Russia-Ukraine War Updates: UN Announces Grain Deal Extension - The New York Times

A pivotal woody that has allowed millions of tons of grains to beryllium exported from Ukrainian ports done the Black Sea has been extended for an further 120 days, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations said connected Thursday, helping to easiness worries of wide hunger amid planetary nutrient shortages and terms spikes.

Russia, the 4th enactment to the agreement, did not instantly remark connected the hold of the deal, which was initially acceptable to expire connected Saturday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which helped broker and facilitate the agreement, had said Wednesday that helium received a greenish airy from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for renewal of the deal, which is known arsenic the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, announcing the extension, acknowledged the United Nations and Turkey but did not notation Russia. Moscow signed the woody with Kyiv successful July but concisely suspended its participation past period aft Ukraine attacked its Black Sea naval fleet, though atom shipments continued. Russia rejoined the agreement days later.

“I invited the statement by each parties to proceed the Black Sea Grain Initiative to facilitate the harmless navigation of export of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizers from Ukraine,” António Guterres, the United Nations caput general, wrote connected Twitter. “The inaugural demonstrates the value of discreet diplomacy successful uncovering multilateral solutions.”

Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said that his state had appealed for a one-year hold of the woody and for the larboard of Mykolaiv to beryllium included. The woody presently includes the ports of Odesa, Yuzhne and Chornomorsk.

The deal, which marked a uncommon diplomatic breakthrough betwixt Ukraine and Russia successful the astir nine-month war, guaranteed the harmless transition of hundreds of ships carrying much than 10 cardinal tons of atom and different cultivation products that had been stuck successful Ukraine. Under the agreement, the ships question to Turkey, wherever they are inspected by a associated squad of Turkish, U.N., Ukrainian and Russian officials earlier heading to ports astir the world.

Before the statement was reached successful July, commercialized shipping from Ukraine had been halted by Russia’s deployment of warships on Ukraine’s Black Sea seashore and the mining of those waters by Ukraine to deter Russian attacks. The de facto Russian blockade added to a planetary nutrient situation due to the fact that Ukraine is 1 of the world’s starring exporters of grain.

The statement besides allows Moscow to export its ain cultivation products, but Russia has grown progressively dissatisfied with its sales, which it says are struggling due to the fact that of trading partners’ fears of moving afoul of Western sanctions.

AMSTERDAM — A Dutch tribunal volition present its verdict connected Thursday successful the proceedings of 4 men with ties to the Russian information services implicit the shooting down of a rider jet supra eastbound Ukraine successful 2014, during a Moscow-backed separatist uprising that foreshadowed Russia’s full-scale penetration of the state this year.

With the defendants believed to beryllium successful Russian-controlled territory oregon Russia itself, and improbable ever to service immoderate condemnation they receive, the proceedings promises lone a constricted measurement of justness for the 298 radical killed. The pitchy was flying a scheduled Malaysia Airlines work from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur erstwhile it was downed.

The warfare successful Ukraine, however, has fixed the lawsuit greater significance. Support for separatists successful eastbound Ukraine was a cardinal portion of President Vladimir V. Putin’s pretext erstwhile helium gave the bid to invade the state successful February of this year. The verdict volition beryllium watched closely, not slightest due to the fact that it could acceptable an illustration for possible prosecutions of Russian crimes during the existent war.

“I’ve ever said that our household members were the archetypal non-Ukrainian radical that were the victims of a warfare that started 8 years ago,” said Piet Ploeg, the president of a instauration representing household members of the clang victims.

The proceedings opened much than 2 years ago arsenic an effort to delegate work for what had agelong seemed a transgression without punishment. On July 17, 2014, an antiaircraft rocket provided to separatist forces by the Russian subject changeable down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, commonly known arsenic MH17, astatine cruising altitude supra eastbound Ukraine. Everyone aboard was killed, and bodies and wreckage were scattered crossed Ukrainian fields.

The satellite reacted with outrage, and Western nations sought to clasp Russia accountable. A bulk of the victims were Dutch, but the formation besides carried passengers from Australia, Malaysia, Britain and respective different countries.

Russia has repeatedly denied immoderate work successful the deaths, contempt evidence that the level was changeable down by a Buk surface-to-air rocket sent into eastbound Ukraine from a Russian subject basal crossed the border, arsenic good arsenic intercepted calls and messages that constituent to the engagement of Russian-backed separatists.

Instead, Moscow has generated a bid of implausible counter-explanations and conspiracy theories that person mostly focused connected blaming Ukraine and attacking the legitimacy of the investigation. They included the anticipation that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency crashed a planeload of bodies into eastbound Ukraine to framework Moscow.

Since Russia vetoed an effort to signifier a United Nations tribunal for the case, the proceedings has been held astatine a section transgression tribunal connected the outskirts of Amsterdam, adjacent the sprawling Schiphol airport.

Among the 4 suspects indicted connected execution charges is Igor Girkin, a erstwhile colonel successful Russia’s Federal Security Service, the successor bureau to the K.G.B. At the clip of the plane’s downing, Mr. Girkin was defence curate of a separatist enclave, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, which is present controlled by Russia’s military.

The different defendants are Sergey Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, some erstwhile Russian subject quality officers, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian national who led a Russian-backed subject unit. The prosecution requested a beingness condemnation for each.

But nary of them were arrested oregon appeared successful court. They were tried successful absentia.

Mr. Ploeg, the president of the MH17 Flight Disaster Foundation, said their lack made it harder for the proceedings to bring clarity and catharsis to the victims, and assistance them travel to presumption with what happened.

“The ‘Why?’ question is not answered yet,” said Mr. Ploeg, who mislaid his brother, his brother’s woman and their lad successful the downing of the flight. His member is 1 of 2 MH17 victims whose bodies person not been found.

Mr. Ploeg added that helium had been shocked by the “total deficiency of respect” of Russia’s authorities for the victims successful spreading falsehoods astir the clang and said helium hoped the tribunal would admit “the relation of the Russian authorities successful the downing of MH17.”

In summation to holding the section transgression case, the Netherlands submitted a complaint against Russia astatine the European Court of Human Rights successful July 2020 implicit its engagement successful the crash.

BUCHA, Ukraine — Oleksei Kravchuk, 43, a welder, was bumping up against his deadline.

From his perch atop a five-story gathering whose apical level was destroyed by a ammunition during the Russian concern of the Kyiv suburb of Bucha successful the spring, helium was racing to decorativeness his task earlier the roofers arrived. More than a twelve different adjacent flat blocks had roofs successful assorted stages of disrepair, their trusses disposable and vulnerable.

Many of them had shrapnel harm inflicted during the warfare acceptable disconnected by Russia’s invasion. The urgent repair effort is portion of what Deputy Mayor Dmytro Cheichuk described arsenic a million-dollar effort to hole the worst harm earlier winter.

Temperatures endanger to driblet beneath freezing by the extremity of the week, and the season’s archetypal snowflakes person appeared successful the upwind forecast, making the repairs urgent. Referring to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Kravchuk said, “Uncle Volodya made problems and misery for us, but we’ll bash what we request to.”

Nadezhda Chornodyt, a nonmigratory of the building, was not each that impressed by the enactment arsenic she soaked up the precocious autumn prima with respective neighbors. “They promised america a cookware of golden but don’t bash anything,” she said — though her gathering had caller entranceway doors and her flat had caller windows, the installation paid for by a German donor.

Given Russia’s assaults connected captious civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian authorities fearfulness extended interruptions of municipal electricity, heating and h2o systems that could endanger the wellness and information of millions of radical astir the country.

In Borodianka, adjacent Bucha, which was besides heavy targeted by Russian airstrikes successful March, Yevhen Piatetskyi, 27, had a panoramic presumption of the outgo of Russia’s penetration to galore outer towns astir Kyiv. He commutes 2 and a fractional hours a time each mode to his job, which connected this time consisted of cleaning ungraded and ashes from a heavy damaged rooftop truthful it could beryllium replaced.

He said helium had tried to articulation the Ukrainian military. “They didn’t instrumentality maine to fight,” helium said, “but I privation to assistance however I can.”

— Brendan Hoffman

AMSTERDAM — A Dutch tribunal volition present its verdict connected Thursday successful the proceedings of 4 men with ties to the Russian information services for the shooting down of a rider pitchy implicit eastbound Ukraine successful 2014.

The catastrophe claimed each 298 civilian lives aboard, and came successful the midst of a struggle that foreshadowed Russia’s penetration of Ukraine this year.

This is simply a timeline of immoderate of the cardinal developments successful the interlocking histories of that conflict, the existent warfare and the attempts to question justness for those killed connected the airliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Early 2014: After wide protests successful Ukraine oust the country’s pro-Moscow president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, successful February, the interim authorities expresses its tendency to flight Russia’s power and clasp the West. It yet signs a commercialized statement with the European Union that is seen arsenic a archetypal measurement toward E.U. membership.

The Kremlin responds by annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. It besides foments rebellions successful 2 regions of eastbound Ukraine, unneurotic known arsenic Donbas, wherever separatists state the enactment of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the neighboring Luhansk People’s Republic.

March 2014: The United States and European countries impose economical sanctions against Russian companies and affluent businessmen with adjacent ties to President Vladimir V. Putin successful effect to the annexation of Crimea, with the anticipation of forestalling further Russian incursions into Ukraine.

July 2014: An antiaircraft rocket strikes the Malaysia Airlines plane, known arsenic MH17, astatine cruising altitude supra eastbound Ukraine connected its mode from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Everyone aboard is killed.

September 2016: A Dutch-led investigation concludes that the surface-to-air rocket strategy utilized to sprout down the level was trucked successful from Russia astatine the petition of Russian-backed separatists and returned to Russia the aforesaid night.

March 2020: The trial of 4 men accused of engagement successful the downing of the level begins successful an Amsterdam courthouse. Although the suspects are absent — believed to beryllium successful Russia oregon Russian-controlled territory — the proceedings is hailed arsenic a triumph for a radical of planetary investigators who meticulously pursued the lawsuit contempt Russian stonewalling.

July 2020: The Dutch authorities takes Russia to the European Court of Human Rights implicit the downing of the flight, arsenic a mode to supply enactment to idiosyncratic cases brought to the European tribunal by victims’ relatives.

February 2022: Russia launches a full-scale penetration of Ukraine, with Mr. Putin citing the plight of separatists successful eastbound Ukraine arsenic a pretext for subject action.

September 2022: In a rapid offensive, Ukraine recaptures overmuch of the northeastern Kharkiv portion and threatens to reclaim territory agelong held by the separatists, enabling Kyiv to prehend the momentum successful the war.

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The aggravated absorption to the apt mendacious alarm astir a Russian rocket striking a NATO ally, Poland, was a sobering reminder — if 1 were needed — of the risks that an already brutal struggle successful Ukraine could escalate into a wider war that brings Russia and NATO into subject confrontation.

Ukrainian officials and immoderate of their European backers were speedy to impeach Russia of intentionally firing a rocket into Poland connected Tuesday, causing an detonation that killed 2 people. But by aboriginal Wednesday, NATO and Poland said that what had detonated a fewer miles extracurricular Ukraine’s borderline astir apt was a remnant of a Ukrainian surface-to-air missile, 1 of galore fired successful attempts to sprout down Russian missiles.

U.S. officials, who had cautioned connected Tuesday against rushing to judgment, said they accepted that conclusion, but inactive held Russia liable arsenic the aggressor.

The heightened and sometimes hasty reactions were a warning, said Ian Lesser, manager of the Brussels bureau of the German Marshall Fund. “The sheer fig of forces successful adjacent proximity and the magnitude of the conflict, with nary motion of abating, accumulates hazard successful the full region,” helium said, for some NATO and Russia.

There are fundamentally 2 concerns. One is that a long, bitter warfare with forces battling connected the ground, and missiles and shells flying done the air, volition make accidents and incidents that tin go thing bigger — for instance, if it were wide that Russia had deed a NATO country, adjacent if by accident, arsenic was the archetypal fearfulness Tuesday night.

The second, and astir apt much unsafe prospect, is that Russia mightiness cipher that the usage of atomic weapons would supply it immoderate advantage, either militarily oregon politically, to disagreement the trans-Atlantic confederation and origin civilian panic.

The liberation of Kherson past week was mostly a jubilant affair. After months of bloody combat, the Russians withdrew from the confederate metropolis without a fight. A assemblage poured into a cardinal quadrate and erstwhile Ukrainian soldiers arrived, women hugged them and men hoisted them into the air.

A darker broadside emerged Wednesday: torture chambers. Ukrainian prosecutors fanned retired successful 7 teams for a archetypal time of investigating warfare crimes successful the city, and by day said they had recovered 11 detention centers, including 4 sites they believed the Russians utilized to clasp and torture civilians.

The grim signifier of abuses evident successful different areas liberated from Russian concern had been repeated successful Kherson, prosecutors said. Sites of involvement had been identified months agone by interviewing radical who had near the metropolis for different parts of Ukraine.

No wide graves person been discovered successful the city, but investigators recovered aggregate sites with signs of extrajudicial detention, and indications of maltreatment successful basement prisons. And successful the wider Kherson region, the Ukrainian curate of interior affairs, Denys Monastyrskyi, said successful a tv interrogation broadcast connected Wednesday that the bodies of 63 radical who had been tortured were recovered successful areas reclaimed from Russian forces. Exhumations were continuing, he added.