• 13:17 p.m.: Moscow calls French National Assembly's vote on Holodomor "repugnant anti-Russian zeal"

Russia on Saturday described as "repugnant anti-Russian zeal" the vote of the French National Assembly, recognizing as a genocide the Holodomor, a famine caused in the early 1930s in Ukraine by the Soviet authorities, causing several million deaths.

"The anti-Russian zeal of the French deputies seems all the more repugnant as the France itself has not yet closed the page of its crimes of the colonial period," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

  • 13:10 p.m.: A demonstration in Paris in memory of the Ukrainian victims of Boutha

At the call of the Union of Ukrainians of France, a call to demonstrate is launched, Saturday, in Paris, at 15:30 p.m., between the Place de la RĂ©publique and that of the Bastille, in tribute to the Ukrainian victims of the massacre of Butcha, a year ago.

This Saturday, April 1st, we will demonstrate in memory of the victims 🇺🇦 in #Boutcha and #Irpin, against Russia terrorist state!

Let's be many!#ActForUkraine #ArmUkraineNow #Ukraine #Paris #MarchForUkraineInParis #russiaIsATeroristState #LUkraineVaGagner pic.twitter.com/gkeOaw6wzU

— Kogutyak Volodymyr (@KogutyakV) March 31, 2023

  • 12:28 p.m.: Kiev orders 100 EU- and US-funded tanks from Poland

Ukraine has ordered from Poland 100 Rosomak multirole armored vehicles, manufactured under Finnish license, financed by the European Union and the United States, the Polish Prime Minister announced Saturday.

"I bring the order obtained yesterday [Friday] from Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, for 100 Rosomak that will be manufactured here," Morawiecki said at the production site of these vehicles in Siemianowice Slaskie, southern Poland.

The order will be financed with European funds granted to Poland and with American funds obtained by Ukraine, said the head of the Polish government, without specifying the amount of the contract.

  • 11:33 a.m.: Russia vows to increase ammunition deliveries to troops in Ukraine

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu vowed to increase ammunition deliveries to Russian forces in Ukraine during a visit to the headquarters of troops based in the country.

In a video published by the ministry on Telegram, Sergei Shoigu chairs a meeting with senior officers, including General Valery Gerasimov, the highest ranking officer in the Russian army. "Measures have been taken to increase the volume of deliveries of the most requested ammunition," the minister said.

  • 11:13 a.m.: Two French volunteers killed in ten days

Two French volunteer fighters in Ukraine were killed recently, according to the newspaper Le Monde. "This is Kevin David, fell on March 21 in Bakhmut. The second, a certain 'T', died a week ago," the newspaper said.

The family of Kevin David has launched an appeal for donations for the repatriation of his body and a burial. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, eight Frenchmen have been killed there.

  • 7:54 a.m.: Russians and Belarusians can play Wimbledon in 2023

Wimbledon has cracked: under pressure from the ATP and WTA, the organizers of the London tournament announced Friday to accept "under conditions" the participation of Russians and Belarusians in 2023, despite the continuation of the war in Ukraine, thus applying the policy of other Grand Slam events.

"Our current intention is to accept the participation of Russian and Belarusian players provided they compete as 'neutral' athletes and meet the required conditions," the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) said in a statement.

The organizers specify that "they will be prohibited from expressing their support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine" and that players "receiving financial aid" from Russia or Belarus to participate in the tournament will not be allowed on the London grass.

  • 6:27 a.m.: Joe Biden calls on Moscow to release arrested journalist

Joe Biden on Friday asked Moscow to "let go" an American journalist arrested in Russia, whose employer, the Wall Street Journal, is demanding the expulsion of the Russian ambassador and journalists stationed in the United States.

"Let him go," the US president told the Russian government, in front of journalists who were asking, at the White House, his first public reaction on this case.

Evan Gershkovich, a 31-year-old Russian-speaking reporter known for his rigour, was arrested in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, on suspicion of "espionage".

  • 22:18 p.m.: One year after Butcha massacre, Zelensky promises "Russian evil" a "new Nuremberg"

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to defeat the "Russian Evil" and promised a "new Nuremberg" on the first anniversary of the Russian withdrawal from Butcha, a martyred city that has become a symbol crying out "atrocities" blamed on Moscow's troops in thirteen months of murderous offensive.

  • 22:05 p.m.: Russia has "allowed or even encouraged" war crimes, denounces Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of "allowing and even abetting" war crimes "with the clear objective of subjugating the Ukrainian nation through violence."

  • 22:02 p.m.: In Russia, a new foreign policy doctrine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a decree validating a new foreign policy doctrine, designating the West as an "existential threat" whose "domination" Moscow must fight. In a document of more than forty pages, Russia poses as a bulwark of the Russian-speaking world against the West, accused of wanting to "weaken it by all means".

With AFP

The summary of the week France 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week

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