Page 80 - Ukraine

Ukraine wants ships to keep exporting grain despite Russian attacks

Russia has repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Ukrainian ports key to sending grain to the world. Moscow has declared large swaths of the Black Sea dangerous for shipping. Even the US said ships are at risk of being targeted. There is still interest from ship owners in carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea if they can mitigate the risk, according to a major shipping group. And that's a big if. Despite the warnings and port attacks, which have levelled grain infrastructure, shipping has always been very, very resilient in the face of these sorts of risks, said John Stawpert, senior manager of environment and trade for the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents 80 per cent of the world's commercial fleet. This week's strikes came after Russia pulled out of a wartime accord that the UN and Turkey brokered last year to provide safeguards for shipping companies in a bid to end a global food crisis. Ukraine which, along with Russia, is a major supplier of whea

Prez Erdogan discusses extension of Black Sea grain deal with Zelenskyy

Russia and Ukraine, both have warned each other against the travelling of ships in the Black Sea, saying that it will be considered as "potential military cargo"

Russia aims missiles at Ukraine's farm storage after days of hitting ports

Russian cruise missiles, flying low and hugging the terrain to dodge Ukrainian air defences, destroyed farm storage buildings in the Odesa region early Friday, Ukrainian officials said, as the Kremlin's forces expanded their targets following three days of bombardment of the region's Black Sea port infrastructure. Two missiles struck the storage facility, starting a fire, and while workers fought to put it out another missile hit, destroying farm and firefighting equipment, the southern Odesa region's Gov. Oleh Kiper said. The attack injured two people and destroyed 100 metric tons of peas and 20 metric tons of barley, according to Kiper. The attack was small-scale in comparison with barrages in recent days that put Odesa in Russia's crosshairs after Moscow tore up a wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to send grain through the key Black Sea port. Russia targeted Ukrainian critical grain export infrastructure after vowing to retaliate for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge betwe

Poland to move soldiers to east of country over Wagner risks: Report

On Thursday, the Belarusian defence ministry said Wagner mercenaries had started to train Belarusian special forces at a military range just a few miles from the border with NATO-member Poland

Pakistan is not providing weapons to Ukraine: Foreign Minister Bilawal

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday said that Pakistan was not supplying weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, as he called for a peaceful resolution of hostilities between Russia and the eastern European country. Bilawal made the remarks at a joint press appearance with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba after the two held detailed talks on matters of mutual and bilateral interests. He said the two sides discussed the situation in Ukraine and Pakistan shared with the foreign minister "our deep concern at the prevailing situation and offered our condolences on the loss of precious lives and immense human suffering". Responding to a query, Bilawal said that "Pakistan is not providing any weapons to Ukraine". Bilawal also said that Pakistan believed that prolonged conflict brings immense hardship and suffering to the civilian populations and hoped that peace would prevail so that the people of Ukraine and Russia can enjoy peace dividends. "In our meeting, I emphasised

Pakistan is not providing weapons, ammunition to Ukraine: Bilawal Bhutto

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday said that Pakistan was not supplying weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, as he called for a peaceful resolution of hostilities between Russia and the eastern European country. Bilawal made the remarks at a joint press appearance with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba after the two held detailed talks on matters of mutual and bilateral interests. He said the two sides discussed the situation in Ukraine and Pakistan shared with the foreign minister "our deep concern at the prevailing situation and offered our condolences on the loss of precious lives and immense human suffering". Responding to a query, Bilawal said that "Pakistan is not providing any weapons to Ukraine". Bilawal also said that Pakistan believed that prolonged conflict brings immense hardship and suffering to the civilian populations and hoped that peace would prevail so that the people of Ukraine and Russia can enjoy peace dividends. "In our meeting, I emphasised

Wagner mercenaries, Belarus hold military exercises near Poland's border

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now

At least 21 injured in third night of Russian air attacks against Ukraine

A third night of Russian air attacks targeted Ukraine's southern cities, including the port city of Odesa, and wounded at least 21 people, Ukrainian officials said Thursday. At least 19 people were injured in Mykolaiv, a southern city close to the Black Sea, the region's Governor Vitalii Kim said in a statement on Telegram. Russian strikes destroyed several floors of a three-story building and caused a fire that affected an area of 450 square meters (4,800 square feet) and burned for hours. Kim said two people were hospitalised, including a child. In the port city of Odesa, at least two were injured following a Russian air attack that damaged buildings in the city center and caused a fire affecting an area of 300 square meters (3200 square feet), said Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper. The attacks come one day after an intense Russian bombardment using drones and missiles damaged critical port infrastructure in Odesa, including grain and oil terminals. The attack destroyed at least 60,000

Explained: The Crimea bridge attack and its significance

Russian authorities reported that a section of 19km long Kerch Bridge linking Russia and Crimea was destroyed by an explosion, resulting in two fatalities and a child injured.

Russia strikes Ukraine's port facilities in Odesa after halting grain deal

Russia unleashed intense drone and missile attacks overnight Wednesday, damaging critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine, including grain and oil terminals, and wounding at least 12 people, officials said. The bombardment crippled significant parts of export facilities in Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk and destroyed 60,000 tons of grain, according to Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry. It came days after President Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine's exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger. It also followed a vow by Putin to retaliate against Kyiv for an attack Monday on the crucial Kerch Bridge linking Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin illegally annexed in 2014. Putin said Wednesday that Russia could return to the deal if the West offers Russian banks involved in servicing payments for the country's agricultural exports an immediate access to the SWIF

US approves $1.3 billion package of long-term military aid for Ukraine

The Pentagon announced a new USD 1.3 billion package of long-term military aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, including four air defense systems and an undisclosed number of drones. The new assistance comes on the heels of a meeting Tuesday by defense and military leaders from around the globe to discuss ongoing efforts to give Ukraine the weapons it needs in its battle to retake territory seized by Russian forces. Included in the aid, which is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, will be funding for four National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS, and munitions for them, as well as Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade drones. Unlike the presidential drawdown authority that the Pentagon has used repeatedly over the past 17 months to pull weapons from its own stocks and quickly ship them to Ukraine, the USAI-funded equipment could take a year or two to get to the battlefront. As a result, this new package will do little to help Ukraine in its current ..

Russia launches intense attacks across Ukraine, targets southern port city

Russia launched an intense series of night-time air attacks sending drones and missiles toward places across Ukraine, and targeting the southern port city of Odesa for a second night in a row, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday. Meanwhile, Russian emergency officials in Crimea said that over 2,200 people were evacuated from four villages because of a fire at a military facility. The fire also caused the closure of an important highway, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of the region, which was annexed in 2014. He did not specific a cause for the fire at the facility in Kirovsky district, which came two days after an attack on a bridge linking Russia to the peninsula that the Kremlin has blamed on Ukraine. A difficult night of air attacks for all of Ukraine, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration in a statement on Telegram. Ukrainian authorities reported more drones and missiles sent against more parts of Ukraine than in recent ...

India at UN urges immediate return to dialogue, diplomacy in Ukraine war

The permanent representative further added, We have consistently advocated that no solution can ever be arrived at the cost of human lives

Food insecurity returns

End of Ukraine grain deal spells trouble

Russia halts grain deal as bridge to Crimea struck, claims Ukraine strike

The grain deal was hailed as preventing a global food emergency when it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year, halting a de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia

What is the Black Sea grain deal that is at risk of falling apart?

Russia and Ukraine are among the world's top grain exporters, and their conflict sent food prices surging around the world

Putin says Wagner mercenary group 'doesn't exist' as it has no legal basis

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Wagner private military company simply doesn't exist as a legal entity, in comments adding to the series of often bizarre twists that have followed the group's abortive revolt last month the most serious threat to Putin's 23-year rule amid the war in Ukraine. There is no law on private military organisations. It simply doesn't exist, Putin told a Russian newspaper late Thursday, referring to the Wagner group. Putin recounted to Kommersant his own version of a Kremlin event attended by 35 Wagner commanders, including the group's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 29. That meeting came just five days after Prigozhin and his troops staged a stunning but short-lived rebellion against Moscow authorities. The meeting was revealed earlier this week by a Kremlin official. Putin said that at the talks, Wagner rejected an offer to keep its troops in Ukraine, where they have played key battlefield roles, under the leadership of their direct ...

Jaishankar meets Russian counterpart in Indonesia, discusses Ukraine

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov here and discussed bilateral economic issues and matters related to the Ukraine conflict. Jaishankar met Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India Ministerial in the Indonesian capital, their second bilateral meeting in just over a month. "Met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia in Jakarta today. Discussed bilateral economic issues, as also matters pertaining to the Ukraine conflict," Jaishankar tweeted. The two sides discussed the Ukraine conflict on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced India's deep concern about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, especially on the countries of the Global South, asserting that the conflict must end. In an interview with the French newspaper Les Echos ahead of his official visit to France, Modi said India has always stood for peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue and diplomacy. On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the prime

Ukraine repels large Russian missile, drone attack that injured civilians

Ukraine air defences shot down 20 Iranian-made drones fired by Russia mostly at the Kyiv region Thursday night, but wreckage fell on four districts of the capital, wounding two people and destroying several homes, officials said. The latest barrage by the Kremlin's forces began shortly after midnight, and explosions shook different parts of the city. Two people were hospitalised with shrapnel wounds, authorities said. In the capital, rescuers extinguished a fire in a 16-story building, as well as in a non-residential building, the Interior Ministry said. Debris also damaged the frontage of a 25-story apartment building, it said. Russian strikes have become a grim part of everyday life in Ukraine over the almost 17 months of the war. Volodymyr Motus, a 22-year-old resident of the 25-story building, carefully picked his way across the floor a destroyed apartment, his footsteps accompanied by the sound of shattered glass. The mangled furniture was coated in a thick layer of dust. I w

Concerned about impact of Russia-Ukraine conflict on Global South: PM Modi

India is deeply concerned about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, especially on the countries of the Global South, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, asserting that the conflict must end. In an interview to French newspaper Les Echos, he said India has always stood for peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue and diplomacy, and for respecting sovereignty of all nations while replying to questions about an "aggressive" China. To a query on China and if its massive investment in its defense capabilities is threatening the security of the region, Modi said while peace is necessary for the future India seeks to build, it is far from assured. "Our interests in the Indo-Pacific region are vast, and our engagement is deep. I have described our vision for this region in one word SAGAR, which stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. While peace is necessary for the future we seek to build, it is far from assured," he said. India stands for respective ...