Liveblog: ++ Governor speaks of 19 injured in Mykolaiv ++

According to the governor, 19 people were injured in attacks on the center of Mykolaiv. The Ukrainian military announced that cruise missiles and drones had been shot down during the night. All developments in the live blog.

China, which is closely allied with Russia, says it wants to expand trade with Ukraine. China is ready to work together to develop mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation, Deputy Trade Minister Ling Ji said after meeting with Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister Taras Katschka in Beijing. This allows the space for trade and investment cooperation to be continuously expanded.

Katschka said Ukraine hopes to increase exports of agricultural products to China. “We are willing to work with China to promote the healthy and sustainable development of economic and trade relations between the two countries,” he said.

The British Ministry of Defense assumes that the Russian Black Sea Fleet is threatened with attacks by Ukrainian drone ships and missiles during patrols. In their daily update on Twitter, the British looked at the grain agreement, which previously allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported by sea. Russia had allowed the agreement to expire and announced that it would classify ships in affected areas of the Black Sea as possible opponents.

“The Russian Black Sea Fleet is now likely to take a more active role in disrupting any ongoing trade,” the British wrote. However, the blockade operations are threatened by Ukrainian unmanned watercraft and cruise missiles for coastal defense.

In view of the recent Russian attacks on port facilities on the Black Sea, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is calling for more military aid to the Ukrainian armed forces. We are dealing with a very serious and new situation because grain stocks are being destroyed in the ports and this will cause a food crisis in other parts of the world, the Spaniard said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. The only solution now is to increase military support and deliver more air defense systems.

“The massive attacks of the past three nights require a response from our side,” stressed Borrell. According to his own statements, he also wants to campaign for a significant increase in funding for the delivery of weapons and equipment to Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia. According to an informal proposal sent to the EU states, five billion euros are to be made available annually for armament aid and training programs for the Ukrainian armed forces in the period from 2024 to the end of 2027. In total, that would be an additional 20 billion euros. He hopes ministers will support the plan, Borrell said. It is clear that you don’t just have to provide support from month to month, but in the long term and in a structured manner.

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has sharply criticized Russia for not extending the agreement on grain exports from Ukraine. “The fact that the Russian President has canceled the grain agreement and is now bombing the port of Odessa is not just another attack on Ukraine, it is an attack on the poorest people in the world,” said the Green politician in the run-up to the Foreign Relations Council in Brussels.

Millions of people depend on grain from Ukraine. That’s why Germany is working with all international partners so that it doesn’t rot in the silos. It was right from the start to have strengthened the lines of solidarity by rail in Ukraine in addition to the Black Sea Grain Initiative. “We will now do that even more intensively,” said Baerbock. This is “an international appeal that hunger and grain should not be used as weapons”.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has condemned Russian attacks on grain storage facilities in Ukraine. Josep Borrell said in Brussels that more than 60,000 tons of grain had already been destroyed. Russia has not only withdrawn from the grain agreement, it is burning the grain.

Russia earlier this week rejected an extension of the grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain and cooking oil to countries around the world through Black Sea ports like Odessa. Since Moscow pulled out of the deal, Russian troops have attacked the port of Odessa with missiles and drones. According to Ukrainian sources, around 60,000 tons of grain were destroyed.

The governor of the Mykolayiv region has revised upwards the number of people injured in rocket attacks in the southern Ukrainian city. A total of 19 people, including five children, were injured in the rocket attack, Vitaly Kim said on Telegram.

Mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group are training Belarusian special forces at a military training area near the border with Poland. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense in Minsk. Combat exercises are planned.

The Russian military has attacked cities in southern Ukraine for the third night in a row. The goal was again Odessa on the Black Sea, according to the Ukrainian authorities. Two injured people were reported from the port city. Governor Oleh Kiper said a building in the city center had been damaged. A fire caused damage.

The Ukrainian military said five cruise missiles and 13 drones were shot down over the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Odessa overnight. Russia fired a total of 19 cruise missiles and 19 drones at Ukrainian targets.

At least 18 people, including at least five children, were injured in attacks on the center of the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. This was announced by the governor of the Mykolaiv region Vitaly Kim on Telegram. According to the information, a building and several garages caught fire in the city. Two people were rescued from the rubble, which is like a miracle, Kim continued.

A youth was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia, according to the governor appointed by Moscow. “As a result of an enemy drone attack, four administrative buildings (…) in north-western Crimea were damaged,” said Crimea’s Russian governor Sergey Aksyonov on Telegram. A teenager was killed.

Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression in February 2022, Crimea has been the target of regular attacks. According to Russian sources, a fire broke out yesterday at a military base in Crimea. Authorities deployed by Moscow ordered the evacuation of more than 2,000 people. On Monday there was an attack on the symbolically and strategically important bridge between Russia and Crimea.

According to Ukrainian sources, the port city of Mykolaiv has again been the target of Russian attacks. A three-story apartment building in the city center was hit, said the governor of the region, Vitaly Kim, in the news app Telegram. Several people were killed and at least nine people were injured.

Southern Ukraine’s Odessa region has come under shelling for the third night in a row. According to local media reports, explosions were again heard near the port of Odessa. The air defense was active. The Ukrainian Air Force warned Telegram that supersonic anti-ship missiles had been launched in the direction of the Odessa region. She called on people to stay hidden. In the previous two nights, Russia had already carried out airstrikes in the Odessa region on the Black Sea.

According to their boss, Yevgeny Prigoschin, the Russian Wagner mercenaries will no longer fight in the Ukraine, but should gather their strength in Belarus for new missions in Africa. In a video, Prigozhin apparently welcomes members of his private army in Belarus. “We fought honorably,” the recording said, referring to Ukraine. “You have done a great deal for Russia. What is happening at the front is a disgrace that we do not have to be a part of.” They may return there “if we can be sure that we will not be forced to dishonor ourselves”. The recording was published on Prigozhin’s official Telegram channel.

According to Amnesty International, more than 20,000 people in Russia have been hit with severe punitive measures for their criticism of the Ukraine war. According to a report by the organization, 21,000 people faced reprisals last year for criticizing Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.

“New, absurd laws” were passed and immediately put into effect to criminalize those who freely expressed their opinions, said Julia Duchrow, Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty Germany. According to the report, the Russian authorities are using increasingly brutal tactics to crack down on anti-war activists at home. Anyone who protests against the war or spreads critical information about the Russian armed forces must expect “severe criminal, administrative and other sanctions”.

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 (11:00 p.m. CEST) it would consider all ships destined for Ukraine as “potential carriers of military equipment”.

The US has announced an additional $1.3 billion in military aid to Ukraine. NATO member Finland is closing the Russian consulate general in Turku. Wednesday’s developments to read.