The Kremlin has suggested it may be ready for “global talks” to “unblock” Ukraine’s captured ports; English language media outlets in Russia are to face new measures; Vladimir Putin is “making it easier” for Ukrainians in newly Russian-held territory to apply for citizenship.
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Key points
- Putin signs decree making it simpler for those in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to become Russians
- Moscow ‘preparing measures against English-language media’
- Russia ‘targeting Severodonetsk supply road’
- ‘Full might’ of Russian army attacking Donbas
- Port of Mariupol ‘open and operational’ says Russia
- Satellite images show Russian ships ‘stealing Ukrainian grain’
- Updates from Sky News correspondents Alex Crawford in Donbas and Dominic Waghorn in Odesa. Live reporting by Philip Whiteside
A Russian-backed official in the port of Mariupol has said that the first ship to leave since pro-Russian forces completed their capture of the city would leave in the next few days, TASS has said.
Ukraine news live: Kremlin hints at ‘global talks’ to unblock ports; English media in Russia to face ‘measures’; Putin loosens citizenship rules
The news agency reported that the official said the ship would take around 3,000 tonnes of metals to Rostov-on-Don in Russia.
The latest maps of the Ukraine war show that Severodonetsk is right on the line of control between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
“The situation is serious,” he said. “The city is constantly being shelled with every possible weapon in the enemy’s possession.”
Ukraine does not have sufficient space to store grain, when it is ready to harvest, a Ukrainian MP has told the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Yevheniia Kravchuk said time was running out to export the 22 million tonnes of grain that is currently in storage in Ukraine before then next harvest is ready to store.
“We have about maybe a month and a half before we start to collect the new harvest,” she said on the sidelines of grindr duur the event in the Swiss resort.
There have been growing warnings of a global food crisis because Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that Moscow must discuss the export of the wheat trapped in Ukraine as a result of the Russian blockade.
On Wednesday, Interfax cited Russia’s deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko as saying Moscow was ready to provide a humanitarian corridor for vessels carrying food to leave Ukraine, in return for lifting some sanctions.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said Russia was trying to “blackmail” with an offer to unblock Black Sea ports in return for the easing of sanctions.
Ukraine says it is expecting this year’s harvest to be about 70% of last year’s crop, as some of the fields are now under Russian control or have been mined.
“For us, July is like, ‘what?'” Anastasia Radina, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, said at the World Economic Forum.
“Let me put it like this: Let’s ask a mother who is forced to sit in a basement with her newborn child who has no baby formula. . “
Germany agreed to send dozens of anti-aircraft Gepard tanks to help defend Ukraine from Russia’s invasion four weeks ago, part of what it called a turning-point after decades of military restraint.
This is despite Germany having one of the biggest defence industries in the world, with more than €9bn worth of weapons exports in 2021, according to government data.
Gepards fire a burst of 35mm bullets that form a cloud in the air to stop an incoming aircraft. Germany no longer uses them, so consequently ammunition needs to be manufactured specially.
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