July 17, 2023
1. Russian MoD has been instructed to elaborate a response
On July 17, 2023 blasts killed two Russian civilians traveling by private passenger car via Crimean Bridge the strategic transport link and left their 14-year-old daughter an orphan. She was seriously injured.
The attack involved naval drones packed with HE.
Ukrainian officials cheering the deadly terrorist attack against the Crimean bridge demonstrate “cynical and monstrous” behavior, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
The Ministry called the reaction “cynical and monstrous” and said it “leads to conclusions about the moral and mental level of politicians in Kiev.”
“They said in Kiev that the incident was the result of a joint operation of its Navy and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). It confirms that the nation’s political leadership and special services are linked to this terrorist act,” the Ministry said.
The previous successful Ukrainian attack on the Crimean bridge happened in October 2022, when a truck carrying a disguised bomb blew up on it. The explosion killed three civilians, including the driver of the vehicle. Earlier this month a Ukrainian deputy defense minister mentioned the date as Kiev’s “first strike on the Crimean bridge.”
President Vladimir Putin has instructed the MoD to elaborate some punitive measures against Kiev. He stated that the bridge is used for peaceful purposes, but not as arms supply route.
2. Moscow decided to cancel the grain deal with the UNO
The grain deal was terminated due to the fact that part of this initiative concerning Russia has not been implemented yet, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 17.
The statement was made before the second attack by Kiev against Crimean Bridge. At the same time, Peskov noted that Russia would immediately return to the implementation of the Black Sea agreements as soon as the Russian part of the grain deal is fulfilled.
Moscow has already officially notified Turkey, Ukraine and the UN Secretariat of its objections to the extension of the grain deal, the maritime humanitarian corridor will be closed, while the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul will be disbanded, according to a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry. UN representatives in Istanbul said they had received a notice from Russia on the suspension of participation in the agreement.
The grain deal was concluded on July 22, 2022, in Istanbul. The first part of the agreements was signed by the UN and Turkey separately with Russia and Ukraine. It concerned the export of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea.
The second part for a period of three years was signed by the UN and Russia – in the form of a Memorandum dealt with the removal of restrictions on exports of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to the world markets, especially to the poor nations.
Moscow has extended the Memorandum several times – with no practical results so far for Russia. It was very strange to see that Article 4 of the Memorandum stated that it not an agreement. The paper also incorporated a very vague commitments taken by the UNO.
At the end of June 2023, during consultations, the UN admitted that it could not meet the Russian demands, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Was the UNO sincere enough from the very beginning when it signed the relevant Memorandum with Russia a year ago? No, I do not think so. It was a deliberately empty arrangement stamped by the UNO
3. Putin: US supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine is a crime
Speaking to journalist Pavel Zarubin, Vladimir Putin offered his take on the decision by the administration of US President Joe Biden to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions – which are banned in more than 100 countries due to the risk they pose to civilians.
“The US administration itself gave an assessment of these munitions through the mouths of its employees some time ago… calling the use [of these munitions] a crime. This is how I think it should be regarded,” he said, according to an extract of the interview released on July 15.
The Russian president was apparently referring to a statement made by former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki in late February 2022, days after the start of the Ukraine conflict, in which she said that the use of the controversial munitions could be regarded as a war crime.
“Russia has a sufficient stock of various types of cluster munitions... So far, we have not used them. We have not needed to, despite the well-known [munitions] deficit for a certain period of time. But of course, if [Ukraine] uses them [cluster munitions] against us, we reserve the right to reciprocal measures,” Putin warned.
Washington announced the decision to send cluster munitions to Kiev earlier this month, and American officials recently confirmed that the controversial munition has already arrived in Ukraine. The first batch of them arrived to Ukraine July 11. As a result, a teenager in the village Tarasovka, Zaporozhskaya Region, controlled by Russia was injured.
Cluster munitions are notorious for releasing large numbers of bomblets over a wide area when they explode. The submunitions often fail to detonate, posing a serious threat to civilians for many years after the fighting has ended.
Written by Vladimir P. Kozin
