Russia and Ukraine Say Ammonia Pipeline Was Damaged, in Potential Blow to Grain Deal

Communal employees work on a site of an overnight explosion in the center of Kharkiv on June 6, 2023, following missile strike, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Communal employees work on a site of an overnight explosion in the center of Kharkiv on June 6, 2023, following missile strike, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Russia and Ukraine Say Ammonia Pipeline Was Damaged, in Potential Blow to Grain Deal

Communal employees work on a site of an overnight explosion in the center of Kharkiv on June 6, 2023, following missile strike, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Communal employees work on a site of an overnight explosion in the center of Kharkiv on June 6, 2023, following missile strike, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

A pipeline used to transport ammonia fertilizer from Russia via Ukraine which may be central to the future of the Black Sea grain deal has been damaged, according to both Kyiv and Moscow, potentially complicating talks around the accord.

Russia's defense ministry said a "Ukrainian sabotage group" had blown up a section of the pipeline on Monday night near the village of Masyutivka in Kharkiv region. The village is on the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

"As a result of this terrorist act, there were civilian casualties. They have been provided with necessary medical assistance," the Russian ministry said in a statement.

"At present ammonia residues are being blown out of the damaged sections of the pipeline from Ukrainian territory. There are no casualties among Russian servicemen."

Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of Ukraine's Kharkiv region gave a different version of events. He said in a statement posted on Telegram that Russian troops had shelled the pipeline.

Six Russian shells had landed near a pumping station near Masyutivka at around 5.45 pm (1445 GMT) on Tuesday, nearly 24 hours after Moscow alleged Ukraine had blown up the same pipeline, he said.

Reuters could not independently verify the Russian and Ukrainian assertions.

Resumption of supplies via the Tolyatti-Odesa pipeline, the world's longest ammonia pipeline, may be key to the renewal of the Black Sea grain export deal. The pipeline has been closed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in what it called a "special military operation".

Russia has repeatedly cast doubt on whether it will continue to renew the grain deal, brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye, which facilitates agricultural exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea.

Among the conditions for renewal that Moscow has put forward is resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa pipeline.

Moscow has said it will limit the number of ships allowed to travel to Ukraine's Pivdennyi port near Odesa under the deal until the pipeline is restarted.

In a briefing on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it would take between one and three months to repair the damaged section of the pipeline.

"The ammonia pipeline was one of the linchpins of the implementation of the agreements made in Istanbul on July 22. The (pipeline) was key to global food security," Zakharova said.



Hundreds of Journalists in France Stage ‘Die-in’ Solidarity Rally for Colleagues Killed in Gaza

More than 200 journalists lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out (AFP) 
More than 200 journalists lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out (AFP) 
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Hundreds of Journalists in France Stage ‘Die-in’ Solidarity Rally for Colleagues Killed in Gaza

More than 200 journalists lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out (AFP) 
More than 200 journalists lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out (AFP) 

Hundreds of journalists joined demonstrations in Paris and Marseille (southern France) on Wednesday in a show of solidarity for their colleagues killed in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, AFP correspondents said.

In Paris, more than 200 journalists, including prominent members of the French press, lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in a symbolic “die-in” as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out.

Nearly 200 journalists were killed in the Palestinian enclave since October 2023.

“Gaza of faces, not just numbers”, read posters bearing photographs of their fallen Palestinian colleagues.

At the demonstration, placards bearing the logos of journalist trade unions stood alongside numerous Palestinian flags and keffiyehs. Some participants also chanted, “We will not be silent,” and “Free Palestine.”

Head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate Europe branch, Yousef Habash, made a stand against “genocide” in Gaza, demanding an end to the blockade imposed on the Strip.

Head of France’s journalist union SNJ-CGT, Pablo Aiquel, said, “We have never witnessed such a high number of victims in our profession.”

He said the right to information is under threat.

Reporters Without Borders Director General Thibaut Bruttin said “This gathering comes late, perhaps too late. (...) I've never seen a conflict during which a killed journalist is described as a terrorist.”

In Marseille, about 160 people attended a similar demonstration. The names of journalists killed in Gaza were read out, before the participants held a minute's silence to mourn the victims.

In an op-ed in the leading French daily Le Monde earlier this week, several journalist associations, trade unions and around 40 media organizations, condemned the Israeli media blackout in Gaza.

“The Israeli army is imposing a media blackout on Gaza to silence, as much as possible, the witnesses of the war crimes committed by its troops,” said the newspaper column.