According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin has denounced the West as a “false empire” while discussing the Russian economy with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and other top officials following the imposition of tough sanctions on Moscow.
At the same time, Russia’s strategic missile forces are on high alert following Putin’s orders.
According to a report in the Interfax news agency, the Russian Defense Ministry says that its strategic missile forces and North and Pacific forces are engaged in enhanced combat duties at the behest of Putin.
In the meantime, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that “strategic missile forces, North and Pacific forces and long-range air force commanders have begun combating duty with strengthened personnel.”
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church says that Ukrainian security forces have captured the ‘saboteurs’ in the Kiev monastery. A spokesman for the website said security forces had captured a group of saboteurs who were planning to attack St. Michael’s Golden-Dom Monastery in Kiev, one of Ukraine’s most famous religious sites.
Leaders of the Ukrainian Church are angry with Russia after Ukraine set up a new Orthodox Church in January 2019, pushing back centuries of ties with Moscow.
The leader of the new church, the Ukrainian Metropolitan Epiphany, said in a statement that he thought he was “among the targets of Russian terrorism.”
Meanwhile, the United States has suspended operations at the Belarusian embassy. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says the United States has suspended operations at its embassy in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
In a statement, Blinken said Washington had allowed non-essential staff of the US embassy in Russia to leave the country.
“We are taking this step because of the security and security concerns that may arise from the unprovoked and unjustified attack by the Russian military in Ukraine,” he said.
