Rescuers search for victims after a Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine, June 12, 2024

Wednesday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy — “We Will End This Invasion On Our Own Terms”

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1904 GMT:

Ukraine President Voloydmyr Zelenskiy and US counterpart Joe Biden have signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement at the G7 summit.

Alongside Zelenskiy at a joint press conference, Biden said a lasting peace rests on Ukraine’s ability to defend itself now and to deter aggression in the future.

The US will help ensure this by sending American troops and training Ukrainians; finding new weapons and ammunition; expanding intelligence sharing; developing bases in Europe and the US; and investing in Ukraine’s defense industrial base.

Zelenskiy thanked Biden for the strongest agreement since Ukraine’s independence in 1991:

I’m proud of our people and what Ukraine can do. And I’m very grateful to all Americans, to everyone in America, who stresses American leadership….

This is an agreement on security and thus on the protection of human life. This is an agreement on cooperation and thus on how our nations will become stronger. This is an agreement on steps to guarantee sustainable peace and therefore it benefits everyone in the world

He added, “[The agreement] states that America supports Ukraine’s future membership in NATO and recognizes that our security agreement is a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO.”

UPDATE 1519 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived at the G7 summit in Italy and signed a security agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kushida.

UPDATE 1412 GMT:

Russian banks are facing runs on foreign currency after the US imposed sanctions against the Moscow Exchange, hindering trade in the dollar and euro.

A Moscow Times correspondent reported that the branches of several large banks in Moscow had no dollars on Thursday morning.

A teller at the Avangard bank branch said, “Everything has been dismantled since yesterday.” At 10 a.m., only the old-style $100 bill remained in the cash register, and there were no euros. The Alfa Bank branch was also out of foreign currency, requiring customers to order it.

Cashiers at 15 Sberbank branches in different parts of Moscow reported exhaustion of foreign currency because of increased demand. “Well, you heard the news, you should understand,” said one.

Russia’s Central Bank said Wednesday that trading and settlements of deliverable instruments in US dollars and euros was suspended effective from today “due to the introduction of restrictive measures by the United States against the Moscow Exchange Group”.

The US has also sanctioned the subsidiaries of Russian banks operating in countries such as China, India, and Kyrgyzstan.

UPDATE 1320 GMT:

The UK has announced sanctions against ships in Russia’s shadow fleet.

Vladimir Putin uses the shadow fleet to circumvent UK and G7 sanctions on trade in Russian oil.

Suppliers of munitions, machine tools, and logistics which support Russia’s military production are also blacklisted. The firms are based in China, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also announced another £242 million ($309.5 million) in bilateral funding for Ukraine as he attended the G7 meeting in Italy. The money is for immediate humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs and for longer-term economic and social recovery and reconstruction.

UPDATE 1009 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has commented on his visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

UPDATE 0952 GMT:

The G7 nations have announced more than $1 billion in assistance to Ukraine’s energy sector, following Russia’s latest drone and missile strikes trying to break infrastructure.

The funds include €70 million ($76 million) in grant contributions from the Energy Support Fund of Ukraine, $500 million from the US, €300 million ($324 million) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and at least $47 million from the World Bank and donations from European Union members.

UPDATE 0859 GMT:

Russia’s 27 1/2-month invasion of Ukraine has produced greenhouse gas emissions greater than those of 175 countries.

The Russian assault has generated at least 175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, through direct warfare, landscape fires, rerouted flights, forced migration, leaks from damaged fossil fuel infrastructure, and the future carbon cost of reconstruction.

The emissions include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and sulphur hexafluoride, the most potent greenhouse gas. The amount is equivalent to running 90 million petrol cars for a year, and more than the total emissions generated by individual countries such as the Netherlands, Venezuela, and Kuwait.

The UN General Assembly called for Russian compensation on Ukraine, and the Council of Europe has established a registry of damage which includes climate emissions.

The Initiative on Greenhouse Gas Accounting of War, a research institution partly funded by the German and Swedish governments, and the European Climate Foundation say Russian faces a $32 billion climate reparations bill from the first two years of its invasion.

UPDATE 0851 GMT:

The G7 nations — France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, the US, and the UK — are expected to agree on a $50 billion fund for Ukraine, supported by loans against profits from frozen Russian assets.

The French Presidency said ahead of Thursday’s G7 summit in Italy, “We have an agreement.”

The fund will be created under an international organization such as the World Bank, providing “Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration” loans to Kyiv.

Ukraine has pressed for months for provision of $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, but its partners had disagreed over distribution, citing legal and economic issues raised by seizure of the entire amount.

Last month the European Union agreed that Ukraine could an estimated $3.2 billion in annual profits from the assets.

UPDATE 0649 GMT:

Lawyers have told the International Criminal Court that Russia pursued a “deliberate pattern” of starvation during its 85-day siege of the port city of Mariupol in southeast Ukraine in spring 2022.

The report from Global Rights Compliance concluded that the tactic constituted a war crime, seeking to kill and harm large numbers of civilians.

Around 22,000 people are estimated to have perished during Russia’s airstrikes, ground assault, and siege of Mariupol. Civilians had no water, gas, or electricity as temperatures fell below -10C (14F).

Around 90% of healthcare facilities and homes in the city were destroyed or damaged. Food distribution points and evacuation routes were bombed.

Catriona Murdoch, one of the lawyers presenting the report, summarized:

There were four phases to the Russian assault, starting with attacks on civilian infrastructure, cutting out the supply of electricity, heating and water. Then humanitarian evacuations were denied and even attacked, while aid was prevented from getting through.

In the third phase, the remaining critical infrastructure was targeted, civilians terrorized with aid and water points bombed. Finally, in phase four, Russia engaged in strategic attacks to destroy or capture any remaining infrastructure items.

Murdoch emphasized, “Vladimir Putin is culpable, and echelons of the Russian military leadership.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: At least nine civilians have been slain in Russia’s last mass killing in Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine.

Another 32 people, including five children, were injured. Four were missing on Wednesday night.

The Russian missiles slammed into an administrative building and an apartment block at 3:51 p.m. Video showed a man being carried out of rubble on a stretcher, as firefighters tried to contain blazes and rescuers heaved a block of concrete from the ruins.

“The police are documenting another Russian war crime,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko posted.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky commented,”Every day and every hour, Russian terror proves that Ukraine, together with its partners, must strengthen air defense.”

Trying to breaking civilian morale, Russia has periodically struck Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskiy’s hometown with a pre-invasion population of around 600,000.

At least 11 civilians were slain in an attack on an apartment last June, and
six were killed on March 10.