July 18, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.