UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – Russia is also conducting military exercises with missile fire in the Black Sea, an area of growing tensions since the expiration of a crucial grain agreement for world food.
Putin’s warning to the West, Russian military exercises in the Black Sea, Ukraine’s first use of cluster munitions… Le Figaro provides an update on the conflict in Ukraine this Friday, July 21.
Moscow will use ‘all means’ to protect Belarus from attack, Putin warns
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that aggression against Belarus would amount to aggression against Russia and that Moscow would respond “by all meanspossible. He also considered during a meeting of the Security Council broadcast on television that Western arms deliveries had not helped Kiev to advance on the front during its counter-offensive, judging that this had not yet had “No result“.
Russia conducts military exercises with missile launches in the Black Sea
Russia announced on Friday that it had conducted military exercises involving missile launches in the Black Sea, the scene of growing tensions with Ukraine and its allies since the expiration of a crucial grain agreement for world food.
Ships of the Russian fleet fired anti-ship cruise missiles and destroyed “a target boat in the combat training area in the northwestern part of the Black Seasaid the Russian Defense Ministry. The ministry indicated that naval aeronautics, together with boats, carried out maneuvers “to isolate the area temporarily closed to navigation“.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: Russia warns of “risks” in the Black Sea after the end of the grain agreement
Russia said on Wednesday that it would consider ships heading to Ukraine in the Black Sea as of Thursday as “potential military boats», and the countries whose flag they fly as parties to the conflict. Tensions have reignited in this area since Moscow abandoned this week the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, which allowed cargo ships loaded with agricultural products to leave ports through protected maritime corridors.
New strikes near Odessa
At the same time, Russian strikes have hit the Odessa region, a strategic port in the Black Sea, in recent nights. kyiv accuses Moscow of specifically targeting these infrastructures to prevent any possible resumption of exports. On the night of Thursday July 20 to Friday July 21, Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, fired from a Russian ship in the Black Sea, hit the Odessa region for the fourth consecutive night, local governor Oleg Kiper said.
Read alsoVadym Omelchenko: “Ukraine relies on itself first, but a collapse of the Russian army is possible”
“Grain silos of an agricultural business in the region were affected. The enemy destroyed 100 tons of cultivated peas and 20 tons of barley“, he said on Telegram, adding that two people had been injured. “After three consecutive nights of terror using powerful missiles and drones against port infrastructure, (the enemy) is now going after agricultural businesses“, again denounced Oleg Kiper. According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, Russian fire also destroyed two fire trucks in the Odessa region, without causing any casualties. The Russian army assured, for its part, to target only military sites in these strikes.
UN concerns
In response to Moscow’s new policy, Ukraine warned on Thursday that it would treat ships heading to Moscow-controlled ports as potential carriers of military equipment, “with all the associated risks“. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that this statement from kyiv created a “threatfor civilian vessels sailing in the Black Sea.
This situation arouses the concern of the UN, which was one of the mediators in the negotiation of the agreement. “We are already seeing the negative effect on global wheat and maize prices, which hurts everyone, especially vulnerable populations in the Global South“Said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary General.
Denouncing the obstacles to trade in its own fertilizers and agricultural products, Russia withdrew from the agreement signed in July 2022, but assures that it is ready to return to it if its demands are met.in their entirety“. kyiv, for its part, has asked for the establishment of “military patrolsnaval missions under UN mandate to compensate for the end of the agreement, without response so far.
Zelensky dismisses his ambassador to the United Kingdom, whohad criticized
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday dismissed his ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vadim Pristaiko, a key figure in relations between kyiv and London, according to a decree published on the Ukrainian presidency website.
This decree does not give the reasons for this decision, but the ambassador had recently been critical of the Ukrainian president, regretting his “sarcasmaimed at British Defense Minister Ben Wallace, who had called for more gratitude for the military aid provided by kyiv’s allies.
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Read alsoWar in Ukraine: Washington gives the green light to the delivery of F-16 planes
Two children killed in Russian strike in eastern Ukraine
Two children, a brother and his sister, were killed on Friday July 21 by Russian shellfire that hit the village of Druzhba in eastern Ukraine, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko announced. “Around 3:00 p.m. the Russians bombarded the village with artillery. One of the shells hit the yard where the children were“, he said on his Telegram account. The boy was 10 and his sister was 16, he said.
Couple killed by Russian rocket fire
On the eastern front, Russian rocket fire hit the town of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region on Friday, killing a couple, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
kyiv uses cluster munitions delivered by Washington
Kiev has started using the controversial cluster munitions supplied by the United States, the White House has said, as Ukraine seeks to build momentum in its counteroffensive against Russian forces. In an interview broadcast in early July by the CNN channel, US President Joe Biden confided that he had taken a “very difficult decisionby delivering these weapons to Ukraine, justifying this by the fact that kyiv is “out of ammunition“.
Asked if Washington’s cluster munitions were now being deployed and used by kyiv, John Kirby, a White House spokesman, replied: “Yes.“According to John Kirby, the deployment of these weapons to the front took place”roughly in the last week“. Ukrainian forcesuse them appropriately. They use them effectively and they really have an impact on Russian defensive formations and defensive maneuversfrom Moscow, the spokesperson told reporters.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: does the use of cluster munitions violate the laws of war?
Cluster munitions can disperse up to several hundred small explosive charges, capable of remaining unexploded in the ground and creating a risk for civilians after a conflict has ended. They are banned by many countries, especially European ones, signatories of a convention signed in Oslo in 2008 and to which neither Russia, nor the United States, nor Ukraine are parties.
Ukrainian culture minister resigns after ‘misunderstandings’
Ukraine’s culture minister announced his resignation early Friday after “misunderstandingsabout the use of public funds for cultural projects as kyiv tries to thwart the Russian invasion. “I delivered my letter of resignation to the Prime Minister (Thursday) evening, due to a wave of misunderstanding about the importance of culture in times of war“, wrote Oleksandre Tkatchenko on Telegram. “During the war, private and budgetary funds for culture are no less important than for drones, because culture is the shield of our identity and our borders.“, he added, without giving further details on the reasons for his resignation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had called on Thursday evening for the replacement of the minister, criticizing the use of the state budget for cultural projects to the detriment of defence. “In times of war like this, the maximum attention of the state, and therefore state resources, must be devoted to defense“Launched Volodymyr Zelensky in his daily address. “Museums, cultural centers, symbols, TV series – all this is important, but now there are other priorities. Find extrabudgetary funds. Not state funds“, he added, indicating that he had asked Prime Minister Denys Chmygal to replace Oleksandre Tkatchenko.
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