Here are the latest developments from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict on July 7
Here are the latest developments from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict on July 7
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has flown into Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for a meeting of G20 foreign ministers, which is set to be overshadowed by tensions triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The summit will see the first face-to-face meeting between President Vladimir Putin’s long-serving foreign minister Lavrov and some of Russia’s biggest critics since the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow has called a “special military operation”.
The Group of 20 includes Western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine and rolled out sanctions, but also countries like China, Indonesia, India and South Africa that have been more muted in their response. Some officials from Europe and the United States have stressed the Bali summit would not be “business as a usual”, with a spokesperson for the German foreign minister saying G7 countries would coordinate their response to Mr. Lavrov in Bali.
Last night, Russia redoubled its push for Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, with the Ukrainian military claiming to have repelled some advances as shelling killed at least eight civilians in the area over the past 24 hours and wounded 25. Pro-Russia separatists said Ukrainian attacks killed four civilians on their side of the front.
Here are the latest updates:
RUSSIA
Russia taking ‘operational pause’ in Ukraine, analysts say
Foreign analysts say Russia may be temporarily easing its offensive in Ukraine as the Russian military attempts to reassemble its forces for a renewed assault.
On Wednesday, Russian forces made no claimed or assessed territorial gains in Ukraine “for the first time in 133 days of war,” according to the Institute for the Study of War. The think tank based in Washington suggested that Moscow may be taking an “operational pause,” but that it does not entail “the complete cessation of active hostilities.”
“Russian forces will likely confine themselves to relatively small-scale offensive actions as they attempt to set conditions for more significant offensive operations and rebuild the combat power needed to attempt those more ambitious undertakings,” the institute said.- AP
RUSSIA
Russia says missile strike hit and killed Ukrainian troops on Snake Island
Russia’s defence ministry said a Russian warplane struck and killed an unspecified number of Ukrainian troops on Snake Island in the Black Sea on Thursday after they landed there to raise the Ukrainian flag.
“At about 5 a.m., several Ukrainian servicemen landed on the island from a motor boat and took pictures with the flag. An aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces immediately launched a strike with high-precision missiles on Snake Island, as a result of which part of the Ukrainian military personnel was destroyed,” Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.- Reuters
UKRAINE
Seven killed in Ukraine’s war-torn Donetsk region: governor
At least seven civilians have been killed and two others injured in Russian strikes in the war-torn Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said Thursday.
The region is next in Russian troops’ line of fire as they step up their offensive after capturing Severodonetsk and Lysychansk in the neighbouring region of Lugansk.
“The Russians killed seven civilians: three in the city of Toretsk, two in Avdiivka, one in Kodema and one in Siversk,” regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram, providing the region’s toll for the past 24 hours.- AFP
DUBAI
Inflation pushed 71 million people into poverty since Ukraine war
A staggering 71 million more people around the world are experiencing poverty as a result of soaring food and energy prices that climbed in the weeks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Development Programme said in a report Thursday.
The UNDP estimates that 51.6 million more people fell into poverty in the first three months after the war, living off $1.90 a day or less. This pushed the total number globally at this threshold to 9% of the world’s population. An additional 20 million people slipped to the poverty line of $3.20 a day.
Ukraine’s blocked ports and its inability to export grains to low-income countries further drove up prices, pushing tens of millions quickly into poverty. – PTI
LONDON
Taiwan to suffer same fate as Ukraine?
FBI Director Christopher Wray said that he would leave to others the question of whether a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was more or less likely after Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. But, he said, “I don’t have any reason to think their interest in Taiwan has abated in any fashion” and added that he hoped China had learned what happens “when you overplay your hand,” as he said the Russians have done in Ukraine.
The FBI director said there are signs the Chinese, perhaps drawing lessons from Russia’s experience since the war, have looked for ways to “insulate their economy” against potential sanctions. “In our world, we call that behavior a clue,” said Mr. Wray, who throughout his speech urged caution from Western companies looking to do business in or with China. He said Western investments in China could collapse in the event of an invasion of Taiwan.
“Just as in Russia, Western investments built over years could become hostages, capital stranded (and) supply chains and relationships disrupted,” he said.
JAKARTA
Russia’s war in Ukraine to overshadow G20 talks in Bali
Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations are gathering in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for talks bound to be dominated by the conflict in Ukraine despite an agenda focused on global cooperation and food and energy security. The one-day gathering will take place on Friday.
Underscoring the backdrop of tensions hanging over the meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov stopped in various Asian capitals on their way to Bali, drumming up support and fortifying their ties in the region ahead of the talks.
The United States and its allies have sought to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin in as many ways as possible, including by threatening a boycott of the G-20’s Bali summit in November unless Putin is removed from the forum.
So as this year’s president of the G-20, Indonesia has been forced into playing a more constructive role on the world stage rather than acting just as an “event organizer.” The country has sought to remain neutral in dealing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and President Joko Widodo has been guarded in his comments. – PTI
KRAMATORSK
12 killed as Russia pounds rebel-claimed province
Russian shelling killed at least eight civilians in eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours and wounded 25 more, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday. Pro-Russia separatists said attacks by Ukrainian forces killed four civilians.
The Ukrainian presidential office said Russian forces targeted cities and villages in the country’s southeast, with most civilian casualties occurring in Donetsk province, where Russia stepped up its offensive in recent days. – AP
MOSCOW
Russia warns humanity at risk if West intervenes
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said attempts by the West to punish a nuclear power such as Russia for the war in Ukraine risked endangering humanity, as the near five-month conflict leaves cities in ruins and thousands homeless.
The invasion of Ukraine has triggered the most serious crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
“The idea of punishing a country that has one of the largest nuclear potentials is absurd. And potentially poses a threat to the existence of humanity,” said Mr. Medvedev. – Reuters
BRUSSELS
EU chief warns of danger of complete cut-off of Russian gas
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the 27-nation Europe Union needs to make emergency plans to prepare for a complete cut-off of Russian gas in the wake of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
“We also need to prepare now for further disruption of gas supply and even a complete cut-off of Russian gas supply,” Ms. von der Leyen told the EU legislature in Strasbourg, France. – AP
