It’s coming up to 8pm in Kyiv, that’s it from me, Joe Middleton, and the Ukraine-Russia war blog on Saturday.
You can find a brief summary of all the top stories and updates from the ongoing conflict here.
The biggest story of the day was the backlash that Germany is facing from allies over its reluctance to supply Leopard 2 tanks to bolster Ukraine’s fighting capacity.
RT France, the French arm of the Russian state broadcaster, will shut down after its bank accounts were frozen as part of the most recent EU sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, AFP reports.
The channel’s director Xenia Fedoro said in a statement on Twitter:
After five years of harassment, the authorities in power have achieved their goal: the closure of RT France.
She said 123 employees were at risk of not being paid for January and could lose their jobs because of the account freeze -- part of the latest European Union sanctions against Russia.
The French finance ministry told AFP that the assets of the chain had been frozen in compliance with the most recent EU sanctions, and not on Paris’s initiative.
A broadcast ban for Russian media was introduced by the European Union shortly after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
An appeal by RT France was thrown out by the European Court of Justice last July.
Les fonds de RT France sont gelés à la demande de la Direction Générale du Trésor, en raison du 9eme paquet de sanctions qui ne vise pas RT France. Notre chaîne ne peut plus poursuivre son activité. Voici notre communication. pic.twitter.com/aF3JUsqkLl
— Xenia Fedorova (@xfedorova) January 21, 2023
