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The Nord Steam 1 pipeline accounts for more than a third of Russian gas exports to the European Union [File: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters]
By David Child, Joseph Stepansky and Sasha Petrova
Published On 24 Jul 2022
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Updated: 25 Jul 2022 (23:15 GMT)
  • Russian energy giant Gazprom says gas flows to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will be slashed to 20 percent from Wednesday due to maintenance.
  • Kyiv says it hopes to resume grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports this week under a UN-brokered deal signed on Friday.
25 Jul 2022 - 19:46
 (19:46 GMT)

Zelenskyy: Europe should ‘hit back’ with tougher Russia sanctions over ‘gas war’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is waging an “overt gas war” against Europe, which he said must “hit back” with tougher sanctions.

“Even despite the concession regarding the Nord Stream turbine, Russia is not going to resume gas supplies to European countries, as it is contractually obligated to do. All this is done by Russia deliberately to make it as difficult as possible for Europeans to prepare for winter,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.

Zelenskyy went on to say the latest move by Moscow was part of a wider scope of actions. “They don’t care what will happen to the people, how they will suffer – from hunger due to the blocking of ports or from winter cold and poverty,” Zelenskyy said. “These are just different forms of terror.”

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the ‘Nord Stream 1’ gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022 [File: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters]
25 Jul 2022 - 19:31
 (19:31 GMT)

US State Department expects Ukraine grain agreement to be implemented

The US state department says despite the Russian attack on the Ukrainian port of Odesa, it “continue[s] to expect” the agreement to allow Ukraine to export grain and fertiliser to be implemented.

“We do understand that the parties are continuing preparations to open Ukraine’s Black Sea ports for food and fertiliser exports,” said state department spokesman Ned Price. “We are clear-eyed going forward, but we also continue to expect that the Black Sea agreement will be implemented.”

Price said that the attack on Odesa “undermines the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the other parties to this deal”, and that the US “will be working with our partners … to see to it that Moscow is held accountable for the agreement it reached.”

25 Jul 2022 - 18:45
 (18:45 GMT)

US donates 500,000 COVID vaccine doses to Ukraine

The US has donated some half a million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Ukraine today, the US Department of State said on Twitter.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also commented on the shipment to Ukraine, saying: “This shipment … furthers our commitment to defeating the pandemic and supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unprovoked war of choice.”

25 Jul 2022 - 18:22
 (18:22 GMT)

Turkey to Ukraine: Grain shipments must begin as soon as possible

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar has told Ukrainian infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov that it is important for the first grain shipments to begin as soon as possible.

“[Minister Akar] expressed his satisfaction with the announcement that the grain shipment will start this week, [and] it is important that the first ship starts sailing as soon as possible,” the Turkish defence ministry said in a readout of the call.

Akar also vowed Turkey would continue to live up to its part of the deal, and assured Kyiv that the work of the [Istanbul-based] joint coordination centre was continuing “intensively”.

25 Jul 2022 - 18:02
 (18:02 GMT)

Ukraine official: Lavrov’s Africa trip ‘the quintessence of sadism’

The Ukrainian government has criticised Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s trip to several African countries, with a senior official calling it “the quintessence of sadism”.

“You arrange an artificial hunger and then come to cheer people up,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, tweeted on Monday. “With one hand you sign the Istanbul initiative, with the other attack Odessa sea port.”

“Whether Moscow wants or not, [Ukraine’s] grain will get to the world,” Podolyak said. “We know well what an artificial famine prescribed by scriptwriters in the Kremlin is … all needed is for [Russia] to stop lying and start fulfilling the commitments made in Istanbul.”

25 Jul 2022 - 17:22
 (17:22 GMT)

First ships to export Ukraine grain may move within days: UN

The first ships to export grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports may move within a few days under a deal agreed on Friday by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, a UN spokesperson said on Monday.

Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said a joint coordination centre will liaise with the shipping industry and will publish detailed procedures for ships in the near future, according to Reuters.

25 Jul 2022 - 16:50
 (16:50 GMT)

Hearing for Russian soldier convicted of killing Ukraine civilian postponed

An appeal of Ukraine’s first war crimes conviction was adjourned on Monday, with the hearing postponed until July 29 due to the defence lawyer’s ill health.

Vadim Shishimarin, a captured 21-year-old Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a 62-year-old man in the northeastern Sumy region on February 28, was sentenced to life in prison by a Ukrainian court in May.

Much of the work of documenting crime scenes and interviewing witnesses has been done in the area around Ukraine’s capital, four months after Russian forces pulled out. Now the search is on for those responsible.

“We regularly find documents, passports and lists with names of participants of the units, with their complete data,” Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv regional police, told The Associated Press.

“All of this information is being transferred to the relevant law enforcement. The investigators are working with the victims, trying to identify the people who committed crimes against them.”

25 Jul 2022 - 16:31
 (16:31 GMT)

Lavrov: ‘We will help Ukrainian people to get rid of the regime’

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Moscow’s overarching goal is to topple the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Speaking to envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo on Sunday, Lavrov said Moscow is determined to help Ukrainians “liberate themselves from the burden of this absolutely unacceptable regime”.

“Russian and Ukrainian people would continue to live together, we will certainly help Ukrainian people to get rid of the regime, which is absolutely anti-people and anti-historical,” he said, AP reported.

Lavrov’s remarks contrasted sharply with the Kremlin’s line early in the war, when Russian officials repeatedly emphasised that they were launching a limited “operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine.

The West and Kyiv have repeatedly called that a false pretext to invade a democracy, saying the Kremlin’s true goal is to topple the government.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets with permanent representatives to the Arab League in Cairo [Handout/Russian Foreign Ministry/AFP]
25 Jul 2022 - 15:57
 (15:57 GMT)

Russia’s foreign currency corporate loans fell by $2.5bn in June: Central bank

The volume of corporate loans in foreign currency fell by $2.5bn in Russia in June, its central bank has said, but rouble loans led to 0.1 percent growth in the overall corporate credit portfolio.

“The second quarter was not easy, but banks are coping with the challenges and the results are not bad in general,” said Alexander Danilov, director of the central bank’s banking regulation and analytics department.

The central bank, which slashed its key rate to 8 percent on Friday, has not reported banking-sector profit or loss since before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Western nations have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia over the offensive.

25 Jul 2022 - 15:23
 (15:23 GMT)

Germany sees no technical reason for Nord Stream 1 cut

There is no technical reason for a further reduction in gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a spokesperson for Germany’s economy ministry has said.

“We have taken note of the announcement,” the ministry spokesperson said. “According to our information, there is no technical reason for a reduction in deliveries.”

Russia’s Gazprom had earlier said it was halting the operation of another Siemens gas turbine at Nord Stream 1’s Portovaya compressor station in accordance with the instructions of the relevant watchdog, taking into account the technical condition of the engine.

25 Jul 2022 - 14:48
 (14:48 GMT)

Gazprom to cut Nord Stream 1 gas supplies from Wednesday

Russian energy giant Gazprom has said it is halting one more turbine along the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline for maintenance work, a move that will result in a reduction of flows.

Gazprom said that due to the turbine stoppage, daily production capacity at the Russian Portovaya compressor station will be cut to 33 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas per day from 04:00 GMT on Wednesday, down from its full capacity of more than 160mcm per day.

The move will see flows drop to half of their current, already reduced, levels.

Kremlin-controlled Gazprom reopened Nord Stream 1 last week after a 10-day maintenance break, but only at 40 percent of the pipeline’s capacity – a level Russia has said it was forced to lower volumes to in June because of the delayed return of a separate turbine being serviced in Canada.

European politicians have challenged that explanation, with Germany saying the turbine in question was not meant to be used until September.

The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline delivers critical supplies to Europe via Germany [File: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters]
25 Jul 2022 - 14:10
 (14:10 GMT)

WFP ‘optimistic’ over Ukraine grain export deal

The World Food Programme (WFP) has said it is optimistic about the deal to reopen Ukrainian ports for grain exports, but warned the agreement alone will not solve the global food crisis even if it is implemented effectively.

“We’re optimistic the deal could lead to improvements in global food prices. Countries dependent on grain supplies from the Black Sea would likely be the first to feel a positive impact,” a WFP spokeswoman told the Reuters news agency.

She added, however, that the current global food crisis is not a price crisis alone, and that man-made conflict, climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to keep food prices elevated even if Friday’s deal holds, which is by no means a certainty.

Before the conflict, the WFP used to buy more than half its wheat from Ukraine. The agency, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, says some 47 million people face “acute hunger” this year due to the current global food crisis.

The WFP itself has had to cut aid this year in key hunger hot spots like Yemen and South Sudan due to global inflation and critical funding gaps, both exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prevented millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain from leaving the country’s ports [File: Efrem Lukatsky/AP]
25 Jul 2022 - 13:54
 (13:54 GMT)

What do Russians think of the war in Ukraine?

In this episode, Al Jazeera’s The Take podcast focuses on Russians’ view of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine.

25 Jul 2022 - 13:15
 (13:15 GMT)

Russia’s Lavrov says there are no barriers to Ukrainian grain exports

Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, has said there are no barriers to the export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports after Kyiv and Moscow agreed on a deal to unblock shipments last week.

Speaking on Monday, Lavrov said Russian missile strikes carried out on Saturday on Ukraine’s main port of Odesa had been aimed at military infrastructure.

He told a news conference there was nothing in the grain agreement signed by Russia to prevent it from continuing to attack military infrastructure in Ukraine.

Lavrov is currently on a diplomatic tour of Africa that will see him visit several countries in a bid to strengthen Moscow’s ties with the continent.

Many African nations import Russian grain and foodstuffs, and they are increasingly relying on the country for fuel and energy, too.

25 Jul 2022 - 12:44
 (12:44 GMT)

Ukraine receives first anti-aircraft tanks from Germany

Ukraine has received three Gepard anti-aircraft tanks from Germany, according to the country’s defence minister. 

“Today the first three Gepards officially arrived,” Oleksii Reznikov told Ukrainian television, adding that tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition had also been delivered.

Kyiv is expecting to receive 15 of the tanks in total from Berlin, Reznikov said.

Kyiv is expecting to receive 15 of the Gepard tanks from Berlin [File: Reuters]
25 Jul 2022 - 12:35
 (12:35 GMT)

UK to host 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on Ukraine’s behalf

Next year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be staged in the United Kingdom, its organisers have announced, after concluding it is too risky to hold the much-beloved pop extravaganza in the designated host country, Ukraine.

The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, said it had concluded that “regrettably, next year’s event could not be held in Ukraine for safety and security reasons.” It said the UK’s BBC had agreed to broadcast the show on behalf of Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC.

The UK said the 2023 event would be a celebration of Ukrainian culture and creativity.

Ukraine won the right to host the glitzy pan-continental music competition when its entry, the folk-rap ensemble Kalush Orchestra, won this year’s contest in May. The UK’s Sam Ryder came in second.

25 Jul 2022 - 12:04
 (12:04 GMT)

Ukraine eyes first grain shipment under UN-brokered deal this week

Senior Ukrainian government officials have told reporters they hope the first grain shipment under a UN-brokered agreement would leave the port of Chornomorsk this week, and that all ports under the deal could function within two weeks.

Infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said there were no limits on how much grain could be exported under the agreement reached on Friday, which also allows for the export and import of fertiliser.

“We believe that over the next 24 hours, we will be ready to work to resume exports from our ports … the port of Chornomorsk … will be the first, then there will be Odesa, then the port of Pivdennyi,” Yuriy Vasyukov, Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister, said.

25 Jul 2022 - 11:24
 (11:24 GMT)

​​France against setting uniform targets on reducing gas usage in Europe

France is against setting uniform targets for the reduction of gas consumption in Europe amid a looming energy crisis, officials from the country’s energy ministry have said.

The future targets must notably take into account the export capacities of each country, the officials added, ahead of a meeting of European energy ministers on Tuesday in Brussels.

The European Union’s executive arm proposed last week that all member states should cut their gas use from August to March by 15 percent. The target would initially be voluntary, but would become mandatory if the European Commission declared an emergency.

But from the outset, the proposal met criticism from a range of countries, including Spain, Portugal and Greece.

The EU is concerned that Russia may halt its gas exports to impose severe economic and political pressure on the bloc’s member states in the winter ahead [File: Kacper Pempel/Reuters]
25 Jul 2022 - 10:39
 (10:39 GMT)

Kremlin: Repaired gas turbine for Nord Stream 1 to be installed

A repaired turbine will be installed at a compressor station of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline once it is returned from maintenance in Canada and natural gas will then be supplied in “corresponding volumes”, the Kremlin has said.

“The turbine will be installed after all the formalities are complete … And the gas will be pumped in the corresponding volumes, the volumes which are technologically possible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He added that there was more Nord Stream 1 equipment that needed repairing and Siemens Energy, the company which is servicing the facilities, was aware of that. Peskov also said that Moscow was not interested in a complete stoppage of Russian gas supplies to Europe.

25 Jul 2022 - 10:24
 (10:24 GMT)

Ukraine says it has destroyed 50 ammunition depots using HIMARS

Ukrainian forces have destroyed 50 Russian ammunition depots using HIMARS rocket systems, according to the country’s defence minister.

“This cuts their [Russia] logistical chains and takes away their ability to conduct active fighting and cover our armed forces with heavy shelling,” Oleksiy Reznikov said in televised comments.

There was no immediate comment from Russia on Reznikov’s claim. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify his report.