World Courant
These are the primary developments because the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its 512th day.
Right here is the scenario on Thursday, July 20, 2023.
Preventing
Russia’s defence ministry mentioned from midnight on July 20 (21:00 GMT on July 19), all ships crusing within the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will probably be thought-about potential carriers of army cargo.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the army had been instructed to strengthen the safety of ports after the Russian assaults towards Odesa and elsewhere.
A video of Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin welcoming his Wagner fighters to Belarus was posted by his press service on the Telegram messaging app. Prigozhin is heard within the video saying that his males will keep in Belarus for a while, and calling what is occurring on the entrance traces in Ukraine a “shame”.
Russia’s defence ministry mentioned the nation achieved its aim of hanging Ukraine’s Odesa in a single day and all targets had been hit, in accordance with a report by Russia’s TASS information company.
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky mentioned a “appreciable” quantity of grain export infrastructure at a port in Chornomorsk within the Odesa area has been broken in a Russian assault. The assault additionally destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain that ought to have been loaded and shipped by way of the Black Sea grain export settlement 60 days in the past.
The Russian defence ministry mentioned its forces captured Movchanove railway station in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv area, in accordance with a report by the Russian state information company TASS.
Russia launched a large air assault on the Ukrainian port of Odesa for a second evening in a row, which one Ukrainian official described as “hellish”.
Ukraine’s air power mentioned it shot down 13 Kalibr cruise missiles, one guided Kh-59 cruise missile, and 23 Shahed kamikaze drones launched by Russia in a single day.
Ukraine’s air power mentioned Russia launched 16 Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea Fleet vessels, in addition to eight Kh-22 cruise missiles, six Oniks cruise missiles, one guided aerial Kh-59 missile, and 32 Shahed kamikaze drones.
The Kremlin accused the West of turning a blind eye to what it mentioned had been “terrorist assaults” dedicated by Ukraine inside Russia after two folks had been killed on Monday in a naval drone assault on the bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula.
Russia’s defence ministry mentioned its forces destroyed a stray Ukrainian mine drifting within the southwestern a part of the Black Sea. The mine was detected by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, floating about 180km (111 miles) northeast of the Bosphorus Strait.
Mykhailo Podolyak, political adviser to Zelenskyy, mentioned Russia was deliberately attacking grain terminals and port infrastructure in Odesa. “The principle goal is to destroy the potential of transport Ukrainian grain,” he mentioned in a tweet.
Head of the UK’s MI6 intelligence service Sir Richard Moore mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin is “clearly below strain”, after the Wagner Group’s tried mutiny in June. Moore mentioned he was optimistic about Ukraine’s counteroffensive, saying Ukrainian forces have been “liberating extra territory than Russia captured final yr”.
A hearth broke out at a army coaching grounds within the Kirovske district on the Crimean Peninsula, forcing the evacuation of greater than 2,000 folks and the closure of a close-by freeway, the Moscow-backed governor of Crimea has mentioned.
Navy support
America introduced extra army help for Ukraine, totalling about $1.3bn, with the package deal together with air defence capabilities and munitions.
Black Sea grain deal
Putin accused Western nations of turning the now-expired Black Sea grain deal into political leverage. “As an alternative of serving to nations in actual want, the West used the grain deal for political blackmail and … turned it right into a software to complement transnational firms and speculators within the world grain market,” he mentioned.
The Worldwide Financial Fund mentioned Russia’s exit from the deal permitting Ukrainian exports by way of the Black Sea worsens the worldwide meals safety outlook and dangers including to meals inflation, particularly for low-income nations.
5 Central European nations need a ban on Ukrainian grain to be prolonged no less than till the tip of the yr, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus mentioned. In Could, the European Union allowed Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to ban home gross sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds whereas permitting transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere.
Ukrainian youngsters
Talks being mediated by Saudi Arabia and Turkey on the repatriation of hundreds of Ukrainian youngsters taken to Russia since no less than April, the Monetary Occasions reported.
The Belarus Purple Cross sparked worldwide outrage after its chief advised Belarusian state tv that the organisation is actively concerned in bringing Ukrainian youngsters from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus.
Assist
US Company for Worldwide Growth chief Samantha Energy pledged $230m in new funding to assist Ukraine’s small and medium-sized companies and enhance the economic system hit by the warfare.
Diplomacy
South Africa, the host of this yr’s BRICS summit, has mentioned Russian chief Putin won’t be attending the assembly. The Worldwide Legal Courtroom (ICC) issued an arrest warrant towards Putin in March and, as an ICC member, South Africa is obliged to arrest Putin if he exhibits up for the summit.
Putin has determined to attend the BRICS Summit nearly, by way of video conferencing, in accordance with a report by Russian state information company RIA Novosti.
Eire’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, on a state go to to Ukraine, mentioned “nationwide borders can’t be modified by way of violence”.
Russia-Ukraine warfare: Listing of key occasions, day 512 | Russia-Ukraine warfare Information
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