#antytila

“Poland is ready to be fully independent from Russian oil and is willing to support other countries to cut their supplies of fossil fuels from Russia, the country’s environment and climate minister Anna Moskwa said on Monday. “Poland is proud to be on Putin’s list of unfriendly countries,” she told reporters before a meeting with fellow national ministers in Brussels to discuss energy. Moskwa also said that Poland’s storages of gas would be filled for the winter.”-via The Guardian

~

“The United Nations has warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could trigger global famine, as Moscow’s Black Sea blockade delays crucial grain exports, and stoked fears of a deepening hunger crisis in countries such as Yemen and Ethiopia.

The UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, warned on Friday of a global famine as the result of Russia’s invasion.

“For the last three years, global rates of hunger and famine have been on the rise. With the Russian invasion, we are now facing the risk of imminent famine and starvation in more places around the world,” said Fakhri.

He warned of long-term disruptions because of the ongoing fighting during planting season in Ukraine and Russia...

Meanwhile Ukraine’s grain exports through the Black Sea were reported to have stalled entirely, German media reported, quoting Jörg-Simon Immerz, head of grain trading at Germany’s largest agricultural trader BayWa.

At least 100 ships are reportedly stranded in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, prompting calls for Russia to open a “blue corridor” to allow their exit.”-via The Guardian

~

“Israel has summoned the Russian ambassador and demanded an apology over remarks by the Kremlin foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, that Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” and that the “most rabid antisemites tend to be Jews”.

The remarks were part of Lavrov’s defence of Russia’s policy of “denazification” in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s term for a sweeping purge that Ukraine says is a pretext for “mass murder.

”In an interview with Italian TV, Lavrov was asked to address how Russia could say it needed to “denazify” the country when its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is Jewish.“

As to [Zelenskiy’s] argument of what kind of nazification can we have if I’m Jewish, if I remember correctly, and I may be wrong, Hitler also had Jewish blood,” Lavrov said during an interview with Italian television channel Mediaset. “It doesn’t mean anything at all.”

“His words are untrue and their intentions are wrong,” said the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett. “Using the Holocaust of the Jewish people as a political tool must cease immediately.”

Yair Lapid, Israel’s foreign minister, said Israel made “every effort” to have good relations with Russia “but there is a limit and this limit has been crossed this time. The government of Russia needs to apologise to us and the Jewish people.”

He said: “Foreign Minister Lavrov’s remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error. Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of antisemitism.”“-via The Guardian

(I try to keep personal opinions out of this, but no seriously what the hell???)

~

“Efforts to evacuate more civilians from the devastated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol have run into delays with hundreds of people still trapped in the Azovstal steel works. Reuters reports: It was not clear what was causing the hold-up although a city official said earlier that Russian forces had on Sunday resumed shelling the plant after a convoy of buses had left.The plight of civilians trapped in Mariupol, which endured weeks of bombardment before Russian forces captured most of it, has been a focus of humanitarian concern as the war has ground on into a third month.Thousands are believed to have been killed and those still stuck in the besieged Azovstal complex, whose network of bunkers and tunnels has provided shelter, are running out of water, food and medicine.“-via The Guardian

~

“Buses evacuating more civilians from Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine have left the city on Monday morning, an aide to the city’s mayor said.

The civilians on board the buses were not from the Azovstal steelworks, unlike some previous convoys. An unknown number of civilians and fighters remain trapped at Azovstal.” -via The Guardian

~

“A Ukrainian Bayraktar drone destroyed two Russian Raptor-class patrol ships in the Black Sea on Monday, Ukraine's military chief said.

"Two Russian Raptor-class boats were destroyed at dawn today near Zmiinyi (Snake) Island," Chief of General Staff Valeriy Zaluzhniy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.“-via Reuters

~ “Russian troops in the occupied city of Melitopol have stolen all the equipment from a farm equipment dealership -- and shipped it to Chechnya, according to a Ukrainian businessman in the area.

But after a journey of more than 700 miles, the thieves were unable to use any of the equipment -- because it had been locked remotely.

Over the past few weeks there's been a growing number of reports of Russian troops stealing farm equipment, grain and even building materials - beyond widespread looting of residences. But the removal of valuable agricultural equipment from a John Deere dealership in Melitopol speaks to an increasingly organized operation, one that even uses Russian military transport as part of the heist.

CNN has learned that the equipment was removed from an Agrotek dealership in Melitopol, which has been occupied by Russian forces since early March. Altogether it's valued at nearly $5 million. The combine harvesters alone are worth $300,000 each.”-via CNN

~

“A rocket strike has hit the Black Sea port city of Odesa in south-western Ukraine, causing deaths and injuries, the local governor, Maksym Marchenko, said on the Telgram messaging app.” via The Guardian

Later on, more details emerged.

“"The consequence of another missile strike on the Odessa region today was a hit in a residential building in the city of Odessa. At the time of the hit in the building were 5 people.

A 15-year-old child has died, another minor has been taken to hospital and is receiving medical treatment. SES psychologists are working with the rest of those who were in the house. "

Update 22:30: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi clarified in his address that the occupiers hit the dormitory with a rocket.

Direct speech:  "A 14-year-old boy was killed in Odessa, a 17-year-old girl was wounded, she had shrapnel wounds. What is it? Why? What did these children and the dormitory threaten Russia with?"“-via Pravda (Ukrainian source)

~

The Ukrainian band Antytila has collaborated with Ed Sheeran to help raise money for Ukraine:

Taras Topolia, the lead singer of the Ukrainian band Antytila, has spoken about their collaboration with Ed Sheeran to raise money for Ukraine