Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday (October 23rd) rejected Moscow’s accusations that kyiv was preparing provocations using a “dirty bomb”, as the Russian Defense Minister claimed in telephone interviews with EU countries. NATO. This new pass of arms raises fears of a new escalation in this conflict which is bogged down.
- Russian accusations of ‘dirty bomb’ in Ukraine, kyiv and Washington fear pretext for escalation
Moscow accused Ukraine in telephone conversations with NATO countries on Sunday of preparing to use a “dirty bomb”, allegations rejected by kyiv and Washington, which say they fear a pretext for an escalation. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke on the phone with his American, French, British and Turkish counterparts on Sunday about the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry announced.
During these exchanges of unprecedented intensity in a single day for Sergei Shoigu since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24, he told most of his interlocutors of “his concerns related to possible provocations from Ukraine with the use of a ‘dirty bomb'”, according to his ministry.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has dismissed Shoigu’s “patently false” claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory and that the world would “see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation” in a statement released by the White House.
“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is preparing something, it means only one thing: Russia has already prepared all this. I believe that now the world must react as harshly as possible”, for its hand lambasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
- Iran announces delivery of 40 turbines to Russia
Iran announced on Sunday the signing of a contract with Russia for the supply of “40 turbines” intended to help the gas industry of this country hit by western sanctions due to the invasion of Ukraine, according to a local media.
“Iran’s industrial successes” are not limited to the field of missiles and drones, said the executive director of the Iranian gas company (Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company), Reza Noushadi, quoted by the agency. Ministry of Petroleum press officer, Shana.
“Currently, 85% of the installations and equipment needed by the gas industry are manufactured inside the country and taking this capacity into account, a contract was recently signed to export 40 Iranian-made turbines to Russia” , said the official. He did not specify when the contract was signed or when the turbines are expected to be delivered.
- Ukraine: “peace is possible” when the Ukrainians “decide it”, says Macron
“Peace is possible” in Ukraine when the Ukrainians “decide it”, declared Emmanuel Macron on Sunday at the opening of a peace summit in Rome. “At some point, depending on the evolution of things and when the Ukrainian people and their leaders have decided, in the terms they have decided, peace will be built with the other, who is the enemy of ‘today, around a table,’ said the French president during a speech at the opening of this summit organized by the Italian Catholic community Sant’Egidio.
“Peace is possible, the only one they (the Ukrainians) will decide when they decide,” he insisted. While supporting Ukraine diplomatically and militarily, the French head of state has assumed since the start of the Ukrainian conflict in February to continue to speak to his Russian counterpart. Vladimir Poutineunlike other Western leaders and in particular US President Joe Biden.
- 25,000 people have fled Kherson, according to Moscow
Russian authorities in the occupied territory of Kherson continue to urge residents to flee, fearing an anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive in the area. Since Tuesday, about 25,000 people have been evacuated, said the deputy head of the region installed by Russia, Kirill Stremousov. “We again recommend that you leave the city and the western bank of the Dnipro,” Stremousov said in a video message posted on Telegram. “We are not going to abandon Kherson.”
The occupied city’s Russian administration has told residents to take “documents, money, valuables and clothes” due to “the tense situation at the front” and reported on Sunday that there are had “a sharp increase” in the number of civilians attempting to flee. Russian authorities in southern Ukraine are trying to evacuate up to 60,000 people living on the west bank of the Dnipro.
- Sanctions: under pressure, Orban still attacks the EU
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Brussels on Sunday of weakening Hungary with its sanctions against Russia, at a time when the nationalist leader must face a strong protest movement from teachers and students at home. Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of the capital, noted AFP journalists, and promised new actions in the weeks to come.
In this context, Viktor Orban had chosen not to gather his supporters in Budapest, as he traditionally does on this national holiday commemorating Hungary’s uprising against the USSR in 1956. He instead held a speech at 230 km away, in the city of Zalaegerszeg (west), where he again attacked the EU.