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Russia Hits Kyiv After NATO Summit

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – In an apparent warning that it won’t be intimidated, Russia launched a massive drone strike on Ukraine’s capital just hours after the end of a NATO military alliance summit in Lithuania.

At least two people were injured in the overnight attack on Kyiv, authorities said Thursday, adding that about 20 Iran-made drones were shot down over the city’s airspace.

The attacks came after Moscow had been angered by NATO security guarantees given to Kyiv, with full membership still a possibility in the future.

Russia’s government was also sending a signal that its military is still significant after a top Russian general said he was removed from his post in Ukraine after telling military chiefs “the truth about the dire situation” on the front line.

Major Gen Ivan Popov was the commander of the 58th Army, fighting in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, an area with Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

Popov said he raised questions about the high casualty rate and lack of artillery support. “It was necessary either to keep quiet and be a coward or to say it the way it is,” he said in a voice message shared on social media.

“I had no right to lie in the name of you, in the name of my fallen comrades in arms, so I outlined all the problems which exist.”

WAGNER WORRIES

Adding to the difficulties of Russia’s army are signs rust the Wagner mercenary group is no longer “participating in any significant capacity in support of combat operations in Ukraine,” the U.S. military says.

It comes weeks after the group’s 24-hour mutiny in Russia – a challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s authority.

Under the deal that ended the June rebellion, Wagner fighters were told they could join the regular Russian army or head to Belarus with their chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The Kremlin said, however, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had met Prigozhin in Moscow only days after the mutiny.

Putin told Russian media Thursday that he made clear Wagner could have chosen to “continue their service” for the Russian regular military.

“They would have been led by the person who had been their real commander all that time,” he continued, in an apparent reference to himself.

CHECK FOOD

He stressed there was no legal framework for private military organizations there, for “Wagner does not exist.”

Before Thursday’s comments, U.S. President Joe Biden told a news conference in Finland that Prighozin should be careful of poisoning following the uprising.

“God only knows what he’s likely to do. We’re not even sure where he is and what relationship he has [with Mr Putin]. If I were he, I’d be careful what I ate. I’d keep my eye on my menu,” Biden said.

Wagner was involved in bloody battles, such as helping Russia to take over Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and, more recently, around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

But over one month into the long-planned Ukrainian counter-offensive, some Ukrainians and their allies are also expressing concerns over the slow progress of Kyiv’s troops.

Ukraine has long asked Western allies to provide more military assistance to help its resistance against the Russian invasion and closer ties with NATO.