Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States was “deeply concerned” that the Zaporizhia plant, which Russia was accused of firing dangerous missiles near in March, is now a Russian military base used to fire on neighboring Ukrainian forces. “Of course the Ukrainians cannot detonate in case there is a terrible accident with the nuclear plant,” Blinken told reporters after talks on nuclear non-proliferation at the United Nations in New York on Monday. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Russia’s actions went beyond using a “human shield,” Blinken said, calling it a “nuclear shield.” At the New York talks, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mykola Tochytskyi said “strong joint actions are needed to avoid a nuclear catastrophe” and called on the international community to “close the skies” over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants with air defense systems. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 sparked Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, killing thousands, displacing millions and leaving large parts of Ukraine in ruins. The war has also caused a global food crisis, with Russia and Ukraine producing about a third of the world’s wheat, while Western sanctions on Russia, a major energy supplier to Europe, have caused a global energy crisis.
FIRST SHIP SIKURA
The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea since Russia’s invasion five months ago left the port of Odessa for Lebanon on Monday as part of a safe transit deal. The sailing was made possible after Turkey and the United Nations brokered a grain and fertilizer export deal between Russia and Ukraine last month – a rare diplomatic breakthrough in a conflict that has turned into a protracted war of attrition. The Sierra Leonean-flagged Razoni will head to the Lebanese port of Tripoli after passing through Turkey’s Bosphorus strait, which connects the Black Sea, dominated by the Russian navy, to the Mediterranean. It carries 26,527 tons of corn. However, there are still hurdles to overcome before millions of tons of Ukrainian grain can leave Black Sea ports, including clearing mines and creating a framework for ships to safely enter the conflict zone and pick up cargo. read more The United Nations has warned of the risk of multiple famines this year due to the war in Ukraine. Known as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine hopes to export 20 million tonnes of grain in silos and 40 million tonnes of the harvest now underway, initially from Odessa and nearby Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk, to help clearing the silos for the new crop. Russia called Razoni’s departure “very positive” news but denied responsibility for the food crisis, saying Western sanctions have slowed its exports and accusing Ukraine of laying underwater mines at the entrance to its ports. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of laying the mines now floating around the Black Sea. In a sign of a deepening energy dispute between Russia and Europe, Russia said on Monday it could do nothing to help with emergency repairs to the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, its main natural gas pipeline to Europe, after a further drop in production and exports of Gazprom. read more Gas from Russia covered about 40% of European needs before Russia sent troops to Ukraine. Russia cut gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 to just 20% of capacity last week, saying a turbine sent to Canada for maintenance had not been returned and other equipment needed repair.
RUSSIAN PROGRESS
Russia invaded Ukraine in what it called a “special operation” to demilitarize its neighbor. Ukraine and Western nations have rejected it as an unfounded pretext for war. After failing to capture the capital Kyiv early in the war, Russia now aims to seize the eastern Donbas region, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk, partly held by Russian-backed separatists before the invasion, and occupy most of the south, having already annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich told media that some 22,000 Russian troops were preparing to advance on the cities of Kriviy Rih and Mykolaiv, where a “fairly large” Ukrainian force was lying in wait. In the mainly Russian-held Kherson region, Ukrainian troops had liberated about 50 towns, said Yuriy Sobolevsky, deputy head of the ousted Kherson regional council. “Russian troops in the Kherson region are suffering significant losses,” Sobolevsky wrote on Telegram. Reuters could not verify the battlefield report. Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Luhansk region, which is almost entirely under Russian control, said foreign fighters had arrived to help Russian forces. “We noticed that more and more private military companies are entering the region – the Wagner group,” Gaidai told Ukrainian television, adding that these irregular forces were motivated by “money and looting.” Russian private military company Wagner has likely assumed responsibility for front-line sectors in eastern Ukraine, possibly as Russia faces a shortage of infantry, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said last week. Gaidai said the rebels were destroying infrastructure, including gas and water networks, in the affected cities of Luhansk to slow down Russian forces. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report from Reuters offices. Written by Michael Perry. Editing: Simon Cameron-Moore Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
