Crimean Bridge badly damaged after ‘multiple blasts’ in early hours
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The Russian military is preparing for possible attacks on civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea, the White House has warned.
It comes days after Russia suspended participation in a wartime deal allowing grain to flow from Ukraine to countries around the world.
Since quitting the Black Sea grain deal this week, Russia has already hit Ukraine‘s grain export ports in Odesa with missile and drone attacks.
Some 54,400 tonnes of grain were destroyed in the attacks.
White House national security council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement: “Our information indicates that Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports.
“We believe that this is a co-ordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks.”
Following Russia’s attack on Odesa, wheat prices on the European stock exchange soared by 8.2 per cent, while corn prices were up by 5.4 per cent.
Wheat futures in the US jumped nearly 9 per cent yesterday, reportedly the highest daily rise since Russia’s invasion.
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Russia preparing for attacks on civilian ships in Black Sea, White House claims
The Russian military is preparing for possible attacks on civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea, the White House has warned.
It comes days after Russia suspended participation in a wartime deal allowing grain to flow from Ukraine to countries around the world.
Since quitting the Black Sea grain deal this week, Russia has already hit Ukraine‘s grain export ports in Odesa with missile and drone attacks.
Some 54,400 tonnes of groin were destroyed in the attacks.
White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement: “Our information indicates that Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports.
“We believe that this is a co-ordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 July 2023 09:54
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The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary
It was a month into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces had withdrawn from around Kyiv and in their wake Bel Trew and her team stumbled on a body by an abandoned Russian camp.
His hands were tied. He had been burned and shot in the back. Soldiers said he was a teenager.
As Bel tried to find out who he was and what had happened, she uncovered a nightmare world: a nation struggling to find thousands of its missing and to identify its dead.
The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary
It was a month into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces had withdrawn from around Kyiv and in their wake Bel Trew and her team stumbled on a body by an abandoned Russian camp. His hands were tied. He had been burned and shot in the back. Soldiers said he was a teenager. As Bel tried to find out who he was and what had happened, she uncovered a nightmare world: a nation struggling to find thousands of its missing and to identify its dead. The Body in the Woods by Bel Trew is streaming now on Independent TV and on your smart TV.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 July 2023 10:42
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Vladimir Putin to skip South Africa summit where he faced risk of arrest
Vladimir Putin will not attend a summit in South Africa next month – allowing the hosts to avoid a decision whether or not to arrest the Russian leader thanks to an international warrant over war crime allegations.
As a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC) which issued the warrant, South Africa would be expected to detain Mr Putin once he sets foot in the country. Although it has refused to honour that obligation in the past, allowing safe passage to Sudan’s then-president Omar al-Bashir in 2015, who was facing allegations of war crimes against his own people.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mr Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova in March in relation to the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 July 2023 10:16
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Poland says it is monitoring situation on Belarus border
Poland’s defence ministry is monitoring the situation on the border with Belarus and is prepared for various scenarios, it said on Thursday, after Belarus said mercenaries from Russia‘s Wagner Group would take part in military exercises near the border.
“Poland’s borders are secure, we are monitoring the situation on our eastern border on an ongoing basis and we are prepared for various scenarios as the situation develops,” the defence ministry said in an emailed statement.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 July 2023 09:37
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German foreign minister: Ukrainian grain cannot be left to rot in silos
Germany is working with allies to ensure that Ukrainian grain is not left to rot in silos after Russia pulled out of an export deal, and will intensify work on getting the grain out by rail, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Baerbock accused Russia of blackmail and trying to use the grain as a weapon at the expense of the world’s poorest.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Western countries of “perverting” the grain deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
“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.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 July 2023 09:27
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Russia fails to renew involvement in the Black Sea Grain Initiative
In the latest intelligence update, the UK ministry of defence has said Russia “failed to renew its involvement in the Black Sea Grain Initiative”.
The ministry added: “This effectively nullified the security agreement which, despite the war, had ensured the safe passage of vessels exporting grain from Ukraine. Russia is aiming to deter all merchant shipping from Ukrainian ports.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 July 2023 08:52
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Teenage girl killed in Ukrainian drone strike on Crimea
A teenage girl was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on a settlement in Crimea in which four administrative buildings were damaged, the Russian-installed head of Crimea said on Thursday.
Sergei Aksyonov, the official, said the strike took place in the northwestern part of the Black Sea peninsula where he said emergency and other services were working.
“Unfortunately, there were victims. A teenage girl was killed. I express my sincere and deep condolences to her family and friends. All necessary support will be provided to the family.”
There was no immediate reaction to his assertion from Ukraine.
Russia seized and annexed Crimea, where its Black Sea Fleet is based, from Ukraine in 2014.
Kyiv says Crimea is Ukrainian and that it intends to take it back by force as part of its drive to expel Russian troops from its territory.
The Kremlin on Wednesday accused the West of turning a blind eye to what it said were “terrorist attacks” committed by Ukraine inside Russia, noting what it said was the silence this week over a deadly attack on the Crimean Bridge which it blamed on Kyiv.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 July 2023 08:19
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Belarus forces holding exercises with Wagner fighters on border with Poland
Belarus’ Defence Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the country’s military were continuing exercises with fighters from Russia‘s Wagner Group mercenary force at a military base near the city of Brest, on the border with Poland.
A view of the Belarusian army camp near Tsel village, about 90 kilometers (about 55 miles) southeast of Minsk, Belarus
(AP)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 July 2023 07:56
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On the ground in Ukraine, there’s one weapon troops want from the UK more than any other
On the frontline around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the scene of some of the war’s most intense fighting, soldiers are waiting for supplies from Britain. Without our missiles, they tell Askold Krushelnycky, advancing is more difficult – and every metre they take is “drenched in blood”.
I am standing outside a base – concealed by camouflage netting – for soldiers of the air defence units belonging to Ukraine’s 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade. Beside me, the commander, a captain, identified by his war name “Kamin” (which translates as “rock”), reels off the impressive amount of Russian hardware his men have shot out of the sky. Eight fighter jets, six helicopters, and more than three dozen drones of varying types – worth tens of millions of pounds.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 July 2023 07:55
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Ukraine says it destroyed 5 Russian missiles and 13 drones
Ukraine’s military said it shot down five cruise missiles and 13 attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight at the southern Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.
It said Russia fired 19 cruise missiles and 19 drones in total, without specifying where the other missiles struck.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar20 July 2023 07:40
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-odesa-latest-news-b2378595.html
