Ukraine – New Russian airstrikes (5 december 2022)

France condemns in the strongest possible terms the strikes committed by Russia throughout Ukraine on December 5. Once again, these strikes deliberately targeted the country’s energy infrastructure, causing electricity and heating system outages. They also disrupted the electricity supply of the neighboring country of Moldova, where a Russian missile landed today.

These strikes, which had no military targets, took additional lives and destroyed many essential civilian infrastructures. By systematically targeting the Ukrainian people in the middle of the winter, Russia is demonstrating a clear desire to make them suffer and deprive them of water, heating and electricity in order to weaken their resiliency. Meanwhile, the Russian army is constantly being defeated by the Ukrainian army.

These actions patently constitute war crimes. Russia’s evasive actions and its avowed increase in exactions do nothing to weaken France’s determination to support Ukraine and fight against impunity. France will continue to mobilize its efforts to ensure that every violation of international law and every war crime will be brought before the courts so that those responsible can be held accountable. That is why France supports the investigations being conducted by the Ukraine judicial system and the International Criminal Court (ICC), including those supported by specialized investigators.

France will continue to stand with Ukraine. The two countries will be jointly organizing an international conference on December 13 at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in Paris in an effort to provide concrete solutions to the immediate needs of the Ukrainian people in order to help them face the winter, and to step up the coordination of international aid.