War in Ukraine live: Joe Biden evokes new sanctions against Russia and promises a “response” from NATO in the event of the use of chemical weapons – Le Monde

Midday update Intense diplomacy in Brussels As the Russian invasion enters its second month, three summits – NATO, G7 and the European Union – await, in a single day Thursday in Brussels, the heads of Western state and government. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday asked NATO countries to provide “unrestricted military aid” to his country, so that it can face the Russian army, which kyiv is currently facing ” under unequal conditions. “To save people and our cities, Ukraine needs unrestricted military assistance. Just as Russia uses, without restriction, all its arsenal against us, ”said Mr. Zelensky in a video message published on his Telegram account for the attention of the heads of state and government of the Atlantic Alliance. NATO strengthens its defenses on its eastern flank The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, made a “big mistake” with the invasion of Ukraine, of which he “underestimated” the resistance, claimed Thursday Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, before the opening of the extraordinary summit of the Alliance. NATO will, he said, deploy four new battlegroups in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia to bolster its defenses against Russia on its eastern flank. Deadly bombardment near Luhansk At least four people died, including two children, and six others were injured in Russian strikes on the town of Rubizhne, near Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, the governor of the region, Serhi Gaïdaï. The balance sheet is likely to “turn out to be much higher”, he estimated, accusing the Russians of using phosphorus bombs. Other officials in this region have accused the Russians of using such bombs in recent days, accusations that cannot immediately be verified. kyiv says it destroyed a Russian ship The Ukrainian navy said Thursday it destroyed a Russian troop carrier anchored in the port of Berdiansk, a town near Mariupol on the Sea of ​​Azov. The information was immediately unverifiable, the Russian army only very rarely giving information on its losses. The port of Berdiansk is located 80 kilometers west of the strategic port of Mariupol, a city besieged by the Russians since the end of February and pounded relentlessly. The director of the Kherson theater has been released We announced his kidnapping in this live, the director of the Kherson theater, Oleksandr Kniga, has been released, learned Le Monde, in contact with him, Thursday. He had been kidnapped the day before in this Ukrainian city occupied by the Russians, where kidnappings are on the increase, while demonstrations take place every day against the occupation. Mr. Kniga’s release was confirmed to us by one of his colleagues, actor Oleksandr Moudry. Mr. Kniga is tested but he is fine. London takes new sanctions The British government announced Thursday a new series of sanctions targeting 59 Russian personalities and companies and six Belarusians. Companies such as the Russian diamond giant Alrosa or the private military services group Wagner are targeted, or even the founder of Tinkoff Bank Oleg Tinkov, the influential boss of the first Russian bank Sberbank, Guerman Gref, as well as Polina Kovaleva, daughter of the alleged mistress of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also called for Russia to be prevented from using its large gold reserves. 4.3 million children displaced More than half of children in Ukraine have had to leave their homes to flee insecurity and fighting sparked by the Russian army invasion on February 24, UNICEF said on Thursday . “A month of war in Ukraine has led to the displacement of 4.3 million children, more than half of the country’s child population, estimated at 7.5 million”, detailed the United Nations Children’s Fund in a press release. Resumption of the Moscow Stock Exchange The stock market partially resumed Thursday at the Moscow Stock Exchange after a month of interruption, a very controlled reopening after the imposition of unprecedented sanctions by the West for the Russian intervention in Ukraine. Only about thirty shares were available during this partial takeover. “What we are witnessing is a charade: a Potemkin market opening,” White House deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh said in a statement.