Nicolas Tonev 1:55 p.m., February 24, 2022
A Russian military operation was launched in Ukraine this Thursday at dawn, where powerful explosions sounded in several cities of the country.
Coordinated attacks were carried out on several fronts, in the north, and mainly in the east of the country, using rockets and helicopters in the southern sector against Ukrainian positions.
Europe 1 takes stock of the situation on site at midday.
The Russian army began on the night of Wednesday to Thursday an invasion of Ukraine in the form of coordinated attacks on several fronts.
Russian ground forces have also entered Ukrainian territory, notably from annexed Crimea.
It has now been nine hours since the fighting began and it is time for the first assessments.
What is the human toll?
Ukraine announces that it has lost at least 40 soldiers and around ten civilians have been killed.
Kiev claims to have shot down five planes and a Russian helicopter, killing at least 50 occupants.
This Thursday morning the Ukrainian border guards indicated Russian soldiers entered via Belarus but at the moment, the only land advance claimed by Moscow is taking place in the Donbass with about three kilometers of advance for the columns shielded.
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This attack is taking place according to a global strategy, with targeted bombardments on infrastructures throughout the country around Lviv, in the west near the Polish border, around Kiev also on Odessa and Mariupol the two large ports in the south, or again from Kharkiv, the country's second largest city, just to the east near Russia.
What is Russia's strategy?
Vladimir Putin's objective is to target the Ukrainian army and not the population.
What Russia wants is first to neutralize forces that could pose a danger to Russia's advance.
Kramatorsk, the main garrison town, was hit.
The Russian Army claims the destruction of air bases, Ukrainian air force, anti-aircraft forces... So many areas in which Ukraine had managed to strengthen itself since 2014, with, among other things, the purchase of drones from Turkey.
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And the Russian army's insistence on talking about precision weapons and military objectives says a lot about this desire not to alienate the civilian population too quickly and, implicitly, also says a lot about the final target. , that is, the current Ukrainian power and Volodymyr Zelensky.
It is therefore a somewhat strange balancing act: "We are invading you, but we have nothing against you, only against your power."
How is the situation in Donbass?
Contacted by Europe 1, the special envoy of
Figaro
to Donbass, Alain Barluet, returned to the situation on the spot.
"I am currently in a district of Donetsk, towards the north. Everything is very calm, there are few people in the streets and few cars. Speaking to the inhabitants, and in particular to those who live a little further north , we learn that the dull noises of the artillery, which we still hear sporadically, lasted several hours”, he explained.
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"What we know is that obviously the forces of the people's republic of Donetsk, this separatist republic which was recognized last Monday by Vladimir Putin, gave all their artillery on the Ukrainian forces in the north, in the south , on the entire front line with the help of the Russians. And that these forces entered the Ukrainian part of the Donbass held by the Ukrainians", continued Alain Barluet.
According to him, the feelings on the spot are very mixed.
“There is of course concern, but also a form of relief to be supported by the Russians. People here feel that they are protected by this considerable force which has massed over the last month. not far from their border and that at the slightest danger Russia will react. And this is what it did when called by the president of this separatist republic on Wednesday evening.