This weekend, the fighting continued to rage in Ukraine, and in particular in Bakhmout, the nerve center of the clashes. In parallel, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President was the surprise guest of the G7, in Japan. In Greece, the right has won the legislative elections according to exit polls. In France, the government is launching a public consultation on global warming. In Marseille, drug trafficking has claimed yet more victims: three people have died. On the sporting side, La Rochelle lifted the second Champions Cup in its history in rugby.
“On May 20, 2023, at noon, Bakhmout was taken in its entirety.” On Saturday, Yevgeny Prigojine, the boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, demanded the total capture of this epicenter city of fighting in eastern Ukraine, which has been going on since last summer, saying he controls “every centimeter”. “The operation to take Bakhmout lasted 224 days […] There was only Wagner here,” he added, in a video posted on Telegram.
Later that evening, Moscow claimed to have “liberated” Bakhmout. “As a result of the offensive actions of Wagner’s assault units, with the support of the artillery and aviation of the ‘South’ unit, the liberation of the city of Artemovsk is complete”, certified the Russian Defense Ministry, using the Soviet name Bakhmut.
Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, then clarified the situation, assuring that his troops no longer controlled an “insignificant” part of the city, but continued to advance on its flanks. For her part, Ganna Maliar, the Deputy Defense Minister, said that Ukrainian troops “partially surrounded the city”.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian President arrived in Hiroshima, Japan, to participate in meetings with the G7 countries, but also with their guests, including Brazil and India. This visit allowed him to obtain new promises of military equipment as well as “unwavering” diplomatic support from the G7 countries. “By inviting President Zelensky to Japan, we have shown the unwavering solidarity of the G7 with Ukraine,” said Fumio Kishida, Japanese Prime Minister.
The United States announced additional military aid of $375 million, in the form of ammunition, anti-tank missiles and armored vehicles in particular, a few days after accepting that the Western countries possessing their F-16 planes deliver them to Ukraine. The Ukrainian head of state also scored points with Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, who promised him that India would do “everything possible” to resolve the conflict.
The Greeks were called to the polls this Sunday to renew the 300 deputies of Parliament. The first polls carried out confirm the predictions: the right-wing party of the outgoing Prime Minister would come out on top, collecting between 36 and 40% of the votes. Behind New Democracy comes the left-wing Syriza party of the former head of government, Alexis Tsipras (between 25 and 29%) then the socialist party Pasok-Kinal (between 9.5 and 12.5%).
If these results were to be confirmed, Kyriakos Mitsotakis could have difficulty forming a stable government for lack of an absolute majority, the latter having ruled out any alliance, in a country whose political culture is not based on compromise. For his part, Alexis Tsipras made appeals to the leader of the Pasok-Kinal socialist party, Nikos Androulakis, for an alliance, but the latter made demands.
“The global reality of global warming is essential […] we must therefore prepare concretely for its inevitable effects on our territory and on our lives. This is why we want to give our country a clear trajectory in terms of adaptation” in order to “build a model of resilience as close as possible to the realities on the ground and to avoid mal-adaptation”, launched Christophe Béchu, Minister of Ecological Transition.
To do this, it will launch a public consultation on Tuesday to define the reference warming trajectory for the adaptation of France. Supposed to run until the end of the summer, it will be used to define the next French adaptation plan to climate change, expected by the end of the year.
Shortly after 5 a.m., people driving by car opened fire with Kalashnikovs on another vehicle in which there were five men, in a rather residential area of ????the 11th arrondissement of Marseille, a source said. policewoman. The victims had left a nightclub shortly before and had driven several hundred meters when their car was targeted.
Three of the men targeted, aged in their twenties, were fatally injured, the fire doctor noting their deaths on the spot. The other two were not injured and one of them fled, the other remaining at the scene. The investigation was handed over to the federal police.
According to an AFP count, this new attack brings the toll of violence against a background of drug trafficking to 21 dead since the beginning of the year, with 19 killed by bullets, one lynched to death and one found in the trunk. a burned car, presumably shot dead.
It is a capital performance that the rugby players of La Rochelle achieved on Saturday. For the second consecutive year, they won the Champions Cup, Europe’s biggest competition, again against Leinster (27-26).
The match had however started very badly for the French: they were trailing 17-0 after 12 minutes of play. This final could have turned into a correction. “I looked the guys in the eye and saw they weren’t worried,” admitted iconic second row Romain Sazy. History proved him right.
Because the second period will be entirely yellow and black. Colombre’s try and the transformation of Hastoy in the 72nd is a deliverance for the Rochelais, who then take a small lead. Despite the last Irish waves, the defense was impassable until the final whistle, delivering an entire city.
