Between bombings and deadly accidents, weeks of conflict in four infographics

This week in Ukraine was marked by the attack on the Dnipro (central-east), which killed 45 people including six children on Saturday as well as the downing of the helicopter where the Minister of the Interior was. The plane crashed on Thursday and crashed into a kindergarten near Kyiv, killing at least 14 people including Minister Denys Monastyrsky, who was on his way to the front.

President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to call for more aid from the West and several countries have announced new shipments to Ukraine. 20 minutes invites you to tune in to the new week of war in Ukraine ending this Friday, the 331st day of the conflict, thanks to four infographics.

The tense front

The situation on the ground continued to be volatile, particularly in the south and east of the country, on the front lines. On Friday, Russian occupation authorities said they had noted a “sharp increase in intensity” of fighting in the Zaporozhye region of southern Ukraine, where clashes were taking place “along the front line”. Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russian army has announced that it has taken control of Klichchiivka, a small town south of Bakhmout (east), a town which has been the focus of fighting. Klichchiivka, which had a pre-war population of about 500 people, is less than 10 kilometers southwest of Bakhmout, the target of a Russian offensive in the area for several months.

Its capture, days after Moscow said it had captured Soledar northeast of Bakhmout – which Kyiv denies – appeared to indicate that Russia was now trying to outflank the major city, having attempted a failed frontal assault from the east. Since last summer, the Russian army, supported at the same time by mercenaries from the Wagner paramilitary group, has been trying to take Bakhmout, but without success. The city is now mostly destroyed and nearly emptied of its civilian population.

One of the deadliest attacks on civilians

Ukraine suffered one of the deadliest bombings of civilian sites on Saturday since the start of Russia’s invasion of the country on February 24, 2022. A residential building was destroyed by a Russian missile on Dnipro, in the country’s center east, killing 45 people, including six children. Entire parts of the building collapsed, trapping dozens of people in the rubble. According to the presidency, about 1,700 people live in the building. “236 apartments damaged. More than 400 people have been left homeless,” added Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.

Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to bring “everyone guilty of these war crimes” to justice. His chief of staff Andriï Iermak, speaking via videoconference before the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland), “stressed the importance of establishing a special international tribunal” to try “the Russian leadership and all the criminals” for “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” according to a statement.

The Minister of the Interior dies in a helicopter crash

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky died on Wednesday near Kyiv in a helicopter crash that killed at least 14 people. The helicopter, a Super Puma EC-225 (Airbus Helicopter) according to its State Service for Emergency Situations (SES), crashed Wednesday morning in Brovary, near Kyiv.

“The kindergarten building was hit, and the fire then spread to the windows of the 14-storey building and three cars,” the SES said on Telegram, adding that there were nine people on board, including ministers and ministers. representative. According to the latest report from SES, there were 14 dead, including one child, and 25 injured in hospital, including 11 children. Ukrainian officials, such as Prime Minister Denys Chmygal on Telegram, called the death of 42-year-old Denys Monastyrsky, a former lawyer who joined Volodymyr Zelensky’s party, a “great loss”.

Europe continues to stockpile gas

The war in Ukraine has exposed Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, which the Old Continent has been striving to reduce as much as possible, combining crises and calling for energy calm. This change in strategy combined with very mild temperatures this winter has allowed European countries to stock up and not use it. “Gas stocks in Europe have been hovering around 82% of capacity in recent weeks, down from 50% last year and well above the five-year seasonal norm of 70%,” said John Plassard. , from Mirabaud. And convincing speeches multiplied.

“Prices are falling in Europe”, after the spikes of recent months, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday, welcoming the “decision” taken without Russian gas. But on the bill side, high gas and electricity prices are here to stay, Anders Opedal, chief executive of Norwegian energy giant Equinor, warned Monday on the BBC, saying consumers should not expect this to return to levels seen before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.