A day after Russian missiles struck Ukrainian city Vinnytsia, far behind the frontlines, in an attack Kyiv officials said killed at least 23 people and constituted another war crime against civilians, Western Finance Ministers condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine at G20 talks in Indonesia on Friday, accusing Russian officials of complicity in atrocities committed during the war.
“Russia is solely responsible for negative spillovers to the global economy,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Russian delegation in the opening session, according to a Treasury official. Russian President Vladimir Putin was “using food as a weapon of war,” she said, citing “the destruction of agricultural facilities, theft of grain and farm equipment, and the effective blockade of Black Sea ports.”
Explained | Is NATO stronger after Ukraine invasion?
She was joined by Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who told Russia’s delegation they were responsible for “war crimes” in Ukraine because of their support for the invasion, a Canadian official said.
Earlier on Thursday, as Russia pressed its offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, the United States and more than 40 other countries agreed to coordinate investigations into suspected war crimes. Russia reiterated that it does not target civilians in what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, and said its attack struck a military training facility.
Opinion | Why the world needs peace in Ukraine
Here are the latest updates:
Ukrainian rescue teams hunt for survivors in Vinnytsia
Rescue teams with sniffer dogs combed through debris in Vinnytsia.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry claimed Friday that Russian forces had conducted more than 17,000 strikes on civilian targets during the war, driving millions from their homes, killing thousands of fighters and civilians and rippling through the world economy by hiking prices and crimping exports of key Ukrainian and Russian products like foodstuffs, fuel and fertilizer.
More than 73 people — including four children — remained hospitalized and 18 people were missing after Thursday's strike, said Oleksandr Kutovyi, spokesman for the emergency service in the Vinnytsia region. Search teams were poring over two sites on Friday — an office building with a medical center inside, and a concert hall near an outdoor recreation area and park, where mothers with children often stroll.
Vinnytsia Gov. Serhiy Borzov said only 10 people among the nearly two dozen killed had been identified so far.
“Russia deliberately hit civilians and all those responsible for the crime must be brought to account,” he said, denouncing the “barbaric behavior by Russia that tramples on international humanitarian law.”
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a deputy head of the president’s office, said three missiles were used.
“There is no answer to the question why yesterday, and why in Vinnytsia,” Mr. Tymoshenko said. “We expect every second and minute that this could happen in any corner of Ukraine.” - AP
Russia says building struck in Ukraine’s Vinnytsia was military target
Russia’s defence ministry said Thursday’s cruise missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia was directed at a building where top officials from Ukraine’s armed forces were meeting foreign arms suppliers.
Ukraine has denied any military target was hit, saying the attack killed at least 23 people and struck a cultural centre used by retired veterans.
“On July 14, Kalibr (cruise) missiles were launched at the House of Officers in Vinnytsia,” Russia’s defence ministry said in its daily update.-Reuters
Briton captured by separatists in Donetsk dies in detention: official
Paul Urey, a British man captured by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine, has died in detention, Moscow-backed separatists said on Friday.
“He died on July 10,” Darya Morozova, a representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said on Telegram, adding that he had diabetes.
Non-governmental organisations describe Urey as a humanitarian who worked as an aid volunteer in Ukraine, while Moscow-backed separatists insist he was a “professional” soldier.-AFP
Ukraine grain exports down 35.4% so far in 2022/23 season, says country’s Agriculture Ministry
Ukraine’s grain exports in the first seven days of July, the first month of the new 2022/23 season, were down 35.4% year on year at 598,000 tonnes, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday.
Grain exports for the 2021/22 season ending June 30 rose 8.5% to 48.5 million tonnes, driven by strong shipments before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Ukraine’s grain exports have slumped since the start of the war because its Black Sea ports - a key route for shipments - have been largely closed off, driving up global food prices and prompting fears of shortages in Africa and the Middle East. -Reuters
EU to target Russian gold in next sanctions package: commissioner
The European Union will target Russian gold exports in its next sanction package and seek to “close exit routes” for those bypassing its earlier packages, an EU commissioner said Friday.
The EU will look into “ways we could slap a sanction regime on gold, which is an important commodity for exports from Russia”, Maros Sefcovic, deputy head of the European Commission, said in Prague. -AFP
70% of Germans back Ukraine despite high energy prices - poll
A strong majority of Germans wants to continue supporting Ukraine in fighting against Russia even if it means paying more for energy, according to a survey published on Friday.
Some 70% of those polled backed Germany’s support for Ukraine, though the number of people who wanted stronger military support dropped to 35% from 44% in early July, found the survey conducted between July 12-14 by broadcaster ZDF. 22% said they did not want Germany to support Ukraine, with the goal of returning to lower energy prices, it added. -Reuters
G20 talks | U.S., Canada condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine
Western finance ministers condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine at G20 talks in Indonesia Friday, accusing Russian officials of complicity in atrocities committed during the war.
The two-day meeting on the island of Bali began under the shadow of a Russian military assault that has roiled markets, spiked food prices and stoked breakneck inflation, a week after Moscow’s top diplomat walked out of talks with the forum’s foreign ministers.
“Russia is solely responsible for negative spillovers to the global economy,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Russian delegation in the opening session, according to a Treasury official.
“Russia’s officials should recognise that they are adding to the horrific consequences of this war through their continued support of the Putin regime. You share responsibility for the innocent lives lost.”
She was joined by Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who told Russia’s delegation they were responsible for “war crimes” in Ukraine because of their support for the invasion, a Canadian official said.
“It is not only generals who commit war crimes, it is the economic technocrats who allow the war to happen and to continue,” said Freeland, according to the official.
Both Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko are participating virtually in the meeting. -AFP
G20 must act to address short-term food insecurity crisis exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, says U.S. Treasury Secretary
Speaking at a meeting of G20 finance officials in Indonesia on Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged group’s major economies to take urgent action to address a short-term food insecurity crisis exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, and avoid market-distorting export restrictions and stockpiling. Ms. Yellen said countries should target fiscal support measures to help those most in need, rather than adopting costly and regressive blanket subsidies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was “using food as a weapon of war,” she said, citing “the destruction of agricultural facilities, theft of grain and farm equipment, and the effective blockade of Black Sea ports.”
Ms. Yellen said poor households in the poorest countries were the most directly affected, setting back development and undermining efforts to eradicate poverty. “We must take action to address the short-term food insecurity crisis and, equally importantly, the longer-term drivers of food insecurity, including the nexus with climate change,” she said. “The speed and wisdom of our decisions now will make the difference on whether we get the current crisis under control.” -Reuters
G20 finance leaders in Bali to tackle Ukraine, inflation
Top financial officials from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations met on the Indonesian island of Bali on Friday seeking strategies to counter the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine, inflation and other global crises.
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati opened the two-day meeting by urging fellow finance ministers, central bank chiefs and other leaders to find ways to “build bridges, not walls.” She said the consequences of failure, especially for less wealthy nations, would be “catastrophic.”
“Millions and millions if not billions of people are depending on us,” Ms. Indrawati said. -AP
Britain says Bakhmut likely to be Russia’s next objective in Ukraine
Russian forces have been slowly advancing westwards following shelling and probing assaults towards the town of Siversk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region from Lysychansk, Britain’s Defence Ministry said on Friday.
“Bakhmut is likely to be the next objective, once Siversk is secured,” the Ministry tweeted in a regular bulletin. -Reuters
North Korea says Ukraine can’t talk about sovereignty while aiding U.S.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Ukraine has no right to raise sovereignty issues after joining the United States’ “unjust, illegal” actions that breached Pyongyang’s sovereignty.
North Korea’s state media released a statement from the Ministry after formally recognising two Russian-backed breakaway self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine as independent states.
Ukraine severed relations with North Korea after the move, calling it an attempt to undermine its sovereignty and territorial integrity. -Reuters
Ukraine overshadows G20
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemned Russia’s “brutal and unjust war” at the opening of a G20 meeting in Indonesia on Friday, and said Russian finance officials taking part in talks shared responsibility. “By starting this war, Russia is solely responsible for negative spillovers to the global economy, particularly higher commodity prices,” she said.
Russian officials participating in the meeting were “adding to the horrific consequences of this war through their continued support of the Putin regime”, she added. “You share responsibility for the innocent lives lost and the ongoing human and economic toll that the war is causing around the world,” she said, addressing the Russian officials. -Reuters
Deadly missile strike kills at least 23 in Vinnytsia
Russian missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding several more in what Ukraine’s President called “an open act of terrorism” on the country’s civilian population in areas with no military value.
Ukraine’s national police said three missiles hit an office building and damaged nearby residential buildings in the city located southwest of the capital Kyiv. The missile strike ignited a fire that expanded to engulf 50 cars in an adjacent parking lot..
