“The use by kyiv of long-range missiles to attack our territory would mean the direct participation of the United States and its satellites (…), as well as a radical change in the essence and very nature of the conflict” , declared the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova. “Russia’s response in such a case will be appropriate and will be felt.” Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday toured the Eastern Front, first visiting his troops in Pokrovsk, currently the main target of Russian attacks in Donbass. He then went to another hot spot, Kupiansk, a city that the Russians had occupied in 2022 and which they briefly entered last week.
” Too late “. Demanded by kyiv for months, Joe Biden's decision on the missiles was confirmed to AFP on Sunday by an American official, just a few weeks before Donald Trump took office, considered less inclined to help kyiv. From Rio de Janeiro, where he is attending the G20, Joe Biden called on all the leaders of the most developed economies to “firmly support the sovereignty” of Ukraine, without however mentioning long-range missiles.
A senior Ukrainian presidential official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AFP that the Americans had only given kyiv their agreement on these missiles after Russia had received the reinforcement. thousands of North Korean soldiers. “This decision was necessary a year ago,” he lamented. According to media reports, the American green light could also be limited to strikes against the Russian region of Kursk partially controlled by the Ukrainian army and where North Korean troops would be deployed.
On the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers, forced to give up ground almost every day, were doubtful. The American announcement “probably comes too late”, one of them, serving in the Pokrovsk zone, a logistical node to which the Russians are getting closer day by day, told AFP. Moscow, moreover, claimed on Monday the conquest of a new village, that of Novooleksiïvka, located approximately 15 kilometers south of this city. For the first time in several weeks, the presidency announced Volodymyr Zelensky's trip on Monday to the front, closest to the fighting, to Pokrovsk, then to Koupiansk, further north.
Doubt. The sustainability of American support was called into question by the election of Donald Trump, whose statements during the presidential campaign made Kiev and its supporters fear that he would seek to make Ukraine make unacceptable concessions for She. Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose troops are advancing, warned that any discussion on a cessation of hostilities could only be based on “new territorial realities”.
In recent weeks, Russia has begun to intensify its deadly strikes on civilian areas in its neighbor, a tactic seen by many in Ukraine as an attempt to break morale in preparation for possible negotiations. A Russian missile attack in broad daylight on Monday left at least ten dead and 47 injured in Odessa, a port city on the Black Sea, according to the authorities. Seven police officers, a caregiver and two town residents were among those killed, the regional governor said.
” Horror “. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, these were fragments from a downed Russian projectile which fell on a residential area. “I saw the horror”, tells AFP Andriï, originally from Kherson, in the south, where he lived “under Russian occupation” “for six months”, in 2022. Liberated that same year, Kherson is bombarded daily by the Russian army. Andriï moved to Odessa to be “quiet”: “But as the situation in recent weeks shows, it’s the same as in Kherson. People are dying every day…” In the east, three people were killed in Russian strikes, regional authorities said, two in Kostiantynivka (and two injured), as well as a third in Siversk.
Separately, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced Monday that it had discovered CS riot tear gas in samples of a grenade and soil provided by Ukraine, which contravenes its convention on chemical weapons. use of chemical weapons. Ukraine suffered another massive Russian attack on its energy facilities last weekend, forcing it to announce massive cuts in electricity supplies, a first in months.
Oleksandre Gimanov
© Agence France-Presse
