July 25, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Kathleen Magramo, Tara Subramaniam, Aditi Sangal, Mike Hayes, Meg Wagner and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN

Updated 3:42 a.m. ET, July 26, 2022
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4:58 a.m. ET, July 25, 2022

US working on "Plan B" for Ukrainian grain exports after Odesa bombing, USAID administrator says

From CNN's Larry Madowo, Bethlehem Feleke and Niamh Kennedy

The United States is working with Ukraine on a "Plan B" to get grain exports out of the country following Russia's attack on the port of Odesa, according to United States Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power. 

"Plan B involves road and rail and river and sending in barges and adjusting the rail systems so that they're better aligned with those in Europe so that the exports can move out more quickly," Power told CNN's Larry Madowo in an interview in Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday, after visiting drought-stricken areas of Kenya and Somalia last week.

"We have been living the contingency plan because there's no way you can trust anything that Vladimir Putin says," she continued. 

Power stressed that despite the security afforded by a contingency plan, "there is no substitute for Putin allowing the blockade to end and the grains being sent out the most efficient way possible."

On Friday, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal allowing for the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea after months of tough negotiations, mediated by Turkey and the United Nations.

However just one day later, Russia carried out a missile strike on the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa, where vital grain stocks have been lying in storage. 

More than half of Somalia's wheat imports come from Ukraine, said Power, adding that 20 million metric tons of wheat and corn are still trapped at the port of Odesa.

Power said she hopes that that the grain deal "somehow sticks" despite Russia's move to "immediately turn its back" on it by bombing the port.

Ensuring the supply of grain will help drive down prices, Power said.

"Even the specter of this deal working and being enforced and the grains leaving the port brought prices down, even in a 24-hour period," she said. "So, more supply with the same amount of demand is going to mean lower prices."

Last week, the US announced an additional $1.3 billion in humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa, with unprecedented drought across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. 

Power called on countries that play "leadership roles in the international system, such as the People's Republic of China clearly aspires to do," to "dig deeper" to prevent the food crisis "from becoming a catastrophe."

5:06 a.m. ET, July 25, 2022

Russian FM Sergei Lavrov aiming to rally support on Africa tour

From CNN's Darya Tarasova, Mostafa Salem, Chris Liakos

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, right, attend a joint news conference following their talks in Cairo, Egypt, on July 24.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, right, attend a joint news conference following their talks in Cairo, Egypt, on July 24. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/AP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in Africa this week to demonstrate Russian commitment to the region and shore up alliances amid the war in Ukraine.

On Sunday, Lavrov visited Egypt, meeting with top officials including Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri and Arab League secretary general Ahmed Aboulgheit, discussing the issue of grain exports from Ukraine and claiming that Moscow is open to negotiations with Kyiv.

Egypt is the world’s biggest importer of wheat, relying heavily on Ukraine and Russia for supplies to feed a population of 100 million. 

Lavrov will also travel to Ethiopia, Uganda and the Republic of Congo.

Most African countries have not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as they seek to maintain balance in their relationships with Russia and western countries.

“The Africans are reciprocating. They are interested in having us. We never engaged in teaching them anything, but helped them overcome their problems so that they could live in their country the way they wanted to,” Lavrov told Russian state media in an interview before he started his tour.

“To this day, we are not lecturing them, unlike the Americans who go around Africa telling everyone ‘do not talk with the Chinese or the Russians,'" he said. "All they care about is their selfish interests, even when they trade with you.”

3:27 a.m. ET, July 25, 2022

Ukrainians talk up progress against Russian forces in southern Kherson region

From CNN's Tim Lister and Julia Kesaieva

Ukrainian officials say they are confident of progress on the battlefield in the southern region of Kherson, as strikes against Russian command posts and ammunition depots impede the invading force's defensive capabilities.

Serhii Khlan, an adviser to the head of the Kherson civil military administration, said that last week Ukrainian forces carried out "very successful strategic operations, as bridges that helped supply ammunition and equipment to the enemy's network were hit."

"It was a turning point in our fight for Kherson," he said.

Khlan said the success was down to the coordination of the resistance movement in the occupied territories with Ukrainian forces.

"These are very precise hits on the ammo warehouses, elimination of the command posts and personnel, radio-location systems and yesterday a whole bunch of S-300 systems, which had been shelling Mykolaiv were destroyed," Khlan said.

CNN is unable to confirm the claims.

Bridges destroyed: Khlan said civilians and passenger vehicles were still able to use damaged bridges that cross the Dnipro River, but the structures were not stable enough for heavy vehicles and trucks.

Images and video circulating last week showed the Antonivskyi bridge still standing but with substantial holes puncturing its surface after they were hit in Ukrainian strikes last week.

The bridge was a key element in the supply of a group of Russian troops to Kherson through the left bank of the river, according to Khlan.

He said the armed forces had also hit a bridge across the Inhulets river, a tributary of the Dnipro River.

Russian counterattacks fail: Ukraine's Operational Command South reported Monday that two Russian counterattacks in Kherson had been unsuccessful and they had retreated with losses.

It also said that Ukrainian combat aircraft and helicopters had carried out several strikes in the Beryslav district of Kherson. It claimed that several tanks and howitzers had been destroyed, and the command post of Russia's 785th National Guard unit and two warehouses with ammunition were also destroyed.

6:27 a.m. ET, July 25, 2022

Russian missiles hit Ukraine's Odesa port just a day after a grain export deal was agreed. Here's what we know

Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, Ukraine, on July 23.
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, Ukraine, on July 23. (Joint Forces of the South Defence/Reuters)

Less than 24 hours after agreeing to allow grain exports to resume from Ukraine, two sea-launched Russian Kalibr cruise missiles struck Odesa — the main port named in the deal signed in Istanbul on Friday.

The Russian attack on Saturday has cast doubt on the future of the agreement, which aims to ease the global food crisis sparked by war and Moscow's months-long blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

Here's the latest:

  • What Russia said: Initially, Moscow denied involvement in the strikes, with the Kremlin telling Turkey — which helped broker the grain deal — that "in no uncertain terms" it had "nothing to do with this attack." But 12 hours later, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed the Russian strikes, saying they had destroyed "military infrastructure" with "high precision" missiles.
  • What Ukraine and its allies said: Serhii Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa military administration, said two missiles hit the infrastructure of the port and two were shot down by Ukraine's air defense. Ukraine officials are still working to prepare ports to export grain, but US officials said they were "deeply concerned" and were working with Ukraine on a "Plan B" to get grain exports out of the country. USAID administrator Samantha Power said she hoped the grain deal "somehow sticks" despite Russia's move to "immediately turn its back" on the agreement. Meanwhile, UK Foreign Minister Liz Truss said the attack "shows not a word [Russian President Vladimir Putin] says can be trusted."
  • Why the deal matters: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that the agreement would spare billions of people from hunger. The UN, leaders and experts have warned of a catastrophic food crisis as grain shipments have not been able to reach the global market. The Kremlin has previously rejected accusations that Russia is obstructing the export of grain from Ukraine and instead blamed the West and Kyiv.
  • Some context: Around 20 million metric tons of grain are held up in Ukraine, where the summer harvest is now well underway. The deal would allow 5 million metric tons of grain exports per month from three Ukrainian ports, a senior UN official said Friday.
  • What's in the deal? No ceasefire was explicitly agreed, though Russia "committed to facilitate the unimpeded export of food, sunflower oil and fertilizers," according to a statement from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' office. In exchange, Guterres agreed to effectively ease some sanctions against Russia for food and fertilizer.
  • When will grain exports resume? Speaking in Istanbul after the strike, Ukrainian deputy infrastructure minister Yurii Vaskov said technical meetings to implement the deal were ongoing. Turkey's Defense Ministry said "coordination between authorities continues for the first ship loaded with grain to start sailing from Ukrainian ports as soon as possible." Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Russian military vessels would help escort the cargo ships once grain exports restart.
2:55 a.m. ET, July 25, 2022

Analysis: Russia's Odesa attack shows its true colors after grain export deal

Analysis from CNN's Nic Robertson in Kyiv, Ukraine

Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, Ukraine, on July 23.
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, Ukraine, on July 23. (Joint Forces of the South Defence/Reuters)

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres looked simultaneously relieved and apprehensive as the grain export deal he brokered was signed in front of him in Istanbul on Friday.

Immediately following the signatures by Russia, Ukraine, and intermediary Turkey, the UN secretary general said the deal offered a "beacon of hope," heralding food relief for the developing world.

Sadly for Guterres and all those counting on the much-needed food, his months of diplomatic slog — including visits to Moscow and Kyiv to nail the deal — ultimately illuminated the limitations of trusting Russia.

There is no explicit ceasefire in the deal, but Russia's obligations were clearly spelled out: "The Russian Federation has committed to facilitate the unimpeded export of food, sunflower oil and fertilizers," a statement from Guterres' office said.

Less than 24 hours after its signing, the post-deal calm in Odesa — the principle port named in the accord — was shattered as two sea-launched Russian Kalibr cruise missiles slammed into the harbor.

Russia's apparent coda to the grain agreement it had signed has been deplored by Ukraine and its allies — and widely held as proof of its duplicity.

Putin's weakness: Russia's invasion of one of the world's breadbaskets has caused global food insecurity, yet Moscow got concessions through the deal in order to allow Ukraine's grain to flow. That's usually called extortion.

To get Russia to release the grain by ending blockades on Ukrainian ports, Guterres had to strike a parallel deal on the side with Russia, effectively easing some sanctions on food and fertilizer. UN officials explained the diplomacy as "based on the principle that measures imposed on the Russian Federation do not apply to these products."

Clearing those sanctions will bring money into Moscow's coffers — which is perhaps the enduring takeaway of Guterres' deal: Putin will make limited compromises for cash.

But in doing so, Putin has perhaps revealed, like Tolkien's Smaug, a potentially fatal vulnerability in his defenses. The mythical dragon's weakness was a missing scale, and Putin's appears to be the economic bite of international sanctions. Whatever his other reasons for agreeing to the deal, the need to pay for the war likely weighs heaviest.

Read the full analysis here.

1:02 a.m. ET, July 25, 2022

US working on "Plan B" for Ukrainian grain exports following Odesa strikes, says USAID

From CNN's Larry Madowo, Bethlehem Feleke and Niamh Kennedy

The United States is working with Ukraine on a "Plan B" to get grain exports out of the country following Russia's attack on the port of Odesa, US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Samantha Power said Sunday.

The strikes came just a day after Kyiv and Moscow signed an agreement to allow grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, leading to anger and concern over the future of a deal aimed at easing the global food crisis sparked by war.

"Plan B involves road and rail and river and sending in barges and adjusting the rail systems so that they're better aligned with those in Europe so that the exports can move out more quickly," Power told CNN's Larry Madowo in Nairobi, Kenya.
"We have been living the contingency plan because there's no way you can trust anything that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin says."

Some 20 million metric tons of wheat and corn are trapped at the port of Odesa, Power said, adding that despite the food security afforded by alternative routes out of Ukraine, "there is no substitute for Putin allowing the blockade to end and the grains being sent out the most efficient way possible."

She said she hoped the grain deal "somehow sticks" despite Russia's move to "immediately turn its back" on the agreement by attacking Odesa — the main port named in the accord.

US food aid: Last week, the US announced an additional $1.3 billion in humanitarian aid to the Horn of Africa, which is experiencing unprecedented levels of drought across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. 

"More than half of the wheat in the country of Somalia comes from Ukraine, it's trapped in the port of Odesa," Power said.
3:04 a.m. ET, July 25, 2022

Mother identifies son as one of two Americans killed in Ukraine's Donbas region

From CNN's Keith Allen and Steve Forrest

Luke Lucyszyn was one of two Americans who recently died in the Donbas region of Ukraine, according to his mother Kathy Lucyszyn.
Luke Lucyszyn was one of two Americans who recently died in the Donbas region of Ukraine, according to his mother Kathy Lucyszyn. (Kathy Lucyszyn)

One of the two American citizens who recently died in the Donbas region of Ukraine has been identified as Luke Lucyszyn, his mother told CNN.

Kathy Lucyszyn said she was informed of her son's death by the US State Department.

The State Department confirmed the deaths of two Americans to CNN on Saturday, but a spokesperson did not provide any details about the individuals or the circumstances. The spokesperson said they had been "in touch with the families and providing all possible consular assistance."

Politico first reported that Lucyszyn was killed.

Asked Saturday about the condition of Alexander Drueke and Andy Hunyh, two Americans captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine, the spokesperson said they had "been in contact with the Ukrainian and Russian authorities regarding US citizens who may have been captured by Russia's forces or proxies while fighting in Ukraine."

"We call on Russia to live up to its international obligations to treat all individuals captured fighting with Ukraine's armed forces as prisoners of war," they said.
2:41 a.m. ET, July 25, 2022

Russian and Turkish military will escort ships carrying Ukrainian grain in Black Sea, Lavrov says

From CNN's Darya Tarasova, Mostafa Salem, Chris Liakos

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, left, receives Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, at the organization's headquarters in the Cairo, on July 24.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, left, receives Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, at the organization's headquarters in the Cairo, on July 24. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)

Russia and Turkey will use "military naval forces" to escort vessels carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea into the Bosporus once transport restarts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday.

Lavrov added that "another participant, to be determined" will also be escorting the ships carrying Ukrainian grain, without providing more details.

"Ukraine does the mine clearance, lets the ships out to the high seas, Russia, Turkey, together with another participant, to be determined, accompany the convoys to the [Bosporus] straits," Lavrov said during a meeting with Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Defense Ministry said in a statement that "coordination between authorities continues for the first ship loaded with grain to start sailing from Ukrainian ports as soon as possible."

Ukraine and Russia agreed a deal Friday that would allow the resumption of vital grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports — a major diplomatic breakthrough aimed at easing a global food crisis sparked by the war. As part of the deal, grain ships would navigate through a safe corridor in the Black Sea under the direction of Ukrainian pilots, and then pass through the Bosporus strait — an important shipping corridor in northwest Turkey — in order to reach global markets.

Ukraine blamed: During an earlier meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Lavrov placed the blame on Ukraine for the stagnation in any further negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.

"We do not have any prejudice against resuming negotiations on a wider range of issues …the Ukrainian authorities, starting from the President down … constantly declare that there will be no negotiations until Ukraine defeats Russia on the battlefield," he said.
"But the longer they continue to demand from Ukraine to fight to the bitter end — and we all understand what and whose end will come — the more people will die and the longer the current situation will persist." 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the Arab League meeting at its headquarters in Cairo, on July 24.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the Arab League meeting at its headquarters in Cairo, on July 24. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)

Africa tour: Egypt is the first stop on Lavrov's Africa trip, where he will also meet with top officials in Ethiopia, Uganda and the Republic of Congo. Egypt is the world’s biggest importer of wheat, relying heavily on Ukraine and Russia for a supply to feed its 100 million population. 

Lavrov’s trip is aimed at rallying support and reaffirming alliances with Russia, and comes a week after US President Joe Biden visited Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia.

Most African countries have not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as they have sought to maintain a balance in their relationships with Russia and Western countries.

12:54 a.m. ET, July 25, 2022

Kirby calls Russian missile strikes in Odesa "deeply concerning"

From CNN's Jasmine Wright

Russian missile strikes on the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa on Saturday were "deeply concerning," John Kirby, US National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said on MSNBC on Sunday.

The strikes came just a day after Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement to allow grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, leading to anger and concern over the future of a deal aimed at easing the global food crisis sparked by war.

"Unfortunately, I mean, what we saw yesterday is indicative of Russian behavior in the past, where they commit to things and then of course don't follow through," Kirby said.

Kirby’s comments track with a warning he offered last week, when he said implementing the grain agreement would require all sides' adhering to their commitments.

"The Ukrainians today said that they still consider this arrangement in effect, that's positive," Kirby said, adding that Washington will be "watching this closely," to see if Moscow meets its commitments.
"But the strikes at the port of Odesa actually came very close to some grain terminals. It's not clear exactly what the damage was. But it was clearly at the port of Odesa. And that's deeply concerning," Kirby added.

CNN previously reported that on Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the Kremlin struck the port with "high precision" Kalibr missiles, destroying Ukrainian "military infrastructure."

Kirby warned of continued food insecurity issues should the grain deal fall through.