Ian Patrick, FISM News
The Turkish government announced on Thursday that it has brokered a deal between Russia and Ukraine to allow for the reopening of Black Sea ports which will allow grain exports to resume. The deal will reportedly be signed later today.
Full details of the accord were not released, but Russian state news agency TASS cited a source as saying that three Ukrainian ports would be opened. This includes Odesa, the biggest export hub for the nation.
Other diplomats stated that the plan would include grain-carrying ships being guided through the mined ports and Turkey inspecting vessels to prevent weapons smuggling.
Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podoloyak tweeted a clarification on the deal, saying Ukraine is not signing an agreement with Russia. Rather, the deal outlines obligations to Turkey and the United Nations while Russia signs a “mirror agreement” with the same entities.
Podoloyak also said that any “provocations” from Russia would result in “an immediate military response” from Ukraine.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that this will mark “the first step to solve the current food crisis.”
The global food supply shortage has grown since Russia blocked Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn, and sunflower oil but has been unable to move past the blockades.
Russia previously blamed the food supply crisis on Western sanctions and asked for them to be lifted. The West denied that sanctions have had an impact on food exports. U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken previously stated that food, fertilizer, and seeds are exempt from sanctions.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are to attend the meeting between Russia’s Defense Minister and Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister. Guterres is expected to co-sign the accords.
Russian barrage on Donetsk school kills 3
Despite the progression in negotiations, the battle rages on within Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office reported that a Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk in the Donetsk province struck a school and 85 other residential buildings.
Ukrainian emergency officials discovered three bodies in the school’s rubble.
Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that these attacks “on schools and hospitals are very painful and reflect its true goal of reducing peaceful cities to ruins.”
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov claimed the attack killed 300 Ukrainian troops using the school as a base.
These casualties followed a barrage in Kharkiv which resulted in another 3 deaths and 23 injuries.
Russia claims destruction of HIMARS, Ukraine denies
In another part of the battlefront, Russia’s defense ministry claimed on Friday that it destroyed four high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) supplied to Ukraine by the United States.
In a daily briefing reported by Reuters, Russia said that “four launchers and one reloading vehicle for the U.S.-made multiple launch rocket systems” were destroyed between July 5 and July 20.
Ukraine denies that their HIMARS were destroyed and called the claims “fakes” intended to undermine future support. An adviser to Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said that the military was still using the HIMARS to “cause numerous losses to the aggressor state.”
The systems allow Ukrainian soldiers to strike targets at a longer distance compared to current artillery systems. The military has used HIMARS to strike a bridge across the Dnipro River in Russian-controlled territory within Kherson.