The Russia-Ukraine conflict is now on its 424rd day.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
The Group of Seven (G7) economic powers called on Sunday for the “extension, full implementation and expansion” of a critical deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, the group’s agriculture ministers said in a communique.
Brokered by Türkiye and the UN, the deal was signed in Istanbul last July, allowing Ukraine to export more than 27 million tonnes of grain from several of its Black Sea ports.
Russia, which invaded its neighbour in February 2022, has strongly signalled that it will not allow the deal to continue beyond May 18 because a list of demands to facilitate its own grain and fertilizer exports has not been met.
In the communique after a two-day meeting in Miyazaki, Japan, the G7 agriculture ministers “recognised the importance” of the deal, saying: “We strongly support the extension, full implementation and expansion of (the Black Sea Grain Initiative) BSGI.”
“We condemn Russia’s attempts to use food as a means of destabilisation and as tool of geopolitical coercion and reiterate our commitment to acting in solidarity and supporting those most affected by Russia’s weaponisation of food,” the communique added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces new sanctions against hundreds of companies who he said “invest in and support Russian aggression” pic.twitter.com/J6JdyPYtG7
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) April 23, 2023
1133 GMT – Russia says it has gained more ground in battle for Bakhmut
Russia’s defence ministry on Sunday said its forces had captured more territory in Bakhmut as they pursue their bid to seize full control of the city.
The battle for Bakhmut has turned into one of the bloodiest of the 14-month war, with the Eastern Ukrainian city almost completely destroyed by artillery shelling and urban combat.
Russia says capturing Bakhmut will allow it to mount further offensives into eastern Ukraine. If they succeed, Moscow’s forces are likely to face even larger urban battles for the nearby towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Russia’s defence ministry on Sunday said troops secured two more blocks in Bakhmut’s western districts and that airborne units were providing reinforcements to the north and south.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private Wagner military force which is leading the assault on the city, has claimed his troops control 80 percent of Bakhmut.
Kiev has repeatedly denied claims that its forces are poised to withdraw.
1115 GMT – Russia’s Medvedev warns Moscow will scrap grain deal if G7 bans exports
Russian former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, Moscow would respond by terminating the Black Sea Grain deal that enables vital exports of grain from Ukraine.
The Group of Seven (G7) countries are considering a near-total ban on exports to Russia, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported last week, citing Japanese government sources.
1028 GMT – Ukraine slams Chinese envoy’s ‘absurd’ remarks on post-Soviet nations
Ukraine on Sunday condemned what it called “absurd” comments from China’s ambassador to France, who questioned the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries.
Speaking Friday on the LCI news channel, ambassador Lu Shaye suggested countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union “don’t have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations.”
The comments cast doubt not just on Ukraine, which Russia invaded last February, but all former Soviet republics which emerged as independent nations after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, including many members of the European Union.
Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak replied on Sunday that the status of post-Soviet countries was “enshrined in international law”.
“It is strange to hear an absurd version of the ‘history of Crimea’ from a representative of a country that is scrupulous about its thousand-year history,” Podolyak said, referring to China.
0825 GMT – Son of Vladimir Putin’s spokesman says he served with Wagner in Ukraine
The son of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said in an interview published on Saturday that he had served in Ukraine under an assumed name as an artilleryman in the Wagner mercenary force, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported.
Nikolai Peskov, the 33-year-old son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, told the privately-owned newspaper that he had served in Ukraine, a rare, public example of the son of a senior Russian official fighting in the war.
“It was on my initiative,” Peskov, whose father has served as Putin’s spokesman since 2008, said in an interview.
“I considered it my duty.”
He said that he had served out his contract for a little under half a year under an assumed name to hide his true identity.
He received a medal for bravery, the newspaper said.
Russia’s 2022 war with Ukraine has triggered one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
As many as 354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured in the Ukraine war which is grinding towards a protracted conflict that may last well beyond 2023, according to a trove of US intelligence documents posted online.
2300 GMT – Ukraine announces round of fresh sanctions against Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announceed new sanctions against hundreds of companies who he said “invest in and support Russian aggression”.
“This is another package of sanctions against the Russian defense industry enterprises that maintain the terrorist army. This time, 322 companies were added to the sanctions lists – manufacturers of weapons, components, etc,” Zelenskyy said in his address.
“It is important that global restrictive measures against the Russian nuclear industry have begun. This industry not only generates funds for the aggressor’s budget, but also helps to make other states dependent on the territory of which allegedly ‘energy’ nuclear projects are being implemented. For the Kremlin, any energy is a weapon. Nuclear energy is also a weapon for them. And this is exactly what is happening at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which Russia is using as a weapon to blackmail the world.
2008 GMT – Kharkiv, surrounding districts hit by five missiles: officials
At least five Russian missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and surrounding districts late on Saturday night, causing some damage to civilian buildings, local officials said.
Regional governor Oleh Sinegubov, writing on Telegram, said one missile hit a house in the village of Kotliary, just to the south of Kharkiv, while another sparked a major fire in the city itself.
Russia has for months been launching drones and missiles against a wide variety of Ukrainian targets in a bid to damage vital infrastructure.
For our live updates from Saturday (April 22), click here.
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
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