Russia-Ukraine war live: Black Sea grain deal ‘terminated’
- Kremlin declines to extend the Black Sea grain deal, stalling the export of Ukrainian grain to the rest of the world. The grain pact helped lower food prices by more than 20 percent globally.
- Traffic on the Crimean Bridge linking the peninsula with the Russian region of Krasnodar has been halted amid reports of explosions.
- A Russian official has stated that two people were killed in the “emergency” on the Crimean Bridge, and their daughter was injured.
- Kyiv says the incident could be an act of provocation on Moscow’s side.
Russia says it will consider rejoining grain deal when it sees ‘results’, not ‘promises’
Russia has said it would be ready to consider rejoining the Black Sea grain export deal if it saw “concrete results”, but that so far its demands had not been met.
The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that, despite United Nations efforts to prolong the deal, obstacles to Russian food and fertiliser exports remained.
“Only upon receipt of concrete results, and not promises and assurances, will Russia be ready to consider restoring the deal,” it said
Watch: Belarus released a video of Wagner mercenaries training Minsk’s troops
UK sanctions target those behind forced child deportation in Ukraine: foreign minister
The UK has imposed a new round of sanctions against Russia due to its actions in Ukraine.
British foreign minister James Cleverly said the sanctions targeted those individuals who had propped up Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, including with a programme of forced child deportation in Ukraine.
Russia’s culture minister Olga Lyubimova and education minister Sergey Kravtsova are in the UK’s latest sanctions list.
Turkish, Russian foreign ministers to discuss grain deal, Erdogan says
The Turkish and Russian foreign ministers will discuss the Black Sea grain deal on Monday, according to Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan.
“I hope that with this discussion, we can make some progress and continue on our way without a pause,” Erdogan told reporters in Turkey, shortly after Moscow said it was halted its participation in the deal.
Russia’s suspension of the Black Sea grain deal is a ‘cynical move’: EU’s von der Leyen
European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called Russia’s decision to suspend a Black Sea grain export deal a “cynical move”, adding that the EU would continue to work towards ensuring food security for poor countries.
Russia said it had halted participation in a landmark UN-brokered deal which allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea just hours after Moscow said Ukraine had attacked the Crimean Bridge.
Turkey’s Erdogan says he believes Russia’s Putin wants continuation of grain deal
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the continuation of the Black sea grain deal, after Moscow said it will suspend its participation.
Speaking to reporters, Erdogan said he would discuss the deal, including the export of Russian fertilizer, with Putin when they meet in person during an expected meeting in August.
Russian exporters union says it plans to continue supplying grain, despite deal lapse
Russian grain exporting union Rusgrain has said that its members planned to continue supplying customers with Russian grain at competitive prices, despite Moscow pulling out of the Black Sea grain export deal.
“Russia is the largest supplier of wheat to the world market … All contractual obligations of Russian grain exporters will be fulfilled,” it said.
Russian investigators open criminal case to investigate Crimean Bridge attack
The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case to investigate the Crimean Bridge attack, on the grounds of terrorism.
According to the Russian foreign ministry, a criminal case under Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code — the country’s terrorist act — has been initiated.
Investigators are also identifying persons from among the Ukrainian special services and armed formations who could have been involved in the “execution of this crime”, according to the foreign ministry.
Russia formally notifies Ukraine that grain deal is terminated from July 18
Russia has formally notified Ukraine, via the Russian embassy in Minsk, that it was suspending its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, according to Moscow’s ambassador to Belarus, Boris Gryzlov.
He said that a note had been sent from the embassy to Ukraine via diplomatic channels and that the deal would be terminated from July 18.
Germany appeals to Russia to allow grain deal extension: Spokesperson
Germany continues to appeal to Russia to extend the Black Sea grain deal, according to the country’s government spokesperson.
Earlier, Russia said it had halted participation in the UN-brokered grain deal but that this had nothing to do with the blasts, which Moscow called a Ukrainian terrorist attack.
The Kremlin added that its decision on the grain deal had no links to the Crimean Bridge attack.
Asked at a regular news conference in Berlin about blasts on the Crimean Bridge, the spokesperson said that Berlin does not comment on individual developments in the war.
Russian grain market to feel ‘positive effect’ from deal suspension: TASS
Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the Black Sea grain deal will have a “positive effect” on the country’s domestic grain market, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
The report said that according to the Russian Grain Union, the deal had brought “only harm”.
No link between Crimean Bridge attack and grain deal: Kremlin
Kremlin spokesperson Dimitry Peskov tells reporters in Moscow that there was no link between an overnight attack on the Crimean Bridge and Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, which intended to allow Ukraine to export grain safely from its Black Sea ports.
Peskov highlighted that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position on the deal had been known before the attack.
Black Sea deal ‘ceased to be valid today’: Kremlin
Russia has halted its participation in the Black Sea grain deal.
The United Nations and Turkey-brokered pact, which helped alleviate a global food crisis amid several extensions, was due to expire on Monday. Russia had been saying for months that conditions for its extension had not been fulfilled.
“In fact, the Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated,” he added.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as saying that Moscow had notified Ukraine, Turkey and the UN about its decision on the deal.
Russia’s Medvedev says ‘terrorist’ leaders must be destroyed after Crimean attack
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Russia must destroy what he called the top leadership of “terrorist formations” after an attack on the Crimean Bridge.
Russia has blamed the attack on Ukrainian special services.
While Ukraine’s military said Russia was behind the attack, Ukrainian media reported that Ukrainian security services had attacked the bridge with underwater drones.
Ukraine says two killed in Russian attacks
Ukrainian officials in Kharkiv and Kherson have reported civilian deaths due to Russian missile attacks in the regions over the past day.
At least one civilian was killed and at least five were injured in Russian strikes in the Kharkiv region, according to the governor, Oleh Syniehubov.
“Three men, aged 41, 30, and 33, were injured and hospitalised, their condition is moderate. A 56-year-old civilian received help on the spot,” he said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
The governor of Kherson, Oleksandr Prokudin, also said in a statement on Telegram that Russian missile attacks led to the death of one person while nine people, including two children, were wounded.
UK says Russia facing shortage of counter-battery radars
UK’s defence ministry has said that Russia is suffering from a worsening shortage of counter-battery radars, especially its modern ZOOPARK-1M.
“Only a handful of the originally deployed ZOOPARK fleet are likely to remain operational in Ukraine,” the ministry said in a tweet.
“Open-source footage showed another ZOOPARK being destroyed near the 58 CAA’s area in early July 2023,” the ministry added.
Deadline day for Black Sea grain deal
A United Nations and Turkey-brokered pact allowing Ukrainian grain export via the Black Sea is set to expire today if Russia does not agree to extend it.
Russia has agreed three times in the past year to extend the deal, but also briefly suspended its participation at the end of October in response to a drone attack on its fleet in Crimea.
Sergei Mironov, leader of the A Just Russia party, said on Telegram that he does think there should be an extension of the deal after the bridge incident.
He said Russia should respond by targeting Ukrainian infrastructure and “not discuss a grain deal that helps Kyiv’s rulers and their Western masters line their pockets. There can be no grain deal after another terrorist attack”.
Ukraine behind Crimean Bridge incident: Ukrainian public broadcaster
The Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne has reported that the incident on the Crimean Bridge involved the Ukrainian Navy and the security service SBU, quoting sources within law enforcement.
French news agency AFP also reported the same claim but quoted an SBU source.
“Today’s attack on the Crimean Bridge is a special operation of the SBU and the navy,” the source was quoted as saying.
The source also said Ukraine carried out the operation using waterborne drones.
Moscow accuses UK, US of participating in bridge ‘attack’
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack on the bridge with the involvement of the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Today’s attack on the Crimean Bridge was carried out by the Kyiv regime. This regime is terrorist and has all the hallmarks of an international organized crime group,” she said.
“Decisions are made by Ukrainian officials and the military with the direct participation of American and British intelligence agencies and politicians. The US and Britain are in charge of a terrorist state structure.”
Zakharova did not provide evidence for these claims.
Ukraine attacked bridge with unmanned drones, says Russia
Ukraine attacked the Crimean Bridge overnight using unmanned drones on the water’s surface, Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee said on Monday, according to state media.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement that Ukrainian “special services” were responsible for the attack and that it had opened a criminal investigation.
Footage of damage to Crimean Bridge appears on social media
Several videos and photographs have emerged on social media showing the extent of the damage to the bridge.
The Russian independent online newspaper The Insider shared footage of the bridge published by the Crimea 24 TV channel.
Ukraine pushes towards southern cities, Russia advances in Kharkiv region: Ukrainian official
Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian forces are trying to advance towards the cities of Berdyansk and Melitopol in the country’s south.
She said Ukrainian forces had recaptured nearly 11sq km (4.2sq miles) in the past week as they pushed towards the cities, bringing the total territory recaptured there to nearly 180sq km (69.5sq miles).
The total territory recaptured so far during the counteroffensive is now more than 210sq km (81sq miles), according to Mailar.
She added that Russian forces have been advancing since the end of last week towards the city of Kupiansk in the eastern Kharkiv region.
Ukrainian forces advance around Bakhmut, ‘limited gains’ further south: ISW
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has reported that Ukraine has conducted several counteroffensive operations across the front line.
The ISW assessed there were limited gains in the western Donetsk area but reported successful advances around Bakhmut in the Luhansk region. There were no significant advances further north around the Kupyansk-Svatove line the ISW’s report stated.
Tactical advances were made by Russian forces around Kreminna in the Luhansk region. The ISW also reported that Russian forces launched limited ground attacks on the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line with no advances noted.
Ukraine’s ‘terrorist regime’ behind bridge incident: Official
The Russian-installed head of Crimea’s parliament said on Monday that Ukraine was behind an incident on the Crimean Bridge, which killed two people earlier, the state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported.
He was quoted as saying that the bridge had been attacked by what he called Ukraine’s “terrorist regime” and that the railway part of the bridge was not damaged.
Ukraine liberated 7sq km of territory around Bakhmut in last week
In the past week, Ukrainian forces have liberated 7sq km (2.7sq miles) in the direction of the eastern city of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces in May, a senior military official said.
Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app that, in the past week, Ukraine’s troops have made advances every day on the southern flank around Bakhmut, and overall during their counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces, they have liberated an area of 31sq km (12sq km).
Kyiv says bridge incident could be a provocation by Moscow
The incident on the Crimean Bridge could be an act of provocation on Moscow’s side, Natalia Humeniuk, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command, said on Monday.
“The creation of such provocations, which the occupying authorities of Crimea report immediately very loudly, is a typical way of solving problems by authorities of Crimea and the aggressor country,” Humeniuk told the national broadcaster Rada.
Two dead, one child injured in bridge ’emergency’: Russian official
A man and woman were killed, and their daughter injured in a passenger car on the Crimea Bridge early on Monday, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region in southern Russia, said.
“The girl was injured,” Gladkov said in a message on Telegram. “The hardest thing is that her parents died, Dad and Mum.”
Gladkov said the car they were travelling in had number plates from his region, which he said was urgently trying to contact relatives of the injured girl.
The girl is being treated by doctors and is said to have “moderate” injuries.
“I wanted to express the most sincere words of condolences from all of us, although I understand that no words can calm the pain of loss here,” he said.
The health ministry of the Krasnodar region in southern Russia confirmed the deaths of the two parents of the injured child.
Traffic halted due to Crimean Bridge ’emergency’
Moscow-installed officials reported that traffic along the bridge that connects Russia to the Crimean Peninsula had been halted due to the ongoing “emergency”.
The Russian TASS news agency said train traffic on the bridge might be changed because of the “emergency situation” there, while the RIA Novosti state news agency said police officers were warning drivers that the ferry service in the area was not working either.
