Ukraine updates: Grain shipments to start 'this week'
July 26, 2022
Ukrainian officials said on Monday that Kyiv expects to export grain shipments "this week," after signing a UN-backed deal to life Russia's blockade.
A Russian strike on the main Ukrainian port of Odesa — just hours after the deal was signed in Istanbul — had cast doubt on whether Moscow would commit to the agreement. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the attack hit a "military target" and "should not" affect the shipments.
Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, who led his country's delegation in the Istanbul talks, said Kyiv expected to see the agreement begin "working in the coming days."
"We are preparing for everything to start this week," said Kubrakov.
Ukraine's deputy infrastructure minister Yuriy Vaskov said he believes that "over the next 24 hours we will be ready to work to resume exports from our ports."
A UN official also said the first grain shipments could leave Ukraine "within a few days."
"All parties have reconfirmed their commitment," said deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq. "We expect that the first ship may move within a few days," he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara expects Kyiv and Moscow to keep to their responsibilities under a deal they signed regarding the export of Ukrainian grains, according to Turkish media.
"We expect them to own up to the deals they signed and to act according to the responsibilities they undertook," Erdogan said in an interview with state broadcaster TRT Haber.
Both Russia and Ukraine are major global wheat suppliers. With the war raging, the World Food Program says the conflict has pushed triggered a global food crisis that pushed some 47 million people into "acute hunger."
Ukraine's pre-war levels of grain shipments were around 5 million tons a month. Although the deal signed in Turkey is seen as a major step toward restoring those levels, officials expect that to take months.
"Export is critically important for us. This is billions, tens of billions of dollars badly needed right now in Ukraine... So if we are able to bring Odessa back to full capacity, we will be able to export the stockpile of grain maybe in the next four months," Tymofiy Mylovanov, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's administration, told DW.
Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on July 25.
Guatemalan President visits Kyiv to express solidarity
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei visited Kyiv on Monday to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
It’s the first time a Latin American leader has made the trip to show solidarity, with many others in the region avoiding taking a side over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
"Let it be clear that since the beginning of this conflict, Guatemala has raised its voice," Giammattei said.
"We will always be consistent with our words. Guatemala does not and will not remain silent."
The Guatemalan President also warned of the looming global food crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Central America imports all of its grain from the conflict zone.
In a joint statement, the two leaders added: "An irrefutable proof of the consequences of this war are the global economic effects that have generated inflation, increased the cost of living and produced more poverty."
However, critics have accused Giamettei of using his trip to Ukraine to deflect from pressing issues back home.
"The entire world knows the way in which President Alejandro Giammattei has been eroding democracy and promoting impunity in his country," said Carolina Jimenez, president of NGO the Washington Office on Latin America. "One trip to Ukraine is not going to change that reality."
Germany delivers 3 Gepard tanks to Ukraine
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said Monday that Ukraine had received three of the 15 Gepard tanks Germany had promised to deliver in support of Kyiv's effort to repel Russia's invasion. Ten thousand rounds of ammunition were also provided.
In remarks carried on Ukrainian state television, Reznikov also said US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) destroyed 50 Russian ammunition depots.
The arrival of the three Gepards marks Germany's second delivery of heavy weapons since the war began five months ago. In June, Germany delivered seven howitzers with a range of up to 40 kilometers.
Ukraine also hopes to secure modern air defense systems from Germany, specifically the Iris-T. Those systems are not scheduled for delivery until the fall.
DW political correspondent Simon Young said that the deliveries took a lot of time, as the Gepards were mothballed by the German military, and needed to be brought back into battle-ready condition. Ukrainian personnel also needed to be trained on how to operate the tanks.
Young added that "a lot of people are still wondering if the German government has really shaken off its initial reluctance to deliver heavy weapons," but that German Chancellor Scholz has said the process of weapons procurement needs to be sped up.
German ministers on visit to Ukraine discuss war crimes trials
Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Labor and Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil were in Ukraine on Monday they visited the destroyed city of Irpin before meeting with Ukrainian officials to discuss increased cooperation on war crimes prosecutions.
Irpin — located some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) northwest of the capital Kyiv — along with the city of Bucha, made headlines after Russian troops withdrew revealing evidence of a litany of alleged war crimes, including executions of civilians.
The two ministers toured the destroyed buildings in Irpin, where nearly 50,000 people lived prior to the war. The suburb is now almost completely destroyed.
In Hostomel, where Russians staged a failed effort to overtake an airfield in the opening days of the invasion, Faesser said that cooperation between Ukraine and Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office would be expanded.
The trip is Faeser and Heil's first to Ukraine since the war began. The two are to meet with Ukrainian lawmakers, including their counterparts and Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko, among others.
Discussions are expected to focus on rebuilding Ukrainian infrastructure, in particular for emergency services. Faeser will also discuss issues of cyber security, weapons smuggling, mine clearance and forensic investigations into Russian war crimes with Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy.
While discussions were not focused on weapons deliveries, Faeser noted, "But of course we want to, and we have done so far, to help with weapons as well."
Heil is set to discuss the status and perspectives, including the possibility of returning home, of the almost 900,000 Ukrainian refugees in Germany.
Russia to bring crimes against humanity charges against 200 Ukrainians
Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia's Investigative Committee, said Russia plans to bring cases for crimes against humanity against 200 captured Ukrainians at a court it is developing at present.
In an interview Monday with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Bastrykin said the court would fall under the jurisdiction of one of its partner agencies.
In addition to Russia, Bolivia, Iran and Syria have expressed interest in joining the tribunal project.
Bastrykin added that there are additional investigations against foreign fighters from Canada, Georgia and the Netherlands.
In Donetsk, Russian-backed forces have already convicted two British citizens and a Moroccan national and sentenced them to death. Their appeals are ongoing.
The court would be something of a rogue state rival to the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in the Hague. There, over 1,300 criminal cases have been initiated against approximately 400 Russian nationals for war crimes committed against Ukrainian civilians.
Wheat prices rise after Russian missile strike on Odesa port threatens deal
The price of wheat increased sharply on Monday following a Russian missile strike over the weekend on the Ukrainian port of Odesa. The strike has jeopardized an agreement on grain exports that Russia and Ukraine signed late last week.
That agreement — signed by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN — was to reopen three Black Sea ports in Ukraine for grain exports. The deal's validity is 120 days and hopes to see 5 million tons of grain exported every month.
Ukrainian ports have been closed to grain export since Russia began its invasion on February 24. A fraction of what Ukraine typically ships has made it out of the country by rail or road through neighboring countries like Poland and Romania, leaving piles stocked in storage facilities in Ukraine.
The halt in grain exports have contributed to global inflation and has brought populations in developing countries to the brink of starvation. The UN has voiced concerns that the food crisis could prompt mass migration on an enormous scale. Yet Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that the missile strike on Odesa's port would not negatively affect the price of grain.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, wheat futures rose to $7.86 (€7.69) a bushel on Monday, up nearly 4%. After the deal was announced Friday, wheat futures dropped 6%.
Grain shipment pileup has Ukraine’s cash-strapped farmers worried
Ukraine’s farmers need ports to start shipping their harvests in significant volumes or else they face the prospect of not being able to afford to plant next year’s crop due to non-payment.
DW's Nick Connolly has been tracking developments in southern Ukraine where wheat farmers are harvesting this year's crop.
Yields are down 40% when compared to last year but as Connolly points out, that is still millions of tons which countries around the world are waiting for.
Ukrainian farmer Mykhailo Lazarenko explained the dire circumstances currently facing the country's producers. "This is all grown for people abroad. Ukraine can’t and doesn’t consume all this food, but no one's buying right now. The traders might be willing to take it off our hands for storage, but we only get paid once it goes to the customers," Lazarenko said.
Wheat is now piling up in storage facilities, and includes last year's crop which should have been shipped at the beginning of the year, but has been stuck at ports due to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Kyiv is trying to get shipments moving by truck and barges, but reduced shipping capacity is causing a severe bottleneck which is taking weeks to clear.
Local trucker Vasyl told DW that the amount being shipped by truck is barely making a difference.
"Last time we were here for three weeks. When a barge does turn up, that’s only 20 trucks worth of grain, and there are thousands of us here," Vasyl said.
It’s a similar situation in the Black Sea where more than 100 ships wait for their turn to enter the river Danube.
Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said ports should reopen "this week" to export Ukrainian wheat and grain. Kubrakov led Ukraine's delegation to UN-brokered talks to open the country's Black Sea ports for the first time since Russia's invasion left ports shuttered, blocking grain and wheat export to world markets.
"We expect the agreement to start working in the coming days," he said.
'Inconclusive fighting' in Donbas and Kherson, UK intelligence reports
The UK's Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update on Monday that Russia was facing the dilemma of whether to support its offensive in the east of Ukraine or bolster its defenses in areas that it has occupied in the west.
"Inconclusive fighting continues in both the Donbas and Kherson sectors," the ministry said on Twitter. Ukrainian forces have launched their own counter-offensive against the occupied city of Kherson.
The ministry also said that "Russia likely continues to struggle to extract and repair the thousands of combat vehicles which have been damaged in action in Ukraine."
It added that it had identified a facility near the Ukrainian border where some 300 vehicles were already present for repairs.
UK to host Eurovision in lieu of winners Ukraine
The UK will host Eurovision in 2023 instead of Ukraine, which won the 2022 iteration of the popular song contest with Kalush Orchestra's "Stefania" and with it the right to host the following year.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said safety conditions were not met due to Russia's invasion in Ukraine for the country to be eligible to host.
After coming at the bottom of the rankings with null points in 2021, the UK delivered a surprise hit and rose to second place in the 2022 contest. It is not known which city would host though Glasgow and Manchester have expressed a desire to do so.
Martin Österdahl, the Eurovision Song Contest's executive supervisor, said in a statement issued by the EBU, "We're exceptionally grateful that the BBC has accepted to stage the
Eurovision Song Contest in the UK in 2023."
Ukraine last hosted the contest in 2017 in Kyiv after Jamala won the 2016 contest in Stockholm with a song about Stalin era deportations entitled "1944."
More on the war against Ukraine
In his nightly video address on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "even the occupiers admit we will win." He also said that Ukraine will continue to inflict as much damage as possible on Russian forces.
DW covered the events in the daily digest.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a visit to Egypt. Russia wants to break out of its diplomatic isolation since it invaded Ukraine.
Click here for more on Lavrov's visit to Cairo.
fb, ar, ab/wmr, rs (AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters)