Author: France 24

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky labelled it a “reset” while others have called it a “shake-up”: FRANCE 24 takes a look at the new team of army commanders tasked with helping Ukraine rebuild military momentum and ultimately win the war against Russia. After weeks of speculation, Zelensky announced he was replacing popular military chief Valery Zaluzhny earlier this month while also unveiling a complete reshuffle of his top command.To find out more about Zelensky’s new men, FRANCE 24 spoke to Ryhor Nizhnikau, a Ukraine specialist and senior research fellow at the Russia, the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood and Eurasia research programme at the Finnish Institute of International…

Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 15:31 The man who might be back in the White House next year, Donald Trump, has caused huge alarm in Europe by saying that he might let Russia “do whatever the hell they want” against NATO allies that do not contribute enough to collective defence. Our guest says that Trump’s comments should galvanise Europe into strategic autonomy and energy independence. Teresa Ribera is Spain’s minister for ecological transition, and a former secretary of state for climate change. She is a confidant of Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez. “I don’t think that any of the member states…

Alexei Navalny ’s spokesperson confirmed Saturday that the Russian opposition leader had died at a remote Arctic penal colony and said he was “murdered,” but it is unclear where his body is. Issued on: 17/02/2024 – 13:42 3 min An official note handed to Navalny’s mother stated that he died at 2:17 p.m. local time Friday, Kira Yarmysh said. She added that an employee of the prison colony said that Navalny’s body was taken to the nearby city of Salekhard as part of a probe into his death. She demanded that his body be handed over to his family.When a…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned allies Saturday that an “artificial deficit” of weapons for his country risks giving Russia breathing space, hours after his military chief said he was withdrawing troops from the eastern city of Avdiivka.  Issued on: 17/02/2024 – 05:37Modified: 17/02/2024 – 11:39 2 min Zelenskyy spoke to the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of security and foreign policy officials. Ukraine is back on the defensive against Russia in the nearly 2-year-old war, hindered by low ammunition supplies and a shortage of personnel.“Ukrainians have proven that we can force Russia to retreat,” he said. “We can get…

Floral tributes to Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe who died Friday in a Russian penal colony, were removed overnight by groups of unidentified people while police watched, videos on Russian social media show. More than 100 people were detained in eight cities across Russia after they came to lay flowers in memory of Navalny, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political repression in Russia. Issued on: 17/02/2024 – 10:04 2 min On Saturday, police blocked access to a memorial in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk and detained several people there as well as in another Siberian city, Surgut,…

Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the frontline city of Avdiivka to avoid being encircled, new military chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Saturday, handing Russia its biggest symbolic victory following Kyiv’s failed summer counter-offensive. Issued on: 17/02/2024 – 06:55Modified: 17/02/2024 – 09:50 3 min Russia has been trying to capture Avdiivka for months. It is the most significant territorial gain for Russian forces since they seized the eastern city of Bakhmut last May and comes ahead of the second anniversary of the start of the invasion.”I decided to withdraw our units from the city and switch to defence on more favourable lines,”…

World leaders and Russian opposition activists wasted no time Friday in blaming the reported death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny on President Vladimir Putin and his government.  “It is obvious that he was killed by Putin,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was visiting Germany for the Munich Security Conference as he sought aid for his country’s efforts to fight off an invasion by Russia.“Putin doesn’t care who dies — only for him to hold his position. This is why he must hold onto nothing. Putin must lose everything and be held responsible for his deeds,” Zelenskyy added.U.S. President…

Back to homepage / Shows / Truth or Fake Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 10:21 04:36 TRUTH OR FAKE © FRANCE 24 As reported in Wednesday’s edition of Truth of Fake, FRANCE 24 has been the victim of a deepfake. The video in question, which manipulates an extract from one of our French-language news bulletins by using artificial intelligence to simulate the presenter’s voice, falsely claims that French President Emmanuel Macron postponed a trip to Ukraine over fears of a plot to assassinate him there. The video is still being spread on social media. Pro-Russian propaganda outlet Pravda.fr, which originally shared the…

Issued on: 16/02/2024 – 11:28Modified: 16/02/2024 – 11:32 Our reporter Constantin Simon managed to secretly enter Myanmar, where he filmed the fighting between the rebels and the ruling junta. He also followed a rebel commander. FRANCE 24 brings you his exclusive 25-minute report. Three years ago in Myanmar, on February 1, 2021, the military staged a surprise coup and threw the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her civilian government in prison. They thereby put an end to the country’s decade of quasi-democracy, which had begun in 2011. The Burmese population demonstrated against the power grab, but…

The death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has further diminished a rapidly shrinking Russian opposition, which has seen its members assassinated, sentenced to lengthy prison terms or forced into exile as Russian President Vladimir Putin makes it clear he will not tolerate challenges to his regime.  It was widely feared that Alexei Navalny was risking his life by positioning himself as Putin’s most vocal critic in an increasingly repressive Russia, even challenging him for the presidency in 2018. Navalny narrowly survived being poisoned with novichok – a group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union – in 2020 and spent months recuperating in Germany. He…