Russia-Ukraine crisis live updates | Ukraine denounces deadly missile strike as war overshadows G20 meeting

Russian missiles struck a Ukrainian city far behind the frontlines in an attack Kyiv officials said killed at least 23 people and constituted another war crime against civilians. Ukraine said in Thursday’s strike on Vinnytsia, a city of 3,70,000 people about 200 km southwest of the capital Kyiv, had been carried out with Kalibr cruise missiles launched from a Russian submarine in the Black Sea.

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As Russia pressed its offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, the United States and more than 40 other countries agreed on Thursday to coordinate investigations into suspected war crimes. Russia reiterated that it does not target civilians in what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, and said its attack struck a military training facility.

The war in Ukraine has sent prices soaring for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertiliser, stoking a global food crisis. Negotiators hope a deal will be signed next week. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemned Russia’s “brutal and unjust war” at the opening of a G20 meeting in Indonesia on Friday, and said Russian finance officials taking part in talks shared responsibility.

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Here are the latest updates:

Indonesia

G20 must act to address short-term food insecurity crisis exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, says U.S. Treasury Secretary

Speaking at a meeting of G20 finance officials in Indonesia on Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged group’s major economies to take urgent action to address a short-term food insecurity crisis exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, and avoid market-distorting export restrictions and stockpiling. Ms. Yellen said countries should target fiscal support measures to help those most in need, rather than adopting costly and regressive blanket subsidies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was “using food as a weapon of war,” she said, citing “the destruction of agricultural facilities, theft of grain and farm equipment, and the effective blockade of Black Sea ports.”

Ms. Yellen said poor households in the poorest countries were the most directly affected, setting back development and undermining efforts to eradicate poverty. “We must take action to address the short-term food insecurity crisis and, equally importantly, the longer-term drivers of food insecurity, including the nexus with climate change,” she said. “The speed and wisdom of our decisions now will make the difference on whether we get the current crisis under control.” – Reuters

Indonesia

G20 finance leaders in Bali to tackle Ukraine, inflation

Top financial officials from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations met on the Indonesian island of Bali on Friday seeking strategies to counter the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine, inflation and other global crises.

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati opened the two-day meeting by urging fellow finance ministers, central bank chiefs and other leaders to find ways to “build bridges, not walls.” She said the consequences of failure, especially for less wealthy nations, would be “catastrophic.”

“Millions and millions if not billions of people are depending on us,” Ms. Indrawati said. – AP

Britain

Britain says Bakhmut likely to be Russia’s next objective in Ukraine

Russian forces have been slowly advancing westwards following shelling and probing assaults towards the town of Siversk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region from Lysychansk, Britain’s Defence Ministry said on Friday.

“Bakhmut is likely to be the next objective, once Siversk is secured,” the Ministry tweeted in a regular bulletin. – Reuters

North Korea

North Korea says Ukraine can’t talk about sovereignty while aiding U.S.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Ukraine has no right to raise sovereignty issues after joining the United States’ “unjust, illegal” actions that breached Pyongyang’s sovereignty.

North Korea’s state media released a statement from the Ministry after formally recognising two Russian-backed breakaway self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine as independent states.

Ukraine severed relations with North Korea after the move, calling it an attempt to undermine its sovereignty and territorial integrity. – Reuters

Indonesia

Ukraine overshadows G20

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemned Russia’s “brutal and unjust war” at the opening of a G20 meeting in Indonesia on Friday, and said Russian finance officials taking part in talks shared responsibility. “By starting this war, Russia is solely responsible for negative spillovers to the global economy, particularly higher commodity prices,” she said.

Russian officials participating in the meeting were “adding to the horrific consequences of this war through their continued support of the Putin regime”, she added. “You share responsibility for the innocent lives lost and the ongoing human and economic toll that the war is causing around the world,” she said, addressing the Russian officials. – Reuters

Vinnytsia

Deadly missile strike kills at least 23 in Vinnytsia

Russian missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding several more in what Ukraine’s President called “an open act of terrorism” on the country’s civilian population in areas with no military value.

Ukraine’s national police said three missiles hit an office building and damaged nearby residential buildings in the city located southwest of the capital Kyiv. The missile strike ignited a fire that expanded to engulf 50 cars in an adjacent parking lot..