Vladimir Putin wants to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus

“It’s nothing out of the ordinary. The United States has been doing this for decades. It’s been placing its tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its allies for a long time… We’ve agreed to do the same thing.” Simple provocation or real risk of escalation? The words of the Russian president, this Saturday on television, lead to a cascade of reactions. NATO speaks of a “dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric”Berlin denounces a “attempt to intimidate” and kyiv is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

Basically, however, there is nothing very surprising in this statement, which occurs at a time when Russian forces are bogged down in Bakhmout.

The vassalization of Belarus

Belarus, which has already allowed Russian tanks to pass through its territory for the offensive of February 24, 2022, voted around the same time to modify its Constitution, strengthening the powers of President Alexander Lukashenko and authorizing the country to receive nuclear weapons on its soil. Vladimir Putin’s announcement on the storage of nuclear weapons of intermediate range and reduced charge is only the logical consequence of this decision.

Challenger 2 tanks soon in kyiv

To give Ukraine the means to defend itself, arms deliveries continue. Last week, Slovakia delivered the first four MiG-29 fighters. Today, London announces that its 14 Challenger 2 tanks will soon take the road to kyiv. The Ukrainian soldiers who will be in charge of piloting them have just completed their training in the United Kingdom.

The return of deported children

In Russia, the arrest warrant issued against Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court on March 17 continues to irritate the entourage of the Russian president. Moscow opens a criminal investigation against several judges and the prosecutor; the head of the Duma, proposes to prohibit any activity of the ICC on Russian territory. As for Dmitri Medvedev, current number 2 of the Security Council, he outdoes himself by threatening to send “missiles” both on the ICC and on the country that would dare to arrest the Russian president.

This does not prevent the court from scheduling the forthcoming opening of an office in Ukraine to better work on the war crime for which it judges Vladimir Putin responsible: the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russian territories.

Besides, it’s a small victory, of course, but last week, 17 of these children were able to return home and find their parents. A drop of water among the 16,226 children now far from their homes.

Leroy Merlin is considering selling its stores in Russia

There are not many Western brands left in Russia. After Société Générale, Renault, Michelin, Engie, Legrand… Leroy Merlin, the DIY brand, would like to cede control of its 113 stores – which will not close. The Mulliez group wants to transfer control of its Russian subsidiary to its local management. It is then up to him to operate the stores independently. It is not known whether the new managers will keep the Leroy Merlin brand or switch to a Russian brand, but this formula would allow the group to disengage smoothly, without handing over its stores to a predatory competitor, and possibly to return if the climate improves. was improving.

The good news of spring

Nadiya Pavlova, a lawyer in kyiv, left to live at the start of the war in her family’s country house, not far from kyiv. She regularly travels back and forth to the capital to work and plead in court. Part of his family still lives in the Donbass, in the zone occupied by the Russians. But for once, Nadiya has a light heart: in the first days of spring, when the flowers in her garden were starting to grow, she received news from her aunt, whom she could no longer reach. “She is fine”, she says. She resists. Pending the recapture of the region by the Ukrainian army.

Thanks to Maurine Mercier, Thibault Lefèvre, Laxmi Lota, Benoît Pellistrandi, Sylvain Tronchet and Nadiya Pavlova.

Production

Isabelle Labeyrie

Broadcast Sofiane Aktib

The song :

вальс “баламут“ (The Troublemaker’s Waltz)