Zelensky: Ukraine has successfully “stabilized” its battlefield position
On February 16, 2024, after signing the bilateral security agreement, Ukrainian President Zelensky held a press conference with the French President at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Thibault Camus | AFP | Getty Images
Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had managed to “stabilize” its position on the home front “in all frontline areas where Russian forces currently expect success” said in his nightly address.
“These results are really good, given the shortage of artillery shells and the significant slowdown in supply,” the head of state assessed, noting that he had tasked the missile program with providing “strong and increasing missile support” to the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Zelensky separately acknowledged that Russia used an Iranian-made “Shahed” drone to launch an attack on a residential area of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing four people. The death toll included three rescue workers from Ukraine’s state emergency services.
The Kiev leader added that he had spoken to the military to strengthen air defense in Kharkiv, Sumy and the country’s southern regions.
— Ruksandra Jordash
Ukraine Air Force says Russia deployed 13 drones in nighttime attacks
The Ukrainian Air Force said in a Google Translate report that Russian forces carried out nighttime attacks using anti-aircraft and ballistic missiles from the Belgorod region north of the Ukrainian border. Post on Telegram.
The force also said it shot down 13 Iranian-made “Shahed” drones launched by Russian forces from Cape Joda in occupied Crimea.All drones shot down over Zaporozhye, Odessa in the Dnipropetrovsk region and the Dnipropetrovsk region, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.
— Ruksandra Jordash
Russia’s Investigative Committee says it found links between concert terror attackers and Ukraine
Russia’s Investigative Committee believes there is a link between the March 22 terrorist attack that killed dozens of concertgoers at Krokus City Hall and the so-called “special military operation” – Moscow’s name for a sweeping invasion of Ukraine.
The discovery was reported in a Updates to Google Translate Committee’s Telegram account. The department studied the perpetrators’ cellphones and said it found “photos of people wearing camouflage uniforms and flying Ukrainian flags against the background of destroyed houses” on the phone of one of the attackers, as well as a Ukrainian postage stamp.
Islamist groups have previously claimed responsibility for the terror incident, but Ukraine has denied involvement. Authorities in Moscow have repeatedly tried to solidify ties between Kiev and the attacks, which analysts say could help the Kremlin further mobilize the Russian public in the war against Kiev.
— Ruksandra Jordash
Russia detains three more people over concert hall attack
The burnt Crocus Town Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on March 26, 2024.
Natalia Kolesnikova | AFP | Getty Images
Russia has detained three more people suspected of involvement in last month’s deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow, the FSB security service said on Thursday.
According to RIA Novosti, a Russian citizen and two foreigners from Central Asia were detained in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Omsk via telegraphquoting the FSB.
At the end of March, a mass shooting and fire at the Crocus City Hall Concert Hall left at least 144 people dead, with the Islamic State militant group claiming responsibility for the attack.
— Sam Meredith
Ukraine attack kills six civilians, Russian official says
A total of six civilians were killed in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian-controlled southern and eastern Ukraine on Thursday, Russian-appointed officials said.
Andrey Alekseenko, a Russian official in the Kherson region, said a drone hit a car in a village, killing two people and another drone Shot a passenger who managed to climb out of the vehicle.
Another attack killed two maintenance workers who were working to restore mobile communications, he said. Another person is being treated in hospital in critical condition.
Russian officials in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, said shelling in Ukraine on Thursday killed two people and wounded nine others.
Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in their war, now in its third year. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission said in February that more than 10,000 civilians had been killed and nearly 20,000 injured in Ukraine.
— Reuters
French President Macron says he has “no doubt” Russia will target Paris Olympics
French President Emmanuel Macron (centre), Paris 2024 Organizing Committee President Toni Estanguet (third from right), Île-de-France Regional Committee President Valerie Pécles (left) and officials watch during a visit to the Olympic swimming pool The CAO Center (CAO), a model multi-purpose venue for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, was inaugurated on April 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, outside Paris.
Gonzalo Fuentes | AFP | Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he had “no doubt” that Russia would seek to disrupt this summer’s Paris Olympics.
Asked if he was concerned that Russia would specifically target the Olympics, Macron said: “I have no doubt, including from an information point of view.” He made the remarks on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Olympic Aquatics Center in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. of speech.
The Summer Olympics will be held in the French capital from July 26 to August 11, and the Paralympics are scheduled to take place from August 28 to September 8.
“We are preparing together for the Olympics and Paralympics, and around me a lot of work is being done by the elected officials, their services, the sports community and the national service,” Macron said, according to a translation.
The Russian Embassy in London and the Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
— Sam Meredith
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