Have you missed the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 minutes Get the point for you every night. Between strong declarations, advances on the front and the results of the fighting, here is the essentials of this Wednesday, April 16, 2025, on the 1.148th day of war.
The fact of the day
On March 18, when Vladimir Putin ordered his soldiers after his phone call with Donald Trump, or on March 25 when Volodymyr Zelensky joined the American agreement? When then started the truce of “30 days” of the strikes on the energy infrastructure torn by Donald Trump? Regardless, will say the most cynical, since it has never been really respected. kyiv accuses Russia of having violated the moratorium “more than 30 times”. The Kremlin teaches the same accusations against the Ukrainians, without however giving figures.
Nevertheless, the date, necessarily imminent, of the end of this relative break agitated the chancellelleries this Wednesday, without the mystery being elucidated. “We will keep you informed, but I am not ready to communicate the decision made to you,” said Dmitri Peskov, the spokesperson for the Kremlin interviewed on this subject. Nothing more convincing on the side of kyiv: Guéorguiï Tykhy, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, who considers that the truce began on March 25, explained that he could not give “specific date” after which the agreement will be deciduous. But he indicated that this agreement, like that-not very clear-on the ceasefire in the Black Sea, was to be “extended” and that Ukraine suited anyway to “a full cease-fire”.
The Declaration of the Day
“” France calls for immediate and unconditional release of all those prosecuted for political reasons and respect by Russia of its international commitments in matters of right to information and access to information »»
This Declaration of the Quai d’Orsay arrives the day after the conviction at five and a half years in prison of four Russian journalists accused of “proximity” with the organization of opponent Alexei Navalny, mysteriously died in his penitentiary colony of the Arctic in February 2024. His foundation was considered in Russia as a “extremist” organization.
The figure of the day
2. Another double Russian strike, after the one who killed 35 on Sunday in Soumy. This time, Kherson, in the south of Ukraine, was targeted. A first bombardment took place early this Wednesday morning, said on Telegram the leader of the city’s military administration, novel Mrotchko. When the rescuers arrived on the spot to help the victims, the Russian forces “bombed them with artillery,” he added.
One man died and “three other people were injured,” said the governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandre Prokoudine, adding that the attack was aimed at a residential sector.
The trend
Will France have its say, when the bilateral negotiations between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, bereaved by the Soumy massacre, seem to skate? Marco Rubio, the head of American diplomacy, in any case announced this Wednesday his arrival in Paris. The US Secretary of State will be accompanied by Steve Witkoff’s special emissary, for “discussions with their European counterparts to advance President Trump’s objective to end the war between Ukraine and Russia and arrest the killing”, according to a statement from the State Department.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
Donald Trump’s two diplomats will be received on Thursday at the Elysée by Emmanuel Macron. Marco Rubio will also have interviews with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot during which “they will tackle several international crises together: war in Ukraine, situation in the Middle East, Iranian nuclear file”, according to a diplomatic source.
This is the third trip to Europe of the American diplomacy in Europe since taking office after its participation in the Security Conference in Munich in mid-February and a NATO meeting in Brussels in March.
At the same time, the French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu will be in Washington where he will speak with the United States Minister of Defense, Pete Hegseth.
