The Russian army captured 47 Ukrainian cities and towns From the beginning of 2024The president confirmed on Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Just since the beginning of this year, I think 47 sites have been liberated,” Putin said at a meeting of the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.

In recent months, the Russian army has recorded several advances in… Donbass region in eastern Ukraine On May 10, he launched an attack slightly to the north Kharkiv regionBut it did not achieve decisive progress.

Ukrainian forces are exhausted after more than two years of conflict that began in February 2022, and are suffering from delays in the delivery of weapons promised by Western powers and a shortage of troops.

Putin said at the forum attended by Russian businessmen and some foreign guests, Since January 2024, “more than 160,000 people” have been conscripted into the Russian army To fight on the Ukrainian front.

In September 2022, after suffering many setbacks and losses on the front, the Russian authorities announced a partial mobilization of their forces. reservists, This allowed the recruitment of at least 300,000 soldiers, most of them from areas far from major cities.

This campaign led to tens of thousands of Russians fleeing abroad, and some of them later returned to the country.

On the other side, The Kremlin accused France on Friday of being “ready” to “participate directly in the conflict.” In Ukraine, after French President Emmanuel Macron announced “new cooperation” with Kiev, by providing combat aircraft and military training programs.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian agencies on Friday that Macron shows absolute support for the Ukrainian regime and declares that the French Republic is ready to participate directly in the military conflict.

On Thursday evening, Macron announced a “new cooperation” with Kiev, by supplying Mirage 2000 fighters and training Ukrainian pilots in France starting this summer, with the aim of making them ready by the end of the year. He also pointed out France proposed training 4,500 soldiers on Ukrainian territory.

The French Head of State denied that these measures represented any consequences “escalation factor”He added that even the option of training Ukrainian soldiers in the “Western District, which is a free zone of Ukraine,” would not be an “aggressive” gesture either.

However, Peskov considered Macron's statements “very provocative.” “It increases tensions on the continent and does not contribute anything positive.”

Tensions between France and Russia have increased since Macron mentioned the possibility of sending French trainers to Ukraine without ruling out the option of deploying the army. For its part, the Kremlin stated that it does not rule out targeting French soldiers if they are sent to Ukraine.

(Information from Agence France-Presse)