Vladimir Putin shows no sign of appeasement. The Russian president spoke on television when he met his Security Council on Friday July 20. Neither Western arms deliveries nor the Ukrainian counter-offensive, which according to him did not achieve “No result”. “The colossal resources that have been injected into the Kiev regime are not helping, and neither are the deliveries of Western weapons, tanks, artillery and missiles”, said the Russian president, looking head-on at the camera. Earlier today, Russia announced that its army was carrying out a military exercise in the Black Sea. This military corridor concentrates tensions between Ukraine and Russia, after the expiration of the grain agreement on Monday. Follow our live.
Strong textreme tours in the black sea. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian ships fired anti-ship cruise missiles “on a target boat in the combat training area of the northwestern part of the Black Sea”. After withdrawing from the Ukrainian grain deal, Russia now considers ships bound for Ukraine as “potential military boats”. Safety is no longer guaranteed for boats traveling in the northwest of the Black Sea, after the end of the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports.
A new strike on a grain terminal in Odessa. The Russian military targeted warehouses in the port city on Friday morning, regional governor Oleg Kiper reported on Telegram. “The enemy destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley”, he said, adding that two people were injured in the explosion. This is the fourth consecutive night of Russian strikes on Odessa.
The situation is also tense in Belarus. An attack in the country would be equivalent “to an aggression against the Russian Federation”, also warned on Friday. The Russian president has also warned that his army will use “all means” to protect Minsk. A reaction to the movement of Polish troops to the east of its territory. Battalions are deploying due to the potential threat posed by the presence of the private military group Wagner in Belarus, as reported by the official PAP agency. Warsaw is particularly worried about the joint training between these mercenaries and the Belarusian army in the Brest region, on the border with Poland.
Deserters from the Russian army eligible for reception in France. “Russians fleeing mobilization for the war in Ukraine and those mobilized who have deserted can obtain refugee status”, estimated Thursday the National Court of the right of asylum. She believes that“A Russian national called up as part of this mobilization is likely to commit, directly or indirectly, war crimes”. This doctrine, the first in France concerning deserters from the Russian army, is based on a European directive and a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Dismissal in Ukrainian diplomacy. By a decree published on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky dismisses his ambassador to London without a specific reason – a position that is nevertheless key in relations between Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Now on the go, Vadim Pristaïko had recently been critical of his president: he regretted that the latter had responded with “a bit of sarcasm” to the British Minister of Defence, during the last NATO summit in Lithuania. The latter had suggested to Ukraine to show more “gratitude” to allied countries for their military aid.