War in live Ukraine: China needs to make Russia understand it’s at “an impasse,” according to Paris

A 32-year-old AFP reporter was hit by a rocket as he stood near Ukrainian soldiers near Baghmoud (east) on Tuesday.

The Kremlin has called for clarification on the circumstances surrounding the death of Agence France-Presse journalist Armand Soult in a strike on Ukrainian army positions on Tuesday.

“We need to understand the circumstances of this journalist’s death,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, urging “not to take at face value” Ukrainian claims naming Russians as perpetrators of the strike. “We regret” the death of AFP’s video coordinator in Ukraine.

According to Ukraine’s state-owned company Energoatom, Russian forces are reportedly planning to evacuate more than 3,000 workers from the town of Enerhodar, which serves the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. This could lead to a “catastrophic shortage” of personnel.

“According to information from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, some families of Zaporizhia nuclear power plant specialists have already been taken from Enerhodar to the Rostov region of the Russian Federation. »Enerkottam said.

The European Union has integrated Moldova into the Connecting Europe Facility program to finance infrastructure. The agreement will allow Moldovan project promoters to apply for EU funding for projects of common interest in the fields of transport, energy and digital.

France has handed over to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice a second mobile laboratory dedicated to rapid DNA analysis and expertise. “This new donation is part of France’s firm support for the fight against impunity in the face of Russian aggression”.

According to the International Judo Federation (IJF), spectators wearing a Russian patriotic symbol on their clothing have been expelled from the World Judo Championships in Doha. A photo has gone viral on social media showing three spectators sitting in the arena of the Ali bin Hamad Al Atiya Arena, wearing St. George ribbons on their clothes. This black and orange striped badge originally symbolized the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany, commemorated in Russia on May 9. It is also considered a symbol of Russian patriotism. Spectators refused to remove their emblems and were ejected from the hall, the IJF said.

The 2023 Judo Worlds, which runs until Sunday in Doha, will be the first major international competition to reunite Russian and Belarusian athletes after the war in Ukraine. As recommended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), they were reinstated as neutral athletes, on an individual basis. Following their return, Ukrainian judokas boycotted the competition.

After France, London may designate the Wagner group as a terrorist organization, according to The Times.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, soldiers of the 3rd brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces advanced 2.6 km during the attack of the Russian positions. They reportedly defeated two companies of the Russian Federation’s 72nd Regiment.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a meeting of NATO’s military council that the alliance “must redouble its efforts” to ensure the security of billions of people in NATO countries.

“Since Russia illegally annexed Crimea and entered eastern Ukraine in 2014, we have strengthened the readiness of our forces. For the first time in our history, we deployed combat forces east of the Alliance, and European allies and Canada spent an additional $350 billion on defense. So when President Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, we were ready. Within hours, we implemented all our security plans. We have 40,000 troops under NATO command,” he explained.

Although officials have not officially confirmed this information, Russian media say two drones have crashed at a military training ground in Russia’s Voronezh region. The media reported that 14 soldiers were injured.

Unlike the UK, the Biden administration has no plans to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, according to Politico, citing US officials.

In its daily update, the Defense Ministry returned to the military parade on Red Square in Moscow. “The march highlights the strategic logistics and communications challenges facing the military 15 months into the war in Ukraine,” British intelligence said, adding that “more than 8,000 people are believed to have taken part in the march, but the majority were cadets from auxiliary, paramilitary forces and military training institutions. Also, a ceremonial unit “Despite heavy losses in Ukraine, Russia could have deployed more armored vehicles. “The authorities may have refrained from doing so because they want to avoid national criticism regarding the priority given to parades in combat operations,” the ministry said.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced that support for Ukraine in resisting Russian aggression will be a priority issue on the agenda of the G7 summit, which begins on May 19 in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The meetings will discuss various topics such as China, North Korea, denuclearization and development of artificial intelligence.

A drone was shot down in the village of Tolmachevo in the Kursk region on the border with Ukraine. According to the Russian Air Defense Forces, falling debris damaged a gas pipeline and a house, but no one was injured.

On social networks, the health of the President of Belarus, who is in Moscow for the May 9 festivities, is being questioned. After a military parade in Red Square, Alexander Lukashenko went to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as Putin and other Central Asian presidents walked there. Lukashenko would also soon be back in Minsk and would not have dined with Putin.

“The world owes a debt of gratitude to AFP journalist Armand Soldin, who was killed Tuesday in Ukraine” and “to the 10 reporters and media workers who lost their lives covering the conflict,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre responded. “Our hearts go out to the family of Arman Soldin, who lost his life today on the front lines of war in Ukraine, and to his colleagues at the AFP,” he said in a statement. The foundation of a free society”.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he was “devastated” by the news of the journalist’s disappearance, recalling that “many journalists are working to expose and report the truth under very dangerous conditions”.

As Russia threatens to pull out of the Ukrainian grain export deal from May 18, the two-day quartet is being held in Turkey. 90% of the grain route is currently technically blocked by Russia.

British Foreign Secretary James Wise and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urged Russia not to use hunger as a weapon of war by blocking the deal.

Ukrainian President Zelensky thanked the French parliament for recognizing the Russian Wagner Group as a terrorist organization. “This is something the whole world needs to accept. Every manifestation of terrorism must be eradicated and every terrorist condemned,” he said.

The Assembly voted unanimously on Tuesday to add the paramilitary group to the EU’s list of terrorist organizations. The text, without binding value, calls on the French government to “mobilize diplomatically” so that the EU accepts this request.

Arman Soldin, AFP’s video coordinator in Ukraine, was killed in a rocket attack in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon. The blast took place around 4:30pm local time near the Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, near Bagmouth, which is targeted daily by Russian forces.

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