Confusion in Azovstal, French aid: what is the situation on the 71st day of the war in Ukraine? – BFM TV

Fighting is still raging in several regions of Ukraine, just days before Russia celebrates May 9, a symbolic date for Moscow. On the 71st day of the war in Ukraine, Russian forces also continued their offensive in the east, while hitting numerous targets in the west, from Lviv to the hitherto unspoilt mountainous region of Transcarpathia, not far from the Hungarian border. Unsuccessful Russian assaults were seen at Novosilka and Orihiv in the east country, while the Ukrainians shelled enemy supply lines. A Russian convoy was destroyed on Wednesday, says the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Western Ukraine, long spared, has again become a target of Russian strikes, which want to disrupt Western supplies in support of Kiev. The situation remained extremely confused on Thursday in the Azovstal steelworks, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, where kyiv claims that the fighting continues while Moscow ensures that humanitarian corridors allow the evacuation of civilians. • Imbroglio around AzovstalFaced with this disastrous situation, the UN has announced the dispatch of a new evacuate the civilians from the factory, although the Ukrainians accuse Moscow of not keeping its promise of a truce there. However, information on the state of play in the area is fragmented and contradictory. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday evening that “the Russian army was always ready to ensure the evacuation of civilians” from Azovstal, who could be another 200 trapped with Ukrainian fighters in this complex. But the deputy commander of the Azov regiment which defends these installations, Sviatoslav Palamar, assured in a video that “bloody fights” were taking place inside the site itself and that the Russians “did not keep their promise” of truce. • France will continue its aid to UkraineAs Gabriel Attal had already announced the day before, France will increase its overall aid to Ukraine to 2 billion dollars against 1.7 billion so far, i.e. an additional 300 million dollars. was made by Emmanuel Macron himself in a video shown during the international donors conference. This new contribution, however, does not concern the military aspect, specified the Elysée. It is our collective duty to provide immediate aid and massive economic support to Ukraine (…) France salutes this unprecedented outpouring of solidarity which has united us since the start of the conflict.” In total, more than six billion euros for Ukraine were raised during this conference.• Putin apologized to IsraelVladimir Putin personally apologized to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for his leader’s remarks Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov, who claimed Adolf Hitler had “Jewish blood,” according to a statement from the Israeli leader’s office. “The prime minister accepted President Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s remarks and thanked him for having clarified its attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust,” Naftali Bennett’s office said. the Russian president. However, it was clarified that the two leaders discussed the “historical memory” of the Holocaust during a phone call. • Zelensky invites Germans to Kiev Frank-Walter Steinmeier, three weeks after snubbing the latter when he wanted to go there, we learned from the German presidency on Thursday. The Ukrainian president and the social-democratic head of state had Thursday a “very good and very important” telephone conversation which helped to “dissipate the irritations” following kyiv’s refusal to receive the German leaders in mid-April, the same source said. “Both agreed to stay in close contact,” she added. The Head of State who wanted to go to kyiv in mid-April with his Polish and Baltic counterparts had to give up at the last moment.