Russia says destroys over 70 military targets, including 11 airfields, in Ukraine

Russia said Thursday that its military had destroyed more than 70 military targets including 11 airfields in Ukraine.

"As a result of strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces, 74 Ukrainian military ground facilities were destroyed," said Igor Konashenkov, a defence ministry spokesman, specifying that destroyed facilities included 11 airfields. He said a Ukrainian military helicopter and four drones had also been shot down. 9h ago 09:41 PM Feb 24, 2022Czech Republic to shut two Russian consulates, recall ambassadorsBy ReutersThe Czech Republic will close two Russian consulates in Brno, the country's second largest city, and Karlovy Vary and also shut its consulates in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg in Russia, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Thursday.

Fiala said the government would also call home its ambassadors to Russia and Belarus for consultations.9h ago 08:54 PM Feb 24, 2022Ukraine tensions to affect agricultural trade, but impact on China limited: analystsBy GT staff reporters

Large machines harvest corn in Hulun Buir City, North China's Inner Mongolia Auton?omous Region, on November 3, 2021 during the autumn harvest. As of October 28, more than 80 percent of the autumn grain had been harvested, ensuring a bumper year. Photo: cnsphoto 

The escalating situation in Ukraine will likely push global corn and wheat prices higher and affect China's agricultural imports from the country, which supplies around 30 percent of China's corn imports, though the impact will be limited, industry analysts said on Thursday. 

In addition, certain trade between China and Ukraine may also be affected, with some companies making light industrial goods trade in China saying that they have already seen significant drop in export orders to Ukraine and traders are concerned over logistics and other issues, according to industry sources.

In terms of overall trade, China in 2019 surpassed Russia to become Ukraine's biggest trading partner and reported bilateral trade value at around $19.3 billion in 2021, Chinese customs data showed. Major Ukrainian exports to China are iron ore and agricultural products, while China exports electrical machinery and consumer goods to Ukraine.

As a big producer of corn, Ukraine supplied 23.86 million tons of corn to the world in 2020-2021, accounting for 13.3 percent of global corn export volume, statistics provided by Mysteel consultancy to the Global Times showed. The country is also a major supplier of wheat, accounting for about 12 percent of global wheat exports. 

"If corn exports by Ukraine are suspended, global corn prices will be further pushed up," Liu Dong, a senior analyst specializing in corn at the Mysteel consultancy, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

 9h ago 08:46 PM Feb 24, 2022Ukraine military plane with 14 aboard crashes near Kyiv: emergency serviceBy AFPA Ukrainian military plane with 14 people aboard crashed south of Kyiv on Thursday, the emergencies service said.

The service said it was "still determining how many people died." The incident occurred about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Kyiv, amid reports of several locations around the city coming under attack.9h ago 08:30 PM Feb 24, 2022Ukraine recalls its Russian charge d'affaires, evacuates embassyBy ReutersUkrainian foreign ministry said on Thursday it had recalled its charge d'affaires in Russia for consultations and begun evacuating its embassy in Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said earlier Kyiv had cut diplomatic ties with Russia.