The political crisis in Rome could deprive Ukraine of weapons and prevent the introduction of the ceiling on the price of gas in Europe. The alarm was raised by the Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.
"The Russians are celebrating right now that they have brought down another Western government," Di Maio said. " Now I doubt we can send weapons " to Ukraine.
The words of the head of the Farnesina found an immediate echo in Kiev. Mikhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, hoped that " the traditional internal political struggle in Western countries does not undermine unity in the fundamental issues of the struggle between good and evil. In particular, on the supply of arms to Ukraine. ". "We cannot allow the Kremlin to use political competition as a weapon to undermine democracies," Podolyak added.
The spokesman of the European Commission for foreign affairs, Peter Stano, intervenes from Brussels, specifying that " the delivery of military aid to Ukraine is the responsibility of the Member States , not of the EU".
On the fighting front, Kiev accuses Russia of using Europe's largest nuclear power plant - that of Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine - as a base for storing weapons, including "missile systems", and for bombing surrounding areas. of the country.
The plant has been under Russian control since the first weeks of the invasion, although it is still managed by Ukrainian personnel. The situation at the Zaporizhzhia plant is "extremely tense", with up to 500 Russian soldiers controlling the plant , said Energoatom president Pedro Kotin.
"The occupiers bring their equipment there, including missile systems, from which they are already bombing the other bank of the Dnipro River and the Nikopol Territory," Kotin added in a television interview. The Russians " physically control the perimeter (of the plant). The occupants' equipment and their trucks with weapons and explosives remain in the area of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant", he specified, stressing that "the pressure on the occupants to leave the plant is insufficient".
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The day by the hour:
Kiev: "Political crises do not stop the sending of weapons"
"The traditional internal political struggle in Western countries must not undermine unity in the fundamental issues of the struggle between good and evil. In particular, on the supply of arms to Ukraine". Mikhailo Podolyak, advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, writes on Twitter. "We cannot allow the Kremlin to use political competition as a weapon to undermine democracies," adds Podolyak.
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EU: "Military aid belongs to individual states"
"The delivery of military aid to Ukraine is the responsibility of non-EU member states". There is talk of "bilateral arms supplies by individual member states, so questions about the Italian political crisis and how this could affect the table of deliveries of Italian arms or equipment that Italy has promised to Ukraine will be addressed to Italy , they are responsible for the supply and delivery ". This was stated by the spokesman of the European Commission for foreign affairs Peter Stano, when asked about the interview with Politico by the Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, according to whom the crisis of the Italian government can deprive Ukraine of weapons.
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Kiev: "In Donetsk 54 bombings in 24 hours"
At least 54 civilian targets have been hit by Russian bombing in Ukraine's Donetsk region in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian police said, according to Ukrinform.
Russian forces opened fire on 12 settlements - including Kramatorsk, Avdiivka, Bakhmut, Kostiantynivka, Hirnyk and Sloviansk - with unguided rockets, R-77 missiles, S-300 missile systems, multi-launch missile systems (Tornado-S , Uragan, Grad, Smerch) and artillery. Among the targets affected are 36 houses (including 11 apartment buildings), a school, a stadium, a chemical plant (in Avdiivka), a market, the central square of Kramatorsk, power lines, a water tower and two fields.
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Zelensky, "Russian society has many murderers and executioners"
Russian society, with so many killers, "will remain paralyzed for generations". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced this in a post on Facebook who then promised to restore more than 2,000 kindergartens, schools and universities destroyed by the Russian attacks in Ukraine. "We - he added - preserve our humanity and our civilization", while "Russian society with so many murderers and executioners will remain paralyzed for generations".
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Kiev, Russian missile attack on Odessa
Russian forces last night launched a missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Odessa (southwest) with a strategic Tu-95 bomber from the skies of Stavropol, in southwestern Russia: UNIAN reports. A cruise missile, the press service of the Directorate of the State Emergency Service of the region announced, hit a warehouse in the city causing a "fire over an area of 1,000 square meters". The flames were put out this morning and no injuries or casualties were reported. Today's attack follows last night's attack on the Odessa region, where the Russians fired three missiles, one of which was intercepted by Ukrainian forces. Even in this case, no injuries or victims were reported.
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Air raid sirens this morning in Kiev
Anti-aircraft sirens went off this morning in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, as Moscow intensifies its recent long-range attacks on the country's cities that have so far killed at least 34 people. The Guardian reports it. After the bombings on Vinnytsia which resulted in at least 23 deaths on Thursday, the newspaper recalls, eight people were killed in a series of attacks in the Donetsk region and three more people died in an attack in Dnipro last night.
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The Russians retreat along a strategic road in Donetsk
Ukrainian forces have blocked the attempt by Russian troops to take full control of the main road between the cities of Lysychansk and Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the head of the regional military administration Sergiy Gaidai said on Telegram. , according to UNIAN. Ukrainian soldiers repelled the Russians with heavy fire, forcing them to retreat, Gaidai commented, recalling that "the Russians have been aiming to take control of this strategically important road for more than two months", but still only partially control it.
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Russian bombs on the residential areas of Sumy
One person died and three others were injured as a result of bombing by Russian forces on residential areas in the Sumy region of eastern Ukraine, the governor of the region, Dmytro Zhyvytsky said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
(Unioneonline)