A Chinese consular building has been damaged in a third successive night of air strikes on southern Ukrainian port cities, Ukrainian officials have said.
Key points:
- Kyiv has long sought to persuade Beijing to distance itself from Moscow
- Ukraine’s military said Russian forces launched 19 missiles and 19 drones overnight
- Ukraine says it would treat ships travelling to Russian and Ukrainian ports that are occupied by Moscow as potential carriers of military cargo
Regional Governor Oleh Kiper posted a photograph showing at least one broken window at the Chinese consulate in the Black Sea city of Odesa, but there was no sign of any other damage.
The consulate is located in Odesa’s city centre just across railway tracks from the port.
“The aggressor is deliberately hitting the port infrastructure — administrative and residential buildings nearby were damaged, also the consulate of the People’s Republic of China. It shows the enemy does not pay attention to anything,” Mr Kiper said on Telegram.
Beijing made no immediate public mention of the incident, which took place while Ukraine’s Economy Minister Taras Kachka was in China for the first high level Ukrainian visit since Russia’s invasion.
China said it told Mr Kachka it was willing to expand imports of Ukrainian goods.
Kyiv has long sought to persuade Beijing to distance itself from Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 60,000 tons of agricultural products destined for China had been destroyed in an attack on another Ukrainian port city.
Shelling continues in Ukraine’s port cities
Moscow said it had carried out “retaliatory strikes”, days after it quit a deal allowing the safe passage of Ukrainian Black Sea grain shipments and accused Ukraine of being behind blasts on a bridge used to transport Russian military supplies.
Ukraine’s military said Russian forces launched 19 missiles and 19 drones overnight, and that five of the missiles and 13 of the drones were shot down.
“Russian terrorists continue their attempts to destroy the life of our country,” Mr Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Together we will make it through this terrible time. And we will withstand the attacks of Russian evil,” he said.
In Odesa, a security guard was killed and at least eight others were hurt, including a child, Mr Kiper said.
Nineteen people were hurt in the city of Mykolaiv, and several residential buildings were damaged, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said.
Firefighters in Mykolaiv tackled a huge blaze that left a three-storey residential building without its top floor. Adjacent buildings were gutted by fire.
A Russian attack on the port of Chornomorsk on Wednesday damaged grain export infrastructure as well as the agricultural products which Mr Zelenskyy said were meant for China.
Ukrainian officials see the air strikes as an attack on global food security because Kyiv is a major grain exporter.
Mykhailo Podolayk, a senior adviser to Mr Zelenskyy, urged the international community to do more in response.
“Will we see an emergency convocation of the UN Security Council to discuss global food security? The international community chooses … to stand aside,” he wrote on Twitter.
Authorities in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv said separately a 61-year-old man had been killed there by Russian shelling on Thursday.
Loading…
Potential military cargo
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday it would consider all ships travelling to Russian ports and Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea that are occupied by Moscow as potential carriers of military cargo from July 21.
A day after Russia had warned that any ships travelling to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports would be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said it could repel what it called Russian aggression at sea.
“The fate of the cruiser ‘Moskva’ proves that the Defence Forces of Ukraine have the necessary means to repel Russian aggression at sea,” the ministry said, referring to the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet which was sunk last year.
“Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence warns that from 00:00 on July 21, 2023 (7:00 AEST on Friday) all vessels heading in Black Sea waters in the direction of the Russian Federation’s seaports and Ukrainian seaports on Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by Russia may be considered by Ukraine as carrying military cargo with all the relevant risks.”
Russia this week quit the Black Sea Grain Initiative that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey a year ago and allowed safe Black Sea shipments of Ukrainian grain, and revoked guarantees of safe navigation.
Ukrainian officials want to continue the Black Sea grain shipments and are trying to establish a temporary route.
Ukraine to receive loan from World Bank
Ukraine will receive a $US1.5 billion ($2.21 billion) loan from the World Bank, guaranteed by the government of Japan, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Thursday.
The loan will be used to strengthen social protection, provide assistance to people during Russia’s war on Ukraine, and rebuild the economy, Mr Shmyhal said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
The World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) also plan to mobilise more than $11.8 billion for new programmes in the country, Mr Shmyhal said in a later tweet.
The World Bank and its partners have mobilised $50 billion to help Ukraine, of which more than $33 billion has already been received, Mr Shmyhal said.
Ukraine relies on financial aid from its foreign partners to be able to cover its budget deficit.
Reuters