UKRAINE WRAP | Lockheed delivers first model of new rocket launcher to US Army

July 12 2022 - 22:12

Ukraine ministry: ships passing through Danube Bystre rivermouth

Ukraine's infrastructure ministry said in a statement Tuesday that 16 ships had passed through the Danube's newly-reopened Bystre rivermouth in the last four days and that the opening up of the Bystre was an important step towards speeding up grain exports.

Ukraine was also negotiating with Romanian colleagues and European Commission representatives about increasing crossings through the Sulina canal, Yuriy Vaskov, deputy infrastructure minister, said in the statement.

Under such conditions, and with access to the Bystre route, Vaskov added, Ukraine expected congestion to be cleared within a week "and we will be able to increase the monthly export of grain by 500,000 tonnes."

Reuters 

July 12 2022 - 21:00

Lockheed delivers first model of new rocket launcher to US Army

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp said on Tuesday it had handed over the first model of its newest mobile rocket launcher to the U.S. Army.

The United States and its allies have recently supplied weapons worth billions of dollars to Ukraine to help it repel an invasion by Russia, which Moscow claims is a "special operation".

Lockheed said the new multiple launch rocket system, named M270A2, can be transported by large military transport aircraft C-17 and C-5.

Britain, an M270A2 customer, said last month it will supply Ukraine with some of its older multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80 km (50 miles) away. 

Reuters 

July 12 2022 - 20:45

Russian opposition politician investigated under 'fake information' law

Opposition politician Ilya Yashin is being investigated by Russia's federal Investigative Committee on suspicion of spreading "fake information" about the army, a lawyer for several opposition activists said on Tuesday.

Yashin, a municipal representative for Moscow's Krasnoselsky district, is an outspoken critic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He had been due to leave a Moscow jail early on Wednesday after being imprisoned for 15 days for disobeying a police officer - a move that he said was linked to his activism.

"I got a call from an investigator just now - a search of his (Yashin's) house is starting.  Am on my way there," lawyer Vadim Prokhorov said on social media.

Days after launching an invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russia made it a crime to deliberately disseminate "fake information" about the army, defining this as any report that deviated from official accounts.

Last week Alexei Gorinov, a member of the Krasnoselsky district council, became the first to go to prison for the new offence after receiving a seven-year sentence.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation" and says it had to defend Russian speakers from persecution and defuse a Western-inspired security threat.

Kyiv and its Western allies say these are baseless pretexts for an unprovoked imperial land-grab. 

Reuters 

July 12 2022 - 20:20

Breakaway east Ukraine territory defends death penalty as it opens Moscow embassy

The self-styled Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on Tuesday opened an embassy in Russia, one of only two countries to recognise the breakaway statelet in eastern Ukraine, and defended its right to impose capital punishment.

DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova said the territory's use of the death penalty - which it has handed down to two Britons and a Moroccan for fighting as "mercenaries" for Ukraine - was irrelevant to its bid for diplomatic recognition.

Asked if capital punishment would tarnish the DPR's image, she said: "We consider that mercenary activity is indeed a terrible crime because people, for a reward, come to another country to kill other people, despite having no personal goals connected to the conflict in question.

"Yes, it is the highest measure of punishment, but it is in our legislation and it is not linked to the further process of recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic by other states."

Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun were sentenced last month after what Western politicians described as a show trial. Their appeals are pending.

Their relatives say they are soldiers who were under contract to the Ukrainian army and are therefore entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war.

So far, only Russia and Syria have recognised the DPR as independent, but Nikonorova said it was also in discussions with the ambassador of North Korea.

The opening of the embassy, in a building close to Moscow's Garden Ring artery, was a low-key affair with no senior Russian government figures present.

DPR officials' plans for a grand ceremony had been put on hold because of the grave situation in eastern Ukraine, which is the main focus of the current fighting.

"We can't celebrate here when our countrymen are dying," ambassador Olga Makeyeva said.

In a move denounced by Kyiv and the West as illegal, Russia recognised the independence of the DPR and another breakaway entity, the Luhansk People's Republic, three days before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24 on what he calls a "special military operation".

Reuters 

July 12 2022 - 19:26

Russia says it will deepen defence cooperation with Myanmar

Russia and Myanmar are to deepen their defence cooperation after a meeting in Moscow between Myanmar's military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, and top Russian defence officials, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said in a statement that the meeting had taken place on Monday, and that Hlaing was in Russia on a private visit.

"The meeting ... confirmed the mutual disposition to consistently build up multifaceted cooperation between the military departments of the two countries," the statement read.

Thomas Andrews, the United Nations human rights expert on Myanmar, said in February that Russia had supplied the junta with drones, two types of fighter jet, and two kinds of armoured vehicle, one with air defence systems.

Chaos has gripped Myanmar since a military coup in early 2021 ended a decade of tentative democracy, triggering protests that the junta's troops suppressed with lethal force.

The United Nations has said its investigations show the military has committed mass killings and crimes against humanity. The junta has said it is seeking to restore peace and order.

Reuters 

July 12 2022 - 18:03

Ukraine default fears grow as Naftogaz asks for debt freeze

Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz has asked its international creditors to defer payments on its debt for two years, fanning expectations that the government may soon do the same.

Naftogaz which has a $335 million bond maturing as well as two interest payments due on July 19, said Russia's invasion had left it short of cash as many of its customers were now unable to pay their bills.

In its request for the payment freeze, Naftogaz said the five-month old war had resulted in a "significant economic and business decline in Ukraine" and that the missed bill payments had "negatively affected its liquidity position".

"The Issuer, at the request of the Borrower, has launched this Consent Solicitation in order to seek approval from Noteholders to facilitate preservation of available cash ... to support Ukraine's strategic priorities," Naftogaz's gas financing arm Kondor Finance said in a statement published late on Monday.

Bondholders have until July 21 to vote on the plan, which will defer all of the company's main international bond payments until July 2024. In addition to the one due next week and in 2024, it also has one bond that runs until 2026.

Naftogaz is a major source of income for Ukraine, accounting for almost 17% of the country's total state budget revenue last year and employing over 50,000 people before the war.

Its underground storage facilities hold over 30 billion cubic metres of gas making them the third largest in the world after the United States and Russia. It also has Europe's second largest oil transportation pipeline network.

Naftogaz's plan will also raise expectations that the government itself may look to do something similar ahead of a near $1 billion sovereign bond payment due in September, although it has so far said that it intends to make the payment.

Ukrainian Railways, another state-controlled firm, confirmed on Tuesday that it had made $36 million in interest coupon payments on two of its bonds due in 2024 and 2026.

Authorities however estimate a fiscal shortfall of $5 billion - or 2.5% of pre-war GDP - a month, which economists calculate pushes Ukraine's annual deficit to 25% of GDP compared with 3.5% before the conflict.

On top of that researchers from the Kyiv School of Economics estimate that it will now take over a $100 billion to rebuild Ukraine's bombed infrastructure.

Naftogaz's deferral plan "might be blueprint for Ukraine," said Viktor Szabo, a portfolio manager at investment firm abrdn in London, adding the government's September-maturing bond had slumped around 12 cents on the news.

That left it at under 40 cents on the dollar, or 40% of its face value. Naftogaz's bonds meanwhile were being quoted as low as 11 cents.

Yerlan Syzdykov, global head of emerging markets at Amundi Asset Management, which holds Ukraine's sovereign bonds, said it would make sense for Ukraine to halt bond payments now via what is known as a "standstill" agreement.

"The sooner they do this the more sense it makes," Syzdykov said.Lutz Roehmeyer at Capitulum Asset Management, which holds both Naftogaz international and Ukraine sovereign bonds added there were lots of questions that could not be answered at this stage, for example what size will Ukraine's economy be down the line.

Reuters 

July 12 2022 - 15:49

Lego closes Russia business indefinitely, lays off 90 staff

Lego is closing its business in Russia indefinitely and laying off its 90 Moscow-based employees, owing to "extensive disruption" in the country, the Danish toymaker said on Tuesday.

Lego has terminated its contract with franchisee Inventive Retail Group (IRG) which owned and operated 81 stores on Lego's behalf.

IRG, which also operated shops in Russia for Western brands such as Nike and Samsung, said earlier on Tuesday that the contract with Lego had been terminated.

"LEGO Group has decided to indefinitely cease commercial operations in Russia given the continued extensive disruption in the operating environment," a Lego spokesperson said.

An IRG spokesperson said: "Our company will continue to work as an expert in the toy design and development category.

"Lego paused shipments to Russia in March and said in June it was temporarily freezing some stores due to supply issues.

The Russian version of Inc. Magazine reported earlier on Tuesday that Lego was stopping commercial activities in Russia indefinitely and breaking off its contract with IRG.

Companies including Nike and Cisco have announced their departures from Russia in recent weeks as the pace of Western firms leaving accelerates after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February in what it terms a "special operation".

Reuters 

July 12 2022 - 13:48

Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, UN meeting on grain set for Wednesday: minister

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar said on Tuesday that military delegations from Turkey, Russia and Ukraine will meet with a UN delegation to discuss the safe export of Ukrainian grain. The meeting will take place on July 13 in Istanbul, Akar said. – Reuters

July 12 2022 - 13:45

EU has frozen 13.8-billion euros of Russian assets, official says

The EU has so far frozen 13.8-billion euros (R236.63bn) worth of assets held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and entities sanctioned for Moscow's war against Ukraine, the bloc's top justice official said on Tuesday.

The official said the vast majority of that comes from five of the EU's 27 member states only, calling on others to step up. The bloc currently has 98 entities and nearly 1,160 individuals blacklisted for Russia's role in Ukraine.

"For the moment, we have frozen funds coming from oligarchs and other entities worth 13.8-billion euros, it's quite huge," EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders said on Tuesday. "But a very large part, more than 12-billion comes from five member states, so we need to continue to convince others to do the same," he told reporters on arriving to a meeting of the national justice ministers in the Czech capital Prague. He did not identify the five countries.

He said he expected a final political agreement after the summer on a new legal tool to make breaching or attempting to bypass sanctions a criminal offence everywhere in the EU, which is not the case currently. The policy, meant to curb circumventing restrictions by transferring assets to family members who had not been sanctioned, could then take effect in the autumn. "If it's the case, the money will go back to a fund for Ukrainian people, to give back the money to the Ukrainian people after the confiscation of assets."

Reynders and the ministers also discussed cooperating with Eurojust, the bloc's agency for criminal justice, on building up evidence of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, which had been attacked by Russia from land, sea and air last February. He said Eurojust would store all the evidence and should cooperate closely with the bloc's member countries, 14 of which have their own national investigations running into the war.

"The most important is to have a very good coordination, to not duplicate the different situations, and to collect all the evidence in the same place," said Reynders.

– Reuters

July 12 2022 - 12:20

Poland tables legislation to boost gas security as energy crisis flares

The Polish cabinet is discussing loosening gas trading rules, extending tariff protection for consumers, and contingency planning for grid operators to allow for a swift reaction if the energy crisis deteriorates, the government said on Tuesday.

"An exceptional situation on global energy markets caused by Russia's aggression on Ukraine and surging gas prices ... create a necessity for special legal measures that allow for a real-time reaction if the situation deteriorates further," the government said.

Proposed measures include:

• a suspension of the rules obliging gas companies to trade fuel at the Warsaw exchange if a gas crisis is declared,
• an extension of tariff protection for 7.1-million small consumers including households until 2027; and
• contingency planning for gas storage and transmission operators.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, European countries that rely on Russian gas have been struggling to cut their dependence on the fuel, build reserves and make contingency plans for winter when supplies could be strained.

On Monday, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that transports gas from Russia to Germany entered a planned maintenance shutdown, prompting concerns about gas supplies to Europe if the outage is extended.

Poland, which has been cut off from Russian supplies since April, has a relatively comfortable gas balance now thanks to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal running at full capacity and low summer demand. However, if Russian deliveries to Europe stop, cross-border deliveries across the continent will be strained. Existing regulations already allow the government to cut deliveries to consumers if supply security is at risk.

Separately, Poland plans to boost gas storage capacity to 4-billion cubic meters. Existing storage facilities are now 98% full, but their capacity of 3.2-billion cubic meters (bcm) is relatively small compared to annual consumption of about 20 bcm. 

– Reuters

July 12 2022 - 11:39

Kremlin: Many Ukrainians want to be Russian citizens

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that many Ukrainians want to become Russian citizens, a day after Moscow published a decree simplifying rules for Ukrainian citizens to acquire Russian passports. During a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there was "no discussion" of relaunching peace talks with Kyiv, over four months after Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine. Russia has said that residents of areas of southern and eastern Ukraine occupied since February are entitled to become Russian citizens, a move that Ukraine and Western countries say confirms that Moscow plans to retain control of those regions. – Reuters

July 12 2022 - 11:38

Russia's Putin to meet Erdogan and Raisi next Tuesday - Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a visit to Tehran next Tuesday, the Kremlin said. It will be only Putin's second foreign trip since the start of Moscow's armed intervention in Ukraine on February 24, following a trip to Central Asia at the end of June. – Reuters

July 12 2022 - 11:37

Anti-war Russian journalist fined under 'gay propaganda' law

Russian journalist Yury Dud was fined 120,000 roubles (about R35,000) by a Moscow court on Tuesday under a law that bans "propaganda" in support of gay relationships. Lefortovo district court said the 35-year-old was fined for disseminating "propaganda for non-traditional sexual relationships among minors".

Former sports reporter Dud, 35, is one of Russia's top media stars, having risen to prominence via acerbic, politically tinged interviews and documentaries uploaded to YouTube, where he has over 10-million subscribers.

In October last year, Dud was fined 100,000 roubles (R29,000) on charges of "drugs propaganda", after a pro-Kremlin lobby group asked Russia's internal affairs ministry to investigate him. On April 15, Dud was designated a foreign agent by Russia's justice ministry after publicly opposing Russia's war in Ukraine, which he dubbed an "imperial frenzy".

Human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov said the case against Dud was based on a 2021 YouTube interview he conducted with a gay performance artist, although Chikov said the interview was not about homosexuality.

Russia has since 2013 criminalised "propagandising" non-traditional sexual orientations to children, as part of the Kremlin's wider conservative agenda. Last week, parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called for a complete ban on promoting "non-traditional values" in Russia. - Reuters

July 12 2022 - 11:33

Iran plans to send Russia ‘weapons-capable’ drones, US says

Iran is preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of drone aircraft, including some capable of carrying weaponry, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

Sullivan said US intelligence “indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs, on an expedited timeline”. He didn’t detail the intelligence or its sources.

“Our information further indicates Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these UAVs, with initial training sessions slated to begin as soon as early July,” Sullivan told reporters during a press briefing.

Russia has relied heavily on drones in its invasion of Ukraine, and the government in Kyiv claims to have downed more than 600 of the aircraft, according to the Kyiv Independent, a news organisation in the country. Ukraine’s military has also employed drones to attack Russian forces and target artillery strikes, and the US has included drones among the weapons it’s provided to Kyiv.

Russian authorities claimed that Ukraine conducted a drone strike on an oil refinery in southern Russia last month. Ukraine’s military didn’t confirm the attack.

– Bloomberg

July 12 2022 - 11:31

Russia, Ukraine to discuss grain crisis in Turkey with UN – Interfax

A fresh round of talks between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations over grain exports from Ukraine will take place on Wednesday in Istanbul, Interfax news agency reported, citing the Russian foreign ministry. Ukraine is a key agricultural exporter and its inability to ship vital grain supplies has caused a surge in food prices, aggravating concerns about a global food crisis. – Reuters

July 12 2022 - 10:51

Russia registers first case of monkeypox

Russia registered its first case of monkeypox, consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said on Tuesday. The watchdog said in a statement that the disease was discovered in a young man who had returned from a trip around European countries. The risk of infection to others was limited, it said. "The disease is proceeding in a mild form. There is no threat to life," Rospotrebnadzor said. More than 50 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease as confirmed cases exceed 7,600. – Reuters

July 12 2022 - 10:43

Chasiv Yar death toll hits 33

Ukrainian rescue workers recovered 33 bodies from the debris of the apartment block in Chasiv Yar, according to the State Emergencies Service. Russian rockets hit the five-storey building near Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donestsk region over the weekend. Ukrainian forces repelled several Russian assaults on the Slovyansk and Kharkiv axes, the Ukraine’s General Staff said in its morning update. The mayor of Mykolaiv reported on Telegram that powerful explosions hit the city overnight. - Bloomberg

July 12 2022 - 10:40

Gold hits nine-month low as investors rush to dollar as haven

Gold retreated as an energised dollar strengthened yet again in the run-up to US inflation data this week that’s set to shape the magnitude of the Federal Reserve’s next rate hike. Bullion slid to its lowest intraday level in more than nine months after posting a fourth weekly loss Friday. Investors concerned about the prospect of a global economic downturn have turned in droves to the dollar, which is already up more than 2% this month.

Gold’s fortunes have ridden a roller-coaster ride this year as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spurred a rally in the haven well above $2,000 an ounce in March, only for the momentum to fade as the growth and inflation outlook shifted. In recent weeks, investors have cut holdings in bullion-backed exchange-traded funds.

US inflation figures this week may stiffen the resolve of Fed policy makers to proceed with another big increase in interest rates later this month. Economists estimate the gauge climbed 8.8% in June from a year-earlier to a fresh four-decade high.

Spot gold traded 0.2% lower at $1,730.52 an ounce at 2.15pm in Singapore, after falling as far as $1,723.32, the lowest price since September 30. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was 0.2% higher, as spot silver, platinum and palladium retreated.

– Bloomberg

July 12 2022 - 10:35

Olympics-Russia, Belarus athletes may face Paris 2024 ban: IOC's Reedie

Athletes from Russia and Belarus may not be allowed to compete at the Paris 2024 Games over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Craig Reedie said.The IOC issued guidance to sports governing bodies in February to remove the two countries' athletes from competition. Belarus has been used as a staging ground for Russia's invasion, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".

"A decision is going to have to be taken on what happens to each of these two countries, and my guess is that the general feeling would be that they should not qualify," former IOC vice-president Reedie told British media.

"Most people are struggling with how we could achieve some degree of representation, but at the moment, there is no clear way to do it. Therefore, you maintain the status quo."

Athletes will miss qualification events for Paris as a result of the measures, and IOC President Thomas Bach said in May that Russia's participation was unclear. It has, however, not sanctioned or banned Russian members who sit on the IOC from taking part in Olympic meetings and has also not sanctioned the Russian Olympic Committee. Of the sports on the Olympic programme, only cycling, tennis and judo have allowed Russians and Belarusians to continue to compete but Reedie said he doubted even athletes from those sports would be permitted to participate in qualifying events.

Reedie, former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), said it would be unrealistic to allow athletes to enter qualifying competitions once they have begun."It's quite difficult halfway through to say, 'All of you who have now qualified we've changed the rules'," Reedie said. "So there's a real issue for the federations, who have a clear instruction which they've agreed to that they won't invite Russians and Belarusians to take part in events.

"On the face of it, it's unlikely that anybody would qualify other than those three sports which don't do it that way. And will they be able to qualify [from those three sports]? I'm not sure."

A Russian doping scandal, involving revelations of a state-backed system across many sports, following the Sochi 2014 Olympics led to Russian athletes competing as neutrals at the Games as part of IOC sanctions.

– Reuters

July 12 2022 - 10:25

Russia's breadbasket seeing high yields as wheat harvest starts

Farmers in Russia's southern Rostov region, one of the largest grain producing and exporting areas of the country, are seeing high wheat yields as harvesting gets under way, growers and officials in the region said.

Sanctions-hit Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, is expected to produce a massive crop in 2022 with record amounts available to supply abroad in the July-June marketing season.

"The crop prospects are good," Viktor Goncharov, first deputy governor of the region told Reuters, adding that wheat yields are so far 0.1-0.2 tonnes per hectare higher than a year ago. "Weather, readiness of equipment - everything is favourable."

Russia's exports are crucial for global wheat supply as Ukraine's Black Sea ports have been blocked after the Kremlin sent thousands of troops into the country on February 24.

The Rostov region is expected to repeat last year's record crop when it harvested 12.7-million tonnes of wheat, including 11.5-million tonnes of winter wheat, Goncharov told Reuters at one of the farms in the southwestern part of the region.

Western sanctions imposed on Russia for what Moscow calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine have not affected the supply of harvesting equipment so far as farmers in the region mostly use locally-produced tractors and combines, he added.

Bessergenevskoye, a farm in the western part of region is so far getting the same yields as a year ago following a lack of rains in the area, its deputy head, Sergei Studinikin said.

Spare parts for imported equipment have become more expensive due to the sanctions but farmers managed to buy them before the start of harvesting and had 99% of equipment ready when the work started, Alexei Kushnaryov, deputy head of Zernogradsky district in the southern part of the region, said.

"Farmers are used to surviving in any conditions, so ways [of solving the problem] have been found. As you can see today, the harvesting work is progressing well," he said, adding that yields were higher than a year ago. 

– Reuters

July 12 2022 - 10:15

At least seven people dead in Ukraine’s strike on Nova Kakhovka: TASS

At least seven people were killed in an attack by Ukrainian armed forces on Monday in the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

"There are already seven dead for sure and about 60 wounded," TASS quoted Vladimir Leontyev, head of Russia-installed Kakhovka District military-civilian administration in the Kherson region. "There are still many people under the rubble. The injured are being taken to the hospital, but many people are blocked in their apartments and houses," Leontyev added.

According to the report, in addition to damaged buildings, the attack also led to an explosion at fertiliser warehouses in the region. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Ukraine says Russian forces have targeted civilians ever since they invaded on February 24, leaving cities, towns and villages in ruins, but Moscow rejects the charge and in turn says Ukrainians are responsible for civilians deaths.

Ukrainian officials said their forces had destroyed an ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka.

Serhiy Bratchuk, Odesa administration spokesperson, wrote on his Telegram channel that Nova Kakhovka was now "minus" its ammunition warehouse.

– Reuters

July 12 2022 - 05:30

Putin decree gives all Ukrainians path to Russian citizenship

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday extending a simplified Russian naturalisation process to all citizens of Ukraine, a document published on the government's website showed.

Previously, a simplified procedure for acquiring Russian citizenship applied only to residents of the self-proclaimed breakaway territories of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine, which Russia seeks to "liberate" from Kyiv's control, as well as the Russian-occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the state news agency TASS reported. 

– Reuters