WAR IN UKRAINE - DAY 54
Live: Ukraine expects 'difficult week' in Lugansk region
A man walks along the remains of a destroyed building in Mariupol, a city besieged by the Russian army, April 17, 2022. © REUTERS - ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
On the 54th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, eyes are increasingly on the east of the country.
The Russian army has indicated that it is concentrating its forces in this area, particularly in Mariupol where there are still Ukrainian soldiers who refused to respond to the last ultimatum.
According to Volodymyr Zelensky, Moscow wants to "
complete and destroy
" the Donbass.
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The main points:
► Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky
accuses Russia of wanting to
"
complete and destroy
" the entire eastern region of Donbass
, promising that everything would be done to defend it, starting with the strategic port of Mariupol.
► in
Mariupol
, a port city in the south-east, the last Ukrainian defenders are still resisting in certain sectors.
These soldiers seem to have ignored the ultimatum issued by the Russian army on Sunday.
“
They will fight to the end
,” warns Denys Chmygal, Prime Minister of Ukraine.
► According to Mykhailo Vershynin, police officer in Mariupol, there are "
many civilians
" entrenched in the Azovstal complex, where they protect themselves from the bombardments.
“
They don't trust the Russians
.
They have seen what is happening in the city and that is why they are in the factory
”, he explains.
►
Karl Nehammer
, the Austrian chancellor who met
Vladimir Putin
on Monday April 11, confides that the Russian president is "
now
in his own logic of war
".
The master of the Kremlin “
believes that he is winning the war
”, he adds.
Times are given in Universal Time (UT)
3:45 a.m .: Ukraine has completed a questionnaire for membership of the European Union
Ukraine has completed a questionnaire which will serve as
a starting point
for the European Union to
decide whether to join
it, a high representative of the presidency in Kiev, Ihor Zhovkva, announced on Sunday evening on television. Ukrainian public.
This questionnaire was given to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her visit to the capital on April 8.
On this occasion, the leader promised to speed up Ukraine's candidacy process.
Ihor Zhovkva indicated that Brussels should transmit its recommendations on the respect by Ukraine of the criteria necessary to pretend to integrate the community bloc.
He said he expected the EU executive to give a
favorable opinion
.
“
Then the ball will be in the EU member states' court
,” he added.
3:20 am: perhaps a "last chance" to evacuate civilians from Lugansk
Serguiï Gaïdaï confided on Sunday that the region of Lugansk, of which he is the governor, is under “
constant bombardment
”.
The locality of Zolote was thus again “
hard hit
”.
On Facebook, he urges civilians to evacuate the area.
“
This week is going to be difficult.
This may be the last time we have a chance to save you
,” he said.
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Ukraine
Russia
Day to day war in Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky
Vladimir Poutine