July 14, 2023 4:53 p.m
Kiev is ready for the offensive on the Kherson front
Ukrainian troops are preparing for an offensive in the Russian army-held Kherson sector (southern Ukraine) and preparing a beachhead to expand the offensive in the Avdiivka sector to the east. This is what Colonel Mykola Urshalovych of the Directorate of the Ukrainian National Guard said: quoted by UNIAN and adding that the units of the 15th Operational Brigade are conducting offensive actions in the Melitopol sector (south-eastern Ukraine). According to the Military Media Center, the Russians are trying to prevent Ukrainian troops from landing on the left bank of the Dnieper.
July 14, 2023 4:52 p.m
Kremlin: “We haven’t said anything about extending the wheat deal”
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax that Russia has not commented on a possible extension of the wheat deal. “We have not made any statement on this point,” Peskov said. Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said Vladimir Putin had agreed to an extension of the deal.
July 14, 2023 4:35 p.m
Blinking: “Lavrov was not constructive”
According to Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was “not constructive” in ongoing talks in Jakarta with Southeast Asian countries. The US Secretary of State and the minister both attended the Indonesia summit but did not have bilateral meetings.
July 14, 2023 4:23 p.m
Blinken: “Moscow renews deal on Ukrainian wheat”
If Moscow doesn’t renew the deal on Ukrainian wheat, “the developing countries will pay the price.” This was stated by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken from Jakarta.
July 14, 2023 4:23 p.m
Kiev: “No negotiations if the Russians don’t withdraw”
Ukraine will not consider negotiations with Moscow until Russian troops leave their territory. This was stated today by the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office. “It is possible to think about such talks only after the Russian troops leave our territory,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine, told reporters.
July 14, 2023 3:49 p.m
Borrell: “Lavrov told me that the war will continue”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sharply criticized the invasion of Ukraine during ASEAN talks with foreign counterparts in Jakarta. This was announced by the EU High Representative Josep Borrell. “Lavrov answered me very aggressively and explained his point of view, saying that everything is a Western conspiracy and that the war will continue,” the senior European official told reporters.
July 14, 2023 3:48 p.m
Moscow: “We agree with Orban, the US wants the war to continue”
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he shares Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s view that the conflict in Ukraine will linger for a long time because “Westerners want the war to continue.” “You can’t contradict that, that’s the way it is,” said Peskov, quoted by Tass, according to which Orban pointed the finger at the United States in particular. “The United States in particular is acting as a leader in supplying Ukraine with new weapons and ordnance. “It is the United States that constantly urges Ukraine to fight to the last Ukrainian,” Peskov said.
July 14, 2023 3:26 p.m
Kiev drone explodes near Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant
One of the facilities at the Kursk nuclear power plant, one of the largest in western Russia, was shut down after a Kiev drone exploded four kilometers from the complex, Moscow Time reports. Unit 4, commissioned in 1986 and equipped with a Chernobyl-like RBMK reactor, was shut down today for repair work, Interfax reported. There was no increase in radioactivity in the area of the plant. The plant is located in Kurchatov, just over 60 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The drone was shot down by anti-aircraft systems.
July 14, 2023 3:12 p.m
Zelenskyy: “No threat of attack from Belarus”
There is “no danger” of an invasion from Belarus, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a meeting with Ukrainian military leaders, according to the head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov.
In the last few days, the Ministry of Defense in Minsk said it was expecting the arrival of the next Russian military units and fighters from the Wagner mercenary group, who would take part in joint training with the Belarusian armed forces. Ukraine is fortifying its northern border with Belarus and Russia while encouraging civilians in some regions who still live near the border to migrate to safer places. United Armed Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Serhii Naiev said yesterday that Ukraine continues to “erect engineering barriers right along the state border; We’re digging anti-tank ditches and mining the area,” adding that the goal is to make the area “impassable.”
July 14, 2023 3:11 p.m
Erdogan: “Putin agrees to the extension of the wheat agreement”
“We agree on expanding the grain corridor in the Black Sea,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, referring to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s position on extending the July 17 agreement between Ankara, Moscow, Kiev and the United Nations Nations last year that declassified wheat exports from Ukraine. “We are preparing to receive Putin in Turkey in August,” Erdogan added, speaking to reporters at a conference broadcast by state television TRT after attending Friday prayers at an Istanbul mosque.