MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/. The Zelensky regime used a synagogue in Uman as a gathering and ammo storage point for nationalist formations, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday.
Konashenkov pointed out that the Kiev regime, in violation of international humanitarian law and simply the norms of morality, has been exploiting houses of worship and other places of public worship as gathering and transfer points for weapons and Nazis to participate in the ongoing hostilities.
"Today, we are presenting evidence received from an Uman Jewish community member that the [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky regime used the building of the new city synagogue, located at 1 Shosseiny Lane, for this purpose," Konashenkov revealed.
The Defense Ministry also released photos taken on March 21, that is, the day after Zelensky's speech to the Knesset (Israel's unicameral parliament). Konashenkov stressed that they recorded the formation of two nationalist columns on the synagogue’s premises.
"I draw your attention to the fact that the property, weapons and ammunition stored in the synagogue were first loaded by the nationalists into dump trucks, and then disguised as bags containing construction debris. Meanwhile, to transport nationalists and foreign mercenaries from Ukraine’s western regions, buses with school vehicle markings and featuring signs written ‘Children’ on them are being used, as can be clearly seen in the photographs," the major general said.
He noted that in this way, "a place of Jewish worship in Uman is deliberately being exploited by the Kiev nationalist regime for military purposes in order to instigate a conflict and political pressure by Jewish religious organizations on Russia if it were fired on."
Konashenkov recalled that "on March 20, President Zelensky, in a video address to the Israeli Knesset, accused Russia of allegedly striking the city of Uman in the Cherkasy Region." "For a dramatic effect, Zelensky stated, quote, 'this is a place that tens of thousands of Israelis visit every year on pilgrimage,'" the Defense Ministry spokesman noted.
He stressed that during the special military operation, the Russian Armed Forces do not strike civilian sites, houses of worship, or any kinds of places of public worship.