Category Archives: Russia

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia halted participation on Monday in the year-old U.N.-brokered deal that lets Ukraine export grain through the Black Sea, spreading fear in poorer countries that price rises will put food out of reach.

Hours earlier, a blast knocked out Russia's bridge to Crimea in what Moscow called a strike by Ukrainian sea drones. Russia said two civilians were killed and their daughter wounded in what Moscow cast as a terrorist attack on the road bridge, a major artery for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said there was no link between the attack and its decision to suspend the grain deal, over what it called a failure to meet its demands to implement a parallel agreement easing rules for its own food and fertilizer exports.

"Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signalled that Russia's withdrawal meant that the related pact to facilitate Russia's grain and fertilizer exports was also terminated.

"Today's decision by the Russian Federation will strike a blow to people in need everywhere," he told reporters.

Moscow said it would consider rejoining the grain deal if it saw "concrete results" on its demands but that its guarantees for the safety of navigation would meanwhile be revoked.

In Washington, the White House said Russia's suspension of the pact "will worsen food security and harm millions".

GLOBAL FOOD PRICES

Ukraine and Russia are some of the world's biggest exporters of grain and other foodstuffs and any interruption could drive up food prices across the globe, especially in the poorest countries.

Shashwat Saraf, the emergency director in East Africa for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), said the impacts would be far-reaching in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, which have been facing the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades.

Story continues

"I don't know how we will survive," said Halima Hussein, a mother of five children living in a crowded camp in Somalia's capital Mogadishu for people displaced by years of failed rains and violence.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy raised the prospect of resuming grain exports without Russia's participation, suggesting Kyiv would seek Turkey's support to effectively negate the Russian de facto blockade imposed last year.

"We are not afraid," spokesperson Serhiy Nykyforov quoted Zelenskiy as saying. "We were approached by companies, shipowners. They said that they are ready, if Ukraine lets them go, and Turkey continues to let them through, then everyone is ready to continue supplying grain."

BRIDGE BLAST

The blast on the road bridge to Crimea could have a direct impact on Moscow's ability to supply its troops in southern Ukraine, and reveals the vulnerability of Russia's own Black Sea infrastructure to devices such as seaborne drones: small, fast remote-controlled boats packed with explosives.

Images showed a section of the road bridge had come down and traffic was halted in both directions, although a parallel railway bridge was still operational. Blasts were reported before dawn on the 19-km (12-mile) bridge, which Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered built after seizing and annexing the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

Putin told officials repair work should start quickly and that Russia would respond to the "senseless" attack.

Kyiv gave no official account of the blasts but Ukrainian media quoted unidentified officials as saying Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) was behind it. SBU spokesperson Artem Dekhtyarenko euphemistically alluded to the idea that the agency would reveal the details of the blast after Ukraine won the war, without directly claiming responsibility.

Ukraine says the bridge is illegal and its use by Russia for military supplies makes it a legitimate target. It was hit by a massive explosion and fire in October.

The grain deal was hailed as preventing a global food emergency when it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year.

Global commodity food prices rose on Monday, though the increase was limited, suggesting traders did not yet anticipate a severe supply crisis.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the grain deal's sponsor, said earlier on Monday he still believed Putin wanted it to continue.

Western countries say Russia is trying to use its leverage over the grain deal to weaken financial sanctions, which do not apply to Russia's agricultural exports.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described Russia's suspension of the agreement as a "cynical move" and said the EU would continue to try to secure food for poor countries.

U.S. aid chief Samantha Power announced more than $500 million in humanitarian assistance during a visit to Ukraine, where the United Nations says some 17 million people need help following Russia's invasion.

Russian shelling killed two people and wounded 10 in the town of Bilopillia in Ukraine's northern Sumy region near the border with Russia on Monday, police said.

WITHOUT RUSSIA?

Russia has extended the Black Sea deal three times in the past year, despite repeated threats to quit. It suspended participation after an attack on its fleet by seaborne Ukrainian drones in October, leading to a few days when Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations kept exports going without Moscow.

Denys Marchuk, deputy head of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council, the main agribusiness organisation in Ukraine, said seaborne exports might proceed again without Russian agreement.

"If there will be safety guarantees from our partners, then why not conduct the grain initiative without Russia's participation?" he told Reuters.

Any such resumption of shipments without Russia's blessing would probably depend on insurers. Industry sources told Reuters they were studying whether to freeze their coverage.

"The (key) question is whether Russia mines the area which would effectively cease any form of cover being offered," one insurance industry source said.

The latest blast on Russia's bridge to Crimea follows months of Ukrainian strikes on Russian supply lines as Kyiv pursues a counteroffensive to drive Russian forces out of its territory.

(Reporting by Max Hunder in Kyiv, Michelle Nichols in New York, Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu, Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Reuters bureaux; Writing by Peter Graff and Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Read more:

Moscow halts grain deal in what UN calls a global blow to people in need - Yahoo News

This photo released by Ostorozhno Novosti on Monday, July 17, 2023, reportedly shows damaged parts of an automobile link of the Crimean Bridge connecting Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait not far from Kerch, Crimea. AP hide caption

This photo released by Ostorozhno Novosti on Monday, July 17, 2023, reportedly shows damaged parts of an automobile link of the Crimean Bridge connecting Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait not far from Kerch, Crimea.

MOSCOW At least two people reportedly died and another was injured early on Monday after what Russian authorities said was a Ukrainian attack on a key bridge linking the Russian mainland to the annexed peninsula of Crimea.

Russian media reported two explosions hit what is called the Kerch Bridge that connects southern Russia to annexed Crimea. Russian officials called the incident a "terrorist attack" that was staged by Ukrainian special forces involving two sea drones. There was no claim of responsibility from the Ukrainian side, but a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military's Southern Command said the explosions could be a staged provocation by Russia to undermine a grain export deal that expires Monday.

Witness video online did appear to show a section of road partially collapsed, although a parallel railway track appears undamaged. Local authorities have also identified the victims; they say a teenage girl was left orphaned after her parents' car was apparently hit from the impact of whatever caused the damage.

Russia has made it clear where they think the responsibility lies: Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of carrying out a terrorist attack with help, she said, from U.S. and British intelligence.

It was the second significant strike on the bridge since last October, when a truck bomb damaged two sections of the bridge. The bridge is a key supply line for Russian forces operating in southern Ukraine. It's also an important symbol of Moscow's control of Crimea, the territory Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally drove the first vehicle over the bridge when it opened in 2018 to much fanfare.

For all those reasons Ukraine has said the bridge is a legitimate military target.

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's security services, has repeatedly called the bridge redundant. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar recently listed a previous attack on the bridge last fall on Ukraine's list of military successes.

NPR's Joanna Kakissis contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Read this article:

Explosions disrupt traffic on a key bridge from Crimea to Russia's mainland - NPR

A Ukrainian Mi-24 attack helicopter flies during military drills in Dnipropetrovsk region, on June 7, 2023.Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters

A Ukrainian air force crew told The Sunday Times that women flash them when they fly overhead.

One woman even proposed marriage by holding up a sign as they flew over a town, a pilot said.

The Ukrainian air force is trying to keep morale high as it faces a strong Russian counterpart.

A Ukrainian helicopter crew told The Sunday Times that women in the country flash them as they fly overhead to boost their morale in fighting Russia.

In a recent feature, the show of support was described by a Ukrainian pilot, identified only by his rank of major and his first name Maksym.

He said his crew saves the GPS locations of places where it happens, lighthearted moment in their dangerous and often demoralizing missions against a far superior Russian air force.

One woman even proposed marriage to them by holding up a sign, he said.

Maksym and his fellow airmen have been flying a Soviet-designed Mil Mi-8 helicopter on daily missions to Bakhmut, an eastern city in Ukraine, which has become a flashpoint in the war.

On their way to their missions they try to keep conversation light and positive, Maksym said, and like to interact with civilians on the ground. They recently threw a bottle of cognac wrapped in a towel to an elderly man they spotted in the war-torn landscape, he said.

These kind of interactions as more viable because the helicopters fly very low to avoid Russian air-defense, often just 15 feet above ground, the Times report said.

The Ukrainian air force is struggling against a far better-armed Russia, Maksym said. The disparity is especially strong between the air forces, which Maksym characterized by saying: "The Russians understand we can do nothing to them in the air."

Ukraine has limited ammunition and no aircraft that counters Russia's newest models in the sky, he said. Half of his unit has already been killed, he added.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told The Wall Street Journal last month that Russian air superiority would exact a heavy toll on Ukrainian soldiers if Western powers did not provide them with reinforcements.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The rest is here:

Ukrainian helicopter crew say women flash them as they fly overhead to boost their morale fighting Russia - Yahoo News

What is included in my trial?

During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages.

Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here.

Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the Settings & Account section.

If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for $69 per month.

For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the Settings & Account section. If youd like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.

You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many users needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.

Any changes made can be done at any time and will become effective at the end of the trial period, allowing you to retain full access for 4 weeks, even if you downgrade or cancel.

You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side.

You can still enjoy your subscription until the end of your current billing period.

We support credit card, debit card and PayPal payments.

More here:

Russia halts traffic over Crimea bridge after Ukrainian attack - Financial Times

An attack before dawn Monday damaged a bridge linking Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea that is a key supply route for Kremlin forces in the war with Ukraine, forcing the spans temporary closure for a second time in less than a year. Two people were killed and their daughter was injured.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered increased security at the 19-kilometer (12-mile) Kerch Bridge, repeating a call he made in October 2022 when the span was severely damaged by an explosion that Moscow also blamed on Kyiv.

He also promised there will be a response from Russia, of course.

What happened is another terrorist act of the Kyiv regime, Putin said at a televised meeting with officials. It is a crime that is pointless from the military point of view, it bears no significance because the Crimean bridge hasnt been used for military means in a long time, and it is brutal, because blameless civilians were injured and killed."

Vehicle traffic on the bridge came to a standstill on Monday, while rail traffic also was halted for about six hours.

Satellite images taken Monday morning by Maxar Technologies showed serious damage to both eastbound and westbound lanes of the bridge across the Kerch Strait on the part nearest to the Russian mainland, with at least one section collapsed. The railroad bridge that runs parallel to the highway appeared undamaged.

The strike was carried out by two Ukrainian maritime drones, Russias National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.

Ukrainian officials were coy about taking responsibility, as they have been in past strikes. But in what appeared to be a tacit acknowledgment, Ukrainian Security Service spokesman Artem Degtyarenko said in a statement that his agency would reveal details of how the bang was organized after Kyiv has won the war.

The October attack on the bridge came when a truck bomb blew up two of its sections and required months of repair. Moscow decried that assault as an act of terrorism and retaliated by bombarding Ukraines civilian infrastructure, targeting the countrys power grid over the winter.

Story continues

In Monday's blast, the Ukrainian news portal RBK-Ukraina cited a security services source as saying it was carried out by what it called floating drones. A deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, later said on the Telegram messaging service that today, the Crimea bridge was torn apart by sea drones, but it was not clear if he was making an official confirmation or referring to earlier reports.

Hours after the attack, video from Russian authorities showed crews picking up debris from the deck of the bridge, a section of which appeared to be sloping to one side, and a damaged black sedan with its passenger door open.

Putin ordered authorities to thoroughly investigate what happened, to come up with concrete proposals to enhance security of this strategically important transport object, and to provide all possible support to people who ended up in a difficult position due to the halted traffic on the bridge.

The Kerch Bridge is a conspicuous symbol of Moscows claims on Crimea and an essential land link to the peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. The $3.6 billion bridge is the longest in Europe and is crucial for Russias military operations in southern Ukraine in the nearly 17-month-old war.

Russia has expanded its military forces in Crimea since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Occasional sabotage and other attacks against the Russian military and other facilities on the peninsula have occurred since, with the Kremlin blaming Ukraine.

Those attacks and acts of sabotage haven't discouraged Russians from spending their holidays in Crimea, and as car traffic on the bridge came to a halt, long lines formed at a ferry crossing the Kerch Strait, Russian media reported.

Traffic jams also clogged a highway in the Russian-held part of the Kherson region after Moscow-appointed authorities in Crimea redirected motorists to take the land route to Russia, through the partially occupied regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Drivers heading to Crimea were also stuck in a three-kilometer jam between Russian cities of Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog, RIA Novosti reported.

The bridge attack comes as Ukrainian forces are pressing a counteroffensive in several sections of the front line. It also happened hours before Russia announced, as expected, that it is halting a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey that allows the export of Ukrainian grain during the war.

Russian media identified the dead as Alexei and Natalia Kulik, who were traveling to Crimea for a summer vacation. The 40-year-old Kulik was a truck driver and his 36-year-old wife was a municipal education worker. Their 14-year-old daughter suffered chest and brain injuries.

Kyiv didnt initially acknowledge responsibility for Octobers bridge attack either, but Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar acknowledged earlier this month that Ukraine struck it to derail Russian logistics.

Russian authorities said the attack didn't affect the bridge's piers but damaged two road links, one beyond repair. The damage still appeared less serious than in October's attack; Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said authorities would gradually resume traffic on one side of the bridge after midnight Monday (2100 GMT Monday).

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraines military intelligence department, declined to comment but said: The peninsula is used by the Russians as a large logistical hub for moving forces and assets deep into the territory of Ukraine. Of course, any logistical problems are additional complications for the occupiers.

The Security Service of Ukraine posted a redacted version of a popular lullaby, tweaked to say that the bridge went to sleep again.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker contributed from Washington.

Read the original here:

Key Russian bridge to Crimea is struck again, with Moscow blaming Kyiv for attack that killed 2 - Yahoo News

The bridge connecting Crimea and Russia carries heavy significance for Moscow, both logistically and psychologically, as a key artery for military and civilian supplies and as an assertion of Kremlin control of the peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014.

An attack on the bridge before dawn Monday, killing a couple and seriously injuring their daughter, left a span of the roadway hanging perilously. The damage initially appeared to be less severe than what was caused by an assault in October, but it highlighted the bridges vulnerability.

Russia blamed Ukraine for both attacks. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Security Service on Monday did not directly acknowledge responsibility but said the service would reveal details about organizing the blast once Ukraine achieves victory in the war.

A CRITICAL CONNECTION

The Crimean Peninsula extends south from Ukraines mainland, with road connections on two isthmuses, one of which is less than 2 kilometers (1 mile) wide, and by a bridge from a narrow spit. Those links to Ukraine go into territory occupied by Russian forces that come under attack from the Ukrainian military.

The bridge, which connects Crimeas eastern extremity with Russias Krasnodar region, provides the only fixed link that steers clear of the disputed territory.

The 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge over the Kerch Strait that links the Black and Azov seas carries road and rail traffic on separate sections and is vital to sustaining Russias military operations in southern Ukraine.

A SYMBOLIC STRUCTURE

The bridge is the longest in Europe and a subject of considerable pride in Russia. Construction began in 2016, about two years after Russia's annexation, and was completed in little more than two years. The pace of construction was impressive but led some critics to question whether it was hastily designed and built.

The bridge was constructed despite strong objections from Ukraine and is the most visible and constant reminder of Russias claim over Crimea.

Story continues

President Vladimir Putin drove across the bridge at its formal opening. Putin is also closely connected to construction tycoon Arkady Rotenberg, whose company got the $3.5 billion contract for the bridge.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE ATTACK

Rail traffic on the bridge reportedly was restored within a few hours Monday but it was unclear when full road service could be restored. Ferries were being organized to try to ease the burden, but it was not immediately clear whether the vessels could accommodate demand. Crimeas beaches and mountains are popular with summer tourists.

Russian authorities advised people who wanted to leave Crimea quickly to go via Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine. That would add up to 600 kilometers (350 miles) to their journey and likely raise their anxiety about going through insecure areas.

Russian officials denounced Mondays attack but did not immediately specify retaliatory measures, although Russia has responded with cruise missiles and drone barrages to other Ukrainian attacks.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Read the original post:

The bridge to Crimea is crucial to Russia's war effort in Ukraine and to asserting Moscow's control - Yahoo News

WASHINGTON On a warm June night, Benjamin Wittes was seated at a card table across the street from the Russian Embassy in Washington, kicking off his light show.

Assembled around him was a sprawl of wires and equipment, including a laptop and two powerful light projectors. One of them was beaming a giant blue and yellow Ukrainian flag onto the embassys white facade.

That was just the beginning. Weve got a little essay were going to project, line by line, in three languages, said Mr. Wittes, a prominent national security law expert. Its about stolen children. By the end of the night, he was beaming a Ukrainian-language profanity about President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia onto the towering embassy structure.

Mr. Wittes and his friends have been lighting up the embassy once every few weeks since the war in Ukraine began last year. It is clearly getting under the Russians skin. On this night, the Russians were trying to blot out his projections with ones of their own, including two giant white Zs a nationalist Russian symbol of the war effort.

Once, last spring, a Russian spotlight chased a Ukrainian flag across the embassy facade in a slapstick cat-and-mouse game that has since been watched millions of times online. In April, a burly man in jeans and a Baltimore Orioles T-shirt emerged from the embassy and silently obstructed Mr. Wittess projectors with an open umbrella in each hand.

They get into spotlight wars with us, Mr. Wittes said. Its really quite juvenile.

It is also the strange new normal around Russias main diplomatic outpost in the United States, a scene of near-constant protests, spy games and general weirdness as the most hostile relations in decades between the United States and Russia play out in the heart of Washington. Thousands of miles from the front in Ukraine, the embassy compound has become a battle zone of its own.

See more here:

Russia's Embassy in Washington is enmeshed in a different kind of war. - The New York Times

Bulk carrier ARGO I is docked at the grain terminal of the port of Odesa on April 10. Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima hide caption

Bulk carrier ARGO I is docked at the grain terminal of the port of Odesa on April 10.

The U.N.-backed deal that has allowed Ukraine to export grain and other food items during the ongoing invasion by Russia is set to expire Monday with no announced plans for renewal.

Known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the agreement reached last July allowed for international shipments of corn, wheat, barley and other food products from three designated ports in Ukraine, which has been nicknamed the "breadbasket of Europe."

Experts say the deal while imperfect has helped stave off a worsening of global hunger and prevented a surge in food prices worldwide. U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres called the deal "a beacon of hope" when it was signed last summer.

Now its future is unclear. Russian President Vladimir Putin says a part of the agreement that would have eased similar exports from his country has not been satisfied.

According to the Kremlin, Putin said in a call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday that Russia still faced obstacles exporting food and fertilizer, contrary to obligations in the deal that were supposed to lift such barriers.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who helped broker the deal, said Friday that he believes Putin will renew the agreement.

Erdogan told reporters that he had spoken to the Russian president by phone and that he and Putin were "on the same page" when it came to extending the deal, Deutsche Welle reported.

In the nearly one year since the deal has been in place, ships have made 1,003 voyages from the three Ukrainian ports carrying a total of 32.8 million tons of grain and other food products, the United Nations announced on Saturday.

Forty-five countries received grain shipments from Ukraine under the initiative. Asia saw 46% of the imports, while 40% went to Western Europe, 12% went to Africa and 1% went to Eastern Europe.

A ship that left the port of Odesa early Sunday morning was the last one to depart Ukraine in the waning hours of the current agreement, Reuters reported.

The deal also allowed for the export of fertilizer from Ukraine, though none had been shipped, the U.N. said.

In May, the parties agreed to extend the deal for another two months, though Russia also complained at the time that sanctions and other restrictions hampered the country's trade abilities.

NPR's Peter Kenyon contributed reporting.

Read the rest here:

A deal that lets Ukraine export grain during its war with Russia is about to expire - NPR

Chinese naval vessels set sail this weekend to participate in joint maneuvers with the Russian military, Chinese defense authorities said Sunday.

Ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown closer since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, a move China has not condemned.

The two have ramped up defense contacts, including joint military drills in recent months.

The latest air-and-sea exercises will take place in the Sea of Japan and are aimed at "safeguarding strategic maritime routes," the Chinese defense ministry had said Saturday.

The Chinese military has sent five warships, including a guided-missile destroyer, it added in the statement published Sunday, without specifying when the drills will take place.

China and Russia carried out a joint air patrol over the Seas of Japan and East China last month, and the flights prompted South Korea to deploy fighter jets as a precaution.

It was the sixth such China-Russia patrol in the area since 2019.

China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu this month advocated boosting naval cooperation with Russia.

Beijing has emerged as Moscow's most important ally since the Ukraine war began.

China says it is a neutral party in the conflict but its refusal to condemn the invasion has led to accusations from Ukraine's allies that it is favoring Russia.

Follow this link:

China and Russia to Hold Joint Naval Drills - The Moscow Times

The Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly has today (17 July) announced 14 new sanctions in response to Russias attempts to destroy Ukrainian national identity, including 11 against those involved in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.

Todays announcement comes ahead of the Foreign Secretarys speech at the UN Security Council (UNSC), where he will highlight the far-reaching implications of Russias war, call on Russia to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and outline the need for a just, lasting peace in Ukraine.

Among the designations announced today are Russian officials Ksenia Mishonova, Commissioner for Childrens Rights in the Moscow Region, and Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of Russia.

These individuals have played an insidious role in Russias calculated programme of deportation, designed to erase Ukrainian cultural and national identity. Over 19,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia or temporarily Russian controlled territory by Russian authorities.

Many deported children are relocated to a network of re-education camps in illegally annexed Crimea and mainland Russia, where they are exposed to Russia-centric academic, cultural, patriotic, and military education.

This latest package of designations follows the UKs sanctioning of Russian Childrens Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in June 2022 for her alleged involvement in the forced transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children.

Also sanctioned today are 2 Russian propagandists responsible for spreading abhorrent propaganda designed to incite violence and hatred towards Ukraine and its people, including Anton Krasovsky, a former Russia Today presenter, who claimed live on air that Ukrainian children should be drowned and burned.

Olga Lyubimova, the Russian Culture Minister, is additionally targeted for using her position to support the Russian states damaging anti-Ukrainian policies.

Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, said:

In his chilling programme of forced child deportation, and the hate-filled propaganda spewed by his lackeys, we see Putins true intention to wipe Ukraine from the map.

Todays sanctions hold those who prop up Putins regime to account, including those who would see Ukraine destroyed, its national identity dissolved, and its future erased.

The UK and international partners have implemented the most severe package of sanctions ever imposed on a major economy.

Over 1,600 individuals and entities have been sanctioned since the start of the invasion, including 29 banks with global assets worth 1 trillion, over 130 oligarchs with a combined net worth of over 145 billion, and over 20 billion worth of UK-Russia trade.

Later today, in New York, the Foreign Secretary will use his speech during a UK-chaired session of the UNSC to call for a just, lasting peace in Ukraine and highlight Russias barbaricforced deportation of Ukrainian children.

He is expected to say:

Ukraine wants peace. We want peace. The whole world wants peace.

Peace will bring home Ukraines lost children and feed the hungry of the world.

The devastating effects of Putins aggression can be felt in every corner of the globe. Vital grain supplies from Ukraine will be cut off and millions will face exacerbated food insecurity if Russia does not agree to a renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative today.

Here is the original post:

UK announces new sanctions in response to Russia's forced ... - GOV.UK