Russia’s war against Ukraine: Day 142, July 15 – Update 1

– Russia under fire at G20 talks –

Western finance ministers on the island of Bali for two-day G20 talks condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, accusing Russian officials of complicity in atrocities committed during the war.  The latest round of talks begins under the shadow of a Russian military assault that has roiled markets, spiked food prices and stoked breakneck inflation.

“Russia is solely responsible for negative spillovers to the global economy,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tells the Russian delegation in the opening session.  She is joined by Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who tells Russia’s delegation they are responsible for “war crimes” in Ukraine because of their support for the invasion.

– Russian missiles kill at least 23, Zelensky slams ‘act of terrorism’ –  

In a midday attack Thursday on the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, a Russian missiles strike killed at least 23 people, including three children.  In his daily address to the nation Zelensky confirms the toll and says it is likely to rise, with dozens still missing and many hospitalised in critical condition.

“No other state in the world poses such a terrorist threat as Russia,” says Zelensky. “No other state in the world allows itself to destroy peaceful cities and ordinary human life with cruise missiles and rocket artillery on a daily basis.”

– Next target: Siversk –

Moscow-backed troops in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine say they are closing in on their next target, after wresting control of sister cities Lysychansk and Severodonetsk two weeks ago.

“Siversk is under our operational control, which means that the enemy can be hit by our aimed fire all over the area,” a pro-Moscow rebel official is cited as saying by Russian state-run news agency TASS.

– New sanctions to aim Russian gold –

The European Union will target Russian gold exports in its next sanction package and seek to “close exit routes” for those bypassing its earlier packages.  It will be the seventh sanctions package approved by the EU against Russia.  “As soon as we reach an agreement at the level of member states, we will publish it,” says Maros Sefcovic, deputy head of the European Commission.

The move follows a ban on gold exports from Russia agreed by the world’s most industrialised nations at a G7 meeting at the end of June.

– North Korea slams Ukraine for cutting ties –

North Korea hits out at Ukraine for severing diplomatic ties between the two nations, after Pyongyang says it is formally recognising two self-proclaimed pro-Russian republics in the east.  Kyiv says it will cut its official relationship with the nuclear-armed state in response to Pyongyang recognising the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.

The North’s move comes after another Russian ally, Syria, did the same last month.