Ukraine says Russia threatening civilian boats in the Black Sea
The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff has said Russia is threatening civilian vessels in the Black Sea and urged the international community to condemn what he said were “the methods of terrorists”.
Andriy Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app:
Russian warships are threatening civilians in the Black Sea, violating all norms of international maritime law.
Russia last week quit a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey allowing Ukraine to safely export grain via the Black Sea and warned that ships heading to Ukrainian seaports could be considered military targets.
In a separate statement, Ukraine’s border guard service said it had intercepted a warning communicated by a Russian warship to a civilian vessel near a Ukrainian port on Thursday. It did not identify the name of the ship or the port.
The statement quoted the Russian party as saying:
I am warning you about the ban on movement to the ports of Ukraine.
Also, the transport of any cargo to Ukraine is considered by the Russian side to be the potential transportation of military cargo.
Key events
Qatar grants Ukraine $100 million in humanitarian aid
Qatar will provide Ukraine with $100 million in humanitarian aid to support health, education and demining, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday after talks with the Gulf state’s prime minister.
Qatar had earlier on Friday announced that Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who also serves as foreign minister, was visiting Ukraine.
Ukraine says Russia threatening civilian boats in the Black Sea
The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff has said Russia is threatening civilian vessels in the Black Sea and urged the international community to condemn what he said were “the methods of terrorists”.
Andriy Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app:
Russian warships are threatening civilians in the Black Sea, violating all norms of international maritime law.
Russia last week quit a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey allowing Ukraine to safely export grain via the Black Sea and warned that ships heading to Ukrainian seaports could be considered military targets.
In a separate statement, Ukraine’s border guard service said it had intercepted a warning communicated by a Russian warship to a civilian vessel near a Ukrainian port on Thursday. It did not identify the name of the ship or the port.
The statement quoted the Russian party as saying:
I am warning you about the ban on movement to the ports of Ukraine.
Also, the transport of any cargo to Ukraine is considered by the Russian side to be the potential transportation of military cargo.
Ukrainians are celebrating the day of Ukrainian statehood today, a new holiday created by Volodymyr Zelenskiy in 2021 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence.
The day of 28 July had previously been celebrated in Ukraine to commemorate the day of the Christianisation of the country in the baptism of Kyiv in 988.
Germany’s industrial group Rheinmetall is setting up a repair centre in Ukraine for Leopard tanks and other war equipment supplied by Berlin, potentially from as early as late summer, according to the chief executive, Armin Papperger.
“We are currently already training Ukrainians in Germany for this job,” Papperger told Spiegel magazine, adding that Rheinmetall wanted to begin operations of the repair centre after the summer break.
Berlin has supplied about 20 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Kyiv.
A repair hub in Ukraine would reduce the distances the tanks have to be transported, though it would also bring security concerns after a close ally of Vladimir Putin said earlier this year that Moscow would hit any facility that Rheinmetall sets up in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin has repeated Russia’s position that it is ready for negotiations with Ukraine but that Kyiv is refusing to join them.
Putin was responding to comments from the African Union Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who told a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg that the AU attached great value to the integrity and sovereignty of states and the peaceful settlement of crises through compromise.
Kyiv has said it is not prepared to enter into negotiations with Moscow while Russia holds a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Russia has repeatedly said any talks must take account of “new realities”.
The Czech Republic has weaned itself off Russian gas supplies, with gas stores from other countries now rising to 90% of capacity, the industry ministry has said.
This means the country has hit EU obligations ahead of its November target. Half of its supplies came via Norway in the first half of 2023 and the rest was split between LNG deliveries from Belgium and the Netherlands.
Japan is stepping up its sanctions against Moscow by extending an export ban on luxury cars to Russia from next month so that it will cover all new and used vehicles over 1900cc, the government said on Friday.
The wider ban will become effective from 9 August and is likely to curb Japan’s second-hand car exports to Russia, which have surged since the start of the conflict due to high demand for reliable and durable vehicles.
The Japanese cabinet decided to revise an export control order that bans the exports of goods to Russia that strengthen the country’s industrial base, the minister for the economy, trade and industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura, told reporters.
Japan’s wider export ban on cars puts it in line with the EU, which announced its own ban on 1900cc vehicles on 23 June.
South Africa hopes that “constructive engagement and negotiation” can bring about an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Cyril Ramaphosa has said.
The president added that African leaders looked forward to discussing further with Vladimir Putin proposals they had made to bring about an end to the conflict at the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg on Friday.
Summary of the day so far …
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Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, urged Russia on Friday to revive the Black Sea grain deal, under which it had allowed Ukraine to export grain from its seaports despite the war. Sisi told the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg that it was “essential to reach agreement” on reviving the deal, which Russia withdrew from last week.
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Russian air defences downed a Ukrainian military drone before it could attack its targets near Moscow on Friday, the RIA news agency cited Russia’s defence ministry as saying. The ministry said the incident caused no casualties or damage to buildings.
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Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the Russian-imposed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, described the situation on the frontline there as “tense”. He said: “The enemy suffers significant losses but is trying to hold out in the northwestern part of the village of Staromaiorske.”
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Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s air force, said that despite a relatively quiet night, residents should stay vigilant as there was still “a high probability of missile attacks”. He said: “The night was quiet. There was little activity of enemy aircraft. There are not many nights like this. Many Ukrainians had the opportunity to sleep at least. We hope this day will be calm.”
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Vladimir Putin told African leaders on Friday that Moscow respected their peace proposal on Ukraine and was carefully studying it. Putin also said Russia was increasing food supplies to Africa, including some free grain shipments, and was interested in developing military cooperation with the continent.
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The Russian state-owned media outlet Tass reported that a Ukrainian drone had attacked an oil facility in occupied Shakhtarsk, in Donetsk region. It quoted the Russian-imposed occupying mayor of the city, Alexander Shatov, as saying: “At the site of the fire, fragments from a drone were found. In all likelihood, they hit it with a drone.” He said a fire at the site was extinguished.
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Emergency services in occupied Kherson that three civilians were injured on the left bank of the Dnipro River by Ukrainian shelling from the north.
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Three residential buildings and a garage were damaged overnight by Russian shelling in Seredyna-Buda, in Sumy region.
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Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who also serves as foreign minister, is on a visit to Ukraine. He will meet Ukraine’s prime minister and foreign minister.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been taking part in a ceremony in Kyiv this morning to mark Ukraine’s Statehood Day, giving out passports to people eligible to hold them for the first time.
Egyptian president calls on Russia to resume grain deal while in St Petersburg
The Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has urged Russia to revive the Black Sea grain deal, under which it had allowed Ukraine to export grain from its seaports.
Sisi told an Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg that it was “essential to reach agreement” on reviving the deal.
Russia withdrew from the deal last week because it said the west would not remove sanctions barriers that Russia claims were hampering its own agricultural exports.
Reuters has a quick snap that the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who also serves as foreign minister, is on a visit to Ukraine. He will meet Ukraine’s prime minister and foreign minister.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been in Kyiv this morning, taking part in a ceremony to mark Ukraine’s Statehood Day, giving out passports to people eligible to hold them for the first time.
The all-clear has sounded in Kyiv.
An air alert has been declared in Kyiv.
Reuters reports that the president of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, called for an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict at the Russia-Africa conference, saying a peace plan put forward by African leaders deserved attention.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued this map of how it assesses the situation on the ground in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin told African leaders on Friday that Moscow respected their peace proposal on Ukraine and was carefully studying it.
Reuters reports Putin also said at the Russia-Africa summit that Russia was increasing food supplies to Africa, including some free grain shipments, which he announced a day earlier, and was interested in developing military cooperation with the continent.
In June, a delegation led by South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, visited Kyiv to meet Zelenskiy, and then travelled on to Russia to meet Putin. Representatives of Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, the Republic of the Congo and Comoros were among the party. Their peace proposals were:
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It is necessary for a mediator to listen carefully to Ukraine and Russia.
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Peace must be achieved through diplomatic means.
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It is necessary to de-escalate the conflict.
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The sovereignty of states must be respected.
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Security must be guaranteed for all countries.
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It is necessary to ensure the movement of grain and fertilisers.
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It is necessary to provide humanitarian aid to victims of war.
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It is necessary to exchange prisoners of war.
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It is necessary to rebuild Ukraine after the war.
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It is necessary to build better relations between Ukraine and African countries.
The press service of Ukraine’s president has issued photos of Volodymyr Zelenskiy visiting the damaged Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa yesterday.
Overnight, Zelenskiy had posted a video of himself visiting the church, saying:
Architecture experts are currently working to assess the possibility of restoring the church. I am grateful to our partners in Europe for their willingness to join the reconstruction. Most importantly, the Kasperov Icon of the Mother of God has been saved, and the heart of the church is alive.
