🔴 Live: Black Sea grain deal in peril, Ukraine says territory retaken around Bakhmut

Issued on: 17/07/2023 – 07:23

3 min

8:08am: Ukrainian forces retake territory near Bakhmut, says defence ministry

Ukrainian forces have retaken several square kilometres of territory around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces seized in May, according to the defence ministry. 

“Over the past week, as a result of the improvement of the operational (tactical) position and alignment of the front line in the Bakhmut direction, the territory of seven sq. km (2.5 square miles) has been liberated,” Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said on Telegram.

Ukraine last month began its highly anticipated counteroffensive against entrenched Russian troops. Kyiv has recently acknowledged difficult battles and called on the US and other allies to provide long-range weapons and artillery.

Bakhmut, once home to 70,000 people and known for its sparkling wine and salt mine, has been destroyed by the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.

7:57am: Railway traffic on Crimea bridge resumes, says Russian media

Railway transport between Crimea and Russia resumed after an emergency incident on the Crimea Bridge, reported Russia’s TASS news agency.

A train left the Crimean city of Kerch en route to Moscow via the bridge, the agency said.

The Russian-installed head of Crimea’s parliament said on Monday that Ukraine was behind an incident on the Crimea bridge that killed two people, the state RIA news agency reported.

He was quoted as saying that the bridge had been attacked by what he called Ukraine’s “terrorist regime” and that the railway part of the bridge was not damaged.

7:02am: Traffic on Crimea bridge interrupted amid blast reports

Traffic on the key bridge connecting Crimea to Russia has been halted amid reports of explosions.

The health ministry in Russia’s Krasnodar region, which lies at the eastern end of the bridge, said two people were killed in an unspecified accident on the bridge and their daughter was injured.

The governor of Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, announced the closure early Monday but did not specify the reason.

News reports said local residents heard explosions before dawn, but there was no confirmation. 

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear, but Governor Sergei Aksyonov said he expected rail traffic on the bridge to resume within several hours.

The 19-kilometre (12-mile) bridge that was opened in 2018 is the main land connection between Russia and the Crimean peninsula.

The bridge that spans the Kerch Strait was damaged in October by a truck bomb and required months of repairs before resuming full service.

6:43am: Clock ticking on Black Sea grain deal

The clock was ticking down Monday on the deal that allows Ukraine to export its grain via the Black Sea, with the agreement set to expire at midnight Istanbul time. 

There was no word from talks in Istanbul, where Turkish and UN officials are trying to persuade Russia to agree another extension of the deal first signed there in July 2022.

Russia’s TASS state news agency reported that while the deal had not been extended as of late Sunday,  “everything is possible”, citing two unnamed UN sources.

“We are waiting for Moscow’s position, everything is possible,” TASS cited one of the sources as saying.

Key developments from Sunday, July 16:

Russia thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack near Sebastopol, a crucial port in Moscow-annexed Crimea, Russia’s defence ministry said Sunday morning. Moscow’s air defence forces and Black Sea fleet reportedly took out a total of nine drones during the assault, which the ministry said caused no damage or casualties.

President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would use its own cluster bomb stockpiles if the munitions, which the US said it would give to Kyiv, were used against Russian forces in Ukraine.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)