Europe 1 with AFP 10:33 a.m., February 23, 2024

On the eve of two years since the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin on Friday saluted the "heroes" fighting on the occasion of the day celebrating the Russian armed forces.

The United States, for its part, promised to announce new sanctions against Moscow on Friday.

Vladimir Putin on Friday saluted the "heroes" fighting in Ukraine and the rearmament of Russia on the occasion of the day celebrating the Russian armed forces, on the eve of the second anniversary of the assault on kyiv.

The United States, for its part, promised to announce new sanctions against Moscow on Friday, even if the multiple retaliatory measures adopted over the past two years have not been able to stop its military machine.

They must target more than 500 entities linked “to its supporters and its war machine”, indicated a spokesperson for the American Department of the Treasury.

Russia marks Defenders of the Fatherland Day every year on February 23.

This celebration comes as the Russian army has achieved several successes in Ukraine.

Information to remember:

  • On the eve of two years since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia celebrated its armed forces

  • Vladimir Putin hailed the “heroes” fighting in Ukraine and Russia’s rearmament

  • For its part, kyiv is weakened by several failures, and last week lost the town of Avdiivka in the east.

  • American President Joe Biden, for his part, met on Thursday the daughter and widow of Alexeï Navalny

Weakened by the blocking of American aid, the failure of its summer counter-offensive and a growing lack of ammunition, the Ukrainian army is facing an "extremely difficult" situation, according to the president's own admission. Volodymyr Zelensky who had to resolve a week ago to cede the fortress town of Avdiïvka on the Eastern front.

He also urged the American Congress to approve additional military aid to his country, in an interview broadcast Thursday on Fox News, the favorite channel of conservatives, who are currently blocking an envelope of 60 billion dollars.

In a video broadcast on Friday, Vladimir Putin, in a serious tone, paid tribute to the "participants of the special operation" in Ukraine, who, according to him, "are fighting for truth and justice" by "defending Russia ".

“You are our true people’s heroes,” the Russian leader said.

Rearmament

Like every year, Vladimir Putin will pay his respects at the tomb of the unknown soldier, in the shadow of the Kremlin walls.

In recent days, he had already increased his satisfaction, decorating soldiers, flying in a strategic bomber, while for a year, his country has focused on the war effort, with the surge in the production of military equipment. and the recruitment of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

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“In recent years, companies in the military-industrial complex have increased the production and delivery to the troops of the most requested weapons,” he said again on Friday.

He touted deliveries of missiles, drones, armored vehicles, artillery and anti-aircraft defense.

“Based on our current combat experience, we will continue to strengthen the armed forces,” he advocated.

Three weeks before the presidential election of March 15-16-17, Vladimir Putin is approaching the second anniversary of this assault in a much better position, while the year 2022 had been marked by the failure of the offensive on kyiv and humiliating retreats.

The capture of Avdiïvka, a fortress city in the eastern part of Ukraine facing multiple Russian attacks since October, was an opportunity for him to present himself as the winner.

Deadly strike in Odessa

On Thursday, the Russian army also claimed new territorial gains in the east, with the conquest of the village of Pobeda and other advances around neighboring towns.

And the strikes against kyiv continue.

The Ukrainian General Staff reported nightly attacks by Russian drones and missiles in the country on Friday, specifying that air defense had shot down 23 drones.

A nighttime strike left three dead in Odessa (south), according to the police.

The Russian opposition has, for its part, been largely annihilated by the repression and, now, the death in its Arctic prison of its figurehead, Alexeï Navalny.

If Russia suffered very heavy losses, with up to 120,000 dead according to American sources, it was able to recruit nearly half a million men in 2023 and another around 53,000 in January 2024, according to official figures.

Conversely, problems are piling up for Ukraine, which saw its army decimated by its counter-offensive in the summer of 2023 and is unable to replenish its ranks.

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On the front, the men, exhausted by two years of fighting, were cruelly lacking in artillery ammunition, European aid having fallen behind schedule and that of the United States being more in question than ever.

"We don't have the weapons they have. You know, they have factories producing them and we? We beg for weapons," says Oleksiï, an infantry soldier covered in mud returning from the trenches. dug not far from Avdiïvka.

On Friday and Saturday, Ukraine is expected to welcome Western officials wishing to show political support, even if the question of accelerating arms deliveries may still remain unresolved.

Joe Biden meets Alexeï Navalny's widow

“A man of incredible courage”: Joe Biden presented his condolences on Thursday to the widow and daughter of Alexeï Navalny, during a meeting in San Francisco, before the revelation by his administration of new sanctions targeting 500 entities linked to the Russian “war machine”.

The American president, on the electoral campaign in California since Tuesday, spoke away from the press with Yulia and Dacha Navalnaïa.

The latter, daughter of the Russian opponent who died on February 16 in detention, studies at Stanford University in California.

“He was a man of incredible courage and it is extraordinary to see how his wife and his daughter reproduce this,” said the 81-year-old Democrat during a very brief intervention in front of the cameras after the meeting.

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 Joe Biden met Alexeï Navalny's widow and daughter in San Francisco on Thursday

This took place a few hours before the American government revealed new sanctions against Russia, targeting more than 500 entities linked “to its supporters and its war machine”.

These sanctions, which will be specified on Friday, represent "the largest tranche since the start of Putin's invasion of Ukraine", on February 24, 2022, a spokesperson for the American Department of Defense told AFP on Thursday. Treasure.

The White House released two photos, one of which shows Joe Biden hugging Yulia Navalnaïa, who promised to continue her husband's fights.

The 81-year-old democrat once again accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being "responsible for the death" of his opponent.