Ukraine, the Severodonetsk “battle” is “one of the most difficult,” according to Zelensky

Ukrainian soldiers are fighting in Severodonetsk one of the “most difficult battles” since the start of the war to resist Russian forces that now control a large part of this strategic eastern city where, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, “the fate” of the Donbass region is being decided. “We are defending our positions, inflicting significant losses on the enemy. It's a very hard, very difficult battle, probably one of the most difficult in this war,” the Ukrainian president said in a video broadcast Wednesday evening. For Russia, getting its hands on this city would be decisive in conquering the entire vast Donbass coal basin, already partly held by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.

"In many ways, the fate of our Donbass is decided there,” Zelensky said. A few hours earlier, Sergei Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said that Moscow forces were “in control of a large part of Severodonetsk.” “The industrial zone is still ours, there are no Russians there. The fighting is taking place only on the streets inside the city,” he announced.

Legislative elections: pushed to the left, Macron enters the security field

Three days before the first round of the general elections, Emmanuel Macron will continue the security battle on Thursday during a visit to Tarn, hoping to make another difference against a dynamic left. Faced with the dull in the polls for his current majority, Emmanuel Macron has entered the race, multiplying the interventions and exits, as in Gaillac on Thursday morning where he is expected by the national gendarmerie brigade. After a visit to Clichy-sous-Bois the day before on the theme of sport, the head of state “wants to show that he is not giving up on either the extreme right or the far left, whether in terms of youth or security”, argues an adviser. In Tarn, Mr Macron must in particular review the announcements made in Nice during the presidential campaign, including the creation and deployment of 200 new gendarmerie brigades across the country as part of the future law governing the Interior Ministry (LOPMI). “These new brigades, which will be fixed, based on France Services houses, or mobile, thanks to equipped vehicles,” explains the Elysée, “will offer residents public services such as lodging complaints or receiving victims and will strengthen the presence of law enforcement in peri-urban and rural areas.”

IN SHORT

"I don't want it to happen again”: Miah Cerrillo, a girl who covered herself in her friend's blood to escape the perpetrator of a mass shooting at a Texas school, testified before the US Congress, more pressured than ever to adopt gun control measures.

Brazilian authorities continued their search on Thursday to find the British journalist and the Brazilian expert who have disappeared since Sunday in the Amazon, without ruling out “no leads”, including murder, in a region where numerous traffickers are carried out.

Concerned about the dynamics of inflation more than growth, the European Central Bank should prepare to exit its controversial negative interest rate policy on Thursday, starting by packing up its latest debt-buying tool.