berlusconi putin ukraine weber epi

Russian martial law is triggered in Ukrainian territories that Moscow’s troops have illegally occupied and annexed. These are Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. From the latter, however, the Russians would be on the run. The Ukrainian counter-offensive is bearing fruit. New Russian attacks in kyiv claim victims, the day after Berlusconi’s declarations on the “sweetest letter” that Putin would have written to him.

Vladimir Putin signed a decree for the introduction of martial law. Not only. In his speech before the Russian Security Council, the head of the Kremlin – with whom Silvio Berlusconi claims to have “restored relations” – issued a decree which limits travel inside and outside 8 Russian border regions of Ukraine. According to the British newspaper Guardian, these are measures that apply to the southern regions. Of these, in Krasnodar, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov. But also to the Ukrainian territories of Crimea and Sevastopol that Russia annexed in 2014.

Photo Ansa / National Emergency Service of Ukraine

On the Ukrainian side, Putin maintains, kyiv rejects any proposal for dialogue. And so “attacks continue, civilians are dying”. “The constitutional laws on the admission of the four new regions to the Russian Federation – said the Russian President – have entered into force. As we know, the kyiv regime has refused to recognize the will and the choice of the people and rejects any proposal for dialogue. On the contrary, the attacks continue. Civilians are dying,” Putin said.

Ukraine, the situation in Kherson

Anti-aircraft alarms, also today October 19, in much of Ukraine. From Kyiv to Odessa. Sirens also sounded in Mykolaiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Zaporozhzhia, Kirovograd and Cherkasy. This was stated by Sergei Bratchuk, adviser to the head of the Odessa regional military administration, as reported by the Russian agency Ria Novosti. Explosions have again occurred in the center of kyiv, which has already been hit several times in recent days. This was reported by the correspondent of Agence France Presse (AFP) in the Ukrainian capital.

Putin during a meeting with the Russian Security Council on October 19, 2022. Photo Ansa / Epa Gavriil Grigorov

Further south, however, the Ukrainian armed forces “launched an offensive in the direction of Novaya Kamenka-Berislav in the Kherson region”. On the ground there are “up to two infantry battalions from the 128th Assault Brigade and one tank battalion from the 17th Brigade”, said deputy head of the pro-Russian regional administration Kirill Stremousov, quoted by the Interfax news agency. “The preparations preceded the offensive attack. There are a lot of Ukrainian mid-range drones and a reconnaissance aircraft,” Stremousov said.

“About 50 employees of the Zaporizhzhia power plant are prisoners of the Russians,” Ukrainian operator Energoatom told AFP. According to the head of the regional military administration of Mykolaiv, Vitaly Kim, “the Russians are preparing to bombard Kherson, which they occupy”. “They are evacuating the population (tens of thousands of people, editor’s note), they are saying that the Ukrainian armed forces are going to shoot, they are going to hit Kherson. But knowing the Russian tactics, I have a feeling that the Russians are preparing to hit the city,” Kim was quoted as saying by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.

Restoration of fiber optic communication in Kharkiv, Photo Ansa / Epa Sergey Kozlov

Ukraine, terrorized civilians

It’s not enough. Russian soldiers reportedly opened fire on ambulances in the community of Dvorichna in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine. The Center for Emergency Medical Care and Disaster Medicine of the Kharkiv Regional Council wrote on Facebook, as reported by Ukrinform. “The enemy continues to terrorize civilians in the liberated areas of Kharkiv with missile attacks. In today’s shelling of the Dvorichna district, three vehicles specializing in emergency medical services were badly damaged, some employees of the emergency service were injured. “

In the occupied areas, the Russians are also looting museums and burning books in Ukrainian. This was stated by the General Staff of the Kyiv Army in its morning report of October 19, reports Ukrinform. The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has documented more than 500 cases of Russian war crimes against Ukrainian cultural heritage.

A photo from a leaflet published by the press service of the National Emergency Service of Ukraine shows rescuers working at the site of a drone attack in Kyiv on October 17, 2022. Photo Ansa

The EU and support for Ukraine

“Russia’s targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure mark a new chapter in an already cruel war. The international order is clear. These are war crimes. Targeted attacks against civilian infrastructure with the clear aim of depriving men, women and children of water, electricity and heating as winter approaches. These are acts of pure terror. And they should be called as such. This was stated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in the European Parliament.

The EPP and Berlusconi

The leader of the European People’s Party, the German Manfed Weber, also spoke about Ukraine in the European Parliament. “Russia again attacked kyiv with nearly 30 drones, killing innocent people, including a pregnant woman,” he said. “Not a day goes by that Putin and his regime don’t deliver terrible news and lies.”

On Monday, Russia attacked Kyiv with nearly 30 drones, killing 4 innocent people, including a pregnant woman.
Putin is a war criminal.
Putin must lose.
Putin must finally understand that he cannot win this war.
Europe will never stop supporting Ukraine. Never! This message brings us together! pic.twitter.com/b7amuqs17r

— Manfred Weber (@ManfredWeber) October 19, 2022

“Given all the casualties, we never tire of calling Putin a war criminal. Putin must lose and Europe will never stop supporting Ukraine. Never. This message unites us,” Weber remarked during the Plenary, where the debate also touched on Silvio Berlusconi’s comments about Putin. Words that go in a different direction than those of the leader of the EPP, of which Forza Italia is a part. “We are convinced that Forza Italia will lead the next government on a path that will best serve the interests of the Italian people within the framework of a strong and stable Europe,” the European People’s Party said the day after Italy’s September 25 elections. More than one now wonders if Manfred Weber and his followers are still convinced of this.

Berlusconi with Manfred Weber of the EPP. Photo Ansa / Instagram Silvio Berlusconi