Image: Ukrainian farmer farming side by side with fighting military. NYTimes.
August 7 - Four more grain ships leave Ukrainian ports.
There some hope for countries in need of Ukrainian grain. The largest group of ships left Ukrainian ports carrying grain, sunflower oil and corn. They sailed to Istanbul through the mined waters of the Black Sea.
The United Nations, said that the ships were carrying 6,000 tons of sunflower oil to Italy, 45,000 tons of meal to China, 66,000 tons of sunflower oil to Iran, and 44,000 tons of corn to the Turkish city of Iskenderun. (NY Times)
August 4 - Amnesty International's report criticizes Ukrainian military.
Amnesty reported a number of incidents when Ukrainian forces appeared to have exposed civilians to danger in 19 towns and villages in the Kharkiv, Donbas and Mykolayiv regions. Amnesty International reports that Ukrainian troops sheltered alongside civilians and that Russian rocket strikes on Ukrainian military positions left several nearby civilians dead. NPR's journalists also witnessed some evidence of military near bombed civilian areas.
The report has led to Ukraine’s Amnesty International head to quit. She accused Amnesty International “of parroting Kremlin propaganda in a report that criticized Kyiv's military response to Russia's unprovoked invasion.” (RFERL)
The Kyiv Independent wrote, “In its brutal war of conquest against Ukraine, Russia has been blatantly and systematically targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure anywhere its missiles, artillery, and guns can reach. Shocking scenes of a destroyed maternity hospital in Mariupol, a shopping mall in Kremenchuk in the middle of the day, and mass graves of hundreds of innocent civilians executed in Kyiv’s suburbs are just a fraction of Russia’s atrocities against Ukrainian civilians since its full-scale invasion began.”
I believe the Kyiv Independent said it well in August 8th’s editorial, “No one is asking human rights organizations to cover up the possible wrongdoings of the Ukrainian military, but anyone publishing a report of this nature while Ukraine is defending itself from Russian aggression must exercise extreme caution when doing so. We already know what happens when one isn’t careful with an enemy like Russia…The report was precisely what Russia has been waiting for: A carte blanche to continue to target civilian infrastructure and claim there were soldiers or military equipment located at the site. All Russia has to do now after an attack on a hospital is point to Amnesty’s report as justification. In other words, the report poses a direct threat to the lives and safety of civilians in Ukraine.” (Kyiv Independent)
In defense of their report, Amnesty International wrote, “"Every single member of Amnesty's Ukraine office knows that only the Russian Federation bears responsibility for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, not the least of which because several of our colleagues had to leave everything behind to save themselves and their families." In fairness, Amnesty International has produced dozens of reports about Russian war crimes.
August 7 - Ukraine’s farmers confront the ravages of war.
Here is a case in point where the Russians are targeting farms.
“Ukrainian farmers face many of the same dangers as soldiers as they reap this year’s harvest. Across Ukraine, Russian artillery and mines have killed tractor drivers. Thousands of acres of ripe wheat have burned from strikes. Fields are pockmarked where incoming shells have left craters.
The farmers say they have little choice but to farm despite the danger. Much of Ukraine’s grain crop is winter wheat and barley, sown in early fall and harvested the following summer. After planting before the war began, farmers near the front must take risks now, lest they lose the entire year’s investment.” (NYTimes)
August 3 - U.S. Senators vote to approve NATO membership for Finland and Sweden.
The Senate voted 95 to 1 to admit Finland and Sweden into NATO, easily passing the 2/3rds Constitutional requirement for approval. According to the U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2, “[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present (approve). (United States Constitution)
President Biden, the principal leader who pushed American allies to support Ukraine in the war, lobbied for quick entry for the two nations who had previously been unaligned. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged unanimous approval. He said, "[Finland and Sweden’s] accession will make NATO stronger and America more secure. If any senator is looking for a defensible excuse to vote no, I wish them good luck," McConnell said.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who is an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, cast the only no vote. Hawley called NATO a distraction from what he considered United States' chief rival — China. "We can do more in Europe ... devote more resources, more firepower ... or do what we need to…deter Asia and China. We cannot do both." (NPR)