07/20/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 01:21 USA expect attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea +++
The US warns of attacks against civilian shipping on the Black Sea. The US authorities have information that Russia has laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, said Adam Hodge, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. “We believe this is a coordinated move to justify attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea and blame Ukraine for those attacks.” Russia had announced that from midnight Moscow time it would consider all ships bound for Ukraine as “potential carriers of military equipment”.
+++ 00:16 Green: Putin’s canceled trip to South Africa shows that international criminal law works +++
Green foreign policy expert Robin Wagener sees international criminal law strengthened in the case of Russian President Putin. The fact that the head of the Kremlin, who is under an international arrest warrant, is not traveling to South Africa for the meeting of the BRICS countries at the end of August is a clear sign of this, Wagener told the editorial network Germany. “This shows that international criminal law works,” said the Green politician. “Putin is not above the law. He is isolated.” Moscow’s threat of a declaration of war if the arrest warrant is executed is transparent saber-rattling. “It is right that South Africa remains a confident host and will not allow itself to be blackmailed or threatened.”
+++ 22:22 Croatia offers railway network and ports for grain export +++
During a session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Croatia offered its railway network and ports on the Adriatic Sea as an alternative export route for Ukrainian grain. “Croatia is ready to help,” says Secretary of State for Political Affairs Frano Matušić, adding that “Croatian railways and ports on the Adriatic Sea are one of the possible alternative routes.” Russia dealt a serious blow to world food security when it announced its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grains Initiative. The deal, negotiated by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022, allowed Ukraine to continue exporting its agricultural products across the Black Sea during the invasion.
+++ 22:03 Pro-Russian mural in Mariupol: Italian artist causes outrage +++
A huge pro-Russian mural painted by an Italian street artist on a bombed-out building in occupied Mariupol is sparking a row in Italy. The artist is accused of plagiarism and spreading false information from the Kremlin about the conflict in Ukraine. On July 11, Italian street artist Ciro Cerullo, known as Jorit, announced on his Instagram profile that he had completed a mural in the devastated Ukrainian city. The mural shows a little girl with the colors of the flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in her eyes. Bombs marked “NATO” are falling behind her. “They lied to us about Vietnam, they lied to us about Afghanistan, they lied to us about Iraq and now I have the proof: they’re lying to us about Donbass too,” Jorit wrote in his post on Instagram. However, a number of users on Instagram and Twitter pointed out the striking resemblance to a photo that appeared on the cover of Australian photo magazine Capture in 2018 and was taken by Australian photographer Helen Whittle. The subject is her daughter, the same little girl Jorit is said to have posed for in Mariupol.
+++ 21:41 Kiev: Moscow uses weapons with Western components +++
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, criticizes the West on Telegram for not closing the loopholes in sanctions that allow Russia to build up its military stockpiles. He said: “The Russian terror of Odesa proves once again that they [die Russen, Anm. d. Red.] hunger and problems in the countries of the Global South. They want to create a refugee crisis for the West. Everything is done to weaken allies and to interfere politically in the internal affairs of these countries,” said Yermak. To do this, the Russians used weapons that can only be manufactured with components produced in the West and in Asian countries Tightening sanctions, especially against those who help the Russians circumvent them.”We’re waiting, our allies are preparing a solution,” says Yermak.
+++ 21:21 MI6 boss: Drone delivery to Russia causes discord in the Iranian government +++
The head of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence agency, Richard Moore, says the Wagner Group’s attempted coup in June shows pressure is on Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding he is optimistic about Ukraine’s counter-offensive. Reuters reports that in a rare public address, Moore has called Iran’s decision to supply Moscow with suicide drones for the Ukraine conflict “ruthless” and claims it has sparked internal strife at the highest levels of the Tehran regime.
Read the events of the previous day here.