The essentials in brief:
Ukraine is already using US-supplied cluster munitions
Russian naval exercise with live ammunition in the Black Sea
Habeck criticizes India’s attitude to the Russian war of aggression
Zelenskyy dismisses Ukrainian ambassador to London
Ukrainian culture minister resigns
The US has confirmed that the cluster munitions it has supplied are already being used by Ukraine against the Russian army. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in Washington that Ukrainian forces were using the munitions appropriately but effectively.
John Kirby, Speaker of the US National Security Council Image: Evelyn Hockstein/REUTERS
The use of the cluster munitions is already affecting Russian defenses and offensive maneuvers, Kirby added. For more details, Kirby referred to the Ukrainians. The Washington Post, citing unnamed Ukrainian government officials, previously reported that the armed forces are trying to break through Russian positions in the south-east of the country, which are slowing down the Ukrainian counter-offensive. According to Western experts, Russia has been using cluster bombs for some time. Kiev has previously stressed that US-supplied cluster munitions will not be used to attack Russian territory or civilian installations.
The US, Ukraine and Russia are not among the more than 100 countries that have signed an international treaty banning cluster munitions.
Russian Navy practices with live ammunition
The Russian Black Sea Fleet has held a live ammunition exercise following the Moscow government’s withdrawal from the grain deal with Ukraine. In the north-west of the Black Sea, a target ship was fired at with anti-ship missiles and destroyed, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow said in the online service Telegram.
On Monday, Russia declared the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea to be over, despite all international appeals. Moscow then announced that it would consider ships calling at Ukrainian ports as possible military targets in the future. In response to threats from Moscow, Ukraine plans to crack down on ships calling at Russian-controlled Black Sea ports.
In the exercise now held, the ships and naval aircraft involved also took measures to “seal off the area temporarily closed to shipping” and tried to detain an attacking ship, it said.
The Black Sea – currently an unsafe terrain for cargo shipping (archive image)Image: Sitki Yildiz/AA/picture alliance
UN Security Council meets on grain deal
The UN Security Council meets this Friday to discuss Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal. The British mission to the United Nations said it would be about the consequences of the step for the humanitarian situation.
The aim of the grain deal, which had previously been extended several times, was to enable important grain exports for many parts of the world despite the war. Ukraine and Russia are among the most important export countries for grain and fertilizers.
Odessa again target of Russian attacks
The Russian army has shelled the Ukrainian port city of Odessa for the fourth night in a row. The city was attacked from the Black Sea with Kalibr cruise missiles, said regional governor Oleg Kiper. The Russian armed forces specifically targeted grain silos. 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley were destroyed and two people were injured in the attacks.
Habeck criticizes India’s attitude to the Russian war of aggression
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck has criticized India’s position on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. India has not yet clearly and sharply condemned the war, Habeck said during a visit to the Indian capital, New Delhi. “It’s a breach of international law that we haven’t seen in a long time. And the Indian side needs to formulate that more clearly.”
Robert Habeck in a DW interview in New DelhiPhoto: DW
India takes a neutral stance on aggressive war, does not support Western sanctions against Moscow and repeatedly advocates conflict resolution through dialogue. Habeck said in an interview with Deutsche Welle: “I personally think that when there is injustice, you can’t remain neutral. There’s always an aggressor and someone who is the victim.” To say that one does not distinguish between aggressor and victim in a way does not reflect the real situation, the Green politician added.
India has good relations with Western countries, but also with Russia, on which it depends for its military equipment. But the country is also increasingly buying military equipment from other countries, including France. During the war, India also imported more cheap oil from Russia.
IAEA: Further no access to the roofs of nuclear power plants
According to their own statements, experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) still have no access to the roofs of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Russia has still not allowed this, the IAEA explains. During additional checks of the accessible areas in the past week, neither explosives nor mines were found. Ukraine had pushed for the controls. For its part, the government in Moscow accuses Ukraine of risking a nuclear disaster by shelling the power plant.
Five of the six pressurized water reactors at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plantImage: Alina Smutko/REUTERS
Zelenskyi dismisses ambassador in London
Shortly after a critical statement about President Volodymr Zelenskyj, the Ukrainian ambassador to Great Britain, Vadym Prystajko, was recalled from his post. Selenskyj had the corresponding decree published on his website without further explanation. Prystaiko will then also lose his position as Ukraine’s representative at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Just under a week ago, the ambassador accused his head of state of “unhealthy sarcasm” on British television. Prystajko was at the post in London for three years. Before that he was foreign minister, deputy head of government and minister for European integration.
Wadym Prystajko (archive image) Image: Thomas Trutschel/ photothek/picture alliance
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace recently called on Ukraine to show more gratitude for the aid it has received in Russia’s war of aggression. Selenskyj then asked in a press conference what exactly the British minister wanted. “Let him write to me. We can thank the minister personally when we wake up every morning,” he said. Prystajko criticized this exchange of blows as counterproductive. Great Britain is one of Ukraine’s most important partner countries.
Controversial culture minister resigns
The Ukrainian Minister of Culture Olexandr Tkachenko has resigned over the controversial financing of cultural projects during the Russian war of aggression. “I submitted my resignation letter to the Prime Minister because there is a wave of misunderstandings about the importance of culture in wartime,” Tkachenko wrote on Facebook.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to consider replacing Tkachenko, Zelenskyy said in his evening video address. Ukrainian media had reported that the culture minister wanted to spend 500 million hryvnia (around 12 million euros) to complete a national museum to commemorate the Ukrainian victims of the Holodomor genocide in the 1930s.
Olexandr Tkachenko is no longer Minister of Culture of UkraineImage: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP
“In times of war like this, the main focus of the state, and thus also of state resources, should be on defense,” criticized Zelenskyj. Of course, museums and other cultural areas are important, he emphasized, “but right now we have other priorities”. After around 17 months of Russian war of aggression, Ukrainian society understands that savings are currently being made on things that are not urgently needed. Zelenskyj also instructed the government to develop alternative financing options for cultural and other projects.
qu/mak/se/pg (dpa, rtr, afp)
This article will be continuously updated on the day of its publication. Reports from war zones cannot be independently verified.