2023-08-17 19:31:44
21:31
Cargo from Ukraine arrived in Istanbul despite Russian blockade
The first cargo ship to depart from Ukraine following the end of the grain deal arrived as scheduled Thursday evening in Istanbul, despite the Russian blockade, according to shipping sites. The Hong Kong-flagged container ship ‘Joseph Schulte’ left the Ukrainian port of Odessa on Wednesday, a challenge to Russia, which has threatened to attack such ships since ending the ban in July. agreement by which Ukraine might export its cereals.
The container ship uses “a new humanitarian corridor” established by Kiev, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while Russia last weekend fired warning shots at a cargo ship heading for Izmail, a port on the Danube in southern Ukraine.
The Turkish presidency broke its silence on Thursday evening on these shots targeting a ship which belongs, although flying the flag of Palau, to a Turkish company. “Interlocutors in Russia have been warned to avoid this kind of initiative which might raise tensions in the Black Sea,” Ankara said.
Moscow has also stepped up its attacks on Ukraine’s Black Sea and Danube port infrastructure since withdrawing from the UN-Turkish grain deal that came into effect in the summer. 2022. The latter allowed Ukrainian grain to leave the ports of southern Ukraine despite the blockade put in place by Russia.
At the same time, the international community is looking to find a way to secure routes for transporting grain to the rest of the world in time for this fall’s harvest, with Ukraine and Russia being leading exporters.
19:53
Turkey ‘warned’ Russia following shooting at Black Sea freighter
Turkey has “warned” Russia following warning shots Sunday on a cargo ship from a Turkish company heading for the port of Izmail, in southern Ukraine, the Turkish presidency announced on Thursday. “Interlocutors in Russia have been warned to avoid these kinds of initiatives which might raise tensions in the Black Sea”, Ankara said, breaking its silence on a case involving a ship which belongs, although flying the flag of Palau , to a Turkish company.
Read also: Between Russians and Ukrainians, war of nerves in the Black Sea 18:29
Chief of Staff of the Slovak Army visited the front
NATO member country Slovakia’s army chief of staff visited the frontline in southern Ukraine, where Kiev is waging a difficult counter-offensive, officials said on Thursday. Ukrainian forces.
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian troops, General Daniel Zmeko met with the “Strategic Operational Group Tavria”, which is currently fighting in the southern region of Zaporizhia and in the south of the eastern region of Donetsk. On this occasion, “the Ukrainian side thanked Slovakia for the material and technical assistance provided” to kyiv, he added on Facebook.
On photographs released by the staff of the Ukrainian army, we can see the Slovak general chatting with soldiers in a hangar containing armaments. This is a rare official visit by a high-ranking officer from a NATO country closest to the fighting in Ukraine.
⚡️ Slovakia’s top general visits Ukraine’s southern forces command.
Chief of the General Staff of Slovakia’s Armed Forces General Daniel Zmeko visited the command of the “Tavria” group, fighting in Ukraine’s south, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Aug. 17.… pic.twitter.com/v8Eoy4mQtr
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 17, 2023
17:31
Only Ukraine will decide the terms of a negotiation, repeats the head of NATO
Only Ukraine will decide the terms of a possible peace negotiation with Russia, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg repeated on Thursday, reaffirming the Alliance’s position following controversial statements by his chief of staff.
“It is up to the Ukrainians and only the Ukrainians to decide when the conditions for negotiations will be met and to decide around a negotiating table, in the event that negotiations take place, what is an acceptable solution,” he said. said Jens Stoltenberg. “Our job is to support them,” he added.
The NATO chief made the remarks during a public meeting in Arendal, a small town in the south of his native Norway, where Norwegian decision-makers are meeting this week.
Jens Stoltenberg à Arendal en Norvège, août 2023. (Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Arendal Norway) — © IMAGO/Ole Berg-Rusten / IMAGO/NTB
17:27
Ukraine received new German anti-aircraft systems to protect its skies
Ukraine announced on Thursday that it had received new German Iris-T anti-aircraft systems to protect its skies, at a time when its regions in the south, but also in the east, are increasingly targeted by Russian long-range strikes. “A big thank you to our partners for the Iris-T”, welcomed on X (ex-Twitter) the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak. “Our skies will be more protected” with these short-range air defense systems, he argued. According to data updated Thursday on the German government website, Berlin delivered “two Iris-T SLS launchers” to kyiv.
???????? Many thanks to our partners for the “toffees” ????????
The sky will be more protected.
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) August 17, 2023
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has tirelessly asked its Western allies to help protect its skies, being largely dominated in the air by the Russian military. Several countries have already allowed Ukrainian forces to have anti-aircraft protection, including the United States, which delivered its Patriots to kyiv, which are very effective in intercepting Russian long-range strikes.
For several months now, kyiv has been defended by an effective shield, which annihilates Russian attempts to strike the Ukrainian capital with explosive missiles or drones. But in recent weeks Russia has mainly targeted regions in southern Ukraine, home to major ports — Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhne — through which kyiv until recently exported its grain
17:26
Prague cancels concert of Russian soprano Netrebko because of war Ukraine
Prague has canceled a concert by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko scheduled for October, due to her country’s invasion of Ukraine, organizers said Thursday. Anna Netrebko, whose past support of Russian President Vladimir Putin led to the cancellation of several concerts around the world, was due to perform at the Municipal House in Prague on October 16.
The Czech Republic, an EU and NATO member, has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since last year’s Russian invasion and has provided Kyiv with substantial military and humanitarian aid. The agency Nachtigall Artists Management said on Facebook that it had agreed with the hall to cancel the sold-out concert, following opposition from the centre-right Prague city council.
Anna Netrebko retired from the Metropolitan Opera in New York in March 2022 following refusing to disavow her support for Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine. The 51-year-old opera superstar later condemned the war and announced his return to European stages, but never publicly and directly criticized the Russian president.
14:56
Freighter from Ukraine approaches Istanbul despite Russian blockade
The first cargo ship to depart from Ukraine following the end of the grain agreement is advancing on the Bulgarian coast on Thursday followingnoon towards Turkey, despite the Russian blockade, according to maritime traffic sites. The Hong Kong-flagged container ship ‘Joseph Schulte’ left Ukraine’s port of Odessa on Wednesday, a challenge to Russia that has threatened to sink such vessels since it ended a lockdown in July. agreement allowing Ukraine to export its cereals.
The cargo ship Joseph Schulte pictured near Odessa following departing, August 16, 2023. (Archyde.com) — © UKRAINIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER / via REUTERS
12:28
Five Ukrainian soldiers sentenced to long prison terms by pro-Russian separatists
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and Wednesday sentenced five Ukrainian soldiers to heavy prison terms on charges of “murder” and “cruel treatment of civilians”, the Russian Investigative Committee said. Vladimir Pafitsevich and Yevgeny Vakhnenko were found guilty of “cruel treatment of the civilian population”, “use of prohibited methods during an armed conflict” and “premeditated group murder”, a statement said on Thursday. body responsible for the main investigations in Russia. Captured during the Russian offensive in Ukraine, they were each sentenced to 22 years in prison.
These sentences were pronounced by the “supreme court” of the People’s Republic of Donetsk (DNR, in eastern Ukraine), controlled by Moscow which claimed last year its annexation, not recognized by the community. international. Russian investigators accused them of executing a 44-year-old man in March 2022, on the grounds that the latter had seen the location of Ukrainian positions in Mariupol, a city subsequently conquered by the Russian army following a devastating siege of several months. .
10:40
Ukraine wants to liberate all of its territory, ‘no matter how long it takes’
“Our goal is victory, victory in the form of the liberation of our territories within the 1991 borders. And no matter how long it takes,” said Dmytro Kouleba. “As long as the Ukrainian people share this goal, the Ukrainian government will move forward hand in hand with its people,” he added, while admitting that “Ukraine is paying the highest price” for a conflict that ravaged many regions of this country bordering the European Union.
“Until we win, we will need more (weapons), we have to move forward, because war is a reality, and in that reality, we have to win. There is no other solution,” he continued. He also said he “did not feel” pressure from Ukraine’s Western allies to have kyiv step up its counter-offensive once morest Russian forces.
07:03
F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine: training and delivery are long overdue
The United States will not have trained Ukrainian pilots on the F-16s before the summer of 2024. The Europeans are also delaying. At a time when kyiv is leading a counter-offensive once morest the Russian forces, this delay is badly experienced. For Washington, it is a question of arming Ukraine in the long term.
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04:11
Ukraine defies Russia with the departure of a cargo ship in the Black Sea
The container ship “Joseph Schulte”, flying the flag of Hong Kong, “sails along the corridor temporarily established for civilian ships”, announced Oleksandre Kubrakov, the Ukrainian minister in charge of infrastructure. On Wednesday followingnoon, he was heading for the Turkish port of Ambarli in the Sea of Marmara.
“Ukraine has just taken an important step in restoring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. The first civilian ship has taken the new Ukrainian humanitarian corridor, departing from the port of Odessa”, welcomed President Volodymyr Zelensky on X (ex-Twitter).
Ukraine has just made an important step toward restoring the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. The first civilian vessel has passed through Ukraine’s new humanitarian corridor, departing from the port of Odesa. It’s currently on its way to the Bosporus.
Earlier, Ukraine…
— Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) August 16, 2023
The Ukrainian authorities had announced last week to open such maritime corridors on a “provisional” basis. And this despite the attitude of Russia, which last weekend fired warning shots at a cargo ship heading for Izmail, a port on the Danube in southern Ukraine.
This river has become one of the main exit routes for Ukrainian agricultural products since Moscow canceled in July the agreement on grain exports, a source of income for Kiev.
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