TE24 International Desk:
Ukraine said on Wednesday it had resumed operations at closed Black Sea ports as it resumed grain exports with the opening of a coordination center to oversee UN-backed transactions.
The groundbreaking deal was implemented when Kiev artillery attacked a key bridge in Moscow-held territory in southern Ukraine, damaging key supply routes as Ukrainian troops try to retake the Kherson region. progressed to
And German officials said Russia had cut off its gas supplies to Europe in retaliation for Western sanctions over the invasion, but Ukraine announced plans to increase electricity imports to Europe. Ukraine and Russia, with help from Turkey and the United Nations, agreed last week to allow exports of grain left over from the Moscow blockade from three ports.
KIU expects to begin shipping its first million tonnes of grain this week despite Russia’s missile attack on the port of Odessa over the weekend.
The Ukrainian Navy said “work has resumed at the export facility” in preparation for escorting ships through mine-infested waters to reach world markets.
As part of the agreement, a coordination center with Ukrainian and Russian representatives was established in Istanbul to monitor the safe passage of transport along the established route and oversee inspections of prohibited weapons.
Blocking shipments to two of the world’s biggest grain exporters has pushed up prices, putting food imports out of control for some of the world’s poorest countries.
-‘Leave Kherson’-
Despite efforts to get rid of the grain, the fighting in Ukraine intensified, and the Kiu hit the key Antonifsky Bridge over the Dnieper River, threatening Russian troops with supply lines and counterattacks.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Twitter that the attack on the bridge over the Dnipur River presented Russia with an “impossible dilemma: withdrawal or destruction of Ukrainian troops”.
Russia’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Kherson’s local administration, Kirill Stremov, confirmed that the bridge was hit overnight and was closed to traffic.
However, he tried to downplay the loss, claiming that the attack “never affected” the outcome of the hostilities.
Ukrainian troops have retaken areas of the Kherson region that fell easily and quickly to Russian troops in recent weeks after the offensive began on February 24.
Their counterattack, supported by long-range Western artillery, saw the troops approach the city of Kherson, which had a pre-war population of less than 300,000.
Russian troops “should leave Kherson whenever possible.
There should be no third warning.” “While it is still possible, we should leave Kherson. There may not be a third warning,” said the Russian soldier. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mihairo Podryk said after the attack.
Meanwhile, pro-Russian separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine have called on Moscow to seize major cities across the country.
“Today the time has come to liberate the Russian cities of Kiev, Chernihiv, Poltava, Odessa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Rutsk, which were founded by the Russians,” Denis Sailin said in a telegram.
Russia tried to capture the capital Kyiv early in the invasion, but later withdrew and focused its efforts on Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region.
In the disaster-hit Donetsk region (part of Donbass), AFP journalists saw a house hit by a fierce artillery barrage around the devastated frontline town of Bakumut.
When the grenade hit, the worker was in the yard and was rescued by a rescuer who used an ax to drill through a steel fence.
I heard a whistle, and I can’t remember anything. It exploded and I was thrown into the barn by the blast,” he said.
Russian artillery hit a hotel in Baku, killing two and wounding five, Ukrainian paramedics said.
“Gas Power”-
German energy regulators say a war-induced energy crisis in Europe on Wednesday increased Russian gas flows through the major Nord Stream pipeline from 40% to 20%. Said to have decreased.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed EU sanctions on limited supplies, but Berlin rejected the explanation and government spokesman Christian Hoffmann called the reduction a “power play” by Moscow.
The European Union is gearing up for energy cuts and on Tuesday agreed a plan to cut gas consumption by 15 percent this winter to break dependence on Russia.
Responding to Europe’s energy concerns, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced plans to increase Ukrainian electricity supplies to European consumers.
“Our exports not only allow us to generate foreign exchange revenue, but also help our partners withstand energy pressure from Russia,” Zelenskyy said in his daily address to the nation on Wednesday evening.
