Russia bombs Odessa in retaliation for the Crimean bridge attacks

Russia attacked the Ukrainian port of Odesa on Tuesday and warned of the security risk posed by exporting Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea without Moscow’s approval, as suggested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Russian attack on Odessa “is another proof that the country is a terrorist [Rusia] wants to endanger the lives of 400 million people in other countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports,” wrote the Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak on Telegram.

Russia, however, assured that the night bombing was not aimed at blocking the port of Odesa, through which Ukraine got its grain, but to punish the shipyard that produced the water drones that attacked the Crimean bridge on Monday. Yermak insisted on it “Russia’s goal is to starve and kill people”. “They need waves of refugees. With this, they want to weaken the West,” he noted.

After Russia suspended the so-called Black Sea Initiative, Moscow also canceled all maritime navigation guarantees and reinstated restrictions on the humanitarian corridor. It also re-established the regime of a temporary danger zone in the northwestern waters of the Black Sea and suspended its participation in the joint center in Istanbul that coordinated the export of Ukrainian grain.

This brings back the risk of bombing and mines in the Black Sea and makes Zelenskiy’s proposal to activate a similar agreement to continue exports with the help of the United Nations and Turkey very difficult. Insurance companies, namely, are already reviewing the policies of ships that are ready to do business in Ukraine, according to confirmed sources from the sector in London consulted by Efe.

Some observers argue that those insurers that can still offer policies would do so at a significant price increase, although this type of high-risk coverage could be phased out entirely if Moscow adopts certain military measures, such as laying mines in the area.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned this Tuesday about the continuation Ukraine’s export of grain across the Black Sea without Russia’s consent is a security risk. “This is an issue that should be discussed by our army because it is a zone close to the zone of combat operations and without adequate guarantees there are certain risks,” he explained. Moscow cannot say “which countries and to what extent they would be willing to take on” those risks, he said.

On the other hand, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, talked with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, about possible alternatives for exporting their own grain to the most needy countries after leaving the pact.

Lavrov emphasized that Russia suspended the Black Sea Initiative, among other things, due to the impossibility of exporting grains and fertilizers, the blocking of bank payments and the freezing of assets abroad.

The Kremlin is massing its best troops for an attack on the Kupiansk railway junction

Russia claimed to have advanced two kilometers in one day in the direction of Kupiansk, an important logistics and communications hub in the eastern Kharkiv region and very close to the administrative border with Luhansk. “In the direction of Kupiansk, the western grouping of troops continues successful offensive operations in its area of ​​responsibility,” said the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, who added that the total advance last day was “up to two kilometers ahead and up to a kilometer and a half deep .

Ukraine believes that Russian troops have been ordered not only to take over Lugansk and Donetsk completely, but also to deter Ukrainian forces advancing around Bakhmut with their offensive around the Kupiansk and Liman sectors.

The head of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Sirski, said the situation in the east was “difficult, but under control.” “The enemy is moving reinforcements in the direction of Bakhmut, trying to stop our advance. At the same time, the enemy concentrated its main forces in the direction of Kupiansk». The spokesman of the Eastern Group of Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Sergej Cherevaty said that Russia has concentrated more than 100,000 soldiers, about 900 tanks, 555 artillery systems and 370 rocket launchers towards Kupyansk.