his address on Tuesday evening, Volodymyr Zelensky hoped that this summit will reflect a high “level of cooperation and progress” with the EU. “We are waiting for news for Ukraine,” he said.
“The fact that this summit is being held in Kyiv is a strong signal addressed to both our partners and our enemies”, Prime Minister Denys Chmygal had welcomed earlier, saying “expect from the summit a positive interim evaluation of our efforts for European integration”.
These two days must allow “Europe to believe in the victory of Ukraine”, he insisted. They will take place a few days after the Westerners gave the green light, after long procrastination, to deliver to the Ukrainian army heavy tanks extracted from their arsenal.
