International press review
Headline: Vladimir Putin puts Russian deterrent forces on alert
Audio 05:17
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 21, 2022. © ALEXEY NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / AFP
By: Anne Cantener Follow
4 mins
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The
Komsomolskaya Pravda
newspaper , the former Soviet communist youth daily, questions what the special warning regime for deterrent forces means.
The military expert interviewed by the newspaper recalls that "
Moscow can use nuclear weapons in response to an attack against it or its allies with weapons of mass destruction, if '
the very existence of the state is endangered
'
" .
The interviewed general concludes: “
In fact, Putin's order is also a reminder [to Biden and the NATO allies]”.
The threat should be taken with extreme caution, according to
The Guardian
The British newspaper quotes one of the best experts on Russian nuclear forces.
"
I'll be honest, I'm nervous.
[...] Things haven't been rational in the Kremlin lately, and that's not a good sign.
»
“
The challenge for NATO allies,
warns
The Guardian
,
is now to maintain the support that Ukraine needs for its survival, while making it clear to Putin that he has a way out of the crisis. , rather than climbing the ladder of escalation to the point where it takes on a logic of its own.
»
This threat from the Russian president shows that the war is taking place, as always, also at the level of communication
It is also seen in the newspapers of the two countries.
While Russia does not give any assessment, that the Russian army mentioned only Sunday for the first time victims in its ranks,
Ukrayinska Pravda
affirms that approximately 5,300 Russian soldiers were killed during the first four days of war.
The figure is in the process of being confirmed, specifies the Ukrainian newspaper.
It is based on a count from the Ministry of Defence, which
has created a website specially dedicated
to this question, to "
inform Russian families of the fate of their sons
", say the authorities.
There are photos, videos of Russian soldiers killed or captured in Ukraine.
The ministry has also set up a hotline for Russians
A helpline called "
Come home alive from Ukraine " and according to the
Kyiv Independent
newspaper
, this line has already received hundreds of calls.
For its part,
The Guardian
spoke to relatives of soldiers identified on videos in Ukraine.
"
I had no idea he was fighting there
,"
said the sister of a sniper unit commander based in Rostov, Russia.
She adds, “
I don't think [my brother] knew either.
»
Statement against statement... but propaganda can play tricks
So says the
Times
in London.
In an editorial, the British newspaper wonders if Vladimir Putin did not believe his own propaganda, until he was surprised not to see his plans come true.
According to the
Times
, the Russian president expected “
a blitzkrieg followed by surrender talks.
A plan that “
did not survive contact with reality.
The attack on the peaceful southern neighbor did not end in triumph for the Kremlin, but in a huge, possibly fatal mistake.
Far from dividing the West by fear
, the British daily continues,
the unprovoked attack on Ukraine was totally counterproductive, uniting it in indignation.
Military volunteers head to Ukraine.
Aid is pouring in, including deadly weapons –
especially from Germany, hitherto a die-hard military slacker.
»
Germany to deliver weapons for the first time since the end of World War II
“
The honor of democracy is at stake,
” headlines the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
.
“
Even pacifists are now realizing that something has to be done.
"In the image of the Ukrainian president, hailed by the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
: "
The Ukrainian president has become a moral authority for the world,
writes the newspaper,
[...] a melancholy gentleman from Kiev who has just resuscitated the figure of the hero .
»
According to the
Washington Post
, it is thanks to him, thanks to the Ukrainian president, that the sanctions are so severe against Russia.
The American newspaper recounts an international exchange by videoconference: Volodymyr Zelensky first warned his counterparts, telling them that this might be the last time they saw him alive, then he made a call.
“
He was basically saying,
”
the newspaper recounts, quoting a diplomat: “
Listen
, we are here dying for European ideals.
»
Ukrainians resist and organize to fight against the Russian invasion
The
New York Times
publishes a photo of civilians in front of dozens and dozens of plastic crates filled with empty bottles.
The scene takes place in a parking lot in Dnipro, just over 200 km from Kharkiv.
The three men who appear in the photo sort the bottles to then make Molotov cocktails.
The newspaper
Segodnya
is the relay of the Ministry of Defense and indicates to those who wish where to throw these famous Molotov cocktails.
The newspaper's site even publishes drawings of different types of Russian armored vehicles, with red arrows pointing to the most fragile areas of the vehicles, those to be targeted with petrol bombs.
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