Kiev, 24 May 2022 – The sad count of the days of conflict continues in Ukraine: today is number 89. And, while the first conviction for war crimes (Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin will have to serve a life sentence), the president Volodymyr Zelensky states that the only way to achieve peace is a meeting between him and Vladimir Putin. Moscow, however, closes. It’s a simple attempt at public relations“, says Dmitry Polyansky, first deputy of the Russian envoy to the United Nations.” People who are not experts do not understand that the summit talks must be thoroughly prepared and the agenda must be agreed by both sides, otherwise there is no need to speak. “And he adds:” It was not us who blocked the talks. Some contacts are being implemented and in a certain sense we expect responses from the Ukrainians to the proposals formulated some time ago. “From what is learned, the Kremlin is instead” studying “ the peace plan for Ukraine presented by Italy to the UN.
The wheat war
New satellite photos would prove the sacking of Ukrainian grain by the Russians, CNN writes. The images were taken on the Crimean port of Sevastopol: two Russian-flagged bulk carriers are seen docking and loading what may be stolen Ukrainian grain. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of “gradually stealing” Ukrainian food products and trying to sell them. New images from Maxar Technologies, dated May 19 and 21, show the ships – the Matros Pozynich and the Matros Koshka – docked next to what appear to be grain silos, with grain pouring from a belt into an open hold. According to the naval tracking site MarineTraffic.com, both ships have left the port: the Matros Pozynich is sailing in the Aegean Sea, claiming to be headed for Beirut, while the Matros Koshka is still in the Black Sea. Certainly the ship was loaded with stolen Ukrainian grain, but Crimea, annexed to Russia, produces little grain, unlike the crop-rich Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, immediately to the north. Ukrainian officials and industrial sources told CNN that Russian forces in the occupied areas have emptied several silos and transported the grain south.