what to remember on the 152nd day of the russian invasion

Russian strikes against the Ukrainian port of Odessa are not an obstacle to Ukrainian grain exports and the implementation of an agreement signed under the aegis of the UN, the Kremlin said on Monday. The bombings “are only aimed at the military infrastructure. It is not at all related to the infrastructure used for the implementation of the agreement on grain exports”, estimated the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov .

“That is why it cannot and should not interfere with the start of the loading process,” he added during his daily telephone briefing to the press.

The Russian army on Saturday bombed the Ukrainian port of Odessa, vital for the Ukrainian grain trade. These strikes took place the day after the signing of an agreement involving Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN to allow cereal exports from Ukraine in order to reduce the risk of the world food crisis which is draws because of the Russian offensive.

The agreement provides for the establishment of secure corridors

The agreement signed Friday in Istanbul provides in particular for the establishment of secure corridors to allow the circulation in the Black Sea of ​​merchant ships and the export of 20 to 25 million tonnes of grain cereals blocked in Ukraine.

The export of wheat, corn and sunflower from Ukraine was 90% by sea and mainly through Odessa, the main Ukrainian port in the Black Sea, which concentrated 60% of the country’s port activity.

Ukraine expects first exports ‘as early as this week’

Ukraine said on Monday it expects to resume its first grain exports since the war “as soon as this week”, after the signing of an agreement with Moscow and despite the bombardment by the Russian army on Saturday of the major port of Odessa .

“We expect the agreement to start working in the next few days and we expect a coordination center to be set up in Istanbul in the next few days. We are preparing everything to start as early as this week,” the official said. Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov at a press conference.

Gazprom is preparing to drastically cut its deliveries to Europe

The Russian gas giant announced on Monday that it would drastically reduce from Wednesday, to 33 million cubic meters daily, deliveries of Russian gas to Europe via the Nord Stream gas pipeline, arguing the need for maintenance of a turbine.

Russia had already cut the volume of its deliveries twice in June, saying that the gas pipeline could not function normally without a turbine which was being repaired in Canada and which had not returned to Russia because of the sanctions imposed by the Westerners following the Russian assault on Ukraine.

For Berlin, it is a “political” decision and a “pretext” to influence Westerners in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. “According to our information, there is no technical reason to reduce deliveries,” a spokeswoman for the German economy ministry told AFP.

Zelensky expects a “response” from Europe in the face of the “gas war”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday called on Europe to “retaliate” to Russia’s “gas war” by tightening European sanctions against Moscow.

“Today we heard new gas threats to Europe (…) It is an open gas war that Russia is waging against united Europe”, said the head of state in his daily video message . “That’s why you have to fight back. Don’t think about how to bring back a turbine, but strengthen the sanctions,” he added.