LIVE – kyiv accuses the IOC of being a “promoter of war” in Ukraine

MILITARY TRAINING FOR YOUNG RUSSIANS

The patriotism course, imposed since the start of the school year in September in Russian schools, will now be supplemented by military training for students in Russia. In addition to training in the handling of assault rifles and grenades, students will follow different types of military exercises, similar to those imposed during the Cold War. Lighting by Sylvia Amicone on LCI.

VOUGLEGAR

Ukraine has denied that Russian troops are advancing, as Moscow claims, near the town of Vougledar, a new hot spot on the front in eastern Ukraine where fighting has intensified lately.

“Our units continue to advance (…) Units have established themselves in the east of Vougledar and the work continues in the surroundings”, said in the morning the head of the Russian occupation in the Donetsk region. , Denis Pushilin. A spokesman for the Ukrainian army in charge of this area, Yevguen Ierine, assured him that the Russian attacks in the area had failed.

F-16

After deciding to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Germany refuses to send fighter planes requested by kyiv. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz refuses “to enter into a constant bidding war”. In an interview with the newspaper “Tagesspiegel”, he warns against the “risk of escalation” with Moscow.

POLAND

In Poland, a NATO country and neighbor of Ukraine at war with Russia, the national defense budget will reach 4% of GDP in 2023, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Monday. “The war in Ukraine means that we have to arm ourselves even faster. For this reason, we will make an unprecedented effort (by transmitting, editor’s note) 4% of GDP for the Polish army,” Morawiecki told journalists.

RUSSIAN SPIES

Two alleged Russian spies have been arrested in Slovenia, according to the Guardian, which cross-checks local media reports. Two “foreign citizens” were arrested in December and remain in detention pending the investigation for espionage. They used an agency specializing in real estate and antiques as a cover for their activities.

The two are suspected of “spying for a foreign intelligence agency and certifying false content in official documents”, according to reports. The Associated Press notes that if convicted, the suspects face a total of up to eight years in prison. The suspects have also been active abroad, with one of the two having Argentinian nationality.

THE KREMLIN REFUTES THE REVELATIONS OF BORIS JOHNSON

The Kremlin accuses the former British prime minister of lying by saying that Putin threatened him with missiles before the invasion of Ukraine.

“What Mr. Johnson said was a lie. It was either a deliberate lie, but then for what purpose? Either it was an unintentional lie, insofar as he did not understand what he said President Putin,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, assuring that there had been “no missile threat.”

CENSORSHIP

Olesya Krivtsova, 19, has been under house arrest in northwestern Russia for almost a month. Accused of having discredited the Russian army and supported terrorism on social networks, she faces years in prison. The police had arrested her at the end of December, threatening her with a hammer.

“PROMOTER OF WAR”

The Ukrainian presidency raised the tone on Monday against the International Olympic Committee, accusing it of being “a promoter of war” because it is examining the possibility of authorizing the participation of Russian athletes under a neutral banner in the Olympic Games-2024.

“The IOC is a promoter of war, murder and destruction. The IOC happily watches Russia destroy Ukraine and then offers Russia a platform to promote genocide” of Ukrainians, the adviser tweeted. of the Mykhaïlo Podoliak presidency, personally targeting Thomas Bach, the German boss of the Committee. “Obviously the money that buys Olympic hypocrisy doesn’t smell of Ukrainian blood. Isn’t it, Mr. Bach?” he said.

Faced since February 2022 with the Russian invasion which has put Ukraine on fire and blood, kyiv is demanding to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus, an ally of the Kremlin, from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

kyiv ACCUSES IOC OF ‘PROMOTING WAR’

The Ukrainian presidency accuses the International Olympic Committee of being a “promoter of war”.

WHEN PUTIN THREATENED BORIS JOHNSON

Boris Johnson tells the BBC how Vladimir Putin threatened him on the phone after his visit to kyiv in early February 2022. At that time, the Russian president denied his intention to invade his Ukrainian neighbor. Boris Johnson explains that he warned Putin of Western sanctions if he went down this path.

F-16 DELIVERY NEGOTIATIONS

The Ukrainians “need” the F-16 fighter jets, which Germany refuses to deliver, reports François-Xavier Ménage from kyiv on Monday morning. On the ground, “the soldiers are tired”, he explains to us. “They think that nothing will advance if there is no delivery of weapons”.

RECAP’

New Russian shelling claimed four lives in Kharkiv and Kherson on Sunday. On tour in Latin America, Olaf Scholz affirmed that his country will not allow the war to turn into a conflict between Russia and NATO. For its part, NATO says it is “ready for a direct confrontation” with Russia. Find in our article the latest developments on the war in Ukraine.

RUSSIAN PARTIAL MOBILIZATION

In its daily report, the British Ministry of Defense considers that the Russian authorities “probably keep open the possibility of another series of calls within the framework of the partial mobilization”, the decree of which has not been formally canceled by Moscow since its application.

According to the intelligence, Russian media are indeed reporting that “Russian border guards were preventing Kyrgyz migrant workers with dual passports from leaving Russia, telling the men that their names were on mobilization lists. January 23, 2023, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the decree on partial mobilization remains in effect.

A way for the Russian leadership, according to London, to “seek ways to meet the high number of personnel required to finance any future major offensive in Ukraine, while minimizing national dissent”.

FINLAND’S MEMBERSHIP IN NATO

On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted that Turkey might approve Finland’s NATO bid, without doing the same for Sweden.

BOMBING IN KHERSON

Russian bombardments on Kherson, in southern Ukraine, killed at least three people on Sunday and injured six, denounced President Volodymyr Zelensky, while a Russian strike the same day in Kharkiv (east) killed one person , according to the governor of the region.

SOUTH KOREA

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on South Korea on Monday to “intensify” its military aid to Ukraine, suggesting that it revise its policy of not supplying arms to countries at war . He had met senior South Korean government officials the day before, including Foreign Minister Park Jin, as part of a tour to strengthen ties between NATO and its allies in Asia.

THREATENS

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recounts in a BBC documentary that Russian President Vladimir Putin “sort of threatened” him before the invasion of Ukraine by throwing at him: “A missile would take a minute”.

In this three-part documentary, the first episode of which is broadcast this Monday evening on BBC Two, the former head of the British government recounts his “very long” and “extraordinary” call with the Russian president after his visit to kyiv in early February. . At that time, Vladimir Putin continued to maintain that he had no intention of invading his Ukrainian neighbor, despite the massive influx of Russian soldiers into the border regions. Boris Johnson, he says that he had warned the Russian president of the harsh sanctions that Westerners would take if he embarked on this path.

OLAF SCHOLZ

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed on Sunday that his country will not allow the war in Ukraine to turn into a conflict between Russia and NATO, after meeting with the Chilean president as part of his tour of Latin America.

“We contributed to ensuring that there was no escalation of the conflict, as this would have serious consequences for the whole world. This would lead, for example, to a war between Russia and the NATO countries , it will not happen, we will prevent it with all our efforts, we have succeeded so far and we will continue to do so,” said the head of the German government.

WELCOME TO THIS LIVE

Please join us to follow, live, the news of this Monday, January 30 on the war in Ukraine.