Ukraine War: Putin set to meet Erdogan in Black Sea grain talks as Russia attacks Ukrainian port

All the latest developments from the war in Ukraine.

Russia attacks Ukrainian port ahead of Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday

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Two people have been hospitalised following Russian drone barrage on a port in Ukraine’s Odessa region on Sunday which lasted for more than 3 hours, officials say.

The attack on the Reni seaport comes a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the resumption of food shipments from Ukraine under a Black Sea grain agreement that Moscow broke off from in July.

Russian forces fired 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones along the Danube River in the early hours of Sunday, 22 of which were shot down by air defences, the Ukrainian air force said via Telegram.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, described the assault as part of a Russian drive “to provoke a food crisis and hunger in the world”.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement that the attack was aimed at fuel storage facilities used to supply military equipment.

Russian premier Putin is set to meet with his Turkish counterpart on 4 September, with Erdogan hoping to persuade the Russian leader to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow broke off from in July.

Held in Sochi on Russia’s southern coast, the crucial rendezvous comes after the Kremlin refused to renew the grain agreement some six weeks ago.

The deal – brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 – had allowed nearly 33 million metric tons (36 million tons) of grain and other commodities to leave three Ukrainian ports safely despite Russia’s war.

However, Russia pulled out after claiming that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertiliser hadn’t been honoured.

Moscow complained that restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year.

Since Putin withdrew from the initiative, Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on.

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The Turkish president has maintained close ties to Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasn’t joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russia’s overseas trade.

NATO member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and backing Kyiv’s bid to join NATO.

Putin and Erdogan – both authoritarian leaders who have been in power for more than two decades – are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support.

The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraine’s Black Sea exports to resume.

Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putin’s position. In July, he said Putin had “certain expectations from Western countries” over the Black Sea deal and that it was “crucial for these countries to take action in this regard”.

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Medvedev: Russian army has recruited 280,000 soldiers since the start of the year

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that Moscow had recruited around 280,000 soldiers since the start of the year.

That’s an increase of 50,000 on the previous figures dating from the beginning of August.

“According to data from the Russian Defense Ministry, around 280,000 people have been accepted under contract into the ranks of the armed forces since January 1,” Medvedev said, quoted by the state news agency TASS.

The former head of state, who is currently deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, made his remarks during a visit to the island of Sakhalin.

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At the beginning of August he claimed that the army had recruited more than 230,000 people since 1 January, but there remains a question mark over the veracity of that number.

Since the spring, the Russian army has been carrying out a vast voluntary recruitment campaign, promising attractive salaries and benefits to potential soldiers.

In September 2022, the Russian authorities had to resort, faced with losses on the front, to a partial mobilisation, which made it possible to recruit at least 300,000 men but caused the flight of hundreds of thousands of Russians abroad.

22 Russian drones shot down in Odessa region – Ukraine

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Sunday it shot down 22 Russian drones in the Odessa region in the south of the country.

“On the night of September 3, 2023, the Russian occupiers launched several waves of +Shahed-136/131+ drone attacks from the south and southeast,” the Ukrainian Air Force wrote on Telegram, adding that 22 drones were destroyed out of an apparent total of 25 launched.

Since the agreement which allowed Ukraine to safely export its cereals via the Black Sea came to an end in July, Russia has increased attacks against the regions of Odessa and Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine.

The next month, the first cargo ship passing through the Black Sea reached Istanbul, Turkey, despite Russian obstruction.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that two new ships had passed through the “temporary grain corridor in the Black Sea” created by his country.

Recruitment drive in Russia as casualties mount

Russia has been appealing to citizens of neighbouring countries with recruitment adverts for individuals to fight in Ukraine.

Online adverts have been appearing in Armenia and Kazakhstan offering 495,000 roubles (approximately €4,760) in initial payments and salaries from 190,000 roubles (about €1,828).

Since at least May 2023, Russia has been approaching central Asian migrants to fight in Ukraine with promises of fast-track citizenship and salaries of up to €3,850.

In the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Uzbek migrant builders have reportedly had their passports confiscated upon arrival and been coerced to join the Russian military.

There are at least six million migrants from Central Asia in Russia, which the Kremlin likely sees as potential recruits.

The recruitment drive likely comes at a time when Russia is hoping to avoid further unpopular domestic mobilisation measures in the run up to the 2024 Presidential elections. Using foreign nationals in the conflict allows the Kremlin to acquire additional personnel for its war effort in the face of mounting casualties.

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Putin claims ‘invincibility’, new drone strikes in Russia

All the latest developments from the war in Ukraine.

Putin tells children Russia is ‘invincible’

Russia is as “invincible” today as it was during the Second World War, Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a meeting with teenagers to mark the start of the new school year.

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“I understood why we won the Great Patriotic War: it’s impossible to defeat a people with that kind of mindset. We were absolutely invincible and, today, we still are”, said the Russian president, in remarks broadcast on television.

Putin regularly draws parallels between the war against Nazi Germany and the offensive he has unleashed in Ukraine.

Russia claimed on Friday to have seized “key positions on high ground” near the town of Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine, a sector of the front on which its troops have been on the offensive for several weeks.

Russia has deployed major resources to regain control of the Kupiansk sector, which was recaptured by Ukraine last year, and according to Ilia Yevlach, spokesman for the Ukrainian army’s Eastern Command, 45,000 of its soldiers are massed there.

Ukrainian drones hit Kursk as Moscow repels attack

Ukrainian forces targeted Russia’s Kursk region with two drones early on Friday, damaging residential and administrative buildings, local authorities said. 

Two buildings were damaged, which emergency services were still assessing, the region’s governor Roman Starovoit wrote on Telegram. 

Russian forces downed another drone bound for Moscow on Friday morning, the capital’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. 

The drone was shot down just 20 kilometres southeast of central Moscow, Sobyanin wrote on Telegram, without disclosing further details. 

Moscow’s three major airports had to reschedule and cancel flights after an unidentified flying object was detected by air defences, the Russian state-run news agency TASS reported.  

Sobyanin has been vocal about expanding the Russian capital’s air defence capabilities, after repeated attacks in recent months – one even striking the Kremlin building in May.

Anger over Russian ambassador’s Nobel invitation

The invitation extended to the Russian ambassador to Sweden to attend the forthcoming Nobel Prize gala dinner caused controversy on Friday, with the Swedish prime minister openly expressing his disagreement.

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“The Nobel Foundation of course invites whoever it wants. But like many others, I was very surprised to learn that Russia had been invited,” said Ulf Kristersson in a statement to AFP.

“I wouldn’t have done it if I had to deal with invitations to a prize-giving ceremony, and I understand that this upsets people in Sweden and Ukraine,” he added.

The Nobel Foundation, which organises the award ceremony and gala dinner in Stockholm, announced on Thursday that this year it would invite all the ambassadors of the countries present in Sweden and Norway.

In 2022, the Foundation decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors because of the war in Ukraine, and the Iranian ambassador because of the repression of the protest movement. These three representatives have been invited this year.

“It is clear that the world is becoming increasingly divided into spheres and that dialogue between divergent points of view is becoming increasingly limited”, said Vidar Helgesen, the Foundation’s Director, in a press release.

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“To reverse this trend, we are extending our invitation to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, free culture and free and peaceful societies”, he added.

A number of Swedish politicians, including environmental, centre and left-wing leaders, have said they will boycott the gala dinner because of the Russian ambassador’s invitation.

UK defence firm to speed up arms supply to Ukraine

UK arms giant BAE Systems has set up a legal body in Ukraine to speed up supplies of arms and equipment to the war-torn nation. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the firm’s chief executive Charles Woodburn on Thursday to iron out the details of the new agreement. 

“The development of our own weapons production is a top priority,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, following Thursday’s meeting. 

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He said Ukraine will be able to deploy BAE-manufactured artillery L119 and M777 systems and armoured vehicle robust CV90. 

BAE has been a large contributor to the UK’s defence supplies to Kyiv following the start of the invasion in February 2022. It is, by value, Europe’s biggest defence contractor operating in more than 40 countries across the globe. 

The defence firm, however, has not yet decided on setting up a physical office in Ukraine, despite Zelenskyy’s previous claims that Kyiv was in negotiation to do so. 

Russia unhappy with Black Sea grain deal proposal

Russia wants the West to follow “a list of actions” in addition to the United Nations chief’s new Black Sea grain proposal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had sent a new letter addressing Lavrov, hoping to revive the deal that lifted a Russian blockade and allowed Ukraine to ship almost 33,000 tons of grain at a time of growing global hunger.

But Moscow wasn’t satisfied with the letter, Lavrov hinted after a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country helped broker the deal. 

“As soon as talks turn into concrete decisions, we’ll be ready to resume the Ukrainian part of the grain package that same day,” Lavrov said. 

Describing the grain deal as “quite a complicated and laborious job,” Turkey’s Fidan said when Erdogan and Putin get together they “will take a more strategic and political view.”

Guterres told UN reporters on Thursday he had written a letter to Lavrov with “a set of concrete proposals, allowing to create the conditions for the renewal of the Black Sea initiative.”

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the deal in July 2022 that allowed Ukraine to ship grain and other foodstuffs from three Black Sea ports.

A separate memorandum between the UN and Russia, following the start of the invasion, pledged to overcome obstacles to Moscow’s shipment of food and fertilizer to world markets.

Russia suspended the Black Sea grain initiative in July, calling it a lop-sided deal, repeatedly alleging Ukraine of fostering its wealthy allies in the West.

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Wagner threatens Bakhmut pullout over ammunition spat with Russian army

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russian paramilitary group Wagner, on Friday threatened to pull his fighters from the front line in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine starting May 10, saying ammunition shortages meant they faced “senseless death”. Russia has incurred significant losses in Bakhmut since starting its offensive there in August. Follow our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

This live blog is no longer being updated. For more of our coverage on the war in Ukraine, please click here.

5:55pm: Russian court orders arrest of theatre director, says state media

A Moscow court on Friday ordered the arrest of theatre director Yevgeniya Berkovich on charges of “justifying terrorism” over an award-winning play about Russian women recruited online to marry radical Islamists in Syria.

The RIA Novosti news agency said the court ordered her to remain in custody until July 4. The case has sent shockwaves through the Russian arts community and comes as Moscow cracks down on dissent during its Ukraine campaign.

4:22pm: Kyiv and most Ukrainian regions announce air alerts

Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and most Ukrainian regions announced air alerts on Friday, officials said.

The number of air alerts has risen sharply in recent days, and Kyiv along has issued six alerts in the last three days warning of Russian attacks.

3:28pm: Russia orders partial evacuation near Ukraine front line

Russia on Friday ordered the evacuation of families with children and of the elderly from Russian-held frontline areas in southern Ukraine because of an increase in shelling from the Ukrainian side.

“In the past few days, the enemy has stepped up shelling… There will be a temporary evacuation” from 18 villages and towns, the Russian-installed head of the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, wrote on social media.

2:41pm: Funeral held in Ukraine for American killed in action

Soldiers from the International Legion of Ukraine said farewell Friday to an American military veteran they served with, who was killed a month ago in the fierce struggle to prevent the eastern city of Bakhmut from falling into Russian hands.

In a funeral service at Kyiv’s St. Michael’s Cathedral, Ukrainian regular army troops bore the Ukrainian-flag-draped coffin of Chris Campbell while about three dozen members of the International Legion looked on. After folding the flag, they presented it to Ivanna Sanina, Campbell’s Ukrainian wife.

The Florida native is one of least nine Americans now known to have been killed in fighting in Ukraine, including another last month in Bakhmut.

2:09pm: Ukraine says Russia deploying Wagner fighters to Bakhmut from along front line

A senior Ukrainian official said on Friday Russia was bringing Wagner mercenary fighters from along the front line to Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, and that Moscow wanted to capture the city in time for its May 9 celebrations of Soviet Victory Day.

“The Russians are inclined towards symbolism and their key historic myth is May 9 and they really have set the objective of taking control of Bakhmut by this date,” Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Ukrainian television.

“We are now seeing them pulling (fighters) from the entire offensive line where the Wagner fighters were, they are pulling (them) to the Bakhmut direction,” she said.

1:35pm: ‘Dramatic escalation’ in feud between Prigozhin, Russian military

As head of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin threatened on Friday to pull his troops out of the protracted battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut next week, FRANCE 24 international affairs commentator Douglas Herbert gave his analysis.

“There is never a dull moment with this man,” he said. “He has been at the head of a brutal and atrocious squad of private mercenaries in Bakhmut, waging the longest and bloodiest chapter in this war around that city. Just a few weeks ago, Prigozhin was bombastically claiming that his forces controlled 80 percent of the city. Now today we get a dramatic statement from him where he’s threatening the pull out those forces from Bakhmut on May 10. Why? For a lack of support from the military brass […] in Moscow.”

>> Read more: Wagner Group’s bloody year in Ukraine: From murder squad to cannon fodder

” …This is really the latest chapter, [a] dramatic […] escalation in what has been a simmering on-and-off feud between Prigozhin’s private mecenaries and the Russian military leadership,” Herbert continued.


‘Dramatic escalation’ in feud between Wagner group, Russian military (2023) © France 24

 

12:27pm: Shipments from Ukraine slowing as Black Sea grain deal deadline nears

The pace of shipments from Ukraine under a UN-backed initiative has slowed as concerns grow over ships getting stuck if a deal is not renewed later this month, according to sources and data.

Russia, which is one of the key parties involved, said it will keep talking although Moscow has threatened to quit on May 18, which has created more uncertainty for traders and shipping companies trying to plan ahead.

Under the accord, Ukraine has been able to export some 29.5 million tonnes of agricultural products, including 14.9 million tonnes of corn and 8.1 million tonnes of wheat.

10:27am: Wagner chief threatens to pull Bakhmut fighters over ammunition shortage

The head of Russian paramilitary group Wagner on Friday threatened to pull his fighters from the front line in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on May 10, saying ammunition shortages meant they faced “senseless death”.

 “On May 10, 2023 we will have to hand over our positions in Bakhmut to units of the defence ministry and withdraw Wagner units to rear camps to lick our wounds,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a written statement on his Telegram channel. 

10:01am: Russia’s Lavrov says Kremlin drone incident was ‘hostile act’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Wednesday’s drone incident at the Kremlin was a “hostile act” and that Russia would respond with “concrete actions”.

Russia has accused Ukraine of firing drones at the Kremlin in an attempt to kill President Vladimir Putin, and said the United States was behind the purported attack. Ukraine has denied that, and the White House has dismissed Russian “lies”.

“It was clearly a hostile act, it is clear that the Kyiv terrorists could not have committed it without the knowledge of their masters,” Lavrov told a press conference in India.

Wagner

A Ukrainian delegate punched a Russian delegate in the face during a gathering of Black Sea nations in the Turkish capital on Thursday, after his Ukrainian flag was snatched away to stop him from photobombing a video interview with Russia’s lead delegate.

Olesandr Marikovski posted a video of himself thumping the Russian and retrieving the blue and yellow flag on his Facebook page. The incident took place in a hallway of the parliament building, where the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) assembly was being held.

Earlier in the day, some Ukrainian delegates scuffled with security officers who had tried to pull them away as they staged a protest, shouting and holding their flags next to Russia’s lead delegate as she tried to address the assembly.

6:54am: New drone attack causes fire at Russia’s Ilsky oil refinery, TASS reports

A drone attack on the Ilsky oil refinery in southern Russia, the second in as many days, has caused a fire, TASS news agency reported on Friday, citing emergency services.

Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency also reported that there were no casualties following the Friday’s incident, while the fire had been put out.

  • Key developments from Thursday, May 4:

The White House on Thursday said Russia was ‘lying’ over claims the US aided Ukraine in an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin and denied any US involvement in the incident.

Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a visit to The Hague, where the International Criminal Court (ICC) is based, that Russian President Vladimir Putin must be brought to justice for his war in Ukraine. 

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded

 

© France Médias Monde graphic studio

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)

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NATO’s Stoltenberg says alliance must ensure Ukraine ‘prevails’

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Thursday, his first since the Russian invasion, during which he reaffirmed NATO’s commitment to Ukrainian victory. This comes as several countries pledged more aid to the embattled country. Follow our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

This live blog is no longer being updated. For more of our coverage on the war in Ukraine, please click here.

4:14am: G7 nations considering near-total ban of exports to Russia 

Group of Seven (G7) countries are considering near-total ban of exports to Russia, Kyodo news agency reported on Friday, citing Japanese government sources.

4:00am: China is not inflaming Ukraine situation, says Chinese FM

China is not inflaming the situation in Ukraine, and advocates a peaceful resolution of international disputes through dialogue and diplomacy, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Friday.

China has no intention to engage in a major power competition, Qin said at the Lanting Forum in Shanghai, adding that it opposes attempts to build walls and barriers to interrupt international supply chains.

1:15am: German defence minister: Now is not time to discuss Ukraine NATO membership

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius rejected a quick decision on Ukraine’s membership at NATO, the Western alliance that has supported Ukraine throughout its war with Russia, with member states supplying it with weapons.

Kyiv wants the military alliance to offer it membership.

“The door is open a crack, but this is not the time to decide now,” Pistorius said late on Thursday on ZDF’s Maybrit Illner program, adding that Ukraine was aware of the decision-making situation.

12:40am: Ukraine’s Zelensky urges Mexico to help deliver his peace plan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday urged Mexico to help make the case in Latin America for his peace plan for Ukraine, even as tensions persist within the country’s ruling party about offering support to Kyiv.

Mexico’s government has said it wants to remain neutral in Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Some Ukraine supporters have criticized leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for finding fault with European arms shipments to Kyiv.

11:48pm: Russia warplane accidentally fires into city near Ukraine

A Russian warplane accidentally fired a weapon into the city of Belgorod near Ukraine late on Thursday, causing an explosion and damaging buildings, Tass cited the defence ministry as saying.

Local authorities reported a large blast in the city, which lies just across the border from Ukraine. The regional governor said two women had been injured.

“As a Sukhoi Su-34 air force plane was flying over the city of Belgorod there was an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition,” Tass cited the defence ministry as saying.

It did not say what kind of weapon was involved.

11:05pm: Lavrov thanks Cuba for ‘full understanding’ on Ukraine invasion

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday thanked Cuba for its “full understanding” over the war in Ukraine as he began a visit to the island nation during his tour of Latin American allies.

“We appreciate that from the start of the special military operation, our Cuban friends… have clearly shown their position and expressed their full understanding in their evaluations of the reasons that led to the current situation,” said Lavrov during a meeting with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez, according to the Russian foreign ministry’s Telegram account.

Lavrov, who also met Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and his predecessor Raul Castro on Thursday, blasted US sanctions against Cuba as “illegal and illegitimate.”

10:19pm: Russia reports explosion near Ukraine border

Russian authorities reported Thursday an explosion in the city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, saying the blast left a huge crater in the city centre. 

“An explosion took place. According to preliminary information, there are no victims,” Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said on the Telegram messaging app. He added that a crater some 20 metres wide (65 feet) had appeared in the city centre.

10:04pm: France and US to continue engaging China on Ukraine talks

French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden “agreed on the importance of continuing to engage” China in helping to end the war in Ukraine, the French presidency said Thursday after talks by phone between the leaders.

In a statement, Macron’s office said Macron had briefed Biden about “the results obtained” during his visit in the first week of April to Beijing where the French leader spent several hours in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The French statement added: “China had a role to play in contributing, in the medium term, in ending the conflict in accordance with the principles and aims of the United Nations charter.

“The two heads of state agreed on the importance of continuing to engage Chinese authorities on this basis.” 

8:40pm: Kyiv terminates Russian embassy’s land lease

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Thursday said the city had terminated the Russian Embassy’s deal to lease land in the capital and wanted the property to be returned to the Ukrainian state.

Ukraine broke off relations with Russia after the February 2022 invasion. There are no Russian diplomats in the embassy building, which lies to the west of the city centre.

“Today, Kyiv city council terminated the land lease agreement with the embassy of the aggressor-state – Russia,” Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“It also appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding the return of the property of the ‘diplomatic establishment’ of the Russian barbarians to the Ukrainian state,” he said.

7:42pm: Russia’s Lavrov to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Monday, Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said.

The diplomat said earlier this week that Lavrov and Guterres would discuss the Black Sea grain deal.

7:25pm: Russia’s concerns over grain deal still unaddressed, Lavrov says

Almost nothing has been done to address Russia’s concerns over the Black Sea grain deal, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday, the latest in a series of downbeat comments by top Moscow officials about the pact that enabled Ukraine to resume exports.

Russia has repeatedly said it will not renew the deal beyond May 18 unless the West agrees to lift a host of restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance which it says are hindering its own agricultural exports.

“Here, practically nothing has been done,” Lavrov told reporters in Havana during an official visit. Footage of the news conference was broadcast by the Russian foreign ministry.

5:24pm: Ukraine servicemen accused of treason over unauthorised mission

A number of Ukrainian servicemen have been accused of treason for giving away information during an unauthorised mission that enabled Russia to attack a military airfield, Ukraine’s SBU security agency said on Thursday.

The SBU said in a statement that the servicemen had attempted, “without coordination with the relevant state authorities”, to seize a Russian plane last July after its pilot said he would defect.

During the “special operation”, they revealed details about the location of Ukrainian air force personnel and aircraft that made it possible for Russia to carry out a successful missile strike on the Kanatove airfield in central Ukraine, it said.

A Ukrainian commander was killed, 17 other personnel were wounded, two fighter jets were destroyed and the airstrip, buildings and equipment suffered significant damage, the SBU said in the statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.

4:31pm: Hungary demands ‘progressive’ EU aid for Ukraine grain transit

Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy called on Thursday for the European Union to provide “progressive” aid to help Ukrainian grain transit through central European countries, as he held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart in Budapest.

“We are calling for the introduction of progressive EU transit aid to ensure that Ukrainian grain, which has caused significant market difficulties, can reach its traditional markets,” Nagy said in a Facebook post.


2:20pm: Poland calls for additional ban on Ukraine food imports

Milk, poultry and other food products should be included on a list of Ukrainian imports to be temporarily banned by the European Union, the Polish agriculture minister said on Thursday.

“We discussed our proposals, our list is much wider – milk, poultry meat, honey,” Robert Telus told a news conference.

European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis discussed the plans on Wednesday with ministers from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, as well as with Ukrainian counterparts.

1:39pm: Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO, alliance chief says in rare visit to Kyiv

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on a visit to Kyiv Thursday that the alliance’s priority was to ensure Ukraine “prevails” in the war against Russia and that a membership plan for Kyiv will be discussed at a summit in July. 

“Let me be clear: Ukraine’s rightful place is in the euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO. And over time, our support will help you to make this possible,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

He pledged continued military support for Ukraine, saying that, so far, NATO allies had trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops and provided 65 billion euros ($71.31 billion) of military aid alone.

“Ukraine’s future is in the Euro-Atlantic family, Ukraine’s future is in NATO, all allies agree on that,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Kyiv. He said “the issue of membership” will be “high on the agenda” at the NATO summit in Vilnius this summer.

1:32pm: Ukraine’s Zelensky says it is time for NATO to invite Ukraine into alliance

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday it was time for NATO to take the political decision to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance, and that Kyiv wanted to know when it would become a member. The Ukrainian leader told a joint news conference in Kyiv with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that a NATO summit in Vilnius in July could be “historic”, and that he had been invited to attend.

“I am grateful for the invitation to visit the summit, but it is also important for Ukraine to receive the  corresponding invitation,” he told reporters. “There is not a single objective barrier to the political decision to invite Ukraine into the alliance and now, when most people in NATO countries and the majority of Ukrainians support NATO accession, is the time for the corresponding decisions”.

12:41pm: Nord Stream pipeline leaks no longer dangerous to ships, Danish agency says

The Danish Energy Agency said on Thursday it no longer regards it as dangerous for vessels to operate near the areas of the Nord Stream pipeline leaks, and that it had recommended that the country’s maritime authority lift its sailing restrictions.

11:53am: Switzerland adds Wagner Group and RIA to list of Russia sanctions

Switzerland will add the private military Wagner Group and news agency RIA to its list of sanctions against Russia, the Swiss Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) said on Thursday.

The changes take effect from 6 pm (1600 GMT) on Thursday, it added.

10:30am: Battle for Bakhmut rages on as both sides enter an attrition phase

The battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has intensified in recent weeks, with reports of heavy fighting and casualties on both sides in what is now the longest and bloodiest standoff of the war.

Since last summer, Russian troops have been fighting to capture the city, with Kyiv’s forces holding out despite Moscow’s frequent claims of advancements. Russia has stepped up its offensive with better cooperation between the regular army and Wagner paramilitary troops. 


 

10:22am: NATO chief makes first visit to Kyiv since Russian invasion

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Thursday, his first since the Russian invasion, Ukrainian media and a NATO official said. The Kyiv Independent newspaper published images of Stoltenberg in front of a memorial for fallen soldiers in central Kyiv.

The photographs showed Stoltenberg with his head down in front of the memorial. Many Western officials travelling to Kyiv do not announce their trips in advance for security reasons. “The NATO Secretary General is in Ukraine. We will release more information as soon as possible,” a NATO official said.

Stoltenberg’s visit comes 14 months into Russia’s invasion and ahead of an expected Ukrainian counter-offensive. NATO has pledged to stand by Ukraine as it fights Russia. 

Earlier this month, Stoltenberg invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to a NATO summit in July. He also said Russian President Vladimir Putin had “wanted to slam NATO’s door shut” but “failed”.

10:18am: Hungary bans import of honey, certain meat products from Ukraine

Hungary has banned the import of certain meat products and honey in addition to grains from Ukraine until June 30, the prime minister’s chief of staff said on Thursday.

The ban on imports of major cereals and agricultural products “includes a total of twenty five products, the most important of which are cereals rapeseed and sunflower seeds, flour, oil, honey and certain meat products,” Gergely Gulyas told a news conference.

9:45am: Flash over Kyiv probably meteorite, says Ukraine space agency

A mysterious flash over Kyiv that spread confusion and fears of a Russian missile attack was likely a meteorite, a Ukrainian space official told AFP Thursday.

“We cannot identify what it was exactly, but our assumption is that it was a meteorite,” Igor Korniyenko, the deputy head of a control centre at Ukraine’s national space agency.

9:36am: Denmark, Netherlands to give Ukraine 14 Leopard tanks

Denmark said Thursday that it and the Netherlands had agreed to buy and donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, as more heavy weapons are being pledged to Kyiv.

“The Netherlands and Denmark today announce our intention to jointly acquire, refurbish and donate 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks for Ukraine following our successful collaboration with Germany on the supply of at least 100 Leopard 1A5 tanks,” the Danish defence ministry said in a statement, adding that the tanks would be supplied from “early 2024”.

6:30am: US to coordinate with South Korea on additional Ukraine support 

The United States will continue to coordinate closely with South Korea on more support for Ukraine, calling its key Asian ally “a stalwart partner” in defending Ukraine’s sovereignty, a US State Department spokesperson said.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said the country might go beyond humanitarian or financial aid for Ukraine under certain circumstances, signalling a shift in his stance against arming Ukraine for the first time.

South Korea’s decision on whether to send military aid to Kyiv depends on Russia’s actions, Seoul’s presidential office said Thursday, adding that a possible large-scale civilian attack could tip the balance.

Seoul has a long-standing policy against providing weapons to countries in active conflict, which it has repeatedly said makes it difficult to supply arms directly to Ukraine.

5:58am: US-made Patriot air defence systems arrive in Ukraine

American-made Patriot missiles have arrived in Ukraine, the country’s defence minister said Wednesday, providing Kyiv with a long-sought new shield against the Russian airstrikes that have devastated cities and civilian infrastructure.

The US agreed in October to send the surface-to-air systems, which can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles such as those that Russia has used to bombard residential areas and the Ukrainian power grid.

“Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure,” Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a tweet.


 

  • Key developments of Wednesday, April 18

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Tuesday for like-minded countries to “join forces” against Western sanctions “blackmail,” as the longtime diplomat continued his tour of Latin America.

Ukraine received its first Patriot air defense systems as well as a comprehensive aid package from the US. 

South Korea said it might extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if it comes under a large-scale civilian attack, President Yoon Suk Yeol said, signalling a shift in his stance against arming Ukraine for the first time.

 

© France Médias Monde graphic studio

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)



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Russia says its fighters didn’t use weapons, impact U.S. drone

The Russian Defense Ministry says Russian fighter jets didn’t use weapons or impact a U.S. drone that went down after an encounter over the Black Sea.

The Ministry said the U.S. drone was flying near the Russian border and intruded into an area declared off limits by Russian authorities. It said the Russian military scrambled fighters to intercept the drone, which it claimed crashed into the water after a sharp maneuver.

The U.S. military previously said that a Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of a U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday in a “brazen violation of international law,” causing American forces to bring down the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Earlier, a Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of a U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday in a “brazen violation of international law,” causing American forces to bring down the unmanned aerial vehicle, the U.S. said.

The incident, which raised tensions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, appeared to mark the first time since the height of the Cold War that a U.S. aircraft was brought down after being hit by a Russian warplane.

U.S. President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, according to White House National Security spokesman John Kirby. He added that U.S. State Department officials would be speaking directly with their Russian counterparts and “expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept.”

State Department spokesman Ned Price called it a “brazen violation of international law.” He said the U.S. summoned the Russian ambassador to lodge a protest and the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, has made similar representations in Moscow.

The U.S. European Command said in a statement that two Russian Su-27 fighter jets “conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept” of a U.S. MQ-9 drone that was operating within international airspace over the Black Sea.

It said one of the Russian fighters “struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters.” Prior to that, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 several times before the collision in “a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” the U.S. European Command said in a statement from Stuttgart, Germany.

“This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” it added.

U.S. Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said the MQ-9 aircraft was “conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9.” He added that “in fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”

There was no immediate reaction from Moscow, which has repeatedly voiced concern about U.S. intelligence flights close to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The Kremlin has charged that by providing weapons to Ukraine and sharing intelligence information with Kyiv, the U.S. and its allies have effectively become engaged in the conflict.

Kirby emphasized that the incident wouldn’t deter the U.S. from continuing their missions in the area.

“if the message is that they want to deter or dissuade us from flying, and operating in international airspace, over the Black Sea, then that message will fail,” Kirby said, adding “that is not going to happen.”

“We’re going to continue to fly and operate in international airspace over international waters,” he said. “The Black Sea belongs to no one nation.”

The U.S. European Command said the incident followed a pattern of dangerous actions by Russian pilots while interacting with U.S. and Allied aircraft over international airspace, including over the Black Sea.

“These aggressive actions by Russian aircrew are dangerous and could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation,” it warned.

Gen. David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, said that this type of collision is his greatest concern, both in that area of Europe as well as in the Pacific.

“Probably my biggest worry both there and in the Pacific is an aggressive Russia or China pilot or vessel captain, or something gets too close, doesn’t realize where they are, and causes a collision,” Berger said, in response to a question at a National Press Club event on Tuesday.

He said that whether an incident is intentional or not, it forces nation’s leaders to try and sort it out quickly from afar.

Amid the continuing fighting in Ukraine, a Russian missile on Tuesday struck an apartment building in the center of Kramatorsk, killing at least one person and wounding nine others in one of Ukraine’s major city strongholds in its eastern Donetsk region.

The victims were among at least seven civilians killed and 30 injured in 24 hours, Ukraine authorities said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video showing gaping holes in the façade of the low-rise building that bore the brunt of the strike. The impact damaged nine apartment blocks, a kindergarten, a local bank branch and two cars, said regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko.

“Russian troops are striking residential buildings, schools and hospitals, leaving cities on fire and in ruins,” Kyrylenko said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking Tuesday during a meeting with workers at a helicopter factory in southern Siberia, once again cast the conflict in Ukraine as an existential one for Russia, charging that unlike the West — which, he said, is seeking to advance its geopolitical clout — it’s fighting for its existence as a state.

“For us, it’s not a geopolitical task,” Putin said, “it’s the task of survival of Russian statehood and the creation of conditions for the future development of our country.”

Russia had welcomed a Chinese peace proposal to end the fighting, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Kyiv’s refusal to have talks leaves Moscow with only military options.

“We must achieve our goals,” Peskov told reporters. “Given the current stance of the Kyiv regime, now it’s only possible by military means.”

The Russian onslaught has focused on the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut where Kyiv’s troops have been fending off Russian attacks for seven months and which has become a symbol of Ukraine’s resistance, as well as a focal point of the war.

Zelenskyy discussed the situation in Bakhmut with the top military brass and they were unanimous in their determination to face down the Russian onslaught, according to the presidential office.

“The defensive operation in (Bakhmut) is of paramount strategic importance to deterring the enemy. It is key for the stability of the defense of the entire frontline,” Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said.

U.S. summons Russian ambassador

The United States has summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest the crash Tuesday of an American drone over the Black Sea after a Russian warplane collided with it, the State Department said.

“We are engaging directly with the Russians, again at senior levels, to convey our strong objections to this unsafe, unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned US aircraft,” spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

The Russian ambassador in Washington has been convened at the State Department Tuesday afternoon and the American ambassador in Moscow has registered a “strong objection,” he said.

Mr. Price said this incident marked a clear violation of international law.

The crash came with tensions high over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. military said a Russian fighter jet dumped fuel on an American drone over the Black Sea then collided with it, causing the drone to crash. The White House called the crash a result of “reckless” behavior by Russia.

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Odesa, a defiant city on the strategic shores of the Black Sea

From our special correspondent in Odesa – A seaside resort with a rich multicultural past, Odesa was one of the early targets of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in  February, 2022. But the port city mounted its defenses and the mayor, who once had a reputation for being pro-Russian, transformed himself into an uncompromising Ukrainian patriot. With its vital port again functioning – albeit in slow motion – the city keeps up its resistance as it awaits better days. 

On a wintry February morning, as a few rays of sunshine warm up Langeron beach in downtown Odesa, a handful of pedestrians sip their coffees while staring out at the Black Sea. Yuri, a middle-aged Odesa resident, sounds fatalistic as he describes his life these days.

“My daughter went to Poland. My wife and I stayed. Here, it is quiet compared to what’s happening in eastern Ukraine. We work when there is work, otherwise we stay home. We feel like we are surviving,” he says, watching the seagulls.

On the waterfront, restaurants, spas and other tourist attractions are almost deserted. A few Ukrainian soldiers patrol in the cold winter light. Other uniformed men are visible, but they are soldiers on leave. At the end of a pier, Maxim seems gigantic next to Anna, his girlfriend. He is fighting at the front, on the Kherson side, and is enjoying three days of leave. That’s all he can reveal about the fighting further east. The war is omnipresent in Odesa, as it is everywhere in Ukraine.

Maxim and Anna by the Black Sea in Odesa on February 3, 2023. © David Gormezano, FRANCE 24

“Before the war, people in Odesa were not very interested in politics,” says Olena Rotari, a freelance journalist from this port city. “In the days after the Russian invasion, I saw people making Molotov cocktails, filling sandbags and organising. When we heard that Kherson (200km east of Odesa) was occupied, we were afraid. But I told myself that with this mobilisation, Odesa will not fall.”

A year later, the city has not fallen. But for the past two months, the city is plunged into darkness in the evenings following a “kamikaze drone” attack launched by Russia on December 10 last year.

Daily life punctuated by power cuts

Maria lives with her husband on the 12th floor of a new building overlooking the Odesa Bay. They now cook on a gas stove and adapt to a new daily rhythm of life dictated by three hours of electricity followed by six hours of blackout before the power cycle is repeated again.

During power cuts, Maria uses a gas stove to cook in her Odesa apartment..
During power cuts, Maria uses a gas stove to cook in her Odesa apartment.. © David Gormezano, FRANCE 24

A car battery and a voltage regulator enable them to charge their mobiles, access the internet, heat water and provide basic lighting. Maria is lucky: the central heating is fully operational. This is not the case for many inhabitants of Odesa, which has a population of 1 million people.

The daughter of a soldier, Maria joined her parents in Italy with her two young children at the start of the war. She stayed there for six months before she returned, reassured by Ukraine’s military successes. “Odesa is my city, it’s the best place in the world,” she says. “With the war, we have become much more patriotic. We are more united. Now it’s all for one and one for all. There’s been a big change in the mentality here.”

The mayor of Odesa, whom many doubted, has become a great patriot. “At the very beginning of the war, for four or five days, I was very worried about Odesa because the mayor did not make any public statements or respond to the situation,” says Rotari, the journalist. “I was very surprised when he announced that he would fight against the Russian invasion and for Ukraine.”

The mayor and a questionable past

Rotari’s doubts about Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov were shared by many Ukrainians. They stem from Trukhanov’s background and the political positioning of the 58-year-old former captain in the Soviet armed forces, who served between 1986 and 1992.   

Trukhanov had long been perceived as a pro-Russian figure in Ukraine. In 2014, he belonged to the Party of Regions, the party of Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine’s former Kremlin-backed president who was ousted by the Maidan revolution, which erupted over his sudden decision not to sign a political association and free trade agreement with the EU.       

Seated in his office overlooking the port of Odesa, the mayor looks annoyed when questioned about his political past. Asked about his failure to object to the March 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, he replies coldly and defiantly that, “a vote by the Crimean parliament approved it. I am told that it was under the threat of 100 or 200 armed Russian soldiers, but that is not much. Why didn’t they do anything? Why didn’t they defend Crimea as we are defending our country today?”

Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov in his office on February 2, 2023.
Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov in his office on February 2, 2023. © David Gormezano, FRANCE 24

Following his election as Odesa’s mayor in May 2014, Trukhanov was charged with corruption and associating with local mafia groups. He was never convicted by the courts, but suspicions remain. “Even today, like many civil society people in Odesa, I do not trust Trukhanov, and I doubt that he has become a Ukrainian patriot. In the past, we have seen his convictions change. He supported [former] president Viktor Yanukovich, then [former president Petro] Poroshenko. When a corruption investigation was opened against him, he became a supporter of [President Volodymyr] Zelensky. I think that if the Russian soldiers had arrived here, he would have become a supporter of [Vladimir] Putin. He changes flags constantly, depending on his interests at the moment,” says Rotari.

To those questioning his Ukrainian loyalty, the mayor replies: “It is true that I am a Russian speaker like 90% of the people of Odesa, it is a product of history. But I am sure that in the future we will speak Ukrainian here, my grandchildren will speak it, because that’s how it is.”

Setting the historical record straight

Odesa’s mayor finds it irksome that his city is considered a pro-Russian bastion in Ukraine.

Trukhanov received international attention last month when UNESCO designated the historic centre of Odesa as a World Heritage site and noted that it is a site in danger

Chess players near the Orthodox cathedral in Odesa on February 1, 2023.
Chess players near the Orthodox cathedral in Odesa on February 1, 2023. © David Gormezano, FRANCE 24

Tensions were on the rise ahead of the vote, according to news reports, with Trukhanov and Ukraine’s Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko writing an open letter objecting to what they viewed as a “politicised” description of the port city in a draft decision describing Russia’s Empress Catherine II, or Catherine the Great, as the founder of the city.

Back from a recent trip to Paris, where UNESCO is based, Trukhanov is keen to highlight Odesa’s European past.

“It is true that Russian culture is very present here, but Odesa is a European city. The first governor of the city was the Duke of Richelieu [in 1803]; many of our monuments were created by Italians. But it is also true that in the first months of the war, it was difficult for people of my generation, who were born or raised in the Soviet Union, to admit that Russia bombed us with missiles. It was hard to understand, but we have changed.”

With this conflict, Odesa seems to be definitively turning its back on Russia, according to Violetta Diduk, a tourist guide in the city. “A year ago, you couldn’t hear anyone speaking Ukrainian on the street, it was very rare. Now you hear it more and more. Besides, it’s often the Russian speakers who have turned the most anti-Russian. I am angry, but the young people are even worse, I have no words to describe what they feel. They don’t want to listen to Russian music or watch Russian movies anymore. They are much more radical than the older ones.”

Violetta Diduk, a tourist guide, on the main Deribasovskaya Street in Odesa's historic Old Town district on February 1, 2023.
Violetta Diduk, a tourist guide, on the main Deribasovskaya Street in Odesa’s historic Old Town district on February 1, 2023. © David Gormezano, FRANCE 24

A year after the February 24, 2022 Russian invasion, Diduk says her life has been turned upside down. The tourists have disappeared, some of her relatives have been mobilised, and she now lives with her partner, son and parents in the same apartment, which – “Thank God” – has a power generator.

The stories of the abuses committed by Russian forces in the nearby town of Kherson have chilled her. “I was a romantic and I discovered fear,” she says simply.

“There are still people who say that Odesa is a Russian city,” explains Diduk. “They repeat Russian propaganda, especially the older generation. There are even some who say that there is no war, that it’s an invention of television. But many people have changed their opinion about Russia. My mother had a neighbour who told her that the Russians are our friends. After February 24, he asked for her forgiveness.”

Before the war, Diduk began her tours with a history of Odesa, reminding clients that Odesa was not born with Catherine the Great’s conquest in 1794. The city’s greatness and wealth centres around its port. Trade, Odesa’s true religion, injected a cosmopolitanism that predates the Russian conquest. Long before the Russians arrived in the late 18th century, the Greeks, Romans and then the Ottoman Empire settled or controlled this site, which had a deep water port and was well protected from the winds and ice in winter. 

Moscow now calls the shots at Odesa’s port

Over the centuries, its unique geography made Odesa the most important port in Ukraine. But since February 24, the country has lost most of its maritime access. “Of the 18 ports that Ukraine had before 2014, it now controls only nine, including three on the Danube,” explains Dmytro Barinov, vice president of the Ukrainian Seaports Authority. “In 2021, 140 million tonnes of goods transited our ports,” he noted. 

For the port city, the blockade is another disaster. A year ago, hundreds of ships and millions of tonnes of grain were blocked at the quay. Around 1,000 port employees kept their jobs but their salaries were reduced by three-fourths “to be able to hold out for the long term”, explains Barinov.

On July 22, 2022, a grain agreement was signed in Istanbul between Ukraine, the UN, Turkey and Russia. It provides for the establishment of secure corridors in the Black Sea for grain shipments and inspection procedures by the four signatories of the agreement. Renewed on November 2, the agreement ended the total maritime blockade of Ukraine.

Loading a cargo of grain in the Odesa port.
Loading a cargo of grain in the Odesa port. © Handout from the Ukrainian Seaports Authority

“When the grain agreement was signed, when the ships started to come and go again, to pay taxes, work resumed,” says the former merchant marine captain. But a huge queue of ships has gradually formed on the Black Sea. “Currently, there are 117 ships that want to enter our waters and about 20 others that want to leave. Russia is responsible for this situation because we need at least 20 inspections per day and the Russians agree to only four or five. They don’t just inspect the cargo and the crew register, but also the ship’s equipment and many other things.”

Dmytro Barinov, vice president of the Ukrainian Seaports Authority
Dmytro Barinov, vice president of the Ukrainian Seaports Authority © David Gormezano, FRANCE 24

Moscow now dictates the level of activity in the Odesa port. By drawing out inspection schedules, Russia determines the volume of goods that Ukraine can trade. Since the first shipment on August 1, “we have been able to export 19 million tonnes of agricultural products. If this corridor and the inspections were working properly, we could have exported 29 million tonnes,” says Barinov.

Beaches, ships and mines

These days, Rotari, the journalist, rarely sees the silhouette of a cargo ship on the water from Langeron beach. Moreover, the port, located just below the old town, is now under Ukrainian army control.

“The military authorities restricted access to the Odesa waterfront after the Russian offensive in February. But the people of Odesa love freedom and do not like to follow rules. Unfortunately, people have been killed on the beaches: while walking, they stepped on mines. We are at war, we have to follow these rules, that’s how it is,” she says.   

Olena Rotari, a freelance journalist in Odesa on February 3, 2023.
Olena Rotari, a freelance journalist in Odesa on February 3, 2023. © David Gormezano, FRANCE 24

Contemplating the Black Sea’s waves offers some respite from the current shortages and deprivations in this port city. But not for long. The realities of the war have blotted out the ships that once dotted the horizon.

“There are many people in Odesa who are traumatised by the war, especially the displaced, those who fled torture and rape in the areas occupied by the Russians. The sight of the sea is not likely to soothe or comfort them,” says Rotari.   

As for the Russians, who have for so long cherished the rich history and charms of Odesa: they won’t be allowed to return anytime soon.

This article is a translation of the original in French.

 

 

Ukraine, one year on
Ukraine, one year on © Studio graphique France Médias Monde

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