Russian attacks in Ukraine: Jean-Noël Barrot denounces an attempt at intimidation

The weekend's Russian attacks in Ukraine, one of which hit a train near the Polish border, are "unacceptable", said the French Minister of Foreign Affairs on Monday September 14. These attacks have "a very clear aim: to intimidate Europeans, to discourage them and above all to disunite them", declared Jean-Noël Barrot on the sidelines of a summit on the Arctic in Finland, stressing that these strikes took place "at a time when Ukraine hosted a major economic support forum, in which a large number of business representatives and diplomatic representatives from all over the world and particularly from Europe participated".

On franceinfo, the head of French diplomacy stressed that the Russian offensive "demonstrates the feverishness of Vladimir Putin at a time when Russia is doing very badly, is in failure on the military level, incapable of breaking through the front and the Ukrainian resistance". He recalled that Russia was also failing “economically, with growth at half-mast, accounts in the red”.

“Our soldiers accomplish their missions”

A Russian drone struck the locomotive of a passenger train linking kyiv to Warsaw on Sunday, two kilometers from the border with Poland, a NATO member country, without causing any casualties, according to the authorities of the two countries. On Monday, a Russian attack on a warehouse of an agricultural company in northern Ukraine also left at least three dead and seven injured, according to police.

The Kremlin spokesperson justified the Russian strikes carried out the day before in Ukraine very close to the Polish border, affirming that they were part of the “missions” of its armed forces. “This is about Ukrainian territory. Our military carries out its missions throughout Ukrainian territory and will continue to do so,” Dmitri Peskov said during his daily press briefing.