Daily wrap up July 22-23, 2022
(If this is formatted differently, sorry, I’m on mobile because I’m traveling.)
-Ukraine and Russia sign a UN backed deal to export Ukrainian grain
-Russia launches cruise missiles at Odesa the day after signing an agreement to export Ukrainian grain
-Three people were killed and 19 others were injured when 13 Russian missiles hit a military airfield and railway infrastructure in Ukraine’s central region of Kirovohrad
-Heavy fighting has been taking place in the last 48 hours as Ukrainian forces continued their offensive against Russia in Kherson province
Ukraine and Russia have signed a UN-backed deal to allow the export of millions of tonnes of grain from blockaded Black Sea ports, potentially averting the threat of a catastrophic global food crisis.
A signing ceremony at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul was attended by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, who had played a key role during months of tense negotiations.
Guterres said in remarks after the deal would open up grain exports from Ukraine and the UN would work to ensure its success.
It is hoped the agreement will secure the passage of grain and essential goods such as sunflower oil from three Ukrainian ports including Odesa, even as the war continues to rage elsewhere in the country. The UN had warned that the war risked mass malnutrition, hunger and famine.
The deal is also aimed at ensuring the safe passage of Russian-made fertiliser products, essential for ensuring future high yields on crops, amid efforts to ease a global food crisis provoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
UN officials said they hoped preliminary shipments could begin as soon as Saturday, with the hope of reaching prewar levels of export from the three Ukrainian ports – a rate of 5m metric tonnes of grain a month – within weeks.
According to UN officials, under the agreement struck between Kyiv and Moscow:
A coalition of Turkish, Ukrainian and UN staff will monitor the loading of grain on to vessels in Ukrainian ports before navigating a pre-planned route through the Black Sea, which remains heavily mined by Ukrainian and Russian forces.
Ukrainian pilot vessels will guide commercial vessels transporting the grain in order to navigate the mined areas around the coastline using a map of safe channels provided by the Ukrainian side.
The vessels will then cross the Black Sea towards Turkey’s Bosphorus strait while being closely monitored by a joint coordination centre in Istanbul, containing representatives from the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.
Ships entering Ukraine will be inspected under the supervision of the same joint coordination centre to ensure they are not carrying weapons or items that could be used to attack the Ukrainian side.
The Russian and Ukrainian sides have agreed to withhold attacks on any of the commercial vessels or ports engaged in the initiative to transport vital grain, while UN and Turkish monitors will be present in Ukrainian ports in order to demarcate areas protected by the accord.
-via The Guardian
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According to Ukraine's Operational Command “South,” Russian forces attacked the Black Sea trade port in Odesa with Kalibr cruise missiles on July 23.
Two missiles were shot down by Ukraine’s air defense, while the other two hit the port's facilities, the military said.
A minor fire broke out at the port's pumping station, but there was no significant damage to port infrastructure or grain storage facilities, Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the command said. Humeniuk also said the blast waves from the attack damaged nearby homes.
The attack came a day after Russia and Ukraine signed UN-backed agreements to resume exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. The deal aimed to unblock crucial grain exports and ease fears of a looming global food crisis. It envisioned safe passage of Ukrainian grain from three southwestern ports in Odesa Oblast, including the one in Odesa.
-via Kyiv Independent
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Three people were killed and 19 others were injured when 13 Russian missiles hit a military airfield and railway infrastructure in Ukraine’s central region of Kirovohrad, the regional governor has said.
A soldier and two security guards were among those killed at an electricity substation, Andriy Raikovych said on television.
Raikovych said the strikes had disrupted the electricity grid and that one district of the regional capital, Kropyvnytskyi, had been left without power as a result, Reuters reported.
Via The Guardian
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Heavy fighting has been taking place in the last 48 hours as Ukrainian forces continued their offensive against Russia in Kherson province, west of the Dnipro River, British military intelligence said on Saturday.
-via The Guardian
