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Czech President Petr Pavel speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their bilateral meeting at Prague Castle. Alamy Stock Photo

Zelenskyy says Ukrainian counteroffensive is advancing as he visits Prague for talks

The Ukrainian president also made an official visit to Sofia to discuss Nato membership and weapons deliveries with Bulgaria.

UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive was “not fast” but Kyiv’s troops were advancing.

Zelenskyy was speaking to reporters in Prague after he arrived there this afternoon as part of a diplomatic flurry to Nato countries as Kyiv pushes to join the defence alliance and demands more weapons for its counteroffensive against Russia.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is still in Russia, Belarus’s president said earlier, raising questions about the deal to end the mercenary leader’s mutiny last month.

Zelenskyy made an official visit to Sofia to discuss Nato membership and weapons deliveries with Bulgaria, a major supporter and ammunition producer.

He then headed to Prague to meet Czech counterpart Petr Pavel before scheduled talks in Istanbul on Friday with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an important broker in the conflict.

“The offensive is not fast, that’s a fact. But nevertheless, we are advancing, not retreating, like Russians,” Zelenskyy told reporters alongside Pavel.

“We now have the initiative,” he said.

Zelenskyy also told reporters that slow weapons deliveries to Ukraine delayed Kyiv’s planned counteroffensive, allowing Russia to bolster its defences in occupied areas.

In his one-day Sofia visit, Zelenskyy held talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and met high-level officials including President Rumen Radev.

sofia-bulgaria-06th-july-2023-bulgarian-president-rumen-radev-left-welcomes-ukrainian-president-volodymyr-zelenskyy-right-to-the-presidential-palace-july-6-2023-in-sofia-bulgaria-zelenskyy Bulgarian President Rumen Radev welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the presidential palace. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Bulgaria and Ukraine also signed a joint declaration on the Euro-Atlantic integration of the war-torn country and a memorandum of cooperation in the field of energy.

The Kremlin criticised Zelenskyy’s visit to Bulgaria, saying the Ukrainian leader was trying to “drag” other countries into the conflict.

The Kremlin said Ukraine’s goal of joining the world’s most powerful defence alliance threatened its security before launching its invasion in February 2022.

Prigozhin ‘not in Belarus’

Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko mediated a deal to end Prigozhin’s revolt — the most serious challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule — that was to see the mercenary head into Belarusian exile.

“As far as Prigozhin is concerned, he is in Saint Petersburg… He is not in Belarus,” Lukashenko, who has ruled isolated Belarus for nearly three decades, told reporters from foreign media outlets in Minsk.

Lukashenko said he knew “for sure” that Prigozhin was free.

The Kremlin said it was “not following” Prigozhin’s movements, nearly two weeks after the mutiny that saw armed fighters march toward Moscow.

Lukashenko said Wagner mercenaries have not established a base in Belarus yet, despite a Kremlin offer for attempted mutiny participants to relocate.

belarusian-president-alexander-lukashenko-speaks-during-his-meeting-with-foreign-correspondents-in-minsk-belarus-thursday-july-6-2023-ap-photoalexander-zemlianichenko Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during his meeting with foreign correspondents in Minsk. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Images broadcast by Russian media on Wednesday showed police entering Prigozhin’s residence, a vast and luxurious mansion with a helicopter parked in the grounds, reportedly on 25 June.

The failed insurrection has called into question the future of Wagner, which has been accused by the West of destabilising volatile countries in the Middle East and Africa.

‘Ceiling started to fall’

Lukashenko’s comments came hours after what the mayor of Lviv said was the biggest attack on civilian infrastructure in the western Ukrainian city since the start of the Russian offensive.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko wrote on Telegram that the missiles had struck a residential building and destroyed its upper floors.

At least five people were killed in the attack and another 37 were wounded, including a child, officials and the emergency services.

UNESCO condemned the bombing of a historic building in Lviv and expressed “its sincere condolences” to the victims’ families, saying the attack violated international conventions protecting heritage and cultural property during armed conflict.

Russia’s defence ministry said its long-range, precision strikes overnight had hit all the designated targets, in a statement that did not specifically mention Lviv.

Rescuers were working to reach those still trapped, and AFP footage showed emergency responders clearing rubble and wood from the gutted first floor of a building.

Cars covered in dust and with their windows blown out lined a pavement piled with debris.

“I woke up from the first explosion, but we didn’t have time to leave the apartment,” Olya, 37, told AFP.

“There was a second explosion, the ceiling started to fall, my mother was immediately hit,” she said.

“I got to the window, started screaming, and in about half an hour the rescuers got to me, took me out and took me to the 8th hospital,” Olya added.

“I came back and found out that my mother had died, my neighbours had died. At this point, it seems that I was the only one who survived from the fourth floor. It’s a miracle.”

“There will definitely be a response to the enemy. A tangible one,” Zelenskyy said.

While Russia regularly pounds Ukraine with missiles, artillery and drones, the Lviv region, hundreds of kilometres from the front lines and near the Polish border, has largely been spared.

Ukraine has recently bolstered its air defence systems with Western-supplied weapons and the number of Russian missiles and drones breaking through has diminished.

© AFP 2023

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    Mute Pokey2013
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    Jun 9th 2014, 8:34 AM

    Good for her! This really is a no brainer as an industry for the west of Ireland.

    142
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    Mute Ciaran Farrell
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    Jun 9th 2014, 10:07 AM

    It should be but this government through an uduras na gaeltachta company called arramara are trying to corner the market from erris hd to loop hd by applying for a license which would stop cottage industries from cutting seaweed in west mayo, Galway and Clare thus giving a monopoly. At the same time they are negotiating the sale of arramara teo to a private Canadian company. Think they’re holding out for a suitable price. 30 pieces of silver perhaps?Absolute disgrace and the deal being done quietly. This will shut down countless cottage industries and is getting little or no coverage.

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    Mute Hallie Burton
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    Jun 9th 2014, 10:13 AM

    Another scam being played out on us Ciaran.

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    Mute Ciaran Farrell
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    Jun 9th 2014, 10:52 AM

    It is indeed. The worst part of it is that in many villages on our western seaboard there are so few opportunities to ” turn a pound” that this will be devastating and nobody is shouting stop ( or at least nobody with influence on kildare st.). This is Minister Ring’s heartland yet he is strangely quiet for a lad who loved the soapbox when in opposition.

    26
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    Mute Thors Big Hammer
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    Jun 9th 2014, 8:42 AM

    Fair play to this woman and her drive to to be successful.

    42
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    Mute Brendan Harlowe
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    Jun 9th 2014, 12:14 PM

    I think she flew in actually .

    10
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    Mute Ben Gunn
    Favourite Ben Gunn
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    Jun 9th 2014, 8:55 AM

    It is not an either/or choice. To grow your business all markets should be explored. The Irish home market is tiny and many of our indigenous industries would simply fold without overseas sales.

    33
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    Mute Aaron
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    Jun 9th 2014, 9:14 AM

    Why would/should any business limit themselves to a single market?

    27
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    Mute Dee4
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    Jun 9th 2014, 9:14 AM

    well done to the lady, there are increasing warnings not to consume anything from the Pacific. Japan and even the West Coast of the US should be great markets for her

    18
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    Mute Hallie Burton
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    Jun 9th 2014, 10:12 AM

    We don’t eat enough of it ourselves.

    15
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    Mute Hallie Burton
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    Jun 9th 2014, 10:38 AM

    Maybe someone could tell us where ‘sea vegetables’ are on sale in locally? I can get dried product in the Asia Market in Drury Street and very nice it is too. Try this site for lots of info http://www.seaweed.ie/uses_ireland/irishseaweedfood.php

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    Mute Michelle Blessing
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    Jun 9th 2014, 11:54 AM

    What a shame we are exporting to a country that carries out horrific atrocities against dolphins and whales in Taiji.

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    Mute Frank
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    Jun 9th 2014, 8:36 AM

    Japan still has a market for glow in the dark seaweed.

    9
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    Mute J. Dunn
    Favourite J. Dunn
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    Jun 9th 2014, 9:37 AM

    Do you have a link for that, Frank?

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    Mute Frank
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    Jun 9th 2014, 10:46 AM
    3
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