UN worries Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports will cause hunger and starvation
Unesco has condemned Russia’s missile strikes targeting Odesa’s city centre that includes several historical buildings such as the Transfiguration Cathedral founded in 1794.
Missile attacks in the world heritage site have significantly damaged several buildings including the Odesa Archaeological Museum and the Odesa Maritime Museum.
“Unesco calls for a cessation of attacks against cultural property protected by widely ratified international normative instruments,” the UN body said.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian attack drone blasted a Russian ammunition depot in central Crimea on Saturday, sparking a major explosion.
Authorities evacuated a 5km radius after the drone attack.
Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea, said that there have been no immediate reports of casualties, but that authorities were evacuating civilians.
The Ukrainian military seemed to confirm it had launched the drone strike, after it claimed that it had destroyed an oil depot and Russian arms warehouses in the Krasnohvardiiske region of Crimea, the Ukrainian territory that Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the bridge linking Crimea to Russia was a legitimate target as it was used by Moscow “to feed the war with ammunition.”
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British Ministry of Defence responds to arrest of Putin critic
Prominent Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who publicly accused president Vladimir Putin and the army top brass of not pursuing the war in Ukraine harshly or effectively enough, was remanded in custody on Friday on charges of inciting extremism.
His arrest earlier suggests authorities have wearied of his criticism of what they call Russia’s “special military operation”.
The MOD said the move is likely to ‘spark fury’.
Matt Drake22 July 2023 13:29
Ukraine losing ‘very many’ special soldiers clearing mines by hand
Specialised soldiers called sappers have been removing mines by hand and clearing the paths for Ukraine’s troops.
These teams of manual deminers, who typically use handheld metal detectors to locate and remove mines, are reportedly at great danger amid Ukraine’s counteroffensive to push back occupying Russian forces.
The Washington Post reported that over months of stalemate along the front lines, Russia has built up heavily mined defences.
“They prepared very well…Every square inch is mined. They plant mines on approaches to their positions and blow them when they retreat,” a frontline Ukrainian soldier told Kyiv Post.
“Nobody expected the whole terrain to be mined, so we’ve been banging our heads against the minefields, moving at a snail’s pace. We really lose very many sappers. They always go ahead of the troops,” he added.
Vishwam Sankaran23 July 2023 08:45
Russia’s attack on Odesa kills one
A Russian air attack on Ukraine’s Odesa city early on Sunday killed one, injured nearly 20 and badly damaged a Russian-linked Orthodox cathedral, with officials saying they retrieved the icon of the patroness of the port city from under the rubble. “Odesa: another night attack of the monsters,” Oleh Kiper, governor of southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, said on the Telegram messaging app.
One person was killed and 19 injured, including four children, in the missile attacks that also destroyed six houses and apartment buildings. Fourteen people were hospitalised, he said.
Russia has been pounding Odesa and other Ukrainian food export facilities nearly daily over the past week after it withdrew from a U.N.-brokered sea corridor agreement that allowed for the safe shipment of Ukrainian grain.
Odesa’s military administration said that the Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), was severely damaged. “The Kasperovska icon of the Mother of God, who is the patroness of Odesa, was retrieved from under the rubble,” the administration said on its Telegram channel.
Martha Mchardy23 July 2023 08:29
Russians fought alongside corpse of comrade ‘decomposing for weeks’ – report
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, several reports have pointed out that Moscow is hiding the true death toll among Russian forces.
Earlier reports have suggested that Russian troops were leaving behind the bodies of some their dead comrades.
In one case, reported by The Times, a Ukrainian soldier said Russians were forced to fight alongside the corpse of their dead comrade for weeks.
Vishwam Sankaran23 July 2023 08:10
Russia’s logistics ‘suffering’ due to counteroffensive, Ukraine says
Ukraine’s counteroffensive strategy to target Russian logistics well within its occupied territories has successfully undermined the capabilities of Vladimir Putin’s forces, Kyiv said.
The strategy has complicated Russia’s plans by striking ammunition supplies deep in occupied territory, according to a statement by the Southern Operational Command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk.
“Now the Russians’ logistics are suffering,” Ms Humeniuk said.
The Institute for the Study of War wrote in a report yesterday that Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s ammunition concentrations are causing logistical issues for the Russian military.
Citing Mr Humeniuk, the report noted that there is decreased Russian shelling in Kherson Oblast, suggesting Russian forces are experiencing “shell hunger” in the area.
Vishwam Sankaran23 July 2023 07:30
Russian war reporter’s death sparks outrage against Ukraine’s clusterbomb use
The death of a Russian war reporter yesterday has prompted outrage from Moscow over Ukraine’s use of cluster munitions.
These bombs have been banned in over 100 countries as they rain shrapnel over a wide area and the unexploded ones, in particular, can stay behind for years, posing a risk to civilians.
“Those responsible for the brutal reprisal against a Russian journalist will inevitably suffer well-deserved punishment. The entire measure of responsibility will be shared by those who supplied cluster munitions to their Kyiv protégés,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Vishwam Sankaran23 July 2023 07:00
Drone attack in Crimea prompts evacuation
Authorities evacuated a 5km radius in Crimea after a drone attack on an ammunition depot.
Road traffic was also suspended on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia after Ukraine destroyed an oil depot and Russian army warehouses in what Kyiv called “temporarily occupied” district of Oktiabrske in central Crimea.
The region’s Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov said the drone attack caused an ammunition depot to explode, adding that there were no deaths reported.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that the bridge linking Crimea to Russia was a legitimate target as was a military supply route for Moscow.
“This is the route used to feed the war with ammunition and this is being done on a daily basis,” he said.
Vishwam Sankaran23 July 2023 06:30
Belarusian president arrives in St Petersburg to meet with Putin
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has arrived in St Petersburg to meet with Vladimir Putin, just days after the Russian president warned that any aggression against Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia.
Mr Putin’s staunch words came as Poland decided to move its military units closer to its border with Belarus earlier this week in response to the arrival of Russia’s Wagner Group forces to Belarus.
Since Russia full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Moscow and Minsk have maintained their strong ties, holding multiple joint military exercises, and Mr Lukashenko allowing Russia to use Belarus as a base for Russian nuclear weapons.
The Kremlin said Mr Lukashenko would talk to the Russian president about further development of the two countries’ “strategic partnership” in his recent visit, according to Reuters.
Vishwam Sankaran23 July 2023 06:00
Unesco condemns Russian attacks on world heritage site
Unesco has issued a statement condemning Russian missile attacks that damaged Odesa’s historic city centre.
Russia’s missile and drone attacks in Odesa damaged several museums including the Odesa Archaeological Museum and the Odesa Maritime Museum.
Missile attacks by Russian forces also destroyed Odesa’s historic Transfiguration Cathedral.
“Once again, Unesco calls for a cessation of attacks against cultural property protected by widely ratified international normative instruments. This war represents an ever-increasing threat to Ukrainian culture,” the UN body said.
Vishwam Sankaran23 July 2023 05:30
Ukraine’s allies shifting focus from donating weapons to fixing them – report
The West’s support for Ukraine’s war efforts is shifting from donating more weapons to repairing and maintaining ones already provided, a shift in strategy likely due to a perception that the war could grind on for months to come.
“We’re setting up repair facilities in Europe, we’re translating training and repair manuals, we have to do much more together, so there’s going to be more of a focus on that,” Pentagon’s acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante told Politico.
Some of The West’s donated war equipment such as the US-made Bradley fighting vehicles and German tanks have been either damaged or destroyed over the duration of the war in Ukraine.
And Ukraine’s counteroffensive has also met with a hurdle as forces are finding it harder to penetrate areas covered by mines.
Repairing and fixing armoured vehicles for Ukrainian soldiers to navigate these minefields is seen as a priority, according to Politico.
Vishwam Sankaran23 July 2023 05:00