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Russia-Ukraine War: UN Chief Calls On Russia To Return To Black Sea Grain Deal; US Journalist Wounded In Drone Attack – As It Happened

UN secretary-general calls on Russia to return to Black Sea grain dealThe UN secretary-general, António Guterres, called on Russia on Monday to return to a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain in line with a proposal he made to president Vladimir Putin.

Russia quit the agreement a week ago, saying that demands to improve its own food and fertiliser exports had not been met, and that not enough Ukraine grain had reached the poorest countries under the Black Sea deal, Reuters reports.

At the Food Systems summit in Rome on Monday, Guterres said:

With the termination of the Black Sea Initiative, the most vulnerable will pay the highest price.

When food prices rise, everybody pays for it. This is especially devastating for vulnerable countries struggling to feed their people.

Guterres had written to Putin on 11 July in a final effort to save the deal. He proposed Russia extend it – with a daily limit of four ships traveling to Ukraine and four ships leaving – in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia’s Agricultural Bank, Rosselkhozbank, to the SWIFT global payments system, which the EU cut off in June 2022.

Guterres added:

I call on the Russian Federation to return to the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, in line with my latest proposal.

I urge the global community to stand united for effective solutions in this essential effort.

I remain committed to facilitating the unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilisers from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and to deliver the food security that every person deserves.

Key events

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SummaryHere’s a recap of today’s developments:

Russia said it had neutralised two Ukrainian drones over Moscow in the early hours of Monday, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre. Officials said the drones hit non-residential buildings in the capital and that there were no casualties. The attack came one day after Kyiv vowed to “retaliate” for a Russian missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa. The White House said it does not support attacks inside Russia.

The governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region said Russia was trying “make the world starve” by attempting to completely block exports of Ukrainian grain to global markets after the latest in a series of Russian air attacks struck grain infrastructure on the Danube River. The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, called on Russia to return to a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain in line with a proposal he made to Vladimir Putin after Russia quit the deal a week ago.

Almost 30 ships dropped anchor near Ukraine’s crucial Izmail port terminal after Russia attacked grain warehouses on the Danube River on Monday, data showed, although it is unclear why. Monday’s pre-dawn Russian airstrikes wounded seven people and hit infrastructure along the Danube, a vital alternative route for Ukrainian grain since the year-old deal allowing safe exports via the Black Sea ended last week. Kyiv said the attack was an expansion of an air campaign Russia launched recently after pulling out of the grain deal.

Without providing any evidence, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed the cathedral in Odesa was struck by a Ukrainian air defence missile. Peskov said “Our armed forces never strike at social infrastructure facilities, let alone temples, churches and other similar facilities, so we do not accept such accusations, this is an absolute lie.”Russia reserves the right to take “tough retaliatory measures”, the foreign ministry said, after it accused Ukraine of attacking Moscow and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula with drones.

A child was killed and six people wounded in a Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, according to the region’s governor. Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces had fired Smerch rockets at “a local pond, where people were resting”.

A journalist working for Agence France-Presse news agency was wounded by a Russian drone attack while reporting from a Ukrainian artillery position near the battle-torn eastern city of Bakhmut, according to AFP reporters who witnessed the attack. Dylan Collins, 35, a US citizen based in Lebanon but on assignment in Ukraine, sustained multiple shrapnel injuries in the attack in a forested area near Bakhmut. He was evacuated to a nearby hospital where he was being treated. Doctors have said his condition was not life-threatening.

The Kremlin on Monday accused Kyiv of carrying out a “deliberate attack on journalists” in Ukraine’s south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region after a reporter for the Russian state news agency RIA was killed. The war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev was killed in a Ukrainian cluster munition strike, according to RIA. He died from his wounds during an evacuation from a special military operation.

The US “strongly condemns” Russia’s escalatory attacks in Ukraine following its “callous” suspension of the Black Sea Grain initiative, a state department spokesperson has said.

In a press briefing today, a US state department spokesperson said Russian missile and drone strikes had killed “scores of civilians” in Odesa, devastated Unesco listed heritage sites, and destroyed port infrastructure and grain stockpiles since last week.

The consequences for the rest of the world of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine have never been more clear. These vicious strikes further illustrate Russia’s willingness to use food as a weapon in its illegal war against Ukraine.

The Kremlin wants to deprive Ukraine’s economy of a major source of income without regard for needy people across the globe who will feel the consequences and be forced to pay higher prices for food.

.@StateDeptSpox condemns Russia’s attacks: Over the weekend, we saw appalling images of burning churches and flattened residential buildings. Today, Russia attacked grain warehouses on the Danube River. The consequences of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine have never been more clear. pic.twitter.com/vKQWmqP0Cy

— Department of State (@StateDept) July 24, 2023 The US will send up to $400m in additional military aid to Ukraine, including a variety of munitions for advanced air defence systems and a number of small, surveillance Hornet drones, according to US officials.

The package includes an array of ammunition, ranging from missiles for the high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) and the national advanced surface-to-air missile system (NASAMS) to Stingers and Javelins, AP reported.

The US will also send howitzer artillery rounds and 32 Stryker armored vehicles, along with demolition equipment, mortars, Hydra-70 rockets and 28m rounds of small arms ammunition, according to officials, who spoke on condition on anonymity.

In total, the US has provided Ukraine with more than $41bn in military aid since Russia’s full scale invasion in February last year.

Road traffic has resumed on the bridge linking Russia to the Crimean peninsula, according to Russian officials.

Official Telegram channels reporting from Russian-occupied Crimea said traffic was moving in both directions on the bridge, which was closed down for about three hours without explanation.

Thousands of Wagner fighters have arrived in Belarus since failed uprising – reportThousands of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group have arrived in Belarus since the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led the group’s uprising last month, according to a military monitoring group.

Between 3,450 and 3,650 soldiers have traveled to a training camp in Asipovichy, south-east of the capital of Minsk, according to Belaruski Hajun, an activist group that tracks troop movements within the country, AP reported.

Satellite images show about 700 vehicles and construction equipment have also arrived in Wagner convoys to Belarus, the group added.

Wagner fighters began arriving in Belarus in large numbers earlier this month after Prigozhin struck a deal with the Kremlin to end a short-lived mutiny in which he sent his heavily armed fighters on a “march of justice” toward Moscow.

Vladimir Putin claimed Prigozhin had rejected an offer for him to step down as the head of Wagner and allow his mercenaries to continue fighting in Ukraine.

Instead, thousands of Wagner fighters have decamped to Belarus, where some are said to be instructing Belarusian territorial forces at a training camp in Asipovichy.

The arrival of the Wagner mercenaries in Belarus appears to be a temporary measure as the Kremlin tries to manage the fallout from last month’s brief mutiny.

The Russian embassy in Moldova’s capital, Chişinău, has 28 “spy antennas” installed on its rooftop, which can be used for signals intelligence purposes, according to a Moldovan outlet.

These devices can “capture” signals between a transmitter and a receiver, and can modify them before releasing them again, experts told Jurnal, the Kyiv Independent reported.

These signals can come from radio, television, mobile networks, or satellite communications, it said, adding that the devices could be used for either military or civilian purposes.

The outlet said the satellite dishes on Chisinau’s embassy are likely connected to a command centre inside the building.

White House says it does not support attacks inside RussiaThe White House has said it does not support attacks inside Russia in response to a reporter’s question about two drones from Ukraine that damaged buildings in Moscow this morning.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, during a press briefing, said:

As a general matter we do not support attacks inside of Russia.

Russian officials said two drones crashed into non-residential buildings in Moscow in the early hours of Monday morning, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre.

Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said there were no casualties.

As Vladimir Putin hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his close ally, in Russia, the crackdown on opposition and dissent in Belarus has worsened.

Belarusian security forces are rounding up opposition figures, journalists, lawyers and even people committing minor offences such as commenting on social media memes or walking a dog without a leash, according to a New York Times report.

The country’s security forces are particularly focused on finding and punishing the people who took part in the 2020-2021 anti-Lukashenko protests.

In Belarus, red and white are the colours of the protest movement against its president and Belarusians are being arrested for wearing red and white, sporting a tattoo of the protest movement’s symbol of a raised fist, or being seen in photographs of the anti-government demonstrations.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his country is “fully prepared” to start talks on joining the European Union.

In his nightly video address, the Ukrainian leader said he had spoken with military leadership in a meeting that focused on frontline issues “where we are moving forward and those where Ukrainian forces are on the defensive”. He said:

In all areas, the first task is to destroy the occupiers, their equipment, supplies, warehouses, and headquarters as much as possible. Russia must lose every day – that’s fair.

I held a meeting on the European Union and our integration. This year we are to start negotiations on membership. 🇺🇦 is fully prepared for this – we are doing what is necessary on our part. And we are doing everything possible to ensure that the 🇪🇺 is also fully prepared. Exactly… pic.twitter.com/aDlwbiMe9W

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 24, 2023 Water at the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant has dropped to a critical level, threatening the station’s full operational capacity, according to the state-owned energy company Ukrhydroenergo.

The water level is at 12.05 metres, while the plant requires 12-12.5 metres to function fully, the company wrote on Telegram.

In June, the strategically important Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was breached in what Ukraine said was an attack by Russian forces. The incident led to a sharp drop in the water level in the lower reservoir of the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant, according to Ukrhydroenergo.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, visited the Valaam Monastery in Karelia, Russia on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during their visit the Valaam Monastery. Photograph: Alexander Demyanchuk/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPAPutin and Lukashenko (R) during their visit the Valaam Monastery in Karelia, Russia. Photograph: Alexander Demyanchuk/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPAPutin visits the Valaam Monastery in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. Photograph: SPUTNIK/ReutersUkrainian boys are faced with a potentially life-or-death decision as they approach the age of 18: should I stay in Ukraine or leave?

Under Ukrainian martial law, which has been in place since Russia’s invasion in February last year, men aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from travelling abroad and are potentially subject to conscription into Ukraine’s armed forces (AFU).

Although the AFU for the most part have filled ranks with volunteers, young Ukrainian men coming of age face an uncertain, according to a Kyiv Post report.

One 17-year-old boy, Ruslan, decided to leave Ukraine in February. He told the paper:

The main reason was that I don’t want to fight and none of my relatives want me to either. I am a patriot of Ukraine, but I’m definitely not ready to die, especially at such a young age. I am ready to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine as soon as I earn enough money.

Others have decided to stay in Ukraine despite worries about potentially being conscripted. Dmytro, 17, said:

It seems to me that they give [call up papers] to guys at the age of 20-21 and those who aren’t studying at university. So I hope that the war will end in a few years. But in any case, everything will already be as it will be.

Child killed and six people wounded, says governor of DonetskA child was killed and six people wounded in a Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, according to the region’s governor.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces had fired Smerch rockets at “a local pond, where people were resting”.

Three children were among the injured, he added.

It is not possible to independently verify his claim.

AFP journalist wounded in drone attack near BakhmutA journalist working for Agence France-Presse news agency was wounded by a Russian drone attack while reporting from a Ukrainian artillery position near the battle-torn eastern city of Bakhmut on Monday, according to AFP reporters who witnessed the attack.

Dylan Collins, 35, a US citizen based in Lebanon but on assignment in Ukraine, sustained multiple shrapnel injuries in the attack in a forested area near Bakhmut.

He was evacuated to a nearby hospital where he was being treated. Doctors have said his condition was not life-threatening. He is conscious and speaking to colleagues, AFP said.

FP’s Europe director Christine Buhagiar said in a statement:

We are investigating the full circumstances behind this incident. Our thoughts are with Dylan and his loved ones.

Collins has been working for the international news agency since 2018 and is currently its video coordinator for Lebanon and Syria. He has made regular trips to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-fledged invasion in February last year.

In May, AFP video journalist Arman Soldin was killed aged 32 in a Russian rocket strike near Bakhmut.

Spain’s ministry of defence said four Leopard 2 battle tanks and 10 armoured carriers are en route to Ukraine.

In a statement published today, the ministry said a ship with military and humanitarian material bound for Ukraine had left the port of Santander, and were expected to be delivered to Ukraine’s armed forces by early August.

The latest batch of assistance included four Leopard 2A4s, which will join the six Leopard 2s that have already been delivered to Ukraine, it said.

Also included in this shipment are 10 M-113 armoured vehicles, ten Navy trucks, one multipurpose armoured vehicle, three civil ambulances, one BMR armoured ambulance, and one armoured civilian ambulance, it said.

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