• Russia launched its "military operation" in Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, 2022. Every evening, at 19:30 pm, 20 Minutes offers you its recap of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that leaves dead and wounded and thousands of refugees every day.
  • Who did what? Who said what? And who supports whom and why? You will know everything about the progress of the negotiations and the events of this crisis that is shaking Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the United States.
  • On Friday, Russia claims to have repelled a large Ukrainian offensive, while Kiev claims an advance near Bakhmut.

Did you miss the latest events about the war in Ukraine? Don't panic, 20 Minutes takes stock for you every night, at 19:30 pm. Who did what? Who said what? Where do we stand? The answer below:

News of the day

Russia claims to have repelled Thursday a Ukrainian offensive in the Soledar sector, near Bakhmut, on a line "with a length of more than 95 kilometers. Ukrainian army units carried out 26 attacks involving more than 1,000 servicemen and up to 40 tanks," the Russian Defense Ministry said. That is an average of ten men per kilometer, which seems very low for a counter-offensive...

The phrase of the day

There was simply a leak of the units of the Ministry of Defense on the flanks"

These are the words of Yevgeny Prigozhin. The head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner accused the regular Russian troops of "fleeing" their positions near Bakhmut in Ukraine, where Kiev claimed a breakthrough, saying the defenses were "collapsing" and that the Russian General Staff was "watering down" the situation. "The Defense Ministry's attempts in the information field to water down the situation are and will lead to a global tragedy for Russia," he said. During the day, Kiev claimed a two-kilometer advance around Bakhmut.

Today's figure

92. That is, in millions of euros, the amount of new aid released by the Belgian Government to Ukraine. Half of the funds allocated will be in the form of armored vehicles, armaments, ammunition, with first deliveries planned "very quickly," he said in a statement. The other half is intended for the civilian population, humanitarian aid provided in major cities in coordination with the UN, and the "consolidation" of the Belgian diplomatic presence in the region, with two posts open in Moldova and Armenia.

To finance this aid, Belgium will draw on taxes levied on frozen Russian assets, a windfall that amounts to a total of 625 million euros since the beginning of the war.

Today's trend

Eurovision will take place without Volodymyr Zelensky. While the contest, which Ukraine should have organized this year, will take place in Liverpool, the Ukrainian president was to speak there by video message. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the broadcasters' organization that oversees the contest, finally rejected Thursday night his request in the name of "the non-political nature of the event": "This principle prohibits political or similar statements during the contest," the EBU said in a statement.

Our dossier on the war in Ukraine

This decision has sparked controversy, while Russia has been excluded from the contest since last year. "The values and freedoms for which President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people are fighting in Ukraine are not political, but fundamental," said a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, saying the government was "disappointed" by the decision.

  • War in Ukraine
  • World
  • Volodymyr Zelensky
  • Bakhmut
  • Yevgeny Prigozhin
  • Russia