War in Ukraine: what to remember on the 358th day of the Russian invasion

Europe 1 with AFP 2:03 p.m., February 17, 2023

THE ESSENTIAL

The "international coordination center for the prosecution of the crime of aggression" committed by Russia in Ukraine, based in The Hague, will be "operational" in July, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders announced on Friday.

It is intended to "gather and preserve evidence of the crime of aggression and allow discussions between prosecutors (...) not only on investigations, but on possible prosecutions", explained the Belgian commissioner during a press briefing. with the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andriï Kostin.

This kind of prosecutor's office is envisaged as a first step before the establishment of a special tribunal to try the highest Russian officials, a request from kyiv.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) only has jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Ukraine, not the "crime of aggression" committed by Russia, attributable to its most senior leaders.

The EU supports the creation of a competent jurisdiction for this type of crime, but its exact form raises complex legal questions.

Putin accuses the West of 'hindering the development' of Gazprom

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday castigated the "direct attempts" of the West which, according to him, aim to "hinder the development" of its national energy flagship, Gazprom, targeted by international sanctions for a year.

"Despite unfair competition - to put it bluntly - and direct attempts from outside to impede and slow down its development, Gazprom is moving forward and launching new projects," Putin said in a videoconference speech at the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the gas giant.

These remarks come as the Russian gas sector has suffered the brunt of European and American sanctions put in place in retaliation for the Kremlin's military intervention in Ukraine.

Gas exports have collapsed by 25.1% in 2022, according to official figures, the European Union, once the largest customer of Russian gas, having in particular drastically reduced its imports over the past year.

Although the Europeans have virtually stopped importing Russian gas by pipeline, they continue to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG), transported by sea on LNG carriers.

Faced with a European market that is now virtually closed to it, Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports via gas pipeline, has begun a strategic change in recent months, redirecting part of its exports to Asia, where energy demand is strong.

Auchan suspected of having contributed to the Russian war effort, the management "very surprised"

French retailer Auchan, which continued its business in Russia after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, unlike many other groups, "seems to be contributing to the Russian war effort", writes Le Monde on Friday, its management saying " very surprised" by these allegations.

"We are very surprised," reacted to AFP the management of the group, owned by the Mulliez Family Association (AFM) based in the north of France.

"We are in the process of verifying the asserted elements, but, to date, the elements in our possession do not corroborate" the investigation of the World, she continues.

According to documents obtained by the first French daily, the investigation site The Insider and the NGO Bellingcat, a collection of products intended for Vladimir Putin's army, worth a total of 2 million rubles (around 25,000 euros ), was organized within the local Auchan subsidiary.

The investigation cites an anonymous source who said that this load would have been offered free of charge by Auchan.

According to Le Monde, a management controller, Natalya Z., had drawn up a list of equipment on March 15, 2022 in an email sent "to about twenty employees in several stores in Saint Petersburg, in western Russia, for the purpose of 'collecting humanitarian aid donations'".

It included "thousands of cigarettes, size 43 or 44 wool socks, gas stove cartridges, canned pork stew, axes and nails, all from the brand's stock", continues the daily.

The group's management notes that "the only elements provided date from March 2022", i.e. a few weeks after the outbreak of the conflict, and that in this case "the interlocutors who placed an order were usual interlocutors, who had already placed an order with us beforehand ".

"We do not finance and participate voluntarily and actively in any collection intended for the Russian forces", continues the management.