Russian attacks on Ukraine grain network a move to cut competition- German minister

Reuters

Russian attacks on Ukraine grain network a move to cut competition- German minister

May 2, 2022

FILE PHOTO: A dockyard worker watches as barley grain is poured into a ship in Nikolaev

HAMBURG (Reuters) – Russian attacks on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure look like attempts to reduce the competition in Russia’s export markets, German Agriculture Minister Cem Oezdemir was reported as saying on Monday.

Ukraine could lose tens of millions of tonnes of grain due to Russia’s blockade of its Black Sea ports, triggering a food crisis that will hit Europe, Asia and Africa, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday.

“We are repeatedly receiving reports about targeted Russian attacks on grain silos, fertilizer stores, farming areas and infrastructure,” Oezdemir was quoted as telling the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, a cooperation network of German regional newspapers.

Russia denies targeting civilian areas.

The suspicion is growing that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking “in the long term to remove Ukraine as a competitor”, Oezdemir was quoted as saying.

Russia and Ukraine are traditionally major competitors in global grains markets. Global wheat prices have risen about 40% since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine cut supplies available on world markets from the Black Sea.

According to International Grains Council data, Ukraine was the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter in the 2020/21 season, selling 44.7 million tonnes abroad. The volume of exports has fallen sharply since the Russian invasion.

“With the increasing hunger in the world, Russia is seeking to build up pressure,” Oezdemir told the network. “At the same time, the massive increase in market prices is coming in handy for Russia because this brings new money into the country.”

Oezdemir said he would raise the question of how Ukraine could be helped to boost its grain exports at a meeting of G7 agriculture ministers in mid-May.

“We must seek alternative transport methods,” he said. “Railway transport could be a method of exporting more grain, although with much effort and with limited capacity.”

Germany would seek to give assistance, he added.

Ukraine has been gradually expanding grain exports using land transport to the European Union. But the different rail track widths in Ukraine and the EU mean Ukrainian trains cannot automatically operate on the European rail network.

Moscow calls its actions a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and rid it of anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression that threatens to spiral into a much wider conflict.

(Reporting by Michael Hogan, editing by Nick Macfie)

Ukraine morning briefing: Five developments as Russia loses 65 per cent of ground combat strength

The Telegraph

Ukraine morning briefing: Five developments as Russia loses 65 per cent of ground combat strength

Our Foreign Staff – May 1, 2022

Civilians who left the area near Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol - REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
Civilians who left the area near Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol – REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

Good morning. More than a quarter of the 120 battalion units Russia committed to Ukraine have now been rendered “combat ineffective”, said the Ministry of Defence.

The losses represent approximately 65 per cent of Russia’s entire ground combat strength and include elite units.

“Some of Russia’s most elite units, including the VDV Airborne Forces, have suffered the highest levels of attrition. It will probably take years for Russia to reconstitute these forces.”

Meanwhile, the first evacuees evacuated from the ruined Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol were due to arrive in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday morning, said President Volodymyr Zelensky, after the UN confirmed a “safe passage operation” was in progress.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said hundreds of civilians remain trapped in the steelworks in a situation that has “become a sign of a real humanitarian catastrophe”, as food, water and medicine becomes scarce.

Here’s what happened overnight.

1. Pelosi and other US lawmakers visit Kyiv with “Weapons, weapons and weapons.” in mind

Nancy Pelosi visited Kyiv on Saturday as the most senior American lawmaker to travel to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion.

Accompanying her was Rep. Jason Crow, a US Army veteran and a member of the House intelligence and armed services committees, who said he was there with three things in mind: “Weapons, weapons and weapons.”

Ms Pelosi visit came just days after Russia launched rockets at the capital during a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

RZESZOW, POLAND - MAY 01: Nancy Pelosi holds a press conference next to US members of congress after a visit to Kyiv in Rzeszow, Poland on May 01, 2022. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) - Anadolu Agency
RZESZOW, POLAND – MAY 01: Nancy Pelosi holds a press conference next to US members of congress after a visit to Kyiv in Rzeszow, Poland on May 01, 2022. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) – Anadolu Agency
2. Russian forces fire on Azovstal steel plant, CNN reports

Russian forces fired on the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol again on Sunday night, breaking a ceasefire that has allowed around 100 people to be evacuated.

Speaking on local television, a Ukrainian soldier said the Russians were using “all kinds of weapons” to attack the steel plant, CNN reported.

The alleged attack followed the much-anticipated rescue of civilians from the besieged steelworks, where the last pocket of resistance remains in the city.

About 100 civilians were evacuated to safety on Sunday with further evacuations planned for Monday.

It is unclear whether the renewed attacks will hinder these plans, said CNN.

3. Russia strikes US weapons at airfield near Odesa, defence ministry says

Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday it had struck at weapons supplied to Ukraine by the United States and European countries and destroyed a runway at a military airfield near the Ukrainian city of Odesa.

The ministry said it used high-precision Onyx missiles to strike the airfield, after Ukraine accused Russia of knocking out a newly-constructed runway at the main airport of Odesa.

Odesa regional governor Maksym Marchenko said Russia had used a Bastion missile, launched from Crimea.

The reports could not be independently verified.

4. Jill Biden to meet with Ukrainian refugees during visit to Romania and Slovakia

First lady Jill Biden will visit Romania and Slovakia from May 5-9 to meet with US service members and embassy personnel, displaced Ukrainian parents and children, humanitarian aid workers, and teachers, her office said on Monday

On Sunday, celebrated as Mother’s Day in the United States, Biden will meet with Ukrainian mothers and children who have been forced to flee their homes because of Russia’s war against Ukraine, her office said.

The wife of President Joe Biden will meet with U.S. military service members at Mihail Kogalniceau Airbase in Romania on May 6, before heading to Bucharest to meet with Romanian government officials, U.S. embassy staff, humanitarian aid workers, and teachers working with displaced Ukrainian children.

The trip also includes stops in the Slovakian cities of Bratislava, Kosice and Vysne Nemecke, where Biden will meet with government officials, refugees and aid workers, her office said.

First lady Jill Biden attends the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Saturday, April 30, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) - Patrick Semansky /AP
First lady Jill Biden attends the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Saturday, April 30, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) – Patrick Semansky /AP
5. Russia swerves to avoid default

Russia may have averted default as it announced it had made several overdue payments in dollars on its overseas bonds, shifting the market’s focus to upcoming payments and whether it would stave off a historic default.

Russia’s $40 billion in international bonds and the chance of a default have become the focus of global financial markets since it was hit with sanctions from the United States and its allies after its invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Dubbed a “special military operation” by Russia, the invasion has turned Russia into a pariah, including in financial markets, and has entangled its ability to pay its debts.

The chance of default dramatically increased in early April when the United States stopped the Russian government from using frozen reserves to pay some $650 million to its bondholders.

Russian rouble banknotes - REUTERS/Kacper Pempel//File Photo
Russian rouble banknotes – REUTERS/Kacper Pempel//File Photo

A Russian general who commanded electronic warfare units was killed in a strike that killed 100 soldiers, top Ukraine official says

Business Insider

A Russian general who commanded electronic warfare units was killed in a strike that killed 100 soldiers, top Ukraine official says

Alia Shoaib – May 1, 2022

Ukrainian soldiers stand on an armoured personnel carrier (APC), not far from the front-line with Russian troops, in Izyum district, Kharkiv region on April 18, 2022.
Ukrainian soldiers stand on an armoured personnel carrier (APC), not far from the front-line with Russian troops, in Izyum district, Kharkiv region on April 18, 2022.Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images
  • Another Russian general has been killed in Ukraine, authorities claim.
  • Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov was reportedly killed in an attack on a Russian command post near the city of Izyum.
  • The general, who commanded electric warfare units, was among 100 Russian servicemen killed.

Russia has lost another general in Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to top Ukrainian officials, The Kyiv Post has reported

Maj. Gen. Andrei Simonov was killed near the city of Izyum in the Kharkiv region, which is currently occupied by Russian forces, Ukrainian authorities said.

The Ukrainian military attacked a field command post of the Russian 2nd Army on Saturday, striking more than 30 Russian armored vehicles, including tanks, according to the paper.

Footage posted on social media appears to show the command post being bombarded by rockets, said the Kyiv Post.

The general was among 100 Russian soldiers killed in the attack, President Zellenskyy’s military adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said, according to The Kyiv Post. Arestovych said well-placed army sources had confirmed the death of Maj. Gen. Simonov in a YouTube interview, per the Mail Online.

The claims by the Ukrainian authorities have not been independently verified.

Russia has not as of yet confirmed the death of Maj. Gen. Simonov.

Simonov was a senior commander of electronic warfare, Ukrainian government advisor Anton Gerashchenko said on his Telegram account.

His death would make him the tenth Russian general to die in Ukraine, according to a count by The Kyiv Post.

Russia has suffered heavy losses since it began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, losing many of its top generals and commanders.

NATO estimates that Russia has lost up to 15,000 troops during the war, while Ukraine claims to have killed nearly 20,000.

Russia has put its official death toll in Ukraine at 1,351, which was last updated on March 25.