Putin resorting to starving the most vulnerable in the world to cling to power.

Putin has finally jumped into the abyss of drawing NATO forces into his war with Ukraine.

 As reported by Clare Sebastian, Tim Lister, Vasco Cotovio and Andrew Carey,

"Romanian President Klaus Iohannis (left) has criticized Moscow's strikes on Ukraine’s river port infrastructure, calling them an “escalation" in the war.

“I strongly condemn the recent Russian attacks against the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure on Danube, very close to Romania [200m across the Danube River],” Iohannis tweeted on Monday.

Romania, a NATO country, shares a border with Ukraine along the Danube River. The Danube, near the area that was struck overnight, is less that one kilometer wide.

“This recent escalation pose[s] serious risks to the security in the Black Sea,” he added. “It also affects further [Ukrainian] grain transit [and] thus the global food security.” (CNN : 24 July 2023) (my emphasis)

Al Jazeera : 25 July 2023 : YouTube

As also reported by Jonathan Saul,

"Almost 30 ships dropped anchor near Ukraine's crucial Izmail port terminal after Russia destroyed grain warehouses on the Danube river on Monday, data showed, although it was unclear exactly what had caused them to stop.
...
Monday's pre-dawn Russian air strikes wounded seven people and hit infrastructure along the Danube, a vital alternative route for Ukrainian grain since the demise last week of a year-old deal allowing safe exports via the Black Sea. Kyiv said the attack was an expansion of an air campaign Russia launched last week after pulling out of the grain deal." (Reuters : 24 July 2023) (my emphasis)

International political repercussions against Putin's weaponizing food in his war with Ukraine has been swift.

 As reported by Frances D'Emilio (left),

"The U.N. chief on Monday urged Russia to resume the internationally brokered deal so that grain can be shipped from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, saying that otherwise, the world's most vulnerable among the hungry will suffer the worst consequences. 

 U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (right) made the appeal during a speech in Rome at the opening of a three-day food summit.

With the recent collapse of the Ukraine-Russia grain deal, "the most vulnerable will pay the highest price,'' Guterres said. He lamented that there are already negative effects on global wheat and corn prices."  (ABC News (article from: The Associated Press) : 24 July 2023) (my emphasis)

Frances D'Emilio further reports that,

"The deal's suspension as well as Russian attacks on the Black Sea ports of Ukraine have irked Russian ally China and as well as developing nations heavily dependent on the shipments to feed their people" (ibid Frances D'Emilio)

 Lawrence Freedman (left) writes that,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin set as his objectives the “denazification” and “demilitarization” of Ukraine. By the first, he presumably meant regime change, in which case the war has clearly been a failure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s position is as strong as ever. As for demilitarization, Ukraine is on its way to becoming the most militarized country in Europe.
...
Russian forces have failed to take complete control of any of the four oblasts, or administrative regions—Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia—that Putin claimed for Russia in September 2022. Much of the ground initially seized after the full-scale invasion has been relinquished, and more is being lost, albeit slowly, during the current Ukrainian offensive. (Foreign Affairs : 25 July 2023) (my emphasis) 

As also reported by Marita Vlachou,

"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukrainians have “already taken back about 50%” of the territory Russia seized since the invasion as the embattled country continues its counteroffensive.

Asked to weigh into reports that Ukraine was facing a tough time in its stepped-up fight to oust Russian invaders, Blinken told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that the Kremlin has failed in its goal." (Yahoo News (CNN report): 24 July 2023) (my emphasis)

US Secretary of State Blinken : CNN : 24 July 2023 : YouTube

 Lawrence Freedman is correct in stating that,

"Putin can simply try to hang on but given the mounting pressures [both inside Russia and internationally] he needs a strategy to show that Russia still has a path to victory.  What Putin does should in turn shape Ukrainian actions. Kyiv can add to the anxieties in Moscow, demonstrating that no part of Russia is secure, punishing Russian forces at the front, and opportunistically liberating territory even if it is not quite what military planners intended. This has become a war of endurance. (ibid Lawrence Freedman) 

As reported by Andrew Osborn (left),

"Russia spoke of taking harsh retaliatory measures against Ukraine after two drones damaged buildings in Moscow early on Monday, including one close to the Defence Ministry's headquarters, in what it called a brazen act of terror.
...
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the RTVI TV channel Ukraine was guilty of what she called "an act of international terrorism".
...
Attention is now likely to turn to where the drones were launched from and whether pro-Ukrainian saboteurs inside Russia had a role. After May's drone attack on the Kremlin, U.S. drone experts concluded they might have been launched from inside Russia." (Reuters : 25 July 2023) (my emphasis)

BBC News : 24 July 2023: YouTube

These drone attacks on Moscow has accelerated Putin's anxieties.

 And as UN Secretary General Guterres has recently stated,  

"With the recent collapse of the Ukraine-Russia grain deal, "the most vulnerable will pay the highest price,'' Guterres said. He lamented that there are already negative effects on global wheat and corn prices." (ibid Frances D'Emilio)

Putin is now resorting to starving the most vulnerable to cling to power.

 

(to be continued)