Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday (January 24) as Ukraine marked 11 months of war that Russian athletes should have "no place" at the 2024 Paris Olympics. "I particularly emphasised that athletes from Russia should have no place at the Olympic Games in Paris," Zelensky wrote on Telegram following a telephone call with Macron.
On February 24, 2022, only a few days after the Beijing Winter Olympics' closing ceremony, Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has stepped up attacks in Ukraine's eastern town of Soledar, in the Donbas region, where the Ukrainian forces are trying to repel the double onslaught by the mercenary Wagner Group and the Russian forces.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities had turned the nation's power grid into a "battlefield" and sparked a fresh wave of Ukrainian emigration to Europe.
"Russia's leadership has given the order to turn the energy system itself into a battlefield. The consequences of this are very dangerous, again for all of us in Europe," Zelensky said in an address to the EU council.
Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
After laying siege to southern port city Mariupol, Russian forces are reportedly heading towards the capital Kyiv city even as Ukrainian officials have said that they are “ready to fight”.
Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that the West made a mistake by offering NATO membership to Ukraine, Sputnik news agency has reported.