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Crimea
Jul 18, 2023 1:00:26 GMT
Post by Admin on Jul 18, 2023 1:00:26 GMT
Vladimir Putin has vowed to retaliate following a "terrorist" attack on the bridge linking Crimea to Russia.
Moscow has blamed Ukraine for the incident - which left two people dead - but Kyiv has not officially said it was responsible.
The Kerch bridge was opened in 2018 and enables road and rail travel between Russia and Crimea - Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014.
In October 2022, the bridge was partially closed following a huge explosion. It was fully reopened in February.
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Crimea
Jul 18, 2023 3:56:57 GMT
Post by Admin on Jul 18, 2023 3:56:57 GMT
The Crimean Bridge, which links the annexed peninsula to mainland Russia, was hit by two strikes early Monday in an attack a Ukrainian security official told CNN Kyiv was responsible for.
The crossing is a vital artery for supplying Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine, allowing people and goods to flow into the Ukrainian territories that Moscow has occupied in the south and east of the country.
Also known as the Kerch Bridge, it holds personal value for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the Kremlin narrative it marks the “reunification” of Crimea with the Russian mainland.
Monday’s attack on the crossing was the second since Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine – and Kyiv has reiterated that it hopes to reclaim the peninsula in its ongoing counteroffensive.
Here’s what you need to know:
Why is the bridge so important to Russia? The Kerch Bridge is strategically important because it links Russia’s Krasnodar region with Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.
It also has huge symbolic importance for Russia, which built the 12-mile bridge – the longest in Europe – at a cost of around $3.7 billion. It was the physical expression of Putin’s objective to take over Ukraine and bind it to Russia forever.
The day it opened, Putin led a triumphant convoy over the bridge. Ukrainians revile the bridge, which stands as a reminder of Russian occupation.
In October, the bridge was partially destroyed when a fuel tanker exploded and damaged a large section of the road. The Kremlin was quick to blame Kyiv for that explosion, and Putin alleged that it was an act of “sabotage” by Ukrainian security services. Moscow was quick to repair the bridge after the explosion last year.
What does Russia use the bridge for in the war? The bridge is a critical pipeline for providing Crimea with both its daily needs and supplies for the military, in addition to fuel and goods for civilians. Russian military convoys have regularly used the bridge to aid their full-scale invasion of Ukraine – carrying vehicles, armor and fuel.
If the Russian military’s use of the crossing is hampered, its supply lines to forces in southern Ukraine would become more tenuous.
Russia has used the Crimean railroads to ferry supplies to forces in Kherson, and several rail hubs in both Crimea and Kherson have been attacked by long-range Ukrainian rockets. Rail traffic across the Crimea bridge is continuing to operate on Monday, albeit with delays, according to video on social media, a Russian official and Russian state media.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been advancing into the Kherson region, which is just north of Crimea. The Ukrainian military’s General Staff said last week that in the south of Ukraine, in particular in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, Russian forces are focusing their main efforts on preventing further advance of Ukrainian troops.
What is the status of the bridge? A widely circulating video, which appears to have been captured this morning from a train passing on the parallel rail bridge, shows significant damage to one of the bridge’s road spans.
“The railroad track was not damaged by the strike,” Vladimir Konstantinov, head of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, said on his Telegram channel. Russian state media RIA Novosti and TASS report that rail traffic is continuing to operate with delays.
Prominent Russian military blogger Boris Rozhin said on Monday morning that ferries and other large landing ships will transport cars that are now unable to cross the bridge, adding that he expects repairs to take some time.
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Crimea
Jul 18, 2023 17:25:14 GMT
Post by Admin on Jul 18, 2023 17:25:14 GMT
London CNN — Wheat and corn prices on global commodities markets jumped Monday after Russia pulled out of a crucial deal allowing the export of grain from Ukraine.
The collapse of the pact threatens to push up food prices for consumers worldwide and tip millions into hunger.
The White House said the deal had been “critical” to bringing down food prices around the globe, which spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
“Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative will worsen food insecurity and harm millions of vulnerable people around the world,” Adam Hodge, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council, said in a statement.
Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade jumped 2.7% to $6.80 a bushel and corn futures rose 0.94% to $5.11 a bushel as traders feared an impending supply crunch of the staple foods.
The contracts gave up those gains later in the day. Wheat prices are still down 54% from the all-time high hit in March 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while corn prices are 37% lower than they were in April 2022, when they reached a 10-year high.
The Black Sea deal — originally brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in a year ago — has ensured the safe passage of ships carrying grain from Ukrainian ports. The agreement was set to expire at 5 pm ET Monday (midnight local time in Istanbul, Kyiv and Moscow).
So far the deal has allowed for the export of almost 33 million metric tons of food through Ukrainian ports, according to UN data.
The deal had been renewed three times, but Russia has repeatedly threatened to pull out, arguing that it has been hampered in exporting its own products.
Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that he would not renew the pact, saying that its main purpose — to supply grain to countries in need — had “not been realized.”
Far-reaching impact The collapse of the deal is likely to have repercussions far beyond the region.
Before the war, Ukraine was the fifth-largest wheat exporter globally, accounting for 10% of exports, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Ukraine is among the world’s top three exporters of barley, maize and rapeseed oil, says Gro Intelligence, an agricultural data firm. It is also by far the biggest exporter of sunflower oil, accounting for 46% of the world’s exports, according to the United Nations.
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Crimea
Jul 19, 2023 16:53:31 GMT
Post by Admin on Jul 19, 2023 16:53:31 GMT
Russian missile attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea coast have destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain and damaged storage infrastructure, officials say. Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said a "considerable amount" of export infrastructure was out of operation. Russia has pulled out of an international grain deal in place since last summer, guaranteeing safe passage for exports across the Black Sea. The Kremlin argued its demands for Russian exports had not been honoured. Within hours of its withdrawal from the grain deal on Monday, Russia had struck the southern port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv in the early hours of Tuesday. It followed that up with more strikes overnight into Wednesday, targeting grain terminals and port infrastructure in Odesa and further down the Black Sea coast in Chornomorsk, two of the three ports that were included in the export deal. Odesa military spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk called it a "truly massive attack". The agriculture minister said the 60,000 tonnes destroyed in the strike were "supposed to be loaded on a large-tonnage ship and sent through the grain corridor 60 days ago". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said each missile strike was a blow not just to Ukraine, but to "everyone in the world striving for a normal and safe life". France and Germany also condemned the attack. Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that by covering Odesa with a hail of bombs, Russian President Vladimir Putin was robbing the world of any hope of Ukrainian grain and "hitting the world's poorest". The infrastructure ministry published a series of photos showing damage to silos and other grain facilities. Officials said there had been damage to wharves and reservoirs, but it was international Ukrainian traders and carriers that had suffered the most. Russian war commentators said the damage proved that Kyiv was unable to shoot down the majority of Russian missiles and drones. Officials said the co-ordinated attack involved Kalibr cruise missiles, Onyx supersonic and Kh-22 anti-ship missiles as well as kamikaze drones, fired from the Black Sea, Crimea and southern Russia. Although 37 Russian missiles and drones were shot down, a number did penetrate Ukrainian defences, they said. "I saw a red flash in the window and reacted immediately," one resident told the Reuters news agency. "I went downstairs, it was noisy and filled with smoke outside, people were in panic, some were crying, glass shards were scattered all over. It was impossible to remain in the area." Russia had called its initial attack on Odesa a "mass revenge strike" for an attack on the Russian-built bridge over the Kerch strait linking occupied Crimea to Russia. Seaborne drones were blamed for Monday's bridge strike that knocked out a section of bridge and killed a Russian couple.
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Crimea
Jul 19, 2023 22:06:57 GMT
Post by Admin on Jul 19, 2023 22:06:57 GMT
Details: Putin has claimed that Russia has "shown miracles of restraint and tolerance by extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative".
"At the same time, no one was going to fulfil any obligations and agreements on the grain deal; they only constantly demanded something from the Russian Federation. The West did everything to derail the grain deal, sparing no effort," Putin said.
He has also said that the Black Sea Grain Initiative supposedly led to direct losses of US$1.2 billion for Russian farmers.
Quote from Putin: "Our country is able to replace Ukrainian grain, both on a commercial and free basis. Moreover, we are expecting a record harvest again this year. The extension of the grain deal as it existed has lost all meaning.
That is why we opposed its further extension. We are not against the deal itself. And we will consider coming back to it, but on one condition: if all the principles of Russia's participation in the agreement are fully taken into account and, most importantly, implemented."
More details: Among the conditions Putin has voiced were the lifting of sanctions on Russian grain and fertiliser supplies to world markets, the connection of banks to SWIFT, and the end of "all restrictions".
"We do not need any promises or ideas; we need these conditions to be fulfilled," Putin added.
He has also named the resumption of supplies of spare parts for agricultural machinery and "resolving the issue of freight and insurance for Russian ships" among the conditions.
In addition, Putin has said that the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline "should be restored". He has added that "Russian assets related to agriculture" should be unblocked. Putin has claimed that these conditions are set out in Russia's Memorandum with the UN.
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