Russia Denies Attacking Uman City, Accuses Ukrainian Nationalists Of Using Synagogue For Arms Shipments And Mercenaries

Illustration of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru)

JAKARTA - Ukraine is using the synagogue in the city of Uman as a gathering place for nationalist formations, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday.

According to him, the Kyiv regime, violating international humanitarian law and only moral norms, uses places of worship and other public places of worship as gathering places and sends weapons for war.

"Today we present evidence received from members of the Jewish community of Uman, regarding the use of the regime of (Ukrainian President Vladimir) Zelensky to build a new city synagogue, located at 1 Shosseiny Lane", Konashenkov said, launching TASS on March 30.

The Ministry of Defense also released the photo taken on March 21, the day after Zelensky's speech before the Knesset (Israel's unicameral parliament) virtually. Konashenkov emphasized that they noted the formation of two nationalist columns on the territory of the synagogue.

"I draw your attention to the fact that the property, weapons, and ammunition stored in the synagogue were first loaded by the nationalists into garbage trucks, and then disguised as bags with construction waste.

At the same time, to transport foreign nationalists and mercenaries from the Western Region of Ukraine, buses with the appropriate school vehicle markings and Children's markings are used, as can be clearly seen in the photos", the major general said.

He noted, in this way, "objects of the Jewish cult in Uman were deliberately used by the Kyiv nationalist regime for military purposes, to provoke conflict and political pressure of Jewish religious organizations in Russia, in the event of a fire there."

Konashenkov recalls, "on March 20, President Zelensky, in a speech before the Israeli Knesset, accused Russia of attacking the city of Uman in the Cherkasy region."

"For dramatic effect, Zelensky states, quoting, 'this is a place that tens of thousands of Israelis visit every year for pilgrimage,'" Konashenkov explains.

On this occasion he again underlined, during special military operations, the Russian Armed Forces did not attack civilian sites, places of worship, or other public places of worship.