Kremlin fears ‘dirty bomb’ from Zelensky, Westerners brush off accusation

Did you miss the latest events on the tensions in Ukraine? Do not panic, 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Who did what ? Who said what? Where are we ? The answer below.

news of the day

Russia claimed on Monday that Ukraine had entered “the final stage” of making a “dirty bomb”, a claim that Moscow has been brandishing since Sunday and which is firmly rejected by kyiv.

Western reaction to these Kremlin claims was quick. In a joint statement, Paris, London and Washington swept aside the statements of Russian power.

The “dirty bomb” that Moscow accuses Ukraine of wanting to explode on its own soil is not a nuclear bomb but a conventional bomb surrounded by radioactive materials intended to be disseminated in the form of dust at the time of the explosion.

sentence of the day

“Africa is not against Ukraine, we must not have the impression that Africans are insensitive to the situation in Ukraine. That’s not it at all. »

The words of Macky Sall, President of the African Union, have the merit of clarity. During the 8th edition of the Dakar international forum, the President of Senegal affirmed that Africa had no hostility towards Ukraine, a country “attacked” in the conflict which opposes it to Russia.

Before explaining the refusal of many African countries to take sides in the crisis as a reaction to international indifference to attacks targeting the continent.

“Africans say that at the same time when Ukraine is at war, is invaded, is attacked, Africa is permanently attacked by terrorism”, commented Macky Sall.

During this same forum, French Secretary of State Chrysoula Zacharopoulou called for “solidarity” from the African continent with the Europeans in the face of the Russian offensive.

The number of the day

2.000. This is the number of drones purchased by Russia from Iran, according to Volodymyr Zelensky. “According to our information, Russia has ordered about 2,000 Iranian Shaheds”, suicide drones, said the Ukrainian president during a conference organized by an Israeli newspaper.

These “Iranian Shahed” kamikaze drones reinforce the Russian bombing strategy in Ukraine, and in particular target electrical infrastructure.

The trend of the day

The destiny of the city of Kherson, located in the south of the country, could change again in the coming days. Held by the Russians for eight months, the largest Ukrainian city in the hands of the Kremlin should pass into the yellow and blue fold.

A former British army chief says Russia faces an “inevitable defeat” at Kherson ahead of an expected battle. Residents of the Russian-occupied region have been told to flee.

Asked by Sky News, General Lord Dannett claimed Vladimir Putin’s troops were trying to save face to make their defeat appear “less chaotic”. “The Russians are obviously trying to turn what will probably be an inevitable defeat into some kind of controlled withdrawal,” he said.