CONFLICTSUKRAINE
Ukraine updates: Russia targets Ukrainian ports
Published 10 hours agoPublished 10 hours agolast updated 2 hours agolast updated 2 hours ago
Russia has targeted the ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv after threatening cargo vessels traveling to Ukraine. The White House says Moscow may seek to blame Kyiv for shipping attacks. DW has the latest.
https://p.dw.com/p/4U9SC
The grain terminal at the port in Odesa
The grain terminal at the port in OdesaImage: Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix/picture alliance
Skip next section What you need to know
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
For the third night in a row, Russia has targeted airstrikes on Ukrainian ports in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions along the Black Sea. The ports were used to export Ukrainian grain to the global market until Russia withdrew from an agreement guaranteeing the safety of the ships carrying foodstuffs.
As Russia is no longer a party to the Black Sea grain deal, the White House said Russian forces could attack civilian ships attempting to transport Ukrainian grain and attempt to place blame on Kyiv for such an attack.
Here are more major developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine from Thursday, July 20:
Skip next section Russian threats to civilian ships a way to ‘stop the grain exports,’ expert tells DW
2 hours ago2 hours ago
Russian threats to civilian ships a way to ‘stop the grain exports,’ expert tells DW
Russia had no “legal basis” to “attack commercial shipping” as the ships were international vessels and not flagged as Ukrainian ones, Johannes Peters, head of maritime strategy and security at the Kiel University Institute for Security Policy, told DW.
The security expert said “the main reason behind the Russian threat is just to hinder shipping.”
He estimated that Russia was “creating a situation, again, where it’s impossible for international shipping to actually operate in these waters — to export grain — because there’s simply no insurance covers for the ship owners and for the managers.”
This would “effectively stop the grain exports,” Peters added.
When asked whether there could be convoys to protect the ships, Peters said that with international vessels “the only legal basis might be a UN resolution.” He said a resolution was unlikely as Russia and China, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, could veto such a resolution.
“I don’t see a solution for an international coalition providing escort operations for grain exports,” Peters said.
https://p.dw.com/p/4UB5Y
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Skip next section EU extends sanctions on Russia’s military
2 hours ago2 hours ago
EU extends sanctions on Russia’s military
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have prolonged sanctions against the Russian military by six months.
“These sanctions, first introduced in 2014 in response to Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, were significantly expanded since February 2022, in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine,” the EU ministers said in a statement.
https://p.dw.com/p/4UAz5
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Skip next section Baerbock: Berlin working with partners to salvage Ukrainian grain
5 hours ago5 hours ago
Baerbock: Berlin working with partners to salvage Ukrainian grain
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin was working with international partners to salvage Ukrainian grain after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea deal.
Baerbock said Russia was engaging in blackmail, and weaponizing grain supplies at the expense of impoverished people around the world.
“Hundreds of thousands of people, not to say millions, urgently need the grain from Ukraine, which is why we are working with all our international partners so that the grain in Ukraine does not rot in silos in the next few weeks, but reaches the people of the world who urgently need it,” Baerbock said.
https://p.dw.com/p/4U9yT
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Skip next section Wagner forces holding drills with Belarus near Polish border
6 hours ago6 hours ago
Wagner forces holding drills with Belarus near Polish border
Mercenaries in Russia’s Wagner Group will hold military drills with Belarusian forces, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said Thursday.
The exercises will take place in the Belarusian city of Brest, which lies on the border with Poland.
“The armed forces of Belarus continue joint training with the fighters of the Wagner PMC (Private Military Company),” the Defense Ministry said.
“During the week, special operations forces units together with representatives of the Company will work out combat training tasks at the Brest military range.”
Poland has earlier pledged to reinforce its border security with Belarus. Wagner forces moved their base of operations to Belarus after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin staged a mutiny against the Russian government, which ended after 48 hours.
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Skip next section EU’s Borrell blames Russia for food crisis
6 hours ago6 hours ago
EU’s Borrell blames Russia for food crisis
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell blamed Russia for a global food crisis after Moscow decided to pull out of the Black Sea grain deal.
“What we already know is that this is going to create a big and huge food crisis in the world,” Borrell told reporters ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Thursday. He also criticized Russia for targeting grain storage facilities in the southern port city of Odesa.
The EU ministers are expected to discuss a €20 billion ($22.4 billion) weapons and munitions plan for Ukraine over four years.
“Ukraine needs our commitment to continue ensuring their security during the war and after the war,” Borrell has said.
The military proposal aid proposal for Kyiv will be discussed on Thursday and again at an EU meeting in Spain in late August.
https://p.dw.com/p/4U9nr
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Skip next section Russia likely already decided on grain deal exit some time ago, UK believes
7 hours ago7 hours ago
Russia likely already decided on grain deal exit some time ago, UK believes
The UK Ministry of Defense said Russia had likely already decided to exit the Black Sea grain deal some time ago.
“Russia likely made the decision to leave some time ago because it decided that the deal was no longer serving its interests,” the UK intelligence update said on Thursday.
“Russia has masked this with disinformation, claiming its withdrawal is instead due to concerns that civilian ships are at risk from Ukrainian mines and that Ukraine was making military use of the grain corridor without providing evidence for these claims.”
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has labeled Russia’s exit from the Black Sea Agreement “disappointing” and said Moscow “will be robbing millions of people of access to vital grain.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4U9eW
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Skip next section Russia targets Odesa for third night
10 hours ago10 hours ago
Russia targets Odesa for third night
Russia has launched a third night of air strikes on the Odesa region on the Black Sea, with explosions heard from the port overnight into Thursday.
At least two people died and more than 20 people were wounded after strikes on the port cities, officials said, posting images of buildings in flames with facades partially destroyed.
Ukrainian air defenses were said to be active in the area, with the Ukrainian air force having warned on Telegram that supersonic anti-ship missile launches had been registered in the direction of the Odesa region.
Officials called on people to stay under cover.
“As a result of the Russian attack, there is destruction in the center of Odesa,” said regional governor Oleg Kiper.
Authorities had information on “two hospitalized victims,” he said, without giving details.
Russia has already struck Ukraine’s grain export ports in Odesa, with missile and drone attacks, since leaving the Black Sea Grain Deal this week.
https://p.dw.com/p/4U9SF
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Skip next section Nine injured in attack on port city of Mykolaiv
10 hours ago10 hours ago
Nine injured in attack on port city of Mykolaiv
At least nine people have been wounded in a Russian strike on the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said.
Kim wrote on the Telegram messaging app that a three-story residential building was hit in the Mykolaiv city center.
Four adults and five children were said to have been wounded.
“There is a huge hole in the ground near a three-story residential building,” Mykolaiv’s mayor Oleksandr Senkevych wrote on Telegram.
He said emergency services were working at the site.
“At least five residential high-rise buildings were damaged,” he said.
“Several garages” were said to be on fire at another location.
Mykolaiv is on the Black Sea, some 170 kilometers (100 miles) from Moscow-annexed Crimea. It had been frequently the target of Russian attacks.
An “industrial facility” in the city was hit on Tuesday just hours after the Kremlin refused to extend a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine.
https://p.dw.com/p/4U9SG
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Skip next section US says Russia may attack civilian shipping, blame Ukraine
10 hours ago10 hours ago
US says Russia may attack civilian shipping, blame Ukraine
The White House has warned Russia may expand its targeting of Ukrainian grain facilities to include attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea.
It also warned that Moscow would likely seek to blame Kyiv for any such attack.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge says US officials have information showing Russia has laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports.
“We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks,” he said.
“In addition to this coordinated effort in the Black Sea, we have already observed that Russia targeted Ukraine’s grain export ports in Odesa with missiles and drones on July 18 and 19, resulting in the destruction of agricultural infrastructure and 60,000 tons of grain,” he said.
Russia on Wednesday said it would view cargo ships traveling to Ukraine through the Black Sea as potential military targets.
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jsi/rc (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
