07/18/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:29 London rejects involvement in Crimean attack +++
Britain denies allegations by Russia that British intelligence services may have been involved in an attack on the Crimean bridge. “This is unfounded speculation by Russia, which we do not wish to comment further,” said a spokesman for the British Foreign Office. The Russian deputy ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Dmitry Polyansky, had told the Security Council that British secret services could have been involved in the attack. “I have not heard any condemnation of this act of terrorism from any of the Western sponsors of the Kiev regime. And we have yet to find out to what extent Western, especially British, intelligence services were involved in the preparation and execution of this terrorist attack. Too many things point to that.”
+++ 02:51 air raids on other regions in the south and east +++
Not only Odessa, but also other places in southern and eastern Ukraine are exposed to Russian air raids during the night. The Ukrainian air force told Telegram that the regions of Mykolaiv, Donetsk, Cherson, Zaporizhia and Dnipro were threatened by Russian drone strikes. Russia may also use ballistic weapons to attack Poltava, Cherkasy, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Kirovohradska regions. The head of the Odessa region’s military administration, Oleh Kiper, expects several waves of attacks.
+++ 01:57 Russia attacks Odessa a few hours after the end of grain agreements +++
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia launched an aerial attack on the port city of Odessa just a few hours after the end of the grain agreement. “Odessa: Anti-aircraft combat is underway,” spokesman for the Ukrainian military administration in Odessa Serhiy Brachuk told Telegram. Odessa is an important Black Sea port for grain exports. Russia has not renewed the agreement on grain exports from Ukraine. Ukraine wants to continue exports across the Black Sea even without commitments from Moscow.
+++ 01:18 Blinken castigates Aus from grain deal as “unscrupulous” +++
US Secretary of State Blinken called Russia’s termination of the international grain agreement “unscrupulous”. Food would then be used as a weapon, criticizes Blinken. This will result in food becoming harder to get and more expensive in places where it is badly needed. The market is already reacting. Russia must reverse the decision.
+++ 00:24 Crimean bridge, according to Russia, again passable for cars +++
According to the Russian government, traffic on the Crimean bridge, which was damaged by explosions, was resumed at night with restrictions. According to Russian agencies, only one of the two lanes will be used, said Deputy Prime Minister Marat Chusnullin. The strategically important bridge on the peninsula annexed in 2014 was damaged on Monday night. According to Russian information, she was attacked with unmanned remote-controlled boats. Part of the road collapsed as a result of the explosion.
+++ 23:29 Selenskyj: grain agreement without Russia +++
At 11 p.m. the grain agreement with Russia officially expired. But Zelenskyj is counting on talks with the United Nations and Turkey to continue the grain agreement without Moscow. He wrote letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he says in his video address. Russia has destroyed the stable food supply, but the states in Asia, Africa and Europe have a right to stability. “The Black Sea Grains Initiative can and should continue – if without Russia, then without Russia.”
+++ 21:58 UN representative warns of the expansion of the Ukraine war +++
Top UN diplomat Rosemary DiCarlo has warned that Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine should end and that it could be expanded. “The longer this war lasts, the more dangerous its consequences – including the possibility of a larger conflict,” said the UN political affairs envoy before the UN Security Council in New York. For the “good of the Ukrainian people and for the good of our world community,” the senseless, unjustified war must end, the American continued. By invading the neighboring country, Russia violated the UN Charter and international law.
+++ 21:26 Ukraine reports Russian attacks in the east +++
The Ukrainian military reports intensive Russian attacks in the east of the country. The situation is difficult, says the commander of the army, Colonel General Olexander Syrskyj. In the Kupyansk area in the Kharkiv region, the Russian army launched an offensive to break through the Ukrainian lines. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against the neighboring country for almost 17 months. Currently, a Ukrainian counter-offensive is underway. The nightly situation report by the General Staff in Kiev also mentions the Kupjansk front as a focal point of the fighting. The Ukrainian troops withstood the attack, the report said.
+++ 20:58 Baerbock: Putin uses “hunger as a weapon” again +++
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock strongly condemns Russia’s termination of the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports. During a visit to New York, Baerbock said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “again using hunger as a weapon against the whole world” “in his brutal war of aggression” against Ukraine. “The fact that the Russian President has again announced that he is once again interrupting the so-called Black Sea Initiative, which is used to bring grain from Ukraine to the entire world, makes it clear that he has no regard for the weakest in the world,” said the minister further. She calls on Putin “in the interests of peace in the world” not to use hunger as a weapon.
+++ 20:29 opposition leader found dead in breakaway region of Moldova +++
The leader of the opposition in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region is dead. According to the region’s Interior Ministry, 47-year-old Oleg Horyan was found dead at his home in Tiraspol. The ministry did not provide any information on a possible cause of death. However, it states there are “signs of a violent death”. As leader of the Transnistrian Communist Party, Horjan had sought closer ties with Russia.
+++ 20:06 USA demand from Russia: “revise decision immediately” +++
The US urges Russia to immediately return to the international grain deal with Ukraine. “We urge Russia to immediately reverse its decision,” National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge wrote on Twitter. The suspension is exacerbating food insecurity and harming millions of people in need around the world.
Read earlier developments here.