Ukraine forces reportedly recapture Snake Island in strategic winIsobel Koshiw
Ukrainian forces say they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea landmass off the southern coast near the city of Odesa.
Ukraine’s reported recapture of the island weakens any potential plans Russia may have for a future land attack on that stretch of coastline.
Russia’s ministry of defence stated that it had completed its assigned tasks and was tactically withdrawing to allow for grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
“In order to organise humanitarian grain corridors as part of the implementation of joint agreements reached with the participation of the UN, the Russian Federation decided to leave its positions on Zmiinyi Island,” the defence ministry said.
Ukraine said it had forced Russian troops to flee overnight on two speed boats. The statement, by Ukraine’s southern command, said explosions could still be heard and the island was covered in smoke, appearing to indicate that battles were continuing.
Snake Island was made famous when Russia first captured it in February. A Ukrainian soldier posted on the island told an attacking Russian warship to “go fuck yourself”, which has become one of the most popular Ukrainian slogans of resistance since the invasion.
The blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports by Russia has caused grain prices to soar, threatening famine in several countries.
Stoltenberg says we live in a more “dangerous” and “unpredictable” world with large-scale military operations in Europe not seen since the second world war.
He says:
At the same time, we also know that this can get worse. Because if this becomes a full-scale war between Russia and Nato, then we’ll see suffering, damage, death, and destruction at a scale which is much, much worse than what we see in Ukraine today.
Stoltenberg says Nato has two tasks: one is to provide support to Ukraine, the other to prevent escalation beyond Ukraine. “That is the reason why Nato is not part of the conflict on the ground,” he adds.
Nato has increased its eastern presence with more than 40,000 troops “to remove any room for miscalculation or misunderstanding in Moscow about our readiness to protect every inch of Nato territory”, he says.
Sweden and Finland are expected to formally sign the Nato accession protocol on Tuesday, Stoltenberg says.
The presidents of both Nordic countries will take part in the process “but the reality” is that the decision has already been taken by Nato leaders yesterday at the summit, he says.
Stoltenberg says Nato leaders decided today to support Ukraine “to make sure Ukraine prevails as an independent sovereign state in Europe”.
He describes Vladimir Putin’s “brutal” war against Ukraine as “absolutely unacceptable” with ramifications over the entire world.
Stoltenberg says:
It’s President Putin that should withdraw its forces and end this war immediately by stopping attacking a democratic sovereign nation and causing so much suffering in Ukraine.
He says Finland and Sweden have the right to choose their own path and to join Nato, and that leaders are “prepared for any eventuality”.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, is speaking at a news conference after the second and final day of the military alliance’s summit in Madrid.
Stoltenberg describes the summit as “transformative” and says leaders agreed on a “fundamental shift in our deterrence and defence”.
Stoltenberg says:
We agreed to invite Finland and Sweden to join our alliance, and we agreed on long-term support for Ukraine.
Nato leaders also addressed the global food crisis “which is a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”, he added.
The impact of the food crisis is “severe”, including on some of the world’s most vulnerable people, he said.
He says Nato allies discussed efforts to mitigate the crisis and get the grain out of Ukraine by land and sea.
Russian ex-president Medvedev says sanctions could be justification for warRussia’s former president and current deputy security council chairman, Dmitry Medvedev, said sanctions against Moscow may be seen as an act of aggression and justification for war.
Reuters is quoting Medvedev as saying:
I would like to point out once again that under certain circumstances such hostile measures can also qualify as an act of international aggression. And even as a casus belli (justification for war).
Russia has the right to defend itself, he added.
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, in St Petersburg on Wednesday. Photograph: SPUTNIK/ReutersA key adviser to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mykhailo Podolyak, has dismissed Russian claims that it had pulled its forces from Snake Island as “a gesture of goodwill” to allow Kyiv to export agricultural products.
Russia’s defence ministry said its armed forces had “completed their tasks on Snake Island” in a statement earlier today.
In response, Podolyak, who is also the head of Ukraine’s negotiating team, tweeted that “in order for Moscow to show its goodwill, we have to beat it up regularly”.
Everything according to the plan? Again, as a “goodwill”, Russian troops flee from Zmiinyi Island – RF Defense Ministry confirmed. So, in order for Moscow to show its goodwill, we have to beat it up regularly. To be short – more weapons and sooner peace without Nazi letter Z… pic.twitter.com/bsyosvWLRL
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) June 30, 2022 Ashifa Kassam
As Nato leaders gather in Madrid for a summit playing out in the shadow of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the spotlight has landed on a ubiquitous staple found in bars and restaurants across Spain: Russian salad.
International officials and journalists were bemused to find the salad – a combination of potatoes, mayonnaise and vegetables known as ensaladilla Rusa – being sold as “potatoes salad Russian style” at the summit venue.
“Russian salad at a Nato summit? I’m a little surprised by that choice of dish,” the journalist Iñaki López told the Spanish media outlet la Sexta.
Russian salad on a menu at the Nato summit media centre restaurant. Photograph: Sabine Siebold/ReutersWhile the name did little to dampen its popularity – the dish reportedly sold out in hours – within a day it had been renamed, with the menu now listing it as “traditional salad”.
The Spanish chef José Andrés went one step further, adding tomato dumplings and calling the dish Ukrainian salad in a show of solidarity at the dinner he coordinated for visiting defence and foreign ministers on Tuesday.
It was an extension of a rebrand that began last month when Andrés announced he would change the dish’s name at all his restaurants, joining a wave of bars and restaurants to have done so in recent months.
Among the first was Mesón Martín, a three-decade old restaurant in the northern city of Zaragoza. “Friends, we’ve decided to change the name of the famous salad,” the restaurant announced on social media in late February. “From today, you will find the Kyiv salad on our menu, in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.”
Read the full story by Ashifa Kassam here: ‘I’m a little surprised’: Nato summit venue in Madrid serves ‘Russian salad’
The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has congratulated his country’s armed forces for doing a “great job” after Russian forces were reportedly pushed back from Snake Island.
Yermak tweeted:
KABOOM!
No Russian troops on the Snake Island anymore. Our Armed Forces did a great job.
More kaboom news to follow. All will be Ukraine.
KABOOM!
No Russian troops on the Snake Island anymore. Our Armed Forces did a great job.
More kaboom news to follow. All will be 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/ItdP3oQvHK
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) June 30, 2022 Yermak later wrote that the Ukrainian army was “restraining the enemy” and that he was expecting more weapons “to knock the Russian troops out”.
Russia’s defence ministry said more than 6,000 Ukrainian fighters had been captured or surrendered, the Russian state-owned news agency Ria reports.
Ukrainian military intelligence said yesterday that it had secured the release of 144 of its soldiers, including 95 who defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, in the largest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia invaded.
The exchange of prisoners of war was organised by direct order of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Ria cited the ministry as saying.
It is not possible to independently verify these claims.
Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is “open” to a dialogue on “strategic stability, preserving non-proliferation regimes for weapons of mass destruction and improving the situation in the field of arms control”.
The Russian president said efforts would require “painstaking joint work” and would go towards preventing a repeat of “what is happening today in the Donbas” in remarks to a legal forum in his home city of St Petersburg, Reuters reports.
He once again claimed Russia launched its invasion into Ukraine to protect ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers in the eastern Donbas region from persecution from Kyiv, and accused Ukraine of “crimes against humanity” – allegations that Kyiv and the west have said are baseless and used to justify Putin’s unprovoked act of aggression.
Today so far … Ukraine’s armed forces claim to have expelled Russian forces from the strategically important Black Sea island Zmiinyi, better known as Snake Island. Ukraine’s reported recapture of the island would weaken any potential plans Russia may have for a future land attack on that stretch of coastline. Ukraine’s armed forces said: “During the night, as a result of a successful military operation with our missile and artillery units on Snake Island, the enemy hastily evacuated the remnants of the garrison in two speedboats and probably left the island. Currently, Zmiinyi is covered with fire, explosions are heard. The final results of the operation are being investigated.” The Russian ministry of defence confirmed it had withdrawn, claiming it was a “step of goodwill” to facilitate grain shipments and calling on Kyiv to demine Ukraine’s waters. Russia claimed: “This decision will not allow Kyiv to speculate on the topic of the impending food crisis, referring to the impossibility of exporting grain due to Russia’s total control of the north-western part of the Black Sea. Now the word is up to the Ukrainian side, which has not yet cleared the Black Sea coast near its shores, including the port waters.” The frontline city of Lysychansk is under relentless shelling as Russia presses on with its offensive in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said they were trying to evacuate residents from the city, the focus of Russia’s attacks where about 15,000 people remained. The regional governor Serhiy Haidai told Ukrainian television: “Fighting is going on all the time. The Russians are constantly on the offensive. There is no let-up. Absolutely everything is being shelled.” One person has been killed and six people have been injured, including an 11-year-old, by Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region according to the latest status update of Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv. The European court of human rights (ECHR) said it had issued an order to Russia to ensure that two Britons captured after fighting for Ukrainian forces do not face the death penalty. It is likely to have limited effect. This month, the Russian parliament passed legislation to end the jurisdiction of Europe’s top human rights court in Russia, and two weeks ago a Kremlin spokesperson, in reference to another ECHR ruling, said Moscow no longer implemented its decisions. Nato leaders yesterday announced a new “strategic concept” in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, describing Moscow as “the most significant and direct threat to allies’ security and stability”. Nato has invited Sweden and Finland to become members of the military alliance, according to a communique published by the Nato summit in Madrid. Leaders also pledged further help to Kyiv and agreed on a package of support aimed at modernising the country’s defence sector. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, earlier issued fresh warnings that Russia would respond in kind if Nato set up military infrastructure in Finland and Sweden after they joined Nato. He said it was inevitable that Moscow’s relations with Helsinki and Stockholm would sour over Nato membership. Putin also pushed back against allegations that Russian forces were responsible for a strike on a crowded shopping centre in the Ukrainian town of Kremenchuk on Monday in which 18 people were killed. “Our army does not attack any civilian infrastructure site. We have every capability of knowing what is situated where,” Putin said. Moscow said its military fired a “high-precision air attack at hangars where armament and munitions were stored” and the explosion of those weapon caches caused a fire in the nearby shopping centre – a claim discredited by first-hand accounts from survivors and expert analysis. Sweden will send more anti-tank weapons and machine guns to Ukraine, Sweden’s defence ministry said on Thursday. The arms package, which also includes equipment for mine clearing, is valued at around £40m ($49m). Spain will gradually raise defence spending to near the equivalent to 2% of the country’s gross domestic product by 2029, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said. The UK’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said it is a “realistic” ambition to push Russian forces out of Ukraine entirely. Truss has described Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, as “an appalling dictator perpetrating a war that was neither legal nor justified” and said that “he has ordered the most appalling crimes to be committed in Ukraine.” Norway’s foreign minister has said her nation is not blocking Russian access to Svalbard. On Wednesday Russia accused Norway of disrupting the delivery of critical supplies and threatened retaliation. Anniken Huitfeldt said: “Norway is not breaking the Svalbard Treaty. The shipment that was stopped at the Norwegian-Russian border has been stopped on the basis of the sanctions that prohibit Russian road transport companies from transporting goods on Norwegian territory”. She said Russia could deliver supplies in a different way, exclusively by ship or by air. Trade through Lithuania to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad could return to normal within days as officials edge towards a compromise deal, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. British government complacency is allowing Russian “dirty money” to flow into the UK despite the war in Ukraine, MPs have warned. The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said the failure of ministers to take effective action meant assets “laundered” through the City of London were being used to finance Putin’s war. Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, has spoken of his visit to Kyiv to meet Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, describing the visit as a “manifestation of the Indonesian people’s concern for the situation in Ukraine.” Ukraine announced the largest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia invaded, securing the release of 144 of its soldiers, including 95 who had defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. Ukrainian military intelligence said that most of the Ukrainians released had serious injuries, including burns and amputations, and were now receiving medical care.
Zelenskiy announced the end of diplomatic ties between Ukraine and Syria after the Russia-ally recognised the independence of eastern Ukraine’s two separatist republics, Donetsk and Luhansk. “There will no longer be relations between Ukraine and Syria,” Zelenskiy said, adding that the sanctions pressure against Syria “will be even greater.” Ukraine forces reportedly recapture Snake Island in strategic winIsobel Koshiw
Ukrainian forces say they have pushed Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea landmass off the southern coast near the city of Odesa.
Ukraine’s reported recapture of the island weakens any potential plans Russia may have for a future land attack on that stretch of coastline.
Russia’s ministry of defence stated that it had completed its assigned tasks and was tactically withdrawing to allow for grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
“In order to organise humanitarian grain corridors as part of the implementation of joint agreements reached with the participation of the UN, the Russian Federation decided to leave its positions on Zmiinyi Island,” the defence ministry said.
Ukraine said it had forced Russian troops to flee overnight on two speed boats. The statement, by Ukraine’s southern command, said explosions could still be heard and the island was covered in smoke, appearing to indicate that battles were continuing.
Snake Island was made famous when Russia first captured it in February. A Ukrainian soldier posted on the island told an attacking Russian warship to “go fuck yourself”, which has become one of the most popular Ukrainian slogans of resistance since the invasion.
The blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports by Russia has caused grain prices to soar, threatening famine in several countries.
The European court of human rights (ECHR) said it had issued an order to Russia to ensure that two Britons captured after fighting for Ukraine do not face the death penalty.
It is likely to have limited effect. This month, the Russian parliament passed legislation to end the jurisdiction of Europe’s top human rights court in Russia, and two weeks ago a Kremlin spokesman, in reference to another ECHR ruling, said Moscow no longer implemented its decisions.
Reuters reports the ECHR said it had issued an order for interim measures, telling Russia it “should ensure that the death penalty imposed on the applicants was not carried out; ensure appropriate conditions of their detention; and provide them with any necessary medical assistance and medication”.
Two British citizens, Aiden Aslin, left, and Shaun Pinner, right, and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim, centre, sit behind bars in occupied Donetsk. Photograph: APEarlier this month, a court in the self-proclaimed republic in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine sentenced the British citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner to death, alongside Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim, accusing them of “mercenary activities”.
Both Britons have said they were serving in the Ukrainian marines, making them active-duty soldiers who should be protected by the Geneva conventions on prisoners of war. UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss said “They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy.”
Understandably, with images of smoke rising from Snake Island being shared, Ukrainian commentary on the Russian withdrawal from the strategic Black Sea island is suggesting that the Russian statement it was a goodwill gesture is a cynical ploy to mask a defeat. Vitaliy Kim, governor of Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, has just posted to Telegram a screenshot of the news about Snake Island, with the message “We look forward to a step of goodwill in Kherson in the near future.”