War in Ukraine: eight injured after Ukrainian attack in Belgorod, Zaluzhny appointed ambassador to London… update on the situation

Des immeubles endommagés après une précédente attaque le 23 mars 2024. MAXPPP – BELGOROD GOVERNOR VYACHESLAV GLADKOV TELEGRAMM CHANNEL/HANDOUT

Tous les jours, Midi Libre fait le point sur la situation en Ukraine. Ce jeudi 9 mai 2024, découvrez les dernières actualités autour de ce conflit.

Ukrainian drone attack on oil depot in southern Russia-officials

A Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire and damage at an oil depot in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia, the region's administration said on Thursday. Some six drones were destroyed and debris fell on a refinery near the village of Yurovka, the administration said on Telegram.

"Several tanks were damaged", the administration said, adding that no one was injured in the attack. Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on refineries in Russia, the world's second-largest exporter, since the start of the year in a bid to reduce Russian revenues from the energy sector.< /p>

Eight injured after Ukrainian attack on Russian Belgorod region

A Ukrainian attack left eight people injured and damaged several residential buildings in the Russian region of Belgorod, the governor of this region bordering Ukraine said on Thursday. An eleven-year-old girl was among the injured, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram, adding that 19 residential buildings were damaged in the town of Belgorod. Russian defense systems destroyed 15 RM-70 rockets and a drone over the Belgorod region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Three drones were also shot down over the Kursk region and two more over the Bryansk region, the ministry said in a statement broadcast on Telegram. Reuters was unable to independently verify this information. Ukraine had no immediate comment.

Ex-head of the Ukrainian army Zaluzhny appointed ambassador to London

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky on Thursday appointed former army commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny as ambassador to the United Kingdom. The decree was published on the website of the Ukrainian presidency. Very popular in Ukraine, Valéri Zalouzhny was replaced by General Oleksandr Syrsky last February, after the failure of the counter-offensive launched the previous summer by the Ukrainian army against the occupying Russian forces. part of the east of the country.

Russia will not allow itself to be threatened, Putin says during "Victory Parade"

Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would do everything to avoid a global conflict but would not allow anyone to threaten it, during a speech to mark the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany during the Second World War. During this short speech delivered on Red Square before a "Victory Parade" reduced again this year to its simplest expression by the mobilization of the Russian army in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin repeated that the Russian nuclear forces were still in battle order. "The Russia is going through a difficult period", said the master of the Kremlin, affirming that "the’future of the homeland" is in the hands of its soldiers.

Russia traditionally celebrates the end of the Second World War on May 9, the capitulation of Nazi Germany having occurred at 11:01 p.m. in Berlin on May 8, 1945, i.e. already the following day in Moscow. When he was sworn in for a new term on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin had already paid tribute to the soldiers of "the’special military operation" in Ukraine who are fighting for "motherland". For the 71-year-old leader, the war in Ukraine is part of a "holy war" against a "arrogant" West, which according to him is unaware of the role played by the Soviet Union during the Second World War and which has forgotten the lessons of the failed invasions of Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, proof according to him that Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield.

Tensions with Western countries have escalated in recent weeks as the Russian army has resumed a slow and costly advance in the east. Ukraine, that the United States has agreed to provide Kiev with longer-range missiles, that the United Kingdom has validated the principle of strikes on Russian territory and that President Emmanuel Macron has not ruled it out. rsquo;sending French soldiers to Ukraine. No Western leader is attending this year's "Victory Parade", to which ambassadors from "hostile countries" – those who support Ukraine- were not invited either. Only the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau made the trip to Moscow.