23 Jul, 2023 09:13

Wagner fighters want to 'visit' Poland – Lukashenko

PMC members want to cross the border into Poland, the Belarusian president has told Vladimir Putin

Fighters from the private military company (PMC) Wagner want to “visit” Poland, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin on Sunday. According to Lukashenko, the PMC members want to reach the Polish capital and the city of Rzeszow, which they consider to have been a hub for providing Ukrainian troops with military hardware during the fighting for the key Donbass city of Artyomovsk.

After the failed mutiny attempt in June, Wagner members were offered the opportunity to retire, sign contracts with the Russian military, or relocate to Belarus together with the group’s chief, Evgeny Prigozhin.

According to Lukashenko, the fighters hosted in the country arestarting to “concern” local authorities, as they want to “go on tour to Poland”to visit Warsaw and Rzeszow, which they believe was a hub for providing Ukrainian troops with military hardware during the fighting for the key Donbass city of Artyomovsk (also known as Bakhmut).

“They know where the military hardware [to support Ukrainian troops]came fromduring the fighting in Artyomovsk,” the Belarusian president explained on Sunday during his meeting with Putin. “So they have this internal feeling that Rzeszow is trouble.”

He also noted that the Wagner members know “what’s going on around the Union State [of Russia and Belarus],” so he wouldn’t like to have them relocated somewhere away from the center of the country, particularly given thatthey are in what he characterized as a “bad mood.”

On Friday, Putin claimed that Polish leaders are planning to form a NATO-backed coalition to intervene in the Ukraine conflict and take over parts of western Ukraine. Belarusian territory might also be endangered, he added, promising retaliation in case of any aggression against the Union State member.

https://www.rt.com/russia/580145-wagner-fighters-concern-us-lukashenko/

23 Jul, 2023 11:08

Kiev’s ‘incompetence’ to blame for damage to Odessa cathedral – Moscow

The largest Orthodox church in the city was likely hit by a Ukrainian missile, the Russian military has said

Ukrainian claims that the largest Orthodox cathedral in the port city of Odessa was severely damaged by a Russian missile strike are completely false, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said, adding that it was likely hit by Kiev’s own air defense systems.

In a statement on Sunday, the ministry said that “the information disseminated by the Kiev regime about the Transfiguration Cathedral in the city of Odessa being hit by [Russian] high-precision weapons does not correspond to reality.” It added that all Russian strikes successfully hit military facilities in the region that were located “at a safe distance from the temple complex.”

Officials also stressed that “the planning of high-precision strikes against the military and terrorist infrastructure of the Kiev regime is carried out based on carefully vetted and confirmed information” in a bid to avoid hitting the civilian population as well as cultural sites.

The ministry added that the footage from the scene suggests that “the most likely cause for the destruction of [the cathedral] was thefall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile.” The incident could have been caused by the “incompetent actions” of personnel managing Ukrainian air defense systems which Kiev deliberately deploys in civilian-populated areas, it added.

According to the ministry, the Russian strikes overnight successfully hit Ukrainian naval facilities near Odessa that were “used to prepare terrorist acts against Russia” involving sea drones. Officials also claimed that the attack landed on compounds accommodating foreign mercenaries fighting for Kiev.

Photos circulating on social media appear to show extensive damage to the cathedral’s facade, with the floor inside the lavishly decorated building strewn with rubble. The pictures also showthe altar smashed into pieces and shattered ceiling murals.

Initially founded in1794, the Transfiguration Cathedral became the main church of the entire regionbefore being demolished by the Soviets in 1936. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was restored and consecrated by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in 2010.

In recent days, Russian forces ramped up strikes in Odessa Region, targeting shipyards, fuel depots, and weapons stockpiles, according to the Defense Ministry. The attacks came in response to a Ukrainian maritime drone raid on the Crimean Bridge earlier this month that damaged one section of the roadway and claimed the lives of a married couple from Russia, injuring their teenage daughter.

https://www.rt.com/russia/580146-ukraine-strike-odessa-cathedral/