What has happened in the last few hours?
Here is the main war news at 20:00 on the 494th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine:
– The President of the Duma assures that many Wagner mercenaries agreed to fight in the Russian army. The President of the State Duma, or lower house of the Russian Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin has confirmed that many of the Wagner Group mercenaries who rebelled over the past weekend will continue to serve Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that paramilitaries who want to defend Russia “continue their service with guns in hand,” Volodin wrote on his Telegram account. “As far as I know, a lot of them have said yes,” he added.
– Zelenskyy visits Odessa and discusses with the Navy its defense capabilities and the situation in the Black Sea. President of Ukraine Volodimir Zelenski has visited the city of Odessa in the south of the country, where he met with the Commander of the Navy of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksiy Neizhpapa, who, among other things, informed him about the situation in the Black Sea, as did Zelenski about his official Telegram channel, where he also published a video with pictures of the meeting.
– The Belarusian embassy in the Netherlands was attacked with graffiti against Lukashenko. The Belarusian embassy in the Netherlands in The Hague woke up this Sunday with several broken and painted windows on the facade after being attacked yesterday morning. According to the Dutch public broadcaster NOS, the graffiti carried slogans such as “Luka-Terrorist”, referring to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. NOS has detailed that a 31-year-old man has been arrested over the events.
– Poland will send 500 police officers to strengthen security on its border with Belarus. Poland has announced it will send 500 police officers to strengthen security at the border with Belarus to deal with the rising number of migrant crossings and possible threats following the entry of the Wagner mercenary group into the country. “Due to the tense situation on the border with Belarus, I decided to strengthen our forces with 500 Polish police officers from prevention and anti-terrorist units,” Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski wrote on his Twitter account.