four dead in Ukrainian strikes in territories occupied by Russia

Warsaw and Vilnius say they want to help kyiv mobilize as many Ukrainians as possible to fight Russia. Ukrainian intelligence announces the arrests of a citizen and then of a couple accused of guiding Russian strikes. A Russian military court sentences a man accused of wanting to fight for Ukraine to 10 years in prison. Le Figaro takes stock this Thursday, April 25, 2024 on the conflict between Ukraine and the Russian invader.

In Poland, a Russian accused of espionage is sentenced to two and a half years in prison

A Russian citizen accused of spying for Moscow was sentenced in Poland to two and a half years in prison, the Gdansk prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday. The activities of this man, whose identity has not been revealed, focused on “military units located in the north-east of Poland” where he performed tasks involving “recognition of essential elements of the Polish armed forces”explained the prosecution in a press release.

Couple sentenced to 15 years in prison for helping Russia strike hospital

Ukrainian security services said Thursday that a couple had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for passing information to Russia that allowed them to attack a hospital. The country’s prosecutors have opened thousands of cases over suspected collaboration with Russian forces since the invasion began in February 2022. The convicted couple is accused of providing information on the positions of the Ukrainian army and on the location of places where wounded soldiers are being treated, according to a press release from the Ukrainian security services (SBU).

Thanks to that, “the occupiers bombed a local hospital” in the southern city of Kherson, according to the SBU. This man and his wife were allegedly recruited by the Russian security services (FSB) after responding to an ad on the Telegram application offering money for information on the Ukrainian army.

Four dead in Ukrainian strikes in occupied territories, three dead near Donetsk

Four people were killed Thursday in Ukrainian strikes in territories under Moscow control, Russian occupation authorities said. “Enemy drones attacked the village of Novokarlovka”said on Telegram the head of the Russian-occupied part of the Zaporizhia region (South-East), Evgeni Balitski. “A civilian car was hit, killing a man and a woman”he added, specifying that the couple leaves “four children (…) orphans”. These “benefit from social and psychological assistance”Balitski further assured.

At the same time, three people were killed in Russian strikes in Ukraine. “The Russians continue to bomb the region of Donetsk all day: three new people were killed”lamented the regional governor, Vadim Filachkine, on Telegram.

Warsaw and Vilnius could help Ukraine repatriate eligible men

The Polish Defense Minister said his country was ready to help kyiv return expatriate men of fighting age to Ukraine, immediately after Ukraine’s decision to no longer offer them consular services. “It does not surprise me at all that the Ukrainian authorities are doing everything to send soldiers to the front”declared Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz on Wednesday evening, on commercial television Polsat. “We have long suggested that we can help the Ukrainian side ensure that people subject to compulsory military service go to Ukraine”said Kosiniak-Kamysz. “Everything is possible”replied the minister to a question to know if his country would respond positively to a possible request from kyiv to transport these men who can be mobilized to Ukraine.

His Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas said on Thursday that his country could follow in Poland’s footsteps. “I think this is the right solution”, Laurynas Kasciunas told the press, referring to the Polish minister’s remarks. According to him, “Ukraine is seriously lacking in mobilizeable reserves […]. It’s not fair to the citizens who fight for their country.”. “We don’t have many of these people in Lithuania . But we have a small number of them”he added, without providing detailed statistics.

Read alsoIn France, Ukrainians train in the basics of air combat

Kremlin downplays importance of US ATACMS missiles

The Kremlin affirmed Thursday that deliveries of American ATACMS missiles to Ukraine will not change anything in the conflict, the day after Washington’s announcement of the sending of these long-range weapons. “The United States is directly involved in this conflict, it has taken a path aimed at increasing the range of weapons systems”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the press. According to him, however, “this cannot change the outcome of the special military operation”a euphemism used by the Kremlin to designate the Russian assault launched more than two years ago against Ukraine.

Read alsoAir defense, long-range missiles, armor: what weapons will the United States send to Ukraine?

Arrest of a Ukrainian accused of guiding Russian strikes

Ukrainian intelligence (SBU) announced the arrest of an army veteran accused of collaborating with the Russian special services (FSB) to facilitate bombings in the Kharkiv border region, a favored target of bombings carried out by Moscow. “The SBU arrested an FSB “mole” who corrected (coordinates of) missile strikes in the Kharkiv region”, the service said in a statement, specifying that the man was a reservist and veteran of the Ukrainian armed forces. According to the same Source, the individual was arrested while trying to reach an area under Russian control in the Kupiansk district, a part of the Kharkiv region which is the subject of fierce fighting.

The SBU indicates that this suspect, who now faces eight years in prison, sent his Russian contacts the geolocation of“civil infrastructure of one of the cities located on the front”. He was allegedly encouraged to work for the FSB by his parents who live in an area occupied by the Russian army.

Russia: 10 years in prison for wanting to fight on the side of Ukraine

A Russian military court sentenced him to 10 years in prison for “high treason” And “terrorism” a man accused of wanting to join the Ukrainian army to fight the Kremlin, the TASS news agency reported Thursday. In a press release, cited by TASS, the Russian security services (FSB) affirm that this man, aged 26 and living in Buryatia (Siberia), was preparing to join the Ukrainian forces because “he did not support politics” from Moscow. According to this Source, he had been in contact since spring 2023 with “an inhabitant of Ukraine” and had purchased military equipment – a helmet, body armor, fatigues – and a Ukrainian flag online.

He was arrested in the Siberian region of Kemerovo while on his way to Ukraine where, according to the FSB, he wanted to join the “Legion Freedom of Russia”a unit claiming to be composed of Russian anti-Kremlin fighters and classified as an organization “terrorist” in Russia. This man, whose name has not been revealed, will have to serve the first three years of his sentence in a normal prison, before being transferred to a penal colony in “severe diet”.

On Thursday, the FSB also announced the 11-year prison sentence for “spying” of a Ukrainian citizen accused of having transmitted to Ukraine, to guide its strikes, information on the location of Russian troops and infrastructure in the occupied part of the Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia (South-East).