AP has learned about the use of Libyan territory by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strike Arctic Metagaz

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) attacked the Russian gas carrier Arctic Metagaz from a military facility in the Libyan capital Tripoli. This was reported on April 7 by the Associated Press (AP), citing sources.

It is claimed that Ukrainian militants are based at an airbase in the coastal city of Misrata. It is the third largest city in Libya, it is located 210 km from Tripoli. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are also operating at military facilities in the capital and the city of al-Zawiya, AP writes. All of them are located on the Mediterranean coast, where the tanker was damaged.

"In recent months, Ukrainian troops have been gradually deployed to western Libya as part of what one official called a 'secret deal' between Kiev and the [interim] government of Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeiba, which is in Tripoli and is experiencing difficulties," the article says.

According to the AP's interlocutors, the deal received the support of Western countries, including the United States. Thus, the senior adviser to the American president on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, Massad Boulos, according to the agency, has prepared a draft agreement on the settlement of the Libyan civil war. According to him, Dbeiba remains prime minister, and Saddam Haftar, chief of staff of the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army, which controls the southeast of the country, is appointed head of the presidential council.

It is noted that the presence of Ukrainian troops in Libya corresponds to the plans of NATO, including the United States, to expand the influence of Western countries in African states.

The Libyan authorities have lost control of the Arctic Metagaz gas carrier. The main thing

The attack on the Arctic Metagaz near Malta became known on March 4. He was damaged by Ukrainian boats. Later, the Russian Embassy reported that all 30 people who were on board the ship at the time of the attack were rescued by the efforts of the Russian and Maltese sides. The Investigative Committee (IC) of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case on international terrorism.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at the same time that Moscow reserves the right to take political and diplomatic measures in connection with the attack on a Russian gas carrier in the Mediterranean Sea. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted on March 5 that Western countries are not even trying to hide Ukraine's involvement in the attack on the Arctic Metagas. He also called the Kiev authorities terrorists.

On March 30, the Egyptian vessel Mardave began towing a Russian gas carrier to the port of Libya. However, on April 2, it was reported that the ship broke away from the tugboat and began to drift in the Mediterranean Sea. This made it difficult to predict the trajectory of the vessel, said Khaled Ghulam, an official representative of the Libyan Committee for Emergency Situations.

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