July 18, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

A CNN team in Odesa witnessed a sustained barrage of air defense towards the southwest of the city, in the direction of the port.

Russia launched an attack on Odesa early Wednesday, the second night in a row the southern port city has been targeted.

Ukraine’s air defenses were repelling a Russian attack, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Odesa military administration said.

A CNN team in Odesa witnessed a sustained barrage from the air defense near the direction of the port. The team also heard at least three large bangs.

Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa region’s military administration, urged people not to come close to windows.

Russian forces launched airstrikes on Odesa on Tuesday in retaliation for Kyiv’s attack Monday on the strategic and symbolic Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to the Russian mainland.

Russia would be prepared to return to the critical Black Sea Grain Initiative if Moscow’s demands are met by international partners, according to remarks made by Russia’s permanent representative at the United Nations headquarters.

Gennady Gatilov’s comments come after the Kremlin said Monday that it is allowing a deal struck to allow the export of Ukrainian grain to expire.?

Here’s what else you should know:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is interviewed by CNN's Jake Tapper on Tuesday, July 18, in South Carolina.?

Gov.?Ron DeSantis downplayed the conflict in Ukraine in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday.

Some Republicans have grilled the Republican presidential candidate over his dismissal of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine as a “territorial dispute” not of “vital” national interest. During the interview, DeSantis doubled down, calling the war a “secondary or tertiary interest,” though he said he would be “willing to be helpful to bring it to a conclusion.”

Asked if he would stop arming Ukraine or sending financial support, DeSantis wouldn’t say. Instead, he advocated for turning the focus of the US military away from Europe and toward Asia and China.

“I am not gonna diminish our stocks and not send (them) to Taiwan. I’m not gonna make us less capable to respond to exigencies,” DeSantis told Tapper, calling the island’s future a “significant interest.”

Gennady Gatilov gives a press conference in Geneva, on April 26.

Russia would be prepared to return to the Black Sea grain deal if Moscow’s demands are met by international partners,?according to Russia’s permanent representative at the United Nations headquarters, Gennady Gatilov.

In remarks published on the Russian Foreign Ministry Telegram channel Tuesday in response to a question from Reuters, Gatilov accused the deal of deviating away from its “intended humanitarian purposes.”

Gatilov did say the UN “tried on its part to urge the Western governments and business structures to implement the Russian-UN Memorandum.”

“However, despite the efforts, the leadership of the UN Secretariat could not overcome the resistance of the Western countries and private companies, on which depended the fulfillment of our demands,” he said.

Gatilov also claimed that Ukraine “repeatedly used the Black Sea humanitarian route for provocations and attacks against Russian civilian and military vessels, as well as infrastructure.”

Two civilians have been killed and seven injured by Ukrainian shelling on Tuesday in different parts of separatist-controlled areas of the Donetsk region, a local official said.

“Two people have been killed today as a result of shelling by Ukrainian armed formations - [one each] in the Kirovskiy district of Donetsk and Vladymirovka in Volnovakha,”?the?head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Denis Pushilin, said in a Telegram message.?

“Another seven people were wounded in Donetsk, Makiivka and Staromikhailivka, including a 17-year-old boy,” the post added.

Several homes, two schools and a hospital were damaged by the shelling, he said.?

“The [DPR] Republic was shelled 93 times, with more than 490 MLRS rockets, including Turkish-made rockets, being fired, including 152mm and 155mm caliber artillery shells,” Pushilin added.?

Volodymyr Zelensky during a news conference on the closing day of the annual NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12.

Ukraine’s president is warning that Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal will result in more crises around the world.

“Last year, thanks to our Black Sea Grain Initiative, we managed to prevent a price crisis in the global food market. A price explosion would inevitably have been followed by political and migration crises, particularly in African and Asian countries,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday in his evening address.

He said a wide range of countries will feel the effects and that Ukraine is “working without partners to prevent this.” Russia pulled out of the deal on Monday.

Ukraine is developing options for action and agreements “to preserve Ukraine’s global role as a guarantor of food security, our maritime access to the global market, and jobs for Ukrainians in ports and the agricultural industry,” he said, adding Kyiv is “fighting for global security and for our Ukrainian farmers.”

Russia’s decision to pull out of the Black Sea grain deal was “very?deplorable,” as it will increase food insecurity around the world,?Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told CNN’s?Bianna Golodryga on Tuesday.?

“We just have to find alternative ways to get the grain out of Ukraine and onto the markets to those people most in need,” she said.

As for her country’s recent membership in NATO, Valtonen said it “was a decision that had to be made finally.” Finland decided to join the Western alliance following the invasion of Ukraine last year.

As for allowing Ukraine to join, Valtonen said any decision must await the end of hostilities.

The latest meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group — informally known as the Ramstein meeting — demonstrated the allies’ “unwavering support for Ukraine,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted on Tuesday.

Priority was placed on the supply of weapons and equipment Ukraine “urgently” needs to continue liberating occupied territory, he said.

Reznikov thanked Luxembourg and Estonia for their proposals on IT and Lithuania for their demining coalition initiative. He also thanked US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for leading “an unprecedented coalition against evil.”

“Together, we are working hard to achieve victory, a just peace and a better future,” he concluded.

Some background: The US and Europe are struggling to provide Ukraine with the large amount of ammunition it will need for a?prolonged counteroffensive?against Russia, and Western officials are racing to ramp up production to avoid shortages on the battlefield that could hinder Ukraine’s progress.

The?dwindling supply of artillery ammunition?has served as a wake-up call to NATO, US and Western officials told CNN, since the alliance did not adequately prepare for the possibility of a protracted land war in Europe following decades of relative peace.

A section of the Kerch Bridge damaged by an apparent strike by Ukrainian forces on Monday.

Ferry crossings across the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from Russia, have been suspended, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Republic of Crimea announced on Tuesday.

The announcement follows an apparent strike Monday by Ukrainian forces on the bridge, which damaged the road.

In addition to ferry crossings being suspended, there are severe traffic delays on the bridge that connects the Russian mainland to the annexed Crimean Peninsula and which is an important supply line for Russian forces.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar says Ukraine is creating conditions to continue advancing along the southern front.

“Remember the liberation of Kherson — it also took more than one day,” she added.

Her comments were supported by the Commander of the Tavria Joint Forces Operation, Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, who said Ukraine was making gains along the southern front.

“Fighting continues in the Tavria sector, with the Ukrainian Defence Forces gaining ground in some areas and the enemy retreating,” he wrote in Telegram.

“Over the last day, the enemy’s losses in killed and wounded amounted to more than three companies. 41 units of enemy military equipment were destroyed,” he added. “Four enemy ammunition depots were also destroyed.”

Ukraine also claimed gains in the east, around Bakhmut, and said it had stopped Russia’s push near Kupyansk.

“The enemy’s offensive in the Kupyansk sector is currently unsuccessful. Fighting continues, but the initiative is already on our side,” Maliar said in a Telegram post on Tuesday. “On the southern flank around Bakhmut today, as in all previous days, there was an advance of our troops.”

From right, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Assistant Secretary of Defense Celeste Wallander meet virtually with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on July 18.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive is “far from a failure” despite moving slower than anticipated, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Tuesday.

“It is far from a failure,” he added. “In my view, I think that it’s way too early to make that kind of call. I think there’s a lot of fighting left to go.”

Milley also said that Ukraine has a “significant amount of combat power not yet committed” to the counteroffensive.

“I will not say what’s going to happen in the future, because that’s going to be a Ukrainian decision as to where and when they commit their reserve, etc,” he said. “Right now they are preserving their combat power, and they are slowly and deliberately and steadily working their way through all these minefields.”

Ukrainian soldiers unload ammunition from a truck near Bakhmut, Ukraine, in April.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which met virtually Tuesday, discussed Ukraine’s “urgent need for ammunition.”

Some context: CNN?reported Tuesday?that the US and Europe are struggling to keep up with Ukraine’s ammunition needs as they battle Russian forces.

Grain is loaded onto a ship at the Chornomorsk port in Ukraine’s Odesa region in March.

Current land alternatives were not able to compensate for the loss of the Black Sea route after Russia decided to terminate the grain deal, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

Ukraine could not simply accept the deal was over, he added, vowing to work to try and find a solution.

“We have to find an alternative and there are very active discussions now … but the key message is a way out requires political will,” he said. “This is not an easy situation. We have to take risks and we have to demonstrate that we can carry on without Russia.”

“Every option is on the table now,” he added.?

There are alternative routes for Ukrainian grain and oilseed exports by rail through eastern Europe, but they can’t readily cope with the volume that Ukraine wants to export.

Russia’s attempt to secure concessions for its own exports by blocking the deal is “blackmail” that should “not be tolerated,” the minister also said. “Instead of playing this game, Russia should simply play in good faith and implement in good faith Black Sea Grain Initiative.”

Water flows over the collapsed Nova Kakhovka dam on June 7.

The Ukrainian government approved on Tuesday a plan for the reconstruction of the Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant (HPP), which was destroyed in June, the government announced in a statement.?

The restoration of irrigation systems in southern Ukraine is important for the country’s agriculture and the?Kakhovka HPP?will continue to play a key role,?Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said during a meeting with the Cabinet of Ministers.?

The project will be coordinated by Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy and the client will be the state-owned company Ukrhydroenergo, he said. The decision?to prepare for the restoration was made after consultations with experts, Shmyhal?said.?

The rebuilding of the Kakhovka plant will be beneficial for both the agricultural and energy sectors, he added.?

Some more context: On June 6, the dam, which powers the plant located in Kherson region, collapsed, unleashing widespread devastation and an ecological catastrophe. More than 100 people have died, according to Ukrainian officials.?

What caused the collapse is yet to be established?– whether it was targeted as part of Russia’s war in Ukraine, or whether it was a structural failure. Ukraine is blaming Russia for blowing up the dam.?

Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have accused Russia of committing “ecocide”?by blowing up the dam. Environmental experts have called on the international community to get large-scale environmental destruction recognized as an international crime, prosecutable at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

France's President Emmanuel Macron talks to journalists at the European Council Building in Brussels, Belgium, on July 18.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin made a “huge mistake” with his decision to “weaponize” food by pulling out of the critical Black Sea grain deal.??

Speaking to reporters at the Council of the European Union in Brussels on Tuesday, Macron said Russia assumed “a huge responsibility” towards numerous countries by participating in the UN-brokered grain deal.??

“Middle Eastern, African, even Asian countries are very much dependent on these agreements, which will be impacted by the unilateral decision of Russia,” Macron said.??

Macron stressed that France’s “responsibility” is to “facilitate” the export of grains, cereals, and fertilizers, as part of the farm initiative it launched last year to support countries grappling with food security issues.??

France initially responded to the news of Russia’s decision to exit the grain deal, accusing Putin of “blackmailing global food security.”??

In a statement Monday, the French foreign ministry called Russia “solely responsible” for blocking shipping in the Black Sea.??

More about the deal’s impact on global food security: The deal proved vital for stabilizing global food prices and bringing relief to the developing countries which rely on Ukrainian exports. The impact of the war on global food markets was immediate and extremely painful, especially because Ukraine is a major supplier of grain to the World Food Programme (WFP).

According to the European Commission, Ukraine accounts for 10% of the world wheat market, 15% of the corn market, and 13% of the barley market. It is also a key global player in the market of sunflower oil. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an UN body, warned at the time that as many as 47 million people could be pushed into “acute food insecurity” because of the war.

CNN’s Rob Picheta, Mick Krever and Anna Chernov contributed reporting to this post.

Members of the?Grom?special forces?unit?under Russia's Interior Ministry take part in a drill near Moscow, Russia, on November 29, 2019.

Russian President Vladimir Putin transferred the Grom special forces unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the jurisdiction of the Russian National Guard (or Rosgvardiya), which will allow it to be deployed to the front lines in Ukraine, said Alexander Khinshtein,?a member of the Russian Parliament from Putin’s United Russia party.?

“It emphasizes the key role of the National Guard in protecting the internal security of the country,” Khinshtein also said.?

Why this matters: Khinshtein indicated that while the Grom unit was unable to take part in the fight in Ukraine because it was part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, its transfer to the Russian National Guard changes that, giving Moscow another 7,000 men it can redeploy.?

“In the conditions of the special military operation, when?special rapid-response squad?and [the National Guard’s]?OMON (Special Purposes Mobile Unit)?are directly involved in the fight right on the front line - all this was fraught with serious problems and certainly did not bring victory closer,” he said.

The move comes just weeks after Putin met with the leadership and personnel of the Ministry of Defense, the Russian National Guard, the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, following?an attempted coup by the Wagner private military group.

The hold of the UN-chartered vessel MV Valsamitis is loaded with 25,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat to be transported to Kenya, and 5,000 tonnes to Ethiopia, at the port of Chornomorsk, Ukraine, on February 18.

Russia’s decision to terminate the Black Sea grain deal is a “stab on the back at global food security prices,” the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Tuesday.

Korir Sing’Oei, the principal secretary of foreign affairs, said in a tweet Tuesday that the decision “disproportionately impacts” countries in the Horn of Africa that have already been impacted by drought.

The Russian government said Monday that it is allowing a deal struck to allow the export of Ukrainian grain to expire. The deal allowed Ukraine to export grain from its ports and navigate safe passage through the Black Sea to Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait.??

A UN official said Monday that the main concern is the inevitable human suffering that will result from the deal’s termination. “There is simply too much at stake in a hungry and hurting world,” the official said.

More about the deal’s impact in Africa: The initiative has allowed for the export of nearly 33 million metric tons of food from Ukraine. The World Food Programme has shipped more than 725,000 tons to support humanitarian operations – relieving, the official said, hunger in some of the hardest hit corners of the world, including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.?

CNN’s Mick Krever contributed reporting to this post.

The TQ Samsun is the last grain ship to leave Ukraine under the Black Sea grain initiative. Seen here anchored in the Black Sea near the entrance of the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 17.

A senior European Union official said the EU is “extremely concerned” about Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and will expand its solidarity lanes to aid in exporting Ukraine’s grain.

Speaking to journalists in Brussels on Tuesday, the official said Moscow’s decision to leave the grain initiative was “putting in danger food security for hundreds of millions of people. And that is serious enough for Russia for Putin to reconsider.”

The official said the EU’s “first line of action is to work with the UN. Also with Türkiye.” Adding that a number of European Foreign Ministers who are in New York and “are talking to the Secretary General Guterres, to the UN staff” to urge “Russia to reconsider.”

“But it’s not for us to negotiate” the official explained, saying “it’s for the UN, it’s for Türkiye,” as “they understand to what extent this is a serious move.”

The official said that “at the same time we will be obviously working on expanding and reinforcing our solidarity lanes.”?

EU’s lifeline for Ukraine goods: The so-called “solidarity lanes” — established by the EU in May 2022 – are designed to provide alternative land routes for the exportation of Ukrainian grain after Moscow blockaded docks in the Black Sea region.?

The measures include new border posts, flexible customs checks, logistics support, prioritization of Ukrainian agricultural exports and new storage facilities on the EU’s side of the border.?

The EU official’s remarks come as Kyiv and its allies warn that the move could worsen food insecurity and increase prices.

Speaking last week, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: “The solidarity lanes have made it possible for 45 million tonnes of grain and agri-food products to be brought from Ukraine via the European Union to the rest of the world.”

What to know about the deal:?The agreement,?brokered last year?by Turkey and the UN, allowed Kyiv to export grain from its ports and navigate safe passage through the Black Sea after Moscow blockaded docks in the region.?The deal had been renewed three times, but Russia has argued that it has been hampered in exporting its own products.

Air strikes by both Russian and Ukrainian forces ramped up overnight, in the aftermath of Kyiv’s attack on the vital Crimea bridge Monday.

Here are the latest developments:

A technician at German armaments company Rheinmetall works on 155mm ammunition to be delivered to Ukrainian forces, at the Rheinmetall factory in Unterluess, Germany, on June 6.

The US and Europe are struggling to provide Ukraine with the large amount of ammunition it will need for a?prolonged counteroffensive?against Russia, and Western officials are racing to ramp up production to avoid shortages on the battlefield that could hinder Kyiv’s progress.

The?dwindling supply of artillery ammunition?has served as a wake-up call to NATO, US and Western officials told CNN, since the alliance did not adequately prepare for the possibility of a protracted land war in Europe following decades of relative peace.

US officials emphasized to CNN that there is a set level of munitions in US stockpiles around the world, essentially an emergency reserve, that the military is not willing to part ways with. The levels of those stockpiles are classified.

But officials say the US has been nearing that red line as it has continued to supply Ukraine with 155mm ammunition, the NATO standard used for artillery rounds. The US began ramping up ammunition production last year when it became clear that the war would drag on far longer than anticipated. But the ammunition will still take “years” to mass produce to acceptable levels, National Security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN Sunday.

A German government source told CNN that Berlin has taken steps to try to close existing gaps in ammunition stocks and to increase ammunition reserves, noting that the munitions for the Swiss-made Gepard tank, which has been provided to Ukraine, is now being produced in Germany. Ammunition from that new production line is expected to be delivered this summer, the source said, allowing Germany to ship its own rounds since Switzerland remains unwilling to send its supply.

Meanwhile, the UK will invest an additional 2.5 billion euros into stockpiles and munitions, and will also increase “investment in the resilience and readiness of the UK’s munitions infrastructure, including storage facilities,” according to the country’s newly released Defence Command Paper Refresh.

Read the full story here.

United States Agency for International Development Administrator?Samantha?Power?looks on while talking with Ukrainian rescuers during a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 17.

By pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal Russian President Vladimir Putin is risking the safety of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet, Samantha Power, the administrator of the US?Agency for International Development (USAID), told CNN Tuesday.

“The idea that Putin would play roulette with the hungriest people in the world at the time of the greatest food crisis in our lifetimes is just deeply disturbing,” Power said to CNN’s Alex Marquardt in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa.

The Kremlin said Monday that it was terminating its participation in the grain deal, which allowed Ukraine to export food from its ports and navigate safe passage through the Black Sea, to Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait. It came after Russia barricaded key ports in the region, cutting off Ukrainian grain exports to the rest of the world.

During her visit to Odesa, Power announced that the US government was providing $250 million dollars to support Ukraine’s agricultural sector, on top of $100 million already invested, according to USAID. The organization is seeking an additional $250 million “from the private sector, other donors, and foundations.”

The aid will be used to strengthen key agricultural infrastructure and will help Ukraine plan its 2023 sowing and harvesting demands.

Russia has regularly claimed that it did not receive the fully pledged benefit from the deal, and that Russian agricultural products cannot reach market. Power took issue with that characterization, calling it “absurd.”

She visited Odesa just hours after the Russian military launched what it called retaliatory strikes against the city, for Ukraine’s destruction of part of the Crimea bridge on Monday.

People line up for the ferry crossing after the closure of the bridge in Kerch, Russia, on July 17.

Russian tourist agencies have called on vacationers to Crimea not to abandon their planned trips, after Ukraine’s strike on the Kerch Bridge disrupted travel to the occupied peninsula.

“We have cancellations for the end of July and August,” Elena Bazhenova, head of the Laspi Crimean tour company said,?according to?The Russian Union of Tourist Industry. “Cancellations for these dates are only possible with penalties.”

Crimea is a popular Russian destination for summer vacations. But the destruction of a section of the bridge’s road span has upended the main route for car traffic.

As of 1 p.m. local time on Tuesday (5 a.m. ET), there were around 700 cars waiting to cross into Crimea and 500 cars waiting to travel in the opposite direction,?according to?a Telegram account devoted to Crimean travel.

Rail traffic continues to operate over the bridge, albeit with delays.

Russian-backed leaders in occupied southern Ukraine are encouraging drivers to use a land route through Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. That passes through devastated Mariupol?and Melitopol, which is regularly subject to long-range Ukrainian missile strikes.

Curfews have been lifted on the road to and from Crimea to allow for “round-the-clock” travel.

Russian state media RIA Novosti?reported Tuesday?that the line of cars waiting to enter Crimea at Chonhar checkpoint, in Ukraine’s Kherson region, stretched for more than 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles).

A tourist from the Russian city of Rostov told the Russian website Tourdom that she waited for several hours at the Chonhar checkpoint, before being sent to the back of the queue after trying to jump the line in the chaos.

A satellite image shows the first convoy of Wagner forces arriving at a Belarusian base on July 17.

The first convoy of Wagner forces have arrived at a previously disused military base in Belarus, with at least two more convoys on the move towards it, a CNN analysis of satellite imagery and social media videos has discovered.??

Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows a convoy of vehicles arriving at a Belarusian military base that has been vacant for years just after 11:00 a.m. local time Monday.?The convoy stretches all the way from the base to the highway off-ramp.?

Less than an hour later, an additional satellite image from Airbus shows the entire convoy parked at the base.?

CNN was able to confirm the arriving vehicles were Wagner forces because several vehicles in the Airbus satellite imagery match those seen in a video posted to social media that showed a convoy, flying Wagner flags, stopped along a highway in Russia.?CNN has also geolocated another video on social media, showing the Wagner convoy driving along the M5 highway in Belarus.??

A satellite image shows the first convoy of Wagner forces arriving at a Belarusian base on July 17.

CNN visited that military base at Asipovichy (or Osipovichi in Russian) on July 7, at the invitation of the Belarusian government.?Belarusian Maj. Gen. Leonid Kasinsky told CNN’s Matthew Chance at the time that the camp had been constructed for the training of Belarusian territorial defense and militia, but could also house Wagner fighters should they come to the country.

The convoy seen in the video included a number of tractor trailers, trucks, large flatbeds with bulldozers dump trucks, in addition to passenger vans and dozens of other civilian-style trucks and cars.?In total, CNN identified 115 new vehicles on the base, that were not there in past satellite imagery.?

It marks the first time Wagner forces have been spotted out and about after their failed insurrection attempt in June.??

Troop movements: Two additional Wagner convoys were on the move Monday afternoon in the direction of the base.?

A CNN analysis of videos posted to social media found?the convoys, also with vehicles flying Wagner flags, had stopped in two locations along a major Russian highway heading west toward Belarus.

The videos were authenticated and geolocated by CNN

One convoy contains at least 109 vehicles, and the other has at least 96 vehicles.?Both had dozens of civilian-style cars and trucks, in addition to vans, buses large tractor trailers, liquid transport vehicles and trailers and large military-style trucks.??

Some context: Archival satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows dozens of tents were erected at the base, which had been vacant for years, just days after Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin backed down from his attempted insurrection last month.

Belarusian leader Alexander?Lukashenko claimed to have brokered a deal between Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.?Since then, Lukashenko has invited Wagner forces into Belarus to help train his country’s military.??

Prigozhin’s whereabouts remain unknown.

A Russian military large landing ship sails near to the Kerch Bridge, Crimea, on July 17.

Russia is assessing how it will respond to Ukraine’s attack on the Crimea bridge earlier this week, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said ramped-up security measures “are being worked out” following the incident on the nearly 12-mile-long crossing, which links the occupied Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia. An official from Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told CNN that Monday’s attack was a joint operation of the SBU and Ukraine’s naval forces.

“Of course, they are being worked out,” Peskov said told journalists on a conference call, when asked whether President Vladimir Putin has already received proposals regarding Russia’s response and the enhancement of the bridge’s security.

Russian forces launched a “retaliatory strike” on parts of southern Ukraine overnight, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday.

Read more on the bridge here:

A view shows the section of a road split and sloping to one side following an alleged attack on the Crimea Bridge, on July 17 2023.

Related article Why the Crimean Bridge is so important to Vladimir Putin | CNN

This video grab taken from Crimea24TV footage on July 17, shows the damaged Kerch Bridge linking Crimea to Russia.

Moscow launched a barrage of drones and missiles at the Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight in retaliation to Kyiv’s attack on the Crimea bridge earlier this week, the Russian Defense ministry said Tuesday.

“Tonight the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group retaliation strike with precision sea-based weapons against facilities where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared using uncrewed boats, as well as the place where they were being manufactured at a ship repair plant near the city of Odessa,” the ministry said, using the Russian spelling for the southern city.

It is unclear whether those strikes indeed reached their targets as claimed. The Ukrainian Air Force said it intercepted all six Russian Kalibr cruise missiles launched at Odesa, as well as “the vast majority” of Iran-made Shahed attack drones.?

The Russian government said Monday that two Ukrainian seaborne drones were responsible for the attack on the bridge linking the?annexed Crimean peninsula?to the Russian mainland.?A source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) also told CNN the attack was a joint operation of the SBU and Ukraine’s naval forces.?

The nearly 12-mile crossing, also known as the Kerch Bridge, is the longest in Europe and holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Moscow. Monday’s attack on the bridge was the second since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, after a?fuel tanker exploded while driving over it in October.

CNN’s Victoria Butenko contributed reporting.

In this handout image a war crimes investigator examines the aftermath of a missile strike in Odesa, Ukraine, on July 17.

Ukrainian forces shot down Russian drones and missiles launched toward Ukraine’s southern regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv overnight, as Moscow ramped up bombardments following the attack on the Crimea Bridge earlier this week.

Russia launched Kalibr cruise missiles and Iranian-made Shahed drones at Ukrainian territory, according to a statement from the the Ukrainian Air Force.

“The Ukrainian Air Force destroyed six Kalibrs, 31 enemy Shahed-136/131 attack drones and one reconnaissance UAV,” the statement said.

“Kalibr cruise missiles and the vast majority of kamikaze drones were destroyed in the south – in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, while the remaining attack UAVs were destroyed in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.”

The air force said that the Kalibr cruise missiles were launched from a Russian frigate – a type of warship — in the Black Sea, and the Shahed drones were launched from Russian-occupied Crimea.

An excavator loads grain into a cargo ship at a grain port in Izmail, Ukraine, on April 26. On Monday Russia suspended an agreement,?brokered last year?by Turkey and the UN, which allowed Kyiv to export grain from its ports after Moscow blockaded docks in the region.

The head of Ukraine’s Presidential office claimed Tuesday that Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal exposed Moscow’s aim “to endanger the lives of 400 million people … that depend on Ukrainian food exports.”

Moscow pulled out of the agreement on Monday to widespread condemnation from Kyiv and its allies, who warned the move could?worsen food insecurity?and increase prices.

What to know about the deal:?The agreement,?brokered last year?by Turkey and the UN, allowed Kyiv to export grain from its ports and navigate safe passage through the Black Sea after Moscow blockaded docks in the region.?The deal had been renewed three times, but Russia has argued that it has been hampered in exporting its own products. Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated he would not renew the pact, saying its main purpose — to supply grain to countries in need — had “not been realized.”

A 72-year-old woman died after two dozen Ukrainian frontline settlements came under heavy Russian fire in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region over the past 24 hours, a Ukrainian military official said Tuesday.

Yurii Malashko, head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, said in a statement that the elderly victim died and five others were wounded in an airstrike on a residential area of the city of Orikhiv.

Russian attacks across the region damaged multiple civilian facilities, including homes, cars and other property, he said.

Russian air defenses intercepted a large Ukrainian drone attack targeting Crimea, Moscow’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.

In a Telegram post, the Defense Ministry said there were no casualties or damage from what it described as a “terrorist attack.”.

A total of 28 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) were intercepted, it said.

The reports come a day after the?key Crimean bridge?linking the annexed peninsula to Russia was hit by two strikes.

Bridge attack: A source from Ukraine’s security service (SBU) said the attack Monday on the Crimean bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, which killed a couple and injured their daughter, was?a joint operation?of the SBU and Ukraine’s naval forces.

The Kremlin?claimed two Ukrainian seaborne drones?struck the bridge, though it did not provide evidence for the allegation. The Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation later said the bridge was struck by?“naval drones.”

A part of a Russian cruise missile is seen inside a building damaged during a Russian missile and drone strike in?Odesa, Ukraine, on July 18.

Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted multiple Russian missiles and drones launched overnight from the Black Sea at the southern port city of Odesa, the Ukrainian military said Tuesday.

Fragments from six Kalibr cruise missiles destroyed by the Air Defence Forces damaged port infrastructure facilities and several homes, the Operational Command South said in a statement.

An elderly man was hospitalized after missile debris hit his home, the statement said.

An additional 21 Shahed-136 attack drones were destroyed near Odesa, while four others were shot down over the neighboring Mykolaiv region, where an industrial facility caught fire, the statement added.

The strikes came after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to respond to an apparent Ukrainian attack?Monday on the Crimean bridge connecting the annexed peninsula with Russia.

Vladimir Putin visits an exhibition in Moscow on July 13.

Russian President Vladimir Putin just reminded the world that he has the capacity to apply pain far beyond the excruciating torment he’s inflicting on Ukraine.

Russia’s suspension of a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain from a region fabled as the world’s bread basket threatens to cause severe food shortages in Africa and send prices spiraling in supermarkets in the developed world. In the United States, it represents a political risk for President Joe Biden, who is embarking on a reelection campaign and can hardly afford a rebound of the high inflation that hounded US consumers at its peak last year.

Russia’s decision looked at first sight like a face-saving reprisal for an attack claimed by Ukraine?on a bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula?to the Russian mainland. The bridge was a vanity project for Putin and the apparent assault represented another humiliation for the Russian leader in a war that has gone badly wrong.

The Black Sea grain deal, agreed last year and brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, was a rare diplomatic ray of light during a war that has shattered Russia’s relations with the US and its allies and has had global reverberations.

By refusing to renew it, Putin appears again to be seeking to impose a cost on the West, in return for the sanctions strangling the Russian economy. He may reason that a food inflation crisis might help splinter political support in NATO nations for the prolonged and expensive effort to save Ukraine. And grain shortages afflicting innocent people in the developing world could exacerbate international pressure for a negotiated end to a war that has turned into a disaster for Russia.

Read the full analysis here.

Russian forces launched airstrikes on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa early Tuesday — 24 hours after the?key Crimean bridge?linking the annexed peninsula to Russia was hit by two strikes.

Meanwhile, Moscow pulled out of a deal that allows Ukraine to safely export grain to the global market. The decision was widely criticized as Ukrainian officials urged world leaders to continue the agreement without Russia.

Catch up on the big developments in the war here:

Crimean bridge:

Black Sea grain deal:

Other developments:

Explosions were heard in the city of Odesa in southern Ukraine early Tuesday, about 24 hours after an apparent Ukrainian attack on the Crimean bridge that connects the annexed peninsula with Russia.

A CNN team on the ground heard air raid sirens around 2 a.m. local time and saw air defenses operating across the city, followed by four large explosions.

Searchlights were seen coming from the direction of Odesa’s port. The crew captured an object falling out of the sky on fire.

Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, said the Ukraine air defense was repelling a Russian air attack.

“Odesa: Air defense combat work is underway,” Bratchuk said in a Telegram post Tuesday.

Oleh Kiper, head of Odesa’s region’s military administration, said Russia was using drones.

He urged residents to stay in shelters until the air raid sirens ended.

Some background: A Ukrainian security official on Monday?claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for an attack on the bridge, a vital supply line for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and a personal project for President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian president Monday described the strike as a?“terrorist attack”?and vowed Moscow would respond.?

Shortly after midnight local time, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said?travel had resumed?on one lane on the bridge.

Russia has said traffic on the Crimean bridge has resumed in one lane after?Ukraine claimed responsibility for attacking it?on Monday.

Travel “resumed using the opposite direction on the rightmost lane,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said on Telegram Tuesday shortly after midnight local time.

Khusnullin said officials worked out a temporary solution for organizing traffic on the bridge, saying “the span was additionally tested before making a decision on the possibility of traffic re-opening.”

A video was circulated on social media — that CNN can not independently verify — shows two vehicles crossing the bridge during nighttime.??

A Ukrainian security official on Monday claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for an attack on the bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland — a vital supply line for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and a personal project for President Vladimir Putin.

The international community needs to “find the leverage” to move grain from Ukraine to the global market without Russia, the head of the Ukrainian Grain Association said Monday.?

Nikolay Gorbachov said he is “sure that Ukraine can export grain without Russia” if it is provided “international support.”?It comes after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal.

“The international community, developed countries have to find the leverage how to move grain from Ukraine to the world market,” the president told CNN. According to Gorbachov, this support could come from the Turkish fleet or insurance guarantees from companies.

Gorbachov refuted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that Ukraine has not fulfilled a vital part of the grain deal in ensuring grain is exported to poorer countries, calling it “manipulation.”?

?Although 60% of grain exported from Ukraine moves through European ports, it “doesn’t mean that Europe absorbs this grain as a final consumer,” he said, adding that Ukrainian grain feeds about 200 million people outside the country.

Gorbachov maintained that Ukraine’s status as one of the world’s leading grain producers should drive countries to intervene sooner rather than later.??

More than 100,000 Russian soldiers have gathered in the Kupyansk area to try and break Kyiv’s defenses, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said Monday.

He added Russian forces are “putting everything into breaking through our defense. Our soldiers are standing firm in defense.”

Cherevatyi said the Russian push in the area was to try and achieve some success after Ukraine seized the momentum around Bakhmut.?

In Bakhmut: Cherevatyi said Russian forces remained on the back foot in the eastern city, adding their casualties were increasing.?

Harvester works on a wheat fields in Prymorske, Ukraine on July 5.

Wheat and corn prices on global commodities markets jumped Monday after Russia?pulled out of a crucial deal?allowing the export of grain from Ukraine.

The collapse of the pact threatens to push up food prices for consumers worldwide and tip millions into hunger.

The White House said the deal had been “critical” to bringing down food prices around the globe, which spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade jumped 2.7% to $6.80 a bushel and corn futures rose 0.94% to $5.11 a bushel as traders feared an impending supply crunch of the staple foods.

The contracts gave up those gains later in the day. Wheat prices are still down 54% from the all-time high hit in March 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while corn prices are 37% lower than they were in April 2022, when they reached a 10-year high.

The Black Sea deal — originally brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year ago — has ensured the safe passage of ships carrying grain from Ukrainian ports. The agreement was set to expire at 5 p.m. ET Monday (midnight local time in Istanbul, Kyiv and Moscow).

So far the deal has allowed for the export of almost 33 million metric tons of food through Ukrainian ports, according to?UN data.

The deal had been renewed three times, but Russia has repeatedly threatened to pull out, arguing that it has been hampered in exporting its own products.

Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that he would not renew the pact, saying that its main purpose — to supply grain to countries in need — had “not been realized.”

Read more here.