War in Ukraine: a new text to punish opponents of the conflict… an update on the situation

Le point sur la situation. MAXPPP – Nicolas Cleuet/Le Pictorium

Tous les jours, Midi Libre fait le point sur la situation en Ukraine. Ce lundi 22 janvier 2024, découvrez les dernières actualités autour de ce conflit.

A new text to punish opponents of the war in Ukraine

The Russian Duma on Monday began consideration of a bill authorizing the state to seize the property of people convicted of defamation. against the armed forces or for inciting actions detrimental to national security.

This text, which potentially targets thousands of Russians critical of the military intervention in Ukraine, is denounced by its detractors as a resurgence of the fight against "the enemy within" under Joseph Stalin, in the Soviet Union in the 1930s.

Criticizing what Moscow calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine is already criminally reprehensible and this new bill aims to strengthen the legal arsenal. In particular, it would allow the State to seize the property of Russians who have left the country but continue, for example, to rent their apartments or houses in Russia and therefore earn income from it.

The speaker of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, welcomed a law against "scoundrels". "All those who try to destroy Russia, who betray it, must be punished accordingly and repay with their property the damage caused to the country" , declared Vyacheslav Volodin, close to Vladimir Putin, during the weekend.

Ukraine, Poland able to resolve differences, says Zelensky

Ukraine and Poland will be able to resolve their differences, including those linked to protests by Polish truck drivers at the border, said Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, who received Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Kyiv on Monday. The Polish leader, who took office last month, visited Ukraine for talks with the Ukrainian president with a view to strengthening bilateral relations after months of tension.

"We discussed with the (Polish) Prime Minister that all critical issues that exist can be resolved at the level of governments, and the work in this sense will begin soon", said Volodimir Zelensky during a joint press briefing with Donald Tusk.

Poland, which has hosted more than a million Ukrainian refugees since February 2022, has been an early ally of Kyiv in the face of the Russian invasion and is # It is striving to obtain more financial and military support from its Western partners.

Relations between Warsaw and Kyiv have, however, deteriorated in recent months due to blockades led by Polish truck drivers at the border with Ukraine, unhappy with competition deemed unfair by their counterparts Ukrainians, and farmers' protests against Ukrainian grain imports.

Last week, Polish truckers pledged to stop their demonstrations until March 1, which aimed to block access – without prior authorization – of Ukrainian truckers to the ;#39;EU. On the military front, Poland said last week it was studying the possibility of manufacturing more munitions and equipment as part of a new aid program. Ukraine.

"There is no more important issue than supporting Ukraine in its war effort – it&#39 ;is the number one question", Donald Tusk said earlier Monday, in comments broadcast by Polish television.