Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it had carried out overnight strikes on two Ukrainian port cities in what it called “a mass revenge strike” a day after an attack on the Crimean bridge, which it blamed on Kyiv. The ministry claims it hit “facilities where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared using crewless boats, as well as at the place of their manufacture at a shipyard near the city of Odesa”, and fuel depots in Mykolayiv.
Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal on Monday, brokered by the UN and Turkey a year ago to alleviate a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported safely. Moscow said the decision was final. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said Russia’s decision was “unconscionable”, while the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said he did not accept its explanations for terminating the agreement, including the loss of Russian food markets.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the grain deal must continue and could operate without Russian participation. “Africa has the right to stability. Asia has the right to stability,” he said in his nightly video address.
Continuing to ship grain out of Ukrainian Black Sea ports without security guarantees from Russia would carry risks, because Ukraine uses those waters for military activities, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in his regular daily briefing that Moscow rejected US criticism of its withdrawal from the grain deal, and would continue supplying grain to poor countries.
Poland’s agriculture minister, Robert Telus, said Russia is using grain as ammunition.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak commented on Russia’s overnight attacks, saying: “The Russian night attack on Odesa and Mykolaiv with the use of rockets and kamikaze drones is more proof that the terrorist country wants to endanger the lives of 400 million people in various countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports.”
Kyiv reported a “complicated” situation in fighting in eastern Ukraine and success in parts of the south on Tuesday as it pressed on with its counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces. “The situation is complicated but under control [in the east],” Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian ground forces, said on Telegram. He said Russia had concentrated forces in the direction of Kupiansk in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv, but Ukrainian troops were holding them back.
Both sides have achieved “marginal advances” in different areas over the past week, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update on the conflict.
Russian air defences and electronic countermeasure systems downed 28 Ukrainian drones over Crimea in the early hours of Tuesday, the RIA news agency has cited the Russian defence ministry as saying. The drone attacks caused no casualties or damages, the ministry said
Russian state-owned media is reporting that Russian Federation security services claim to have detained a woman on suspicion of preparing “a terrorist attack” in the Yaroslavl region, to the north of Moscow.
Germany’s military has ordered several hundred thousand artillery shells in a deal with the manufacturer Rheinmetall as it works to replenish stocks dented by the war in Ukraine.
Continuing to ship grain out of Ukrainian Black Seaports without security guarantees from Russia would carry risks, because Ukraine uses those waters for military activities, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Reuters reports that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in his regular daily briefing that Moscow rejected US criticism of its withdrawal from the grain deal, and would continue supplying grain to poor countries.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it had carried out overnight strikes on two Ukrainian port cities in what it called “a mass revenge strike” a day after an attack on the Crimean bridge, which it blamed on Kyiv.
Reuters reports the ministry said in a statement it had struck Odesa and Mykolayiv and hit all targets.
Tass quotes the ministry claiming that it hit “facilities where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared using crewless boats, as well as at the place of their manufacture at a shipyard near the city of Odesa”.
Russia is using grain as ammunition, Poland’s agriculture minister, Robert Telus, has told Reuters, commenting on the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal. Telus urged the EU to help improve grain logistics, as more Ukraine grain will start flowing through borders after the harvest.
Vladimir Rogov, one of the Russian-imposed leaders in occupied Zaporizhzhia, has reported a loud explosion in occupied Melitopol. On his Telegram channel he stated “Loud in Melitopol! The sound of an explosion sounded in the city. Details later.”
Ukraine's Gen Syrskyi: situation 'complicated but under control'
Kyiv reported a “complicated” situation in fighting in eastern Ukraine and success in parts of the south on Tuesday as it pressed on with its counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces.
“The situation is complicated but under control [in the east],” Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian ground forces, said on Telegram.
He said Russia had concentrated forces in the direction of Kupiansk in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv, but Ukrainian troops were holding them back.
Reuters reports that Ukrainian officials have increasingly pointed to an intensification of Russian military activity near Kupiansk and Lyman in the north-east. Both cities were retaken by Ukraine late last year.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern forces said the Russian military had amassed more than 100,000 troops and more than 900 tanks in the area.
Germany’s military has ordered several hundred thousand artillery shells in a deal with Rheinmetall as it works to replenish stocks dented by the war in Ukraine, the defence company said on Tuesday.
Reuters reports Rheinmetall said it had been awarded a new framework contract for the supply of 155mm artillery ammunition, representing a potential order volume of about €1.2bn (£1bn).
Russian state-owned media is reporting that Russian Federation security services claim to have detained a woman on suspicion of preparing “a terrorist attack” in the Yaroslavl region, to the north of Moscow.
It quotes the FSB saying “a Russian citizen born in 1987 was detained, who, on the instructions of the Ukrainian special services, collected and transmitted information about a critical infrastructure object in the Yaroslavl region.”
The report says a criminal case has been instigated, which could result in a 10-year jail term.
Oleksandr Senkevich, the mayor of Mykolaiv, has posted some additional information about the fire that broke out there overnight after a Russian drone attack. He said on Telegram:
In Mykolaiv, at around 1.50am an industrial facility was hit. There was a fire with an area of 500 sq metres. The state emergency service attended and at around 5.30am, the fire was extinguished.
