Ukrainian forces bomb village in Russia, local authorities say – One civilian killed

While Russia insists what it calls “special military operation” in Ukraine will continue until the goals are achieved Ukrainian forces bombed Russia’s Kursk region, killing one civilian.

In particular, Ukrainian forces bombed a village in Russia, near the border of the two warring states, in the western region of Kursk, early this morning, killing at least one civilian, said the head of the local authorities, Roman Staravit.

A craft producing alcoholic beverages and several other buildings in the village of Tiotkino were affected, Staravit said via the Telegram platform, as broadcast by Reuters and the Athens News Agency.

“Russia uses hunger as a weapon of war”

At the same time, German Foreign Minister Alena Berbock accused Russia on Wednesday of blocking grain exports from Ukraine because it uses hunger as a weapon of war.

“THE Russia conducts this war with another horrible and effective weapon: hunger and deprivation. “By launching a blockade of Ukrainian ports, destroying storage facilities, roads and railways, Russia has launched a war on grain, causing a global food crisis,” she said during a meeting with her US counterpart.

“It does so at a time when millions of people are already threatened with famine, especially in the Middle East and Africa, because of the devastating effects of the climate crisis, because of the new coronavirus pandemic, because of the raging conflicts in the region.”

According to Mrs Berbock, Russia is blocking the export of some 20 tonnes of grain from Ukraine, mainly to North Africa and Asia. Much of this quantity is blocked in the port of Odessa.

Ukraine – like Russia – is one of the largest producers of cereals in the world. The two countries together account for almost a third of world wheat and barley production and half of world sunflower oil production.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the importance of being able to export cerealsother foods and fertilizers produced by Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

Otherwise, the war in Ukraine could plunge millions of people into food insecurity and cause a “crisis that could last for years,” he warned.

The spread of hunger has already reached a world record due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus, according to the UN.

“In just two years, the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity has doubled from 135 million before the pandemic broke out to 276 million today,” Guterres said.

US Senate unanimously approves Bridget Brink’s appointment in Kyiv

Meanwhile, the appointment of career diplomat Bridget Brink to the post of ambassador of USA It was unanimously approved by the Senate in Kyiv on Wednesday night, just hours after the State Department announced that the US embassy in the Ukrainian capital, which had closed after Russia invaded the country on February 24, had reopened.

Ms. Brink has been an ambassador to Slovakia, an expert on Eastern Europe and the Caucasus at the State Department, and a deputy ambassador to Uzbekistan and Georgia. Serves about 25 years.

Washington had been appointing the head of the US embassy in Kyiv since 2019, when former Republican President Donald Trump fired Marie Jovanovic.

Ms. Jovanovic later became a key witness in Mr. Trump’s first Senate trial, testifying about the Republican threat to freeze US military aid to Ukraine to pressure Kyiv to investigate corruption against his son and of his then potential rival in the 2020 presidential election: Joe Biden.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democrat Bob Menendez, said on Twitter that he was “proud” of the rapid ratification of Ms. Brink’s appointment by the US House of Representatives. Bridget Brink was named the new ambassador by President Biden just a few weeks ago.

The Senate is also expected to approve a nearly $ 40 billion package of US military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine within a week.