©Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
The Ukrainian army uses toxic substances to carry out terrorist attacks, Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, said.
"The Ukrainian armed forces use toxic substances not only during military operations, but also to carry out terrorist attacks. For example, on August 9, 2022, Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo was hospitalized with signs of poisoning. Laboratory tests showed the presence of ricin in biomedical tests, which is listed in Schedule 1 of the Chemical Weapons Convention," Kirillov said.
In addition, he said that on December 5, 2023, the head of the Lugansk People's Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, was poisoned with phenolic compounds.
"We know of other cases in which high-ranking officials were poisoned, investigations into which continue," Kirillov added.
FSB foils purported Ukrainian bomb plot - Video
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has foiled an assassination attempt against an official in Zaporozhye Region, the agency claimed on Monday. The suspect, a Russian national, is alleged to have acted on behalf of Ukraine, and was killed while resisting arrest.
The FSB released footage showing the suspect planting an improvised explosive device under a parked car. He can be seen limping past the vehicle with a cane before falling to the ground, pulling an object from a bag, and then placing it under the driver’s seat.
The agency said the would-be assassin, identified as Vitaly Dyatlenko, was “neutralized” after resisting arrest. He was reportedly armed with a Makarov handgun.
The footage released by the FSB showed a bomb specialist using a remote-controlled robot to remove the IED. The device was reportedly a hand-sized container packed with plastic explosives and other components.
The agency claimed that Dyatlenko had received the components from Ukraine’s SBU security service, the country's successor to the KGB. Kiev reportedly operates an extensive program for assassinating Russian officials and public figures, particularly those in former Ukrainian territories.
The FSB described the incident as an attempted “terrorist attack,” and linked the plot to next month’s presidential election in Russia.
Avdeevka chemical plant captured – MOD
Russian troops have captured the strategically important Avdeevka Coke and Chemical plant, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said. Ukrainian troops had occupied the complex and turned it into a heavily fortified launchpad for attacks on the city of Donetsk. Kiev's forces in the area are in a headlong rout, the ministry added.
In a statement on Sunday, the ministry said that Russia’s ‘Center’ group of troops had taken “full control” of the facility located on the northern outskirts of the city. “Russian flags have been hoisted on the administrative buildings of the plant. Units of the Ukrainian armed forces continued their disorderly retreat,” officials said.
The ministry also shared aerial footage of intense fighting in the area, with multiple explosions taking place around the plant as several adjacent buildings came under artillery fire.
The plant was Ukraine’s largest coke producer, before the start of the conflict in February 2022. The facility later became a linchpin in Kiev’s defense system in the area, boasting formidable fortifications. As the fighting progressed, the plant itself was almost completely destroyed.
The Defense Ministry also said that as Russian troops continued their advance in the Avdeevka area, only a few disorganized Ukrainian units managed to make it out of the city, leaving their military equipment behind. Other footage shown by the ministry depicts what appears to be several military vehicles abandoned by Ukrainian troops during the retreat.
At the moment, Moscow’s forces “are carrying out actions aimed at clearing Avdeevka of militants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and blocking their units,” officials added.
Moscow announced the capture of Avdeevka on Saturday, stating that around 1,500 Ukrainian troops had been killed during the retreat. Media reports and Ukrainian military commanders painted a grim picture of the fighting in the area, saying that some of Kiev’s units had been encircled and that the military in the area had to abandon some of their badly wounded comrades.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden blamed the Ukrainian retreat on the Republican failure to approve new aid to Kiev which has left Ukraine suffering from a lack of military supplies. The GOP has been reluctant to support the measure, demanding that the White House do more to enhance security on the southern US border.
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