War in Ukraine: age of mobilization lowered to 25, Russian refinery attacked by drones… update on the situation

Frappe massive de missile sur Kiev, le 2 janvier 2023. MAXPPP – Nicolas Cleuet/Le Pictorium

Tous les jours, Midi Libre fait le point sur la situation en Ukraine. Ce mardi 2 avril 2024, découvrez les dernières actualités autour de ce conflit.

Major Russian refinery hit by Ukraine drone attack

Ukraine on Tuesday struck one of Russia's largest refineries, located some 1,300 km from Ukraine, during ;a drone attack which caused significant damage, according to Kyiv. Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian republic of Tatarstan, a highly industrial region southeast of Moscow, early Tuesday morning, causing injuries, according to Tatarstan leader Rustam Minnikhanov.

Russian defense systems intercepted a Ukrainian drone near Tatneft's Taneco refinery in the city of Nizhnekamsk, Russian news agency RIA reported. A fire broke out before being extinguished after twenty minutes without disrupting production, RIA added. Ukraine's drone attack hit Taneco refinery's CDU-7 primary oil refining unit, according to footage showing the impact of the attack analyzed by Reuters.

This is one of the most advanced Ukrainian-led drone attacks on Russian territory. The Taneco refinery is one of the largest and newest in Russia, with a production capacity of 360,000 barrels of oil per day. According to Rustam Minnikhanov, factories in Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk were attacked by drones. "There is no serious damage, the technological process of companies has not been disrupted", said the manager in a publication on Telegram.

Zelensky lowers the age of mobilization from 27 to 25

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday signed a bill providing for lowering the age of military mobilization from 27 to 25, while the armed forces lack resources ;men to face the Russian invasion.

This bill, which was voted on a year ago by the deputies and which was until then awaiting promulgation at the presidency, comes into force from Wednesday, indicated the Rada , the Ukrainian Parliament, on its website.

The Ukrainian government must then bring the various regulatory texts into compliance with the new age of mobilization within six months. Enlistment in the army has been debated for months in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian army has suffered losses, the extent of which is kept secret, and is struggling today, unlike at the start of the conflict, to find volunteers for the front. The Rada voted at first reading in February for a series of measures intended to facilitate mobilization, after a first draft prepared by the government was sent back for rewriting a few weeks earlier.

Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed in December 2023 that the army had offered to mobilize up to 500,000 additional people, a number since revised downward by the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrsky.

The current enlistment system is considered by many Ukrainians to be unfair, inefficient and often corrupt. And voices are also being raised to demand a demobilization of those who have been at the front for a long time.

Putin ally accuses NATO of helping Ukraine attack Russia

Russian Security Council Secretary and major backer of Vladimir Putin Nikolai Patrushev said Tuesday that NATO is effectively fighting Russia in Ukraine and that a military alliance led by the United States helped organize strikes on Russian sovereign territory. "The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a de facto part of the Ukrainian conflict and is actively involved in organizing bombings on Russian territories", declared Nikolai Patrushev to the Russian newspaper Arguments and Facts.

"In this framework, collective decisions are made on new deliveries of weapons with an increase in technical capabilities and range, and instructors of NATO is training mercenaries and saboteurs in several countries with a view to participating in anti-Russian operations", he added.

Nikolai Patrushev, considered a hard-liner in the Kremlin, has called NATO an American tool to destroy Russia and steal its natural resources. "The West only considered the fall of the Soviet Union as one of the stages of its confrontation with Russia", said Nikolai Patrushev.

These statements come on the eve of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels. The conflict in Ukraine will be on the agenda of discussions in the presence of the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

In Paris, Blinken evokes a "critical moment" for Ukraine

Ukraine finds itself at a "critical moment" in its war with Russia and urgently needs increased Western support, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. Antony Blinken arrived in Paris for meetings with several senior officials, including President Emmanuel Macron whom he is due to meet in the evening at the Elysée.

"We are at a critical moment where it is absolutely essential to provide the Ukrainians with what they still need to defend themselves, especially regarding munitions and air defense", declared Antony Blinken during a press conference alongside the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu. The two officials visited a factory of the weapons manufacturer Nexter which notably produces the Caesar cannon. "This Caesar cannon has become the symbol of this artillery coalition, with a significant increase in production capacities: two per month, now six per month and […] we will increase production up to 12 guns per month in the coming times", indicated Sébastien Lecornu.

If Ukraine features high on the agenda of Antony Blinken's visit to France, the situation in the Gaza Strip should also be discussed a few hours after the Israeli airstrike which killed seven aid workers in the Palestinian enclave. An Israeli strike also hit the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Monday, killing a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard official, military officials and diplomats.

Antony Blinken is due to meet his counterpart Stéphane Séjourné in the afternoon while France sent a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on Monday intended to find potential means to implement monitoring of a truce in the Gaza Strip and proposals to help the Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, assume responsibility. The United States, which last blocked a French-backed resolution in 1997, abstained in a vote last month allowing adoption of a text demanding a cease-fire. immediate fire for the Ramadan period, which ends next week. (Written by John Irish, Blandine Hénault for the French version, with the contribution of Bertrand Boucey)