Russia’s Black Sea grain inspection delay ‘politically motivated’, Ukraine says
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has expressed concern over Russia’s lengthy ship inspections that are causing delays in shipments along the Black Sea grain corridor.
“There is reason to believe that Russia’s delay in inspections of Grain Initiative vessels was politically motivated,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine argued that Russia’s actions “undermine global food security”. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the backlog has “already prevented Ukraine from exporting an additional 3 million tons of grain.”
The UN-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative, agreed in July to mitigate the effects of war on grain exports from Ukraine, is due to be renewed on 20 November. Update if conditions are not met.
— Rocio Fabro
German officials say it’s time to start rebuilding Ukraine
German Development Minister Svenja Schulze said he believed it was important to start rebuilding Ukraine now.
“We probably have to do a lot of things in parallel and hope that any of them can be destroyed again,” Schultz told ARD Mediathek’s morning show. continue to have schools, local hospitals are functioning, and electricity and water are there.”
Germany is already helping rebuild, she added. About 200 million euros of the 426 million euros Germany sent to Ukraine for reconstruction went directly to the people of Ukraine, Schultz said.
Post-war reconstruction of Ukraine could cost up to $350 billion, according to a report released early last month by the World Bank, the Ukrainian government and the European Commission.
— Rocio Fabro
Kremlin says France and Germany ‘do not want’ mediation over Ukraine
Moscow said it showed France and Germany “unwillingness” to participate in mediation of the Ukrainian conflict, and praised Turkey’s willingness to mediate negotiations.
“[Turkish capital] Ankara has taken a different position from Paris and Berlin and has declared its willingness to continue mediation efforts,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have so far indicated they do not want to “listen to Russia’s position or participate in mediation efforts,” he added. rice field.
President Macron said on Sunday that peace terms should be decided by Ukraine.
— Natasha Turak
Ukraine’s foreign minister has asked the UN nuclear watchdog to inspect its facilities to disprove Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ claims
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleva has asked the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, to send a team of experts to Ukraine to investigate nuclear facilities. This is to disprove Russia’s claims that it has a “dirty bomb” it plans to use on its territory.
Grossi, head of the IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, “agreed” to Kleba’s request to “immediately dispatch experts to the peace facilities in Ukraine,” the minister wrote on Twitter.
“Ukraine has always been transparent, unlike Russia. There is nothing to hide,” Kleva added. In a separate tweet, he spoke to Josep Borrell, the EU’s head of foreign policy, who “welcomed Ukraine’s decision to invite IAEA experts.”
— Natasha Turak
Ukraine is increasingly successful in shooting down Iranian drones, UK Defense Ministry says
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which Ukrainian authorities believe to be an Iranian-made drone Shahed-136, after a Russian drone was attacked during the Russian attack on Ukraine on October 17, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. ) parts of the local population.
Vladislav Musienko | Photo Reuters
Russia has been using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in many parts of Ukraine to target critical infrastructure and civilian areas, the UK Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update, but Ukraine It added that the use of anti-drone technology by the military is increasing. even more effective.
“Russia continues to use Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against targets across Ukraine. Ukrainian efforts to defeat the Shahed-136 UAV are becoming increasingly successful,” the ministry said on Twitter. said in
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials claim that up to 85% of attacks are intercepted, the ministry wrote:
Drones are likely being used as replacements for Russia’s “increasingly scarce” precision-guided long-range missiles.
— Natasha Turak
Zelensky denounces Kremlin’s ‘dirty bomb’ claims, says Russia is the only European country to use nuclear weapons
“It’s a tough morning. We’re fighting terrorists. Dozens of missiles, Iranian Shahid,” Zelensky wrote on his official Telegram account, referring to the Iranian-made Shahid drones increasingly used by the Russian military. mentioned machine.
Ukriform | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is the only actor to deploy nuclear weapons in Europe and has destroyed Ukrainian infrastructure in the past eight months.
His comments came in response to unsubstantiated Kremlin claims that Ukraine was preparing to use a “dirty bomb”.
Zelensky has accused Russia of carrying out “nuclear blackmail” at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which has been occupied by Russia since March, using phosphorous ammunition and other prohibited weapons against civilian infrastructure. Stated.
He added that such allegations only mean that it was Russia that was preparing to deploy the weapons Ukraine accused it possessed.
In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia’s position that Ukraine plans to use “dirty bombs” on its territory to escalate the conflict with Russia. .
“Their distrust of the information provided by the Russian side does not mean that the threat of using such dirty bombs does not exist,” Peskov told the press.
“Such a threat exists and the Defense Minister has provided information about it to the interlocutors. It is up to them to trust it or not.”
— Natasha Turak
‘Ukraine has no ability or need to use dirty bombs,’ says ex-British ambassador
Nigel Gould-Davis, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, wrote in a Twitter thread that Ukraine “doesn’t have the ability or need to use dirty bombs.”
“[Russian Defense Minister] Shoigu’s series of phone calls with the United States, Britain, France and Turkey claiming that Ukraine plans to use “dirty bombs” is very worrying. I have never Its content is even more alarming,” wrote former British Ambassador to Belarus Gould Davis.
“Of course, Ukraine has neither the ability nor the need to use dirty bombs. It is Russia that is losing. In any case, no one believes Shoigu – esp [UK Defense Minister] Ben Wallace lied to during a pre-invasion visit to Moscow.
“Shoigu also warned of an ‘uncontrolled escalation’. It is Russia that is escalating…either these calls double Putin’s bluff as anything other than Shoigu, or the path to Russia’s nuclear use. Yes, nuclear (i.e. fission),” Gould-Davis added. “Dirty bombs violate nuclear taboos, but have no significant effect.”
— Natasha Turak
US rejects Russia’s claims that Ukraine uses ‘dirty bombs’
US and Ukrainian officials have dismissed Moscow’s claims that Ukraine plans to use a “dirty bomb” as “clearly false.”
The claim was made by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a series of high-level conference calls with Western defense ministers. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Shoigu expressed “concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine using ‘dirty bombs'”.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, February 27, 2022.
Alexei Nikolsky | Sputnik | Reuters
A “dirty bomb” is designed to radioactively contaminate a large area and render it harmful or uninhabitable to its inhabitants, without the use of a nuclear detonation.
Secretary of State Antony Brinken told Ukrainian Secretary of State Dmytro Kuleva: This allegation was used as a pretext for escalation,” a White House statement said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also condemned Russia’s accusations.
“If Russia says on the phone that Ukraine is preparing something, it means one thing: Russia is already preparing all this,” Zelensky said in his evening speech.
— Natasha Turak
French President Emmanuel Macron says Ukraine must decide peace terms with Russia
French President Emmanuel Macron gestures during a press conference on the final day of the NATO summit in Madrid on June 30, 2022.
Bertrand Guy | AFP | Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron said peace terms with Russia must be decided by Ukraine, stressing that ending the war “cannot be the consecration of the strongest law”.
“Remaining neutral means accepting the strongest world order, and I do not agree with this,” Macron said from Rome on Sunday, when the three-day Cry for Peace conference began.
Macron added that the international community would be receptive when the Ukrainian government decides on that date.
Ukrainian forces are gradually recapturing territories occupied and illegally annexed by Russia, and while Moscow appears to be retreating more and more, its ability to destroy Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure remains intact. Analysts fear it may use more extreme means in retaliation, such as nuclear weapons.
— Natasha Turak
Over 1 million Ukrainian homes without power
Smoke rises above buildings after a Russian missile attack on critical infrastructure in Lviv on October 10, 2022. Russia launched 15 of her rockets in the Lviv region, some shot down by air defense forces and the rest attacking energy infrastructure facilities. Rocket attacks left Lviv without electricity, water and mobile communications.
Sopa Images | Light Rocket | Getty Images
A Russian strike on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure has left more than one million homes in the country without electricity, Ukraine’s Vice President of the President Kirilo Tymoshenko said over the weekend. Cities and towns across Ukraine have faced blackouts this month due to Russian attacks, sparking fears about what lies ahead in the coming winter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged his fellow citizens to be careful about using electricity.
“We need to consume electricity very consciously.Don’t forget to limit the use of unnecessary and energy-consuming electrical appliances…really economize on energy consumption in public spaces. We need to,” he said in a speech Sunday night.
— Natasha Turak
