Amid warnings of an escalation by Putin, Ukraine and its allies commemorate a year since the Russian invasion

There illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a year this Friday in which the former Soviet republic put up fierce resistance to Russian troops and, with Western backing, inflicted unexpected setbacks on Vladimir Putin’s forces.

The Russians entered Ukraine on February 24, 2022starting on worst conflict on European soil since the end of World War II.

Twelve months later, many Ukrainian cities are in ruins, part of the country lives under Russian occupation and the death toll and wounded on each side exceeds 150,000according to Western estimates.

During this Friday, the Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelensky, will give a press conference and ceremonies will be held in cities symbolic of the sufferings of war, such as loofahon the outskirts of Kyivtheater of a massacre of civilians attributed to Russian forces.

The president of the European Commission (THIS), Ursula von der Leyenand the general secretary of the I WILL TAKE, Jens Stoltenberg, will attend events marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Baltic republic this Friday in the Estonian capital of Tallinn. There, they are expected to also comment on the situation in Ukraine in a joint press conference with the President and Prime Minister of Estonia.

There United Nations General Assembly approved this Thursday by 141 votes for, 7 against and 32 abstentions a resolution demanding that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces” from Ukraine.

China, which abstained in this vote, tabled a proposal for a “political solution” to the conflictin which he calls for dialogue, warns against the use of nuclear weapons and urges do not attack civilians.

“All parties should help Russia and Ukraine to work in the same direction and resume direct dialogue as soon as possible.“, said the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this document in twelve points.

The Ukrainian intelligence services pointed to the risk of “large-scale provocationsby Russia during this Friday, of which bombing campaigns.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower It will light up in the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag.

In LondonA minute of silence will be observed in front of the Russian Embassyin the presence of deputies and diplomats.

In Berlinthe head of the German government, Olaf Scholzwill participate in a ceremony with the Ukrainian Ambassador and a demonstration will take place in front of the Russian Embassy.

For his part, Zelensky underlined Thursday the determination of his compatriots.

“We didn’t break up. We have passed many tests and we will pass. We will hold to account all those who have brought this evil and this war to our land.“, he claimed.

Ukrainians admit their exhaustion after a year at the pace of anti-aircraft alerts often deprived of electricity and water by the bombardments, but they depend on a favorable outcome of the conflict.

“The victory will be ours and everything will be fine. I hope this will end soonsaid Sofia, a resident of Kramatorsk (It is).

Oksana, 60, admits “living in fear” and hopes for “peace”. “We want this war to end, we’re tired of living like this“, comments.

Putin, for his part, accuses Western powers of ‘stirring up the Ukrainian conflict’ to ‘finish off’ Russia and on Wednesday he said his country was fighting in Ukraine for its “historic lands”.

In Russia, it seems unlikely that difficulties at the front or the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of young people will provoke protests, given that criticism of the army is harshly repressed and opposition figures are exiled or imprisoned.

On Thursday, Muscovites were interviewed by the news agency AFP They oscillated between despair and indifference.

“I see no future. I see no point in having children or developing my brain. So that?” said Ruslan Melnikov, a 28-year-old teacher.

Liubov Iudinaa 48-year-old security guard, maintains that during this year “there was no change” in his life, although the children of several of his friends were mobilizeds.

“Some are dead. But it’s like that“, said.

Russia was initially betting on a quick victory that would keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence.

But for now he seems to be concentrating his objective in the four eastern and southern regions he has proclaimed under his sovereignty and reversing his last military reverses with the conquest of Bakhmutbesieged for months.

Western powers imposed a series of sanctions against Russiaand in particular against his oil and gas exports and the banking, aviation and defense sectors.

UNITED STATES and the countries of the European Union (EU) provided aid for more than 128,000 million euros ($135 billion) to Ukraine, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Washington announced Thursday that preparing ‘meaningful’ new sanctions and a new $2 trillion military aid package.

Meeting in India, the finance ministers of the G7 discussed new sanctions and increased their financial support to Kyiv for $39 billion.

(With information from AFP)

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