Russia-Ukraine war news: Russian oil tanker in Kerch Strait hit; The summit of Jeddah begins
Representatives from 40 countries attend Ukraine peace talks in Jeddah, a port city in Saudi Arabia. Russia will not be represented at the event, but China’s foreign ministry said a senior official was in attendance.
Here is the latest news about the war and its effects around the world.
The oil tanker Sig was “floating” and “uninjured” despite the damage to the engine room, The Russian water transport agency said on Telegram, adding that 11 members of the tanker’s crew were unharmed.
The marine drone that targeted the tanker was loaded with 450 kilos of explosives, a Ukrainian intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, told the Washington Post on Saturday. The tanker weighed nearly 5,000 tons and began “flooding” with water pouring into the vessel after the navy drone strike around midnight, the official said, adding that the explosion created “fireworks” visible from afar. The Post was unable to independently verify the claims.
Friday’s strike on a Russian warship known as the Minera Olenegorsky left it “unable to perform its combat functions,” a Ukrainian government official told The Post on Friday. But Andrey Kravchenko, the head of Novorossiysk city administration, said that no damage was done and that Russian forces “responded immediately and helped to avoid the consequences of the attack.” The Post was unable to independently verify the claims.
Kyiv had vowed retaliation for Russian strikes on Ukrainian port cities, which followed Moscow’s withdrawal from the UN-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative. The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov and separates Russia from Crimea, which Moscow annexed illegally in 2014. Russian officials had previously closed the Kerch Bridge, citing fears of an invasion on the main road, but traffic has since resumed. over the bridge, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hopes the Jeddah talks will continue until the fall to support principles based on his 10-point formula for peace. he is fall that it was essential for countries from the South to attend and discuss issues including food security and trade. “It is very important that the world sees: a fair and honest end to Russian aggression will benefit everyone in the world.”
The UN nuclear watchdog said it gained access to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after several requests. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement that it had not found any explosives at the plant or on its roofs after Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of planning to stage an attack at the largest facility of its kind in Europe. They have also traded blame for the state of decline at the centre. The IAEA said it would continue to inspect the facilities.
Russia plans to nearly double its defense budget to more than $100 billion, making it a third of public spending, Reuters reported. The increase comes as rising war costs pushed Russia’s budget deficit to around $28 billion in the first half of this year.
Russian soprano Anna Netrebko sued the Metropolitan Opera and its general manager, alleging that the institution’s decision to cancel its concerts following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused it to lose up to $360,000 in lost concerts and rehearsals and “severe mental disturbance and emotional distress.” The Opera asked last year that Netrebko – a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin before the war who has since distanced himself from the leader – would deny the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie visited Kyiv and met with Zelensky on Friday. Zelensky said in his evening speech that the two discussed “the importance of strengthening support for freedom, support for democracy.” Christie has expressed support for Ukraine as a democratic ally and his visit highlighted the sharp GOP divisions over US financial aid to Kyiv.
The United States is the main financial backer of Ukraine’s fight against Russia, pledging more than $60 billion in aid since the full-scale attack on Moscow began in February 2022. The Post took a look at how much US spending powers Ukraine’s defense.
Lithuania declared 1,164 Russian and Belarusian citizens living in the country a “threat” to national security, jeopardizing their residency status. The decision revokes some existing residence permits and rejects new applications for others, after the government’s Migration Department issued a mandatory questionnaire asking people to residents to give their views on the war in Ukraine and the status of Crimea, among other issues. Lithuania, a member of the European Union and NATO, declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 and has been a vocal supporter of Kyiv.
Navalny sentenced to 19 years for ‘terror’ as Kremlin cracks down on dissent: Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was convicted of “terrorism” charges on Friday and sentenced to 19 years in a “special regime” prison colony. The sentence bans family visits or even letters for 10 years and counting plus a sentence of more than 11 years, Robyn Dixon reports.
The cases are widely believed to have been brought up for political revenge. But the harsh nature of the sentence surprised even pro-Kremlin figures, one of whom wrote on social media that “Navalny has been terrible.”
“I understand very well, like many political prisoners, that I am sitting on a life sentence,” he said in a comment posted on social media after the verdict, saying that designed the brutality of the sentence to frighten the Russians as he urged them not to. lose the will to resist.
