A Ukrainian soldier kisses his partner while boarding the train to Dnipro at the Odessa train station in Ukraine on July 24, 2022 (AFP/BULENT KILIC)
Moscow announced on Monday a new drastic cut in gas deliveries to Europe, reigniting the gas battle between Russia and the West, while kyiv hopes to be able to resume its grain exports “as soon as this week”.
The Russian gas giant Gazprom announced on Monday that it would drastically reduce from Wednesday, to 33 million cubic meters daily, deliveries of Russian gas to Europe via the Nord Stream gas pipeline, arguing the need for maintenance of a turbine.
The German economy ministry, however, said there is “no technical reason” to make further cuts in delivery. According to Berlin, this is a “pretext” and a “political” decision to weigh on Westerners in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky considered that Russia was waging an “open gas war against united Europe” and called on the latter to “retaliate” by tightening sanctions.
The manager of Ukraine’s gas transport system, GTSOU, was also moved on Monday evening by a “rapid increase in pressure on the Urengoï-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline”, on the border between Russia and Russia. ‘Ukraine.
“The change in pressure occurred without any warning from Gazprom,” GTSOU said in a statement, adding that a “change in pressure may lead to emergency situations on the main gas pipeline.”
4,500 kilometers long, this gas pipeline starts from Siberia to connect European customers via Ukraine. The Russian portion is operated by Gazprom.
Westerners accuse Moscow of using the energy weapon in retaliation for the sanctions adopted after the offensive against Ukraine.
A man stands among the rubble of a school in Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on July 25, 2022 (AFP/BULENT KILIC)
At the same time, grain exports blocked in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 should resume “as early as this week”, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said, following an agreement reached on February 22 July in Istanbul between kyiv, Moscow and Turkey, under the aegis of the UN.
In a telephone interview with Mr. Kubrakov, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar expressed Turkey’s “satisfaction” at this announcement.
“It is important that a first ship can leave as quickly as possible,” he said. “Work continues intensely at the Joint Coordination Center,” he added without giving a date. This center will be responsible for conducting inspections of ships leaving and returning from the Black Sea, as required by Moscow.
According to Mr. Kubrakov, the main obstacle to the resumption of exports is the risk of Russian bombing, as illustrated by the strike that targeted the port of Odessa on the Black Sea, vital for this trade, on Saturday.
Russian invasion of Ukraine: the situation in the east of the country (AFP/)
Russia said on Monday that its strikes on Odessa targeted military targets and did not hinder the resumption of grain exports. Moscow claimed to have destroyed a warship and missiles supplied by the United States there.
The bombardments on Odessa “target only the military infrastructure”, affirmed the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov.
– Ensuring safety –
Oleksandre Kubrakov for his part called on the guarantors of the agreement, Turkey and the UN, to guarantee the safety of the Ukrainian convoys: “if the parties do not guarantee safety, it will not work”.
Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yuri Vaskov said the port of Chornomorsk (southwest) would be the first to operate for exports, followed by those of Odessa and Pivdenny (southwest).
The main ports of the Black Sea and Ukraine (AFP/)
The agreement signed on Friday provides for “secure corridors” for the circulation in the Black Sea of merchant ships.
It should make it possible to export 20 to 25 million tonnes of cereals blocked in Ukraine and to facilitate Russian agricultural exports, thus reducing the risk of a food crisis in the world.
The export of wheat, corn and sunflower from Ukraine was 90% by sea and mainly by Odessa, which concentrated 60% of the country’s port activity.
Ukraine and Russia account for around 30% of world wheat exports and the war has led to a spike in cereal and oil prices, which has hit the African continent in particular hard.
The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, is currently on a visit to Africa to reassure the countries heavily dependent on Ukrainian cereals.
– No respite on the front –
A Ukrainian soldier in the Mykolaiv region on July 23, 2022 (AFP/BULENT KILIC)
On the ground, the war knows no respite on the fronts of Mykolaiv (south), in the region of Kharkiv (north-east), the second largest city in Ukraine, in that of Kherson (south) and in the two pro-Russian separatist territories of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east.
In Kherson, which the Russians seized on March 3, the situation “remains critical” with shortages of medicines, food and hygiene products, said Monday Dmytro Boutry, head of the regional military administration.
He also assured that Ukrainian forces had regained control of 44 villages in the region and targeted three bridges to complicate Russian logistics.
A monument on the front line in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, July 23, 2022 (AFP/BULENT KILIC)
The Ukrainian army general staff announced on Monday evening that Russian troops had recorded “partial success” near the Vougleguirsk thermal power plant in the Donbass, although they suffered losses while trying to advance towards the Ukrainian stronghold of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.
In this context, Germany began delivering Gepard anti-aircraft guns to the Ukrainians on Monday.
“We are expecting 15 Gepards. Three of them arrived in Ukraine today,” announced Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov.
Polish PT-91 Twardy tanks have also arrived in Ukraine, Andriy Iermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, wrote on Twitter on Monday.
A Ukrainian soldier on a street in Siversk, Donetsk region (eastern Ukraine), July 22, 2022 (AFP/Anatolii Stepanov)
As the war entered its sixth month on Sunday, Eurovision 2022 winners Ukraine welcomed the fact that the next competition will take place in the UK, after denouncing in June the decision to withdraw the hosting of the 2023 edition due to the Russian invasion.
© 2022 AFP
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