Air raid warning was heard in Kyiv on Wednesday.

The European Commission has adopted the 2023 Enlargement Package recommending opening negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova to grant candidate status to Georgia and opening accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once the necessary degree of compliance is achieved, the EU Commission said on Wednesday.

UK added 29 new designations under the Russia sanctions regime, UK government announced on Wednesday.

Ukraine's parliament decided on Wednesday to extend the current martial law and general mobilization in the country for another 90 days until mid-February 2024, local media reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced via Telegram on Friday that he had visited the Odesa region and discussed the situation in the region with local military leaders.

Escalating violence in the Middle East topped the agenda at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels this week as allies warned against an escalation of hostilities in the region. But Ukraine remained on the organization's agenda. 

The ministers were joined by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and the message from the military alliance was clear: its support for Ukraine will not be compromised.

"We're working urgently to get Israel what it needs to defend itself, including munitions and Iron Dome interceptors, and we will do so even as we continue to support the people of Ukraine as they fight against Russian aggression," said U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. "Make no mistake, we can and will stand by Israel even as we stand by Ukraine. The United States can walk and chew gum at the same time."

"The war in Europe as well is absolutely at the forefront of our minds," added UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.

Austin added that any actors hoping to make the most of the bloodshed in Israel and Gaza should think twice before escalating the violence, a sentiment echoed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"The situation in the Middle East is very challenging and there's always the risk that nations and organizations hostile to Israel will take advantage. And that includes for instance organizations like Hezbollah or countries like Iran," said the NATO chief.

Wrapping up the two-day meeting in Brussels, the NATO chief said several allies had made clear that they support Israel's right to defend itself in the face of Hamas's attacks, but that any response from Israel should be proportionate.

NATO allies also discussed the situation around the Baltic connector, a communications cable linking Finland and Estonia. The connector, and a pipeline that runs parallel, were both damaged on Sunday.

Helsinki said an external actor was likely involved in the incident and that an attack by another state could not be ruled out. Stoltenberg made clear that NATO would have a united and determined response if sabotage is proven.

Despite global geopolitical turmoil, it seems as though Zelenskyy's visit to NATO ultimately has paid off, with NATO's support of Ukraine still taking priority. For now at least, the alliance's support seems unwavering in the face of the country's conflict with Russia.

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Ukraine destroyed 28 of 33 drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a Telegram post on Thursday.

There has been no response from Russia.

Russian anti-aircraft units downed a drone over the southern Belgorod region, and the falling debris killed three people and seriously injured two others, the regional governor said on Thursday.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app that a house had been set on fire in the incident.

The Russian Defense Ministry also confirmed in a Telegram post that it had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over Belgorod on Wednesday night, but there has been no response from Ukraine.

At least two people were killed after Russia shelled a gymnasium in Ukraine's Dnipro region, Ukrinform reported Wednesday, adding that there may be people under the rubble.

Denmark expects to make its first delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in March or April next year, national broadcaster TV2 reported on Wednesday, citing Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.

Germany on Tuesday unveiled a fresh support package for Ukraine worth around one billion euros ($1.1 billion), its defense ministry said, adding the programme covered air defense, weapons and ground vehicles.

The United States will provide an additional $200 million in military aid for Ukraine, which includes AIM-9 missiles, air-defense systems, artillery and rocket ammunition, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met the press at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is currently visiting Bucharest, said via Telegram that he discussed security cooperation, in particular in the Black Sea region, with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday.

In an updated post, Zelenskyy announced that a new "grain corridor" from Ukraine through Moldova to Romania will soon be operational for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he is visiting Bucharest, capital of Romania and will meet with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

The bodies of 64 soldiers have been returned to Ukraine, Ukrinform reported on Friday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post on Friday that during a naval helicopter patrol of the Black Sea Fleet, an unmanned Ukrainian Armed Forces boat heading towards the Crimean Peninsula was discovered and destroyed.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

Fifty-two people were killed in a Russian missile strike on Thursday in the village of Hroza in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, Oleh Synehubov, the regional governor, said via Telegram on Friday.

In another Russian attack on Friday morning in the center of Kharkiv, two people were killed and more than 20 others were injured, Synehubov added.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later said in his daily briefing that the Russian military does not attack civilian targets in Ukraine, but only strikes military targets.

Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson on Friday announced the 14th Swedish support package to Ukraine.

Russia launched a new drone and missile strike on Ukraine early on Friday, resulting in the death of a 10-year-old boy in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and damage to grain and port infrastructure in the Odesa region in the south, according to local officials on Friday.

On Thursday, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, stated that at least 51 people were killed and six were wounded in a Russian missile attack on the northeastern village of Hroza, about 30 km west of the frontline town of Kupiansk.

Russia has lifted diesel exports ban via pipelines to stabilize the domestic fuel market, according to Russian media outlets. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Europe is "creating a new Iron Curtain" with his country, as Moscow faces unprecedented isolation and huge sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.

"Europe is fencing itself off from us and creating a new Iron Curtain," Putin said. "We are not the ones shutting the door. It's Europe that's shutting the door."

Speaking during a question-and-answer session at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, Putin added that Russia's mission was to create a "new world." Putin has portrayed Russia's full-scale military activities in Ukraine - which began in February 2022 - as part of a long-standing confrontation with the West.

"We are tasked, essentially, with building a new world," Putin said, stating that a global "hegemony" was the target for the West. "The West always needs an enemy," he said. 

Putin insisted the conflict in Ukraine was "not a territorial" one and that Moscow has "no interests from the point of view of conquering some territories."

Russia's army occupies large swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine, and Putin has formally absorbed four Ukrainian regions: Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Lugansk. He has consistently said that Ukrainian territory was historically Russian, and questioned Ukrainian statehood. 

Putin also oversaw the absorption of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. The longtime leader, who turns 71 this week, blamed Western countries for the conflict, now in its twentieth month.

"The war, which was started by the Kyiv regime with active support from the West, has been going on already for 10 years," he said. "The special military operation was launched to stop it," he said, using Moscow's term for the offensive.

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He also said Russia had successfully tested a potent new strategic missile and declined to rule out the possibility it could carry out weapons tests involving nuclear explosions for the first time in more than three decades. Putin said for the first time that Moscow had successfully tested the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile with a potential range of many thousands of miles.

The President, who has repeatedly reminded the world of Russia's nuclear might since the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, said no one in their right mind would use nuclear weapons against his country. If such an attack was detected, he said, "such a number of our missiles - hundreds, hundreds - would appear in the air that not a single enemy would have a chance of survival."

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Spain has offered Ukraine six hawk missile launchers to help protect grain corridor, Reuters reported Thursday citing a Spanish government source.

At least 49 people were killed after Russia shelled Kharkiv Oblast, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine said on Thursday.

Russia has not yet responded to the claim.

Ukraine trade representative said Ukraine has paused WTO complaints against Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, Interfax-Ukraine reported Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that he is in Spain for European Political Community Summit.

Two people were killed after Russia shelled Kherson city in Ukraine, said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president's office on Telegram on Thursday.

Russia has not yet responded.

The European Union proposed 50 billion euros of macro-financial assistance for the Ukraine Plan, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday, after holding a phone call with leaders of the EU, G7, NATO and Bucharest9.

She also said that 1 million more rounds of ammunition will be delivered to Ukraine by March 2024.

Warsaw and Kyiv announced Tuesday they had agreed to speed up the transit of Ukrainian cereal exports through Poland to third countries, a first step in resolving their "grain war."

"From tomorrow, grains that transit (to world markets) via Lithuania will undergo checks at a Lithuanian port and not at the Poland-Ukraine border," Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told journalists, calling it an "important issue."

Ukraine destroyed 29 of 31 drones launched by Russia and one cruise missile, its air force said on Tuesday, most of them targeting the regions of Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk.

The overnight attacks came in several waves and lasted more than three hours, the southern command of Ukraine's forces had said earlier.

There has been no response from Russia.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces fired cluster munitions at the village of Klimovo in Russia's Bryansk region, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said in a Telegram post on Tuesday.

According to preliminary information, there were no casualties, but damage to several residential buildings was recorded, he said.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that using the Black Sea corridor to transport Ukrainian grain is realistic, even without Russian involvement. He made the remark on Monday after European foreign ministers gathered in Kyiv to show support for Ukraine.

Moscow suspended its participation in the Black Sea corridor agreement on July 17, 2023, saying that it would return to the deal as soon as the agreements promised to their country were fulfilled.

(With input from Reuters)

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell reaffirmed the EU's support for Ukraine as the EU's foreign ministers met in Kyiv on Monday, saying that "giving Ukraine EU membership is the strongest security commitment."

Borrell said overarching support for Ukraine from security perspective, the EU accession and reform process, and a formula for peace has been discussed.

Borrell on Monday also proposed to Ukraine a new bilateral multi-annual envelope of the European peace facility of up to 5 billion euros  ($5.26 billion) for the next year.

"I hope we can reach an agreement before the end of the year", he also said at a joint press briefing in Kyiv with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

(With input from Reuters)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Monday called for creating a strategy to insulate Ukraine from the fallout of the campaign of Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy grid this winter.

"Ukraine needs a winter protection plan of air defense, generators and a strengthening of the energy supply," she told reporters in Kyiv as European foreign ministers gathered in the Ukrainian capital for an informal meeting on Monday.

Josep Borrell, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, who is currently visiting Kyiv, announced on social media on Monday that EU foreign ministers are convening in Ukraine to show support for the Ukrainian people.

Russian shelling of the Kherson region overnight killed at least one person and injured six, including two children, the regional governor said on Monday.

On the Telegram messaging app, Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian forces had launched 71 attacks in the past 24 hours, "aimed at the residential districts," as well as shops and medical infrastructure, among other establishments.

There has been no response from Russia.

Five more ships are on their way to Ukrainian sea ports using a new corridor opened to resume predominantly agricultural exports, an alternative arrangement to the Black Sea grain deal blocked by Russia, a top Ukrainian official said on Sunday.

"Five new vessels are waiting to be loaded in Ukrainian ports," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on the X social media platform, adding the carriers are going to export almost 120,000 (metric) tons of Ukrainian grain to Africa and Europe.

The confirmation came after three bulk carriers – Azara, Ying Hao 01 and Eneida – left Ukrainian ports earlier on Sunday using the "temporary corridor established by the Ukrainian Navy" and carrying 127,000 tonnes of agricultural products and iron ore.

TOP HEADLINES

• Russia was targeted by another wave of Ukrainian drones and shelling, wounding three people and forcing an airport to divert flights, officials said. READ MORE BELOW

• A huge fire erupted at an oil pipeline in the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk, injuring nine people, authorities said. The blaze caused an oil spill spanning 100 square meters before it was later extinguished. 

• Ukraine's air defense systems shot down 16 out of around 30 drones that Russia launched on Ukraine's territory overnight from the southern, southeastern and northern directions, Ukrainian Air Forces said. 

• A populist party that wants to stop military aid to Ukraine and is critical of the EU and NATO has won Slovakia's election. The Smer-SD party led by Former Prime Minister Robert Fico scored 23.3 percent, with almost all votes counted. Analysts predict a Fico government could radically change Slovakia's foreign policy to resemble that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

• African countries are interested in not just buying weapons from Kyiv but manufacturing them, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at the first International Defense Industries Forum in Kyiv. Officials from over 30 countries and 250 defense firms gathered for the forum, which was held as Ukraine seeks to attract weapons manufacturers to bolster its domestic arms industry. 

• Russia's former leader Dmitry Medvedev suggested that Moscow may absorb more regions of Ukraine, as he marked one year since the Kremlin claimed four Ukrainian territories as its own. "Victory will be ours. And there will be more new regions within Russia," Medvedev said.

• UK government wants to deploy military instructors to Ukraine, in addition to training Ukrainian armed forces in the UK or other Western countries as at present, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said in a newspaper interview.

• Three cargo vessels left Ukrainian Black Sea ports after loading, the MarineTraffic database showed, the latest to sail since Kyiv set up a temporary "humanitarian corridor" after Russia quit a deal allowing safe passage for Ukraine exports. Five new ships are on their way to Ukrainian sea ports using the new corridor.

IN DETAIL

Russia targeted by wave of Ukrainian attacks

Russia was targeted by another wave of Ukrainian drones and shelling, wounding three people and forcing an airport to divert flights, officials said.

Since Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in early June, Russian regions have accused Kyiv's armed forces of almost daily drone strikes and shelling on civilian targets.

"On Sunday morning, the armed forces of Ukraine shelled the area of the central market in Shebekino," said Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia's Belgorod region bordering Ukraine.

"According to preliminary information, there are three victims - a woman suffered shrapnel wounds to the neck... Two other men suffered shrapnel wounds to their legs," he said.

The governor of Bryansk region, also on the border, said Ukrainian shelling of a village damaged houses and two administrative buildings but that there were no casualties.

The attacks came as officials said five drones were shot down over the region of Smolensk, west of Moscow, while another was shot down over Krasnodar region on the Black Sea coast.

"On the morning of 1 October, Sochi airport imposed a temporary flight restriction. Six flights were diverted to alternate aerodromes," Sochi airport said.

The Crimea bridge, which connects the Moscow-controlled peninsula to the Russian mainland, also briefly closed for undisclosed reasons.

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The Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post on Sunday that air defense systems had destroyed three Ukrainian drones over the Smolensk region.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

Three cargo vessels left Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Sunday after loading, the MarineTraffic database showed, making them the latest to sail since Kyiv set up a temporary "humanitarian corridor" for grain exports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who is on an unannounced visit to Kyiv.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Zelenskyy, Stoltenberg announced that NATO has over-arching framework contracts in place with arms companies worth 2.4 billion euros ($2.53 billion) for key ammunition for Ukraine, including 1 billion euros in firm orders.

(With input from Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Thursday, RIA news agency reported. 

Russia is set to hike defense spending by almost 70 percent in 2024, a finance ministry document published on Thursday showed.

The document said defense spending was set to jump by over 68 percent year-on-year to almost 10.8 trillion rubles ($111.15 billion), totaling around 6 percent of GDP.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for a visit on Thursday, local media reported, citing the French Embassy in Ukraine.

Russian shelling damaged a thermal power plant in southern Ukraine late on Wednesday, Ukraine's national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Thursday.

Ukrenergo gave no other details about the location of the plant or the extent of the damage.

"Yesterday evening a thermal power plant in the southern region was damaged as a result of massive enemy shelling," Ukrenergo said.

NATO said on Thursday that it will temporarily deploy Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) surveillance planes to Šiauliai, Lithuania.

The first of two aircraft will arrive on Thursday and will fly missions to monitor Russian military activity near the Alliance's borders, it said in a statement.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post on Thursday that air defense systems had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk region.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Secretary of State for Defense of the United Kingdom Grant Shapps in Kyiv, Zelenskyy's social media account showed on Thursday.

Ukraine carried out a missile attack on Crimea's naval headquarters in Sevastopol on September 22 in close coordination with the U.S. and Britain, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a weekly briefing on Wednesday.

"There is not the slightest doubt that the attack was planned in advance using Western intelligence assets, NATO satellite equipment, and reconnaissance aircraft," Zakharova added.

Russia has expanded retaliatory sanctions against the UK to include 23 people in the restriction list, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Traffic on the Crimean Bridge was temporarily blocked on Wednesday, RIA news agency reported, without providing other details.

The first American-made Abrams tanks have been delivered to Ukraine, The New York Times reported on Monday, citing two U.S. defense officials.

This information was later confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"Good news from Minister (of Defence) Umerov. Abrams are already in Ukraine and are being prepared to reinforce our brigades," he said on Telegram messaging app.

TOP HEADLINES

• An overnight Russian air strike on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa caused "significant damage" to port infrastructure and destroyed some grain storage facilities, Ukrainian officials said on Monday. Nearly 1,000 tonnes of grain was stored in facilities attacked by Russia. READ MORE BELOW

• A Ukraine drone attack on Russia's Kursk region damaged several private houses and an administrative building, while two Ukraine-launched drones were destroyed over the Belgorod region, local governors said on Monday.

• Russian air defense systems destroyed four Ukraine-launched drones over the northwestern part of the Black Sea and over the Crimean Peninsula, Russia's defense ministry said on Monday.

• An International Monetary Fund monitoring mission started work on Monday on the second review of a $15.6 billion multi-year loan program for Ukraine. Vahram Stepanyan, IMF's resident representative, said in a statement that the discussions with the Ukrainian government would be held on recent economic developments and fiscal, financial and structural policies.

• Russia's Gazprom said it would send 41.8 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Monday, the same volume as the previous day.

IN DEPTH

Russian air strike damages Ukrainian grain storage facilities

An overnight Russian air strike on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa caused "significant damage" to port infrastructure and destroyed some grain storage facilities, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.

No deaths were reported in the attack on Odesa, but at least one person was killed in a separate Russian air strike on the town of Beryslav in the southern region of Kherson region, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

"Another massive attack on Odesa! ... The attack resulted in the destruction of grain storage facilities and significant damage to the seaport," Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X.

Odesa region governor Oleh Kiper said the facilities that were hit had almost 1,000 tons of grain in storage.

Russia's defense ministry also reported Ukrainian attacks overnight, saying drones were shot down over the northwestern part of the Black Sea, over Crimea, and over the Russian regions of Kursk and Belgorod regions. It mentioned no deaths.

The Russian attack on Odesa was the latest in a series of missile and drone strikes which Kyiv says are intended to prevent Ukraine, a major grain producer and exporter, shipping its agricultural products to the world.

"The sea port in Odesa suffered significant damage," Ukraine's southern military command said on the Telegram messaging app, also reporting a fire in a hotel that was not in use.

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Commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Viktor Sokolov, was among those killed in an attack on the fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry claimed on Monday.

There has so far been no response from the Russian side.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post on Monday that air defense systems had intercepted two Ukrainian drones over the territories of the Kursk and Bryansk regions.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

A Russian reconnaissance team claims to have destroyed a Leopard tank, supplied by Germany to the Ukrainian military and crewed by German soldiers, near Zaporizhzhia, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported on Saturday.

The German-speaking driver, pulled out from the damaged tank by Russian forces, claimed to be a Bundeswehr serviceman and said all crew were members of the same unit of the German army, according to the report.

Germany and Ukraine have not confirmed the report and Russian media said the driver subsequently died despite efforts to save him. 

Explosions were heard in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday, Ukrinform reported.

Ukraine's attack on the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has killed at least nine people and wounded 16 others, Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said.

Budanov said several generals, including Russian Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk, were among the casualties.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced new military, economic, peace and security, and development assistance and investments for Ukraine, after meeting with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He announced a new investment of 650 million Canadian dollars ($487.5 million) over three years to supply Ukraine with 50 armored vehicles, including armored medical evacuation vehicles, saying that Canada is "shifting the approach to provide multi-year assistance."

Ottawa would send trainers to help Ukrainian pilots on Western F-16 fighter jets, Trudeau said.

Meanwhile, Canada is providing Ukraine an additional 34 million Canadian dollars ($25.5 million) in development assistance for four multi-year initiatives supporting mental health, small-scale farmers and restoration of agricultural livelihoods, local infrastructure rehabilitation and reconstruction, as well as technical assistance for inclusive recovery.

Zelenskyy, who was visiting Canada from Thursday to Friday, delivered a speech to parliamentarians on Friday calling on Canada and other Western allies for further support. 

On Friday, Trudeau also announced new sanctions targeting 63 Russian individuals and entities in a show of support for Ukraine. 

(With input from agencies)

The Russian Defense Ministry said via Telegram on Friday that air defense systems had destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the Kursk and Belgorod regions.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

TOP HEADLINES

• Ukraine said it had struck a military airfield on the Russia-controlled Crimean peninsula, the latest claimed attack on the Black Sea territory Kyiv has vowed to recapture. The governor of Crimea's largest city, Sevastopol, warned another Ukrainian aerial attack could be imminent shortly after confirming the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet had been struck.

• Ukrainian forces have mounted coordinated assaults on several villages in the eastern Donetsk region and are heavily shelling the city of Bakhmut, a Russian-installed official in the region said.

• Polish President Andrzej Duda said that the prime minister's comments on no longer arming Ukraine had been taken the wrong way, amid a mounting row between the two countries.

• The Kremlin said it was unavoidable that tensions would grow between Kyiv and its European allies amid an escalating dispute between Ukraine and Poland sparked by disagreements over grain exports. 

• Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said Russia has restarted a systemic campaign of aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure but that his country's air defense systems were better prepared for the onslaught than last year.

• A ship carrying wheat left a Ukrainian port and was heading to Egypt, the second such trip since Russia reimposed its Black Sea blockade in July, a minister said.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, seeking to rally support for his country as it fights the Russian offensive.

• U.S. President Joe Biden said there was "no alternative" to Congress supporting fresh military aid for Ukraine to fight Russia, after Republican lawmakers threatened to block a new package. 

IN DETAIL

Poland: PM's Ukraine arms comments were misinterpreted

Polish President Andrzej Duda said that the prime minister's comments on no longer arming Ukraine had been taken the wrong way, amid a mounting row between the two countries.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had said: "We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons" – but the following day, Warsaw promised to fulfil existing arms supply deals with Ukraine.

Duda argued that "the prime minister's words were interpreted in the worst way possible... in my opinion, the prime minister meant that we won't be transferring to Ukraine the new weaponry that we're currently buying as we modernize the Polish army."

Poland has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since the conflict began in February 2022 and is one of Kyiv's main weapons suppliers. 

However, there have been tensions between the countries. After complaints by furious farmers, Poland joined Hungary and Slovakia in banning imports of Ukrainian grain, which led to Kyiv filing a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization. 

In such circumstances, the possibility of withdrawing military aid exacerbated tensions that Kyiv might lose support from its immediate western neighbor – a country of 38 million, the EU's fifth-largest country by population, with whom has it has traditionally had strong ties. 

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Ukraine's military confirmed on Friday in a Telegram post that its forces had "successfully" struck the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, without providing further details.

One soldier was killed in a missile attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The EU disbursed another 1.5 billion euros to Ukraine on Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media.

"Just this year, we paid €13.5 billion to help Ukraine keep hospitals, schools and other services running," von der Leyen added.

Ukraine launched a missile attack on the headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet in the city of Sevastopol in Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Sevastopol, said via Telegram on Friday.

According to preliminary information, there is no damage to civilian infrastructure around the headquarters and people on the streets were not injured, Razvozhayev said in an updated post.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

At least 15 people were injured and 20 high-rise buildings were damaged after Russia launched two rocket attacks on the town of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region, Ukraine's news agency Ukrinform reported on Friday.

There has been no response from Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post on Friday that air defense systems off the western coast of the Crimean Peninsula had discovered and destroyed one Ukrainian guided missile and two Ukrainian drones.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

A second cargo vessel, the Aroyat, has left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Chornomorsk after loading grain, Reuters reported on Friday citing an industry source.

The bulk carriers Resilient Africa and Aroyat arrived in Ukraine on Saturday and were due to depart after loading almost 20,000 tonnes of wheat for Africa and Asia.

Resilient Africa left Ukraine on Tuesday with 3,000 metric tons of wheat on board and arrived off Türkiye's Bosphorus Strait on Thursday using a temporary "humanitarian corridor."

(With input from agencies)

The European Union will represent Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in a trade dispute with Ukraine at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the three EU members' ban on Ukrainian grain, European Commission spokesperson Miriam Garcia Ferrer said on Thursday.

The three countries said the bans were imposed to protect their farmers from a surging influx of grain and other food products from Ukraine, a shift driven by Russia's Black Sea blockade during which Ukraine's grain exports have to transit through the EU.

Kyiv said it had filed a legal action against the three countries at the WTO earlier this week, a move the three countries said was unfounded.

The three countries' import bans were an extension of a previous EU-wide ban, which the European Commission decided to suspend last week. Their insistence in having the bans remain in place marked a widening wedge between EU members, with some governments criticizing them for not supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. 

Trade policies are under the exclusive purview of the EU, Ferrer said, adding that it is the EU that negotiates and sets up trade agreements, not its members. 

The statement suggests both the EU's mandate to argue in their favor at the WTO and the three countries' lack of authority to impose unilateral bans.

Amid heightening tension between Ukraine and the three eastern EU countries, Poland, one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters in its fight against Russia, said it will stop sending arms to Ukraine. It followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's comment that some countries were just pretending to help his country.

(Cover: A security staff member guards the entrance to the headquarters of the World Trade Organization in Geneva on June 11, 2022. /CFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Canada on Thursday, Ukrinform reported.

The U.S. will provide Ukraine an additional $325 million in military aid to shore up its counteroffensive campaign against Russian forces, U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday during a White House meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Biden and Zelenskyy held a meeting in the White House as part of a blizzard of appearances the Ukrainian leader made looking to bolster U.S. support for a conflict that began in February 2022.

The U.S. president assured Zelenskyy that strong U.S. support for Ukraine will be maintained despite opposition from some Republican lawmakers to sending billions more in aid.

Zelenskyy thanked Biden for the new military aid package of weaponry and air defenses, saying "it has exactly what our soldiers need now."

He said he and Biden agreed on specific steps to expand the export of grain from Ukraine in the face of a Black Sea blockade and tensions with neighbor Poland. He did not detail the steps.

Biden's request for $24 million in more Ukraine funding to help pay for Ukraine's defense and humanitarian aid through the end of the year is bottled up in a budget fight pushed by Republican hardliners in the House of Representatives.

Asked how to overcome the opposition, Biden said the only way was approval by the U.S. Congress.

"I'm counting on the good judgment of the United States Congress. There's no alternative," he said.

Comments from Republican Senator Rand Paul, a frequent critic of foreign aid, were emblematic of the opposition. He told Fox Business News that Ukraine is a "corrupt regime" and that the conflict has no end in sight.

Biden said the first American Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine next week.

"Just as we're committed to helping Ukraine defend itself now, we're also committed to helping them recover and rebuild in the future, including supporting reforms that will combat corruption," Biden said.

The U.S. has sent some $113 billion in security and humanitarian aid to help Zelenskyy's government since February last year.

Russia casts the United States as a perfidious power that is supporting Ukraine in an attempt to cleave Russia apart and grab its vast natural resources - assertions Washington denies.

(With input from Reuters)

Slovakia and Ukraine have agreed to set up a licensing system for trading in grains, which would allow a ban on imports of four Ukrainian commodities to Slovakia to be lifted once the system is set up, the Slovak Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday.

Ukraine also agreed to halt a complaint over the import ban that it had filed against Slovakia with the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Slovak ministry said in an emailed statement.

(With input from Reuters)

Poland is only carrying out previously agreed supplies of ammunition and armaments, including those resulting from the contracts signed with Ukraine, government spokesman Piotr Muller was cited as saying
by state-run news agency PAP.

Russia said Thursday that it had destroyed 19 Ukrainian drones overnight above the Crimea and the surrounding Black Sea, plus three others elsewhere.

"Air defense systems destroyed 19 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the territory of the Republic of Crimea, and one each over the territories of Kursk, Belgorod and Oryol regions," the defense ministry said on messaging platform Telegram.

Ukrainian forces struck a Russian Black Sea fleet command post near Sevastopol in Crimea on Wednesday morning, the Ukrainian military said.

It gave no further details except to say the attack was successful. 

TOP HEADLINES

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to go face to face with Russian officials for the first time since the start of the conflict, as the UN Security Council meets for a potentially dramatic session. Zelenskyy urged the world to stand firm against Russia's "genocide," as he tried to convince skeptical developing nations they share a stake in Kyiv's victory. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukraine's first lady urged world leaders to help return Ukrainian children in Russia, where she said they are being indoctrinated and deprived of their national identity. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Olena Zelenska said that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been transferred by force or deported to Russia or occupied territories. So far, only 386 have been brought back.

• Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto spoke to CGTN on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and urged the body to "play an important role in bringing the war to its end now." He also highlighted that instead of using this General Assembly as a platform for dialogue, "they [NATO and the EU] tried to encourage us not to meet representatives of Russia, Belarus," which he says will hinder peace. 

• Ukraine's armed forces said they had destroyed 17 out of 24 Russian drones launched overnight, while an oil refinery was hit, according to a regional governor. 

• Russia said it had destroyed four Ukrainian drones overnight in two western regions. The drones were destroyed over the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine and over the Oryol region, further towards Moscow, the defense ministry said in three updates during the night. Russia also downed several drones near the city of Sevastopol in Crimea, state news agency RIA reported.

• Kyiv authorities rejected a New York Times report that a deadly strike in Kostiantynivka was the result of an "errant" Ukrainian air defense missile. A strike by "Russian terrorists" on a market in the town of Kostiantynivka in the eastern region of Donetsk on September 6 killed 16 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the time.

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed at the United Nations to increase his diplomatic efforts to seek an end to the conflict in Ukraine. "We have been endeavoring to keep both our Russian and Ukrainian friends around the table with a thesis that war will have no winners and peace will have no losers," Erdogan said in a speech to the General Assembly.

• U.S. President Joe Biden appealed to the United Nations to stop Russia's "naked aggression" in Ukraine, warning other states would be at risk if the world appeases Moscow. 

• The European Union's executive arm proposed extending the right of refugees from Ukraine to stay in the bloc by a year to March 2025. The EU triggered its temporary protection directive days after Russia's February 2022 offensive in Ukraine to allow the millions of people fleeing to remain.

• Poland could slap import bans on more Ukrainian food products, the prime minister said, as he warned Kyiv against escalating a row over grain imports.

IN DETAIL

Zelenskyy's plea for solidarity at UN General Assembly

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was carrying out "genocide" by abducting children, in a plea for solidarity to the United Nations General Assembly. "Those children in Russia are taught to hate Ukraine and all ties with their families are broken. And this is clearly a genocide," Zelenskyy said.

In a speech wearing his trademark military fatigues, Zelenskyy also renewed his call for a summit of like-minded nations. "We are preparing a Global Peace Summit. I invite all of you - all of you who do not tolerate any aggression - to jointly prepare the summit," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy also said that Russia - a permanent member of the Security Council - could not be trusted with nuclear weapons.

"Terrorists have no right to hold (a) nuclear weapon," he said. He accused Russia of using both energy and food as a way to pressure the world.

"The aggressor is weaponizing many other things, and those things are used not only against our country but against all of yours as well."

EU proposes to extend right for Ukrainian refugees to stay 

The European Union's executive arm proposed extending the right of refugees from Ukraine to stay in the bloc by a year to March 2025. The EU triggered its temporary protection directive days after Russia's February 2022 offensive in Ukraine to allow the millions of people fleeing to remain.

"This will provide certainty and support for more than four million persons enjoying protection across the EU," the European Commission said in a statement. The initial measure was set to run until March 2024. 

The commission said it should "be prolonged as a necessary and appropriate response to the current, volatile situation, which is not yet conducive to the safe and durable return" of refugees. 

The measure gives Ukrainians in the EU access to the job market, medical care and education. The proposal will now need to be approved by all 27 EU countries, there is not expected to be any major opposition. 

The sudden displacement of millions of Ukrainians last year represented the fastest-growing refugee crisis faced by Europe since World War II. 

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Ukraine on Wednesday urged Poland to adopt a proactive approach to resolving an escalating disagreement between the two countries over Ukrainian grain exports. 

"We urge our Polish friends to put their emotions aside. The Ukrainian side has offered Poland a constructive way to resolve the grain issue," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said after Poland summoned Ukraine's ambassador over the dispute.

Poland's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it had summoned Kyiv's ambassador over remarks by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the UN that came amid the grain exports row.

Zelenskyy said some nations feigned solidarity with Ukraine, prompting Warsaw to denounce comments "unjustified concerning Poland, which has supported Ukraine since the first days of the war".

The two countries are now embroiled in a deepening conflict over agricultural imports since Poland, along with Hungary and Slovakia, extended last week a ban on grain imports from Ukraine.

In response, Ukraine said it filed complaints with the World Trade Organization earlier this week against Poland, Slovakia and Hungary over their bans.

(With input from agencies)

Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has told CGTN that the UN General Assembly (UNGA) must take the opportunity it "missed" last year to bring peace to Ukraine – but has criticized Western powers for discouraging dialogue with Russia, and insisted that sanctions don't work.

Speaking to CGTN in New York shortly before the UNGA debate, which begins in earnest on Wednesday, Szijjarto insisted a peaceful resolution should be the primary aim of talks. 

"Our major point this year is that we have to make peace as soon as possible," he insisted. "We missed this opportunity last year. And if we put together how many people had to die since the last General Assembly, what kind of destruction has taken place since the last General Assembly? How many families have [been] torn apart?"

Szijjarto says the UN is the perfect place for dialogue to end disputes: "The United Nations has been created to serve as a platform for countries which might even be in a war with each other, which might look at enemies at each other, which might have serious debates with each other."

However, Szijjarto accused some Western authorities of restricting Budapest's attempts to have dialogue with Moscow. 

"Our allies from NATO, from the U.S., firstly from the European Union… they tried to encourage us not to meet representatives of Russia and Belarus," he said. "But I think this is a cul-de-sac, a dead-end street. 

"If you are not able to reach out to those with whom we have conflicts, if we are not able to discuss these conflicts, then we will never find a peaceful solution. And then more people will die and more destruction will take place."

Szijjarto, who has been Hungary's foreign minister since 2014, also criticized the imposition of sanctions and the provision of weaponry. 

"The European Union has contributed to globalize the conflict," he said. "Massive weapon deliveries have been started, sanctions have been created, and the impacts of the sanctions and the weapon deliveries are global because the sanctions have caused inflation globally, have caused a crisis in energy supply, have caused huge increase in food prices.

"And this has become not only a European problem, this has become a global issue – and unfortunately, the impact of the war has been globalized. Now, the question is whether we are able to keep it as it is now or the war itself will be globalized as well. That would be the real tragedy."

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Russia has downed several drones near the city of Sevastopol in Crimea, Russian media reported on Wednesday. 

An oil refinery in Kremenchuk was hit during Russia's overnight attack on Ukraine's Poltava region, and its work was temporarily suspended, regional governor Dmytro Lunin said in a Telegram post on Wednesday.

There has been no response from Russia.

At least three people were killed in a Russian attack on the northeastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk on Tuesday, a regional official said.

"Today, the enemy attacked the town of Kupiansk with a guided air bomb," Kharkiv region governor Oleh Synehubov said on the Telegram messaging app. 

The World Trade Organization confirmed on Tuesday that Ukraine had taken the first step in a trade dispute by filing a complaint to the global trade body over bans on food imports from Ukraine. 

Drones attacked the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early Tuesday, killing one person and destroying three warehouses, said Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi on Telegram.

Denmark will donate another 45 tanks to Ukraine, news agency Ritzau reported on Tuesday, citing the country's Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.

The donation will consist of 30 Leopard 1 tanks and 15 T-72 tanks.

Russian air defense forces shot down four Ukrainian missiles in the sky over Melitopol, TASS news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the regional operational services.

A cargo ship with 3,000 tonnes of wheat left Ukraine's Black Sea port of Chornomorsk and was moving towards the Bosphorus, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

The western Ukrainian city of Lviv was rocked by blasts early Tuesday, with local officials saying that air defense systems were engaged in repelling a Russian air attack.

Both Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi and Governor Maxim Kozitsky urged people to stay in shelters as more attacks were expected.

The western half of Ukraine was under air raid alerts, starting midnight.

There has been no response from Russia yet.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday in a Telegram post that he had arrived in New York ahead of his appearance at the UN General Assembly and meetings in Washington.

He said his schedule included talks with U.S. President Joe Biden, members of Congress and military and business officials.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday extended Russia's retaliatory food embargo introduced in 2014 to anti-Russian sanctions until the end of 2024.

Russia has withdrawn from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and has informed the foreign ministers of the organization countries, RIA news agency reported on Monday, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.

France's ambassador to Russia was summoned to the Foreign Ministry due to the refusal to allow Russian journalists to attend Macron's press conference at the G20, TASS news agency reported on Monday.

Blasts were heard near the government headquarters in Donetsk region, RIA news agency reported on Monday.

Canada will contribute C$33 million ($24.5 million) to a British-led partnership that is buying air defense equipment for Ukraine to help it fend off Russian missile and drone attacks, Defense Minister Bill Blair said on Sunday.

In a statement, Blair said the contribution was part of the C$500 million worth of military aid for Kyiv that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in June.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that a Ukrainian drone was intercepted over the Voronezh region.

There was no immediate response from Ukraine.

An explosion was heard in Ukraine's Odesa, Ukrinform reported Sunday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Saturday discussed the Black Sea grain deal, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Blinken and Guterres discussed a "wide array of issues, including the Black Sea Grain Initiative," according to the statement.

An air alert was announced on Sunday in several regions in Ukraine, including Kyiv, Ukrinform reported.

Five civilians were killed and one was wounded as a result of intense Ukrainian shelling of the Donetsk region on Saturday, Denis Pushilin, the acting head of Donetsk, said on Sunday.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv. 

Russian forces have repelled separate Ukrainian drone attacks on the Moscow region and near Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry said early on Sunday.

"Duty air defense systems destroyed two Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) off the western coast of the Crimean peninsula," the ministry said in a notice without giving other details. 

In the Moscow region, another Ukrainian aircraft-type UAV was destroyed over the territory of the Istrinsky district, the ministry added.

There was no damage or casualties at the site where the debris fell, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Kyiv has not commented on the claimed attacks. 

The first cargo ships have sailed to Ukraine to load grain following the collapse of a deal with Russia, AFP reported.

"The first civilian ships used the temporary corridor to enter Ukrainian ports," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a statement on Facebook. 

A Russian anti-tank guided missile hit a civilian car in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, killing two people and injuring another, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said in a Telegram post on Saturday.

There has been no response from Russia.

Poland will ban the entry of passenger cars registered in Russia from Sunday as a part of sanctions against Russia, PAP news agency reported on Saturday, citing the head of the Polish Ministry of the Interior and Administration.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that air defense systems had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

The United States expects to announce additional aid to Ukraine at some point next week, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Friday, while announcing that President Joe Biden would host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday at the White House.

Zelenskyy is also expected to meet with congressional leaders from both political parties while he is in Washington, Sullivan said.

Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend its ban on imports into Ukraine's five EU neighbours.

The European Union on Friday said it was ending an import ban on Ukrainian grain in five member states, after Kyiv promised to control exports.

"Existing measures will expire today," the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in a statement.

Britain on Friday banned Russia's Wagner mercenary group as a terrorist organization.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said 300,000 volunteers have signed up to participate in the "special military operation" in Ukraine as of today, RIA Novosti reported on Friday.

Denis Pushilin, the acting head of the "Donetsk People's Republic," denied on Thursday that Kyiv had recaptured Andriivka, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Slovakia has expelled one employee of the Russian embassy, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing the Slovakian Foreign Ministry.

The U.S. on Thursday announced new Russia-related sanctions, according to the U.S. Treasury. 

TOP HEADLINES

• Russia's defense ministry said it had detected and destroyed an unmanned Ukrainian boat in the Black Sea, at a time when Ukrainian forces appear to be launching more regular attacks on Russian ships.

• A Ukrainian missile attack on the Sevastopol Shipyard in Russian-controlled Crimea this week caused heavy damage to a large Russian landing ship and submarine, commercial satellite imagery showed.

• Fragments of Russian-style drones have been found on Romanian territory for a third time, NATO said. NATO spokesman Dylan White said in a statement that the Romanian ambassador to the alliance updated allies on "Russia's continued attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure near Romania." He added however, that "NATO has no information indicating any intentional attack by Russia against Allied territory." READ MORE BELOW

• Ukraine struck Russian air defense systems near the town of Yevpatoriya in the west of Crimea in a long-range overnight attack, the Ukrainian military said. Russia's defense ministry said in a statement that its air defenses had shot down 11 drones overnight over the peninsula. It made no mention of any damage.

• The Ukrainian air force said that air defenses destroyed 17 out of 22 Russian drones launched overnight. The air force said on Telegram that the attacks came from three different origins over five and a half hours. It said the Iranian-made Shahed unmanned aerial vehicles were launched in the direction of the Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions.

• Ukrainian shelling killed one man and damaged power supply lines in Russia's Kursk region, Governor Roman Starovoit said in a post on Telegram. Starovoit said the man had been killed after shelling in the town of Tetkino on the Russia-Ukraine border and that 10 shells had been recorded as striking the village of Gordeevka. No casualties were recorded there, Starovoit said.

• Bulgaria decided not to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports in five eastern EU nations that is set to expire this week. Bulgaria's parliament voted 124-69 on a resolution to end the ban, citing "solidarity with Ukraine" and the need to "guarantee food security on a global scale." President Zelenskyy welcomed the decision. 

IN DETAIL

Russian-style drone fragments found in Romania for third time

Fragments of Russian-style drones have been found on Romanian territory for a third time, NATO said.

NATO spokesman Dylan White said in a statement that the Romanian ambassador to the alliance updated allies on "Russia's continued attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure near Romania."

He added however, that "NATO has no information indicating any intentional attack by Russia against Allied territory."

As a NATO member, Romania is party to NATO's mutual defense agreement.

Romanian soldiers discovered drone fragments around the eastern village of Plauru near the Ukrainian border on Saturday, and Bucharest announced on Sunday that it had protested to the Russian government.

Drone debris had already been discovered in the Plauru region, opposite the Ukrainian port of Izmail, at the beginning of last week, just a few kilometers from Saturday's discovery.

The NATO spokesman said Romania had "informed Allies that fragments of drones similar to those used by Russia have been identified on Romanian territory for a third time."

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discussed the situation in a telephone conversation over the weekend.

Stoltenberg said on microblogging site X, formerly Twitter, there was "no indication of intent to hit NATO, but the strikes are destabilizing."

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Ukraine recaptured the eastern village of Andriivka, as their army are "moving forward in the Bakhmut direction," Ukrainian deputy Defense Minister Anna Painter said on Telegram on Thursday.

Russia has not responded as yet.

The Biden administration will impose sanctions on five Turkish companies and one Turkish national "as part of broader Russia designations," Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a senior Treasury official.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet discovered and destroyed an unmanned Ukrainian boat in the Black sea on Thursday, Russian Ministry of Defense said on Telegram.

Ukraine's shelling of Russia's Kursk region killed one person, the governor of the region said on Telegram on Thursday.

Ukraine has yet to respond to the accusation.

Russia's air defense systems destroyed 11 drones over Crimea on Thursday morning, the RIA news agency cited Russia's defense ministry as saying.

Germany handed over a new package of military aid to Ukraine with supplies of equipment and weapons, according to a statement published on Wednesday.

Ukraine's military said its forces had struck naval targets and port infrastructure on Wednesday in the bay of the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that Ukraine launched 10 missiles and three speedboat attacks on the port, with seven missiles downed by Russia's air defense systems and all three boats destroyed by a patrol ship.

At least 24 people were injured due to the attacks, according to Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Sevastopol.

Estonia has prohibited motor vehicles bearing Russian license plates from entering the country from the external border, starting from 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, according to the Estonian Ministry of the Interior.

Twenty-four people were injured after Ukraine carried out a missile attack on Sevastopol in Crimea in the early hours of Wednesday, Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Wednesday. 

Ukraine launched an air attack on Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea, on Wednesday morning, according to a local official.

The missile attack caused a fire in the Kilen-Balka area, and all necessary special services are on site, Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on Telegram.

He did not say if there were any casualties.

Poland will extend its ban on Ukraine grain imports, the government said in a statement on Tuesday on its website.

"The interests of the Polish countryside are the most important to us - we will maintain the ban on the import of grain products from Ukraine after September 15, 2023," the statement said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Tuesday that Ukraine may take legal action if Poland unilaterally moved to extend a ban on importing its grain, according to his statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has arrived in Kyiv for a visit, Ukrainian media reported on Monday.

Russia's air defense systems destroyed two Ukraine-launched drones over the Belgorod region in the early hours of Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to provide an additional $2.3 billion in aid for Ukraine to help the nation restore peace and rebuild during a session of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in New Delhi, India on Sunday, Yonhap reported.

Romanian foreign ministry on Sunday summoned Russian charge d'affaires following discovery of drone fragments, Romania news agency Agerpres reported.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Russian forces have downed eight drones launched from Ukraine over the Black Sea, near the coast of Crimea, and destroyed three speed boats with Ukrainian landing groups in the western part of the Black Sea.

The ministry, in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, did not immediately comment on any damage or injuries.

Ukraine has not commented on the reported attacks.

(With input from agencies)

Drone debris has fallen to the ground in three districts of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram early on Sunday morning.

He said earlier that air defense systems were operating in the Ukrainian capital and there were reports of explosions.

It's not yet known if there has been any damage or casualties.

Romania's defense ministry said on Saturday that fragments of drones, similar to those used by the Russian army, were found on Romanian territory.

The Russian side has yet to respond to the claim.

TOP HEADLINES

• Delegates from the world's most powerful countries have reached a compromise on language to describe the Ukraine conflict, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has confirmed, as their leaders kicked off the annual G20 summit on Saturday in New Delhi. The group is heavily divided over the issue, with Western nations pushing for strong condemnation of Russia in the Leaders' Declaration to be issued at the end of the summit, while others are calling for a focus on broader economic issues.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Western allies were easing sanctions against Russia, demanding they keep up economic pressure on Moscow. His statement follows a foreign ministry spokesperson rejecting flat-out any suggestion of loosening such sanctions in a bid to restore the U.N.-backed agreement to ship grain through the Black Sea. READ MORE BELOW

• The UN has informed Russia that it could potentially reconnect to the SWIFT international payments system within 30 days via a subsidiary, as the international body continues to look for ways to improve Russia's grain and fertilizer exports in a bid to convince Moscow to return to a deal that had allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain.

• The Kremlin said, however, it was sticking to its conditions for a return to the Black Sea grain deal which it quit in July, stating that its state agricultural bank - and not a subsidiary - would first need to be reconnected to the SWIFT system.

• EU Council president Charles Michel has hit out at Russia for its "cynicism" in pulling out of the deal, saying the offer of a million tons of grain to African countries was a "parody of generosity" during his speech at the G20.

• A Russian missile hit a police building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, killing a policeman and injuring at least 73 people, according to Ukrainian officials, while a further three people were killed in an airstrike on the Kherson village of Odradokamianka.

• The world's richest man Elon Musk said he refused a Ukrainian request to activate his Starlink satellite network in Crimea's port city of Sevastopol last year to aid an attack on Russia's fleet there, saying he feared complicity in a "major" act of war.

• President Zelenskyy has claimed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was behind the death of mutinous mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in an unexplained plane crash with his top lieutenants last month. The Kremlin says it is investigating the crash, but called the suggestion that Putin ordered the death of Prigozhin an "absolute lie."

• Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies have frozen more than $80 million in assets belonging to one of the country's richest men Ihor Kolomoisky as part of an ongoing crackdown on graft. Kolomoisky, a one-time Zelenskyy supporter, was detained last week on suspicion of money laundering.

• Ukraine will play England on Saturday in a Euro 2024 qualifying game in the Polish city of Wroclaw, where many Ukrainian refugees are currently living. "We know there are thousands of Ukrainians here," England manager Gareth Southgate said, adding that his team were "expecting a passionate crowd but we are here to win a football game."

IN DETAIL

Moscow digs in over Black Sea grain deal 

Russia has said it is sticking to its conditions for a return to the Black Sea grain deal which it quit in July, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressing that Russia needed its state agricultural bank - and not a subsidiary of the bank, as proposed by the UN - to be reconnected to the international SWIFT bank payments system.

"All our conditions are perfectly well known. They do not need interpretation, they are absolutely concrete and all this is absolutely achievable," Peskov said.

"Therefore Russia maintains its responsible, clear and consistent position, which has been repeatedly voiced by the president."

The Black Sea deal was brokered by Turkey and the UN in July 2022 to enable Ukraine to export grain by sea despite the war and help ease a global food crisis.

It was accompanied by an agreement to facilitate Russia's own exports of food and fertilizer, which Moscow says has not been fulfilled. Since quitting the grain deal, Russia has repeatedly bombed Ukrainian ports and grain stores, prompting Kyiv and the West to accuse it of using food as a weapon.

Moscow's reiteration of its position came five days after President Vladimir Putin met his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the grain issue.

Russia appears to have drawn encouragement from Erdogan's statement at that meeting that Ukraine should "soften its approaches" in talks over reviving the deal, and export more grain to Africa rather than Europe. Ukraine said it would not alter its stand and would not be hostage to "Russian blackmail."

Russia says its grain and fertilizer exports, though not specifically sanctioned by the West, face barriers in practice because of sanctions affecting port access, insurance, logistics and payments - including the removal of agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank from SWIFT.

The U.N. has proposed that a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank could immediately apply to SWIFT to "effectively enable access" for the bank within 30 days.

"The agreements say that SWIFT should be open to Rosselkhozbank, and not to its subsidiary. That is, we are talking about the need to return to the basics, to the agreements that were in place originally and which we were promised would be fulfilled," Peskov said.

"The president clearly said that the moment they are fulfilled, then the deal will immediately resume. But not vice versa," he added.

In a speech at the annual G20 summit in New Delhi, Charles Michel, president of the European Council, accused Russia of cynicism for pulling out of the deal, while Kyiv has rejected any suggestion of loosening sanctions against Russia in order to revive the agreement. 

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Kyiv, Ukrinform reported on Saturday.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi visited Ukraine and will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Japanese media reported on Saturday.

The Council of the EU on Friday announced additional sanctions on six people for serious human rights violations in Crimea.

Among them are prosecutors and judges active in courts established by Russia in the region.

The first 10 Leopard 1 tanks supplied by Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have arrived in Ukraine and more are on their way, Denmark's armed forces said on Friday.

"The first 10 tanks have been sent to Ukraine", the Danish armed forces said in a statement. "A further 10 tanks have been delivered from the factory."

The Russian Ministry of Defense has thwarted an attempt by Ukraine to launch a drone attack on targets in the Belgorod region, TASS news agency reported on Friday. 

Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram three civilians were killed and four others were injured by a Russian air strike on a village in Ukraine's Kherson region.

Investigative teams, forensic experts, rescuers and volunteers are working at the scene now.

Moscow has not yet commented on the accusation.

Russian air defense shot down a Ukrainian drone in the north of Crimea, local chief Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram on Friday

At least one person was killed and 32 others were injured after a Russian rocket attack on Friday that hit and damaged several administrative and residential buildings in Ukraine's Kryvyi Rih, Ukrinform reported Friday, citing local officials.

According to the news agency, some of the injured were in serious condition.

Russia launched a missile attack targeting Zaporizhzhia on Friday morning, Ukrinform reported, adding that at least one person has been wounded.

The U.S. and the UK on Thursday issued sanctions against 11 Russian nationals that they accuse of being members of a cyber criminal gang.

The U.S. Treasury Department said Thursday's action targeted "key actors involved in management and procurement for the Trickbot group" and cited the gang's alleged ties to Russian intelligence services.

"These cyber criminals thrive off anonymity, moving in the shadows of the internet to cause maximum damage and extort money from their victims," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

The two countries imposed sanctions against seven leading members of Trickbot in February, accusing the group of targeting hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the U.S. government and American companies.

(With input from Reuters)

Romania did not face any direct threat to its territory or territorial waters from Russian attacks on Ukraine on Wednesday night, the Romanian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The planned U.S. use of funds from sanctioned Russian businesses to help Ukraine is illegal, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday, adding that each case of illegal deduction of Russian funds abroad will entail serious legal proceedings.

Russia's Federal Security Service has detained a group of smugglers who supplied spare parts for military aviation to Europe, TASS reported on Thursday. 

Air defense forces on duty destroyed three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Thursday morning, two of them over the territory of the Rostov region and one over the Ramensky district of Moscow, said the Russian Defense Ministry. 

According to the governor of Rostov, one person was injured and several cars were damaged as one of the drones fell in the city center of Rostov-on-Don.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday met with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv as the senior U.S. official made a surprise visit to show support.

Washington on Wednesday announced $1 billion in new aid for Kyiv. It includes an additional drawdown of up to $175 million worth of weapons and equipment from the Department of Defense's inventories.

Among the capabilities in this round of security assistance is the 120mm depleted uranium tank ammunition for Abrams tanks. It is the first time that Washington has sent Kyiv this type of ammunition, which is radioactive.

Speaking on Blinken's Kyiv visit, the Kremlin said it was clear if Washington planned to keep funding Ukraine's war effort "until the last Ukrainian."

"In other words, they are going to continue to support Ukraine in a state of war and to wage this war to the last Ukrainian, sparing no money for this. That's how we perceive it, we know it. It's not going to affect the course of the special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. 

Russia also denounced as "indicator of inhumanity" on Wednesday the U.S. plan to provide Ukraine with arms containing depleted uranium.

"The U.S. administration's decision to send depleted uranium rounds to Kyiv is a clear sign of inhumanity," the Russian embassy in Washington said on Telegram. "Obviously, Washington, obsessed with the idea of inflicting a 'strategic defeat' on Russia, is ready to fight not only to the last Ukrainian but to put a cross on the future generations."

(With input from agencies)

The U.S. Department of State announced $1 billion in new aid for Ukraine on Wednesday while Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to Kiyv to show support.

The State Department said in a fact sheet that the new package includes an additional drawdown of up to $175 million worth of weapons and equipment from the Department of Defense's inventories.

What's notable among the capabilities in this round of security assistance is the 120mm depleted uranium tank ammunition for Abrams tanks, according to a list issued by the Pentagon. This is the first time Washington sends Kiyv this type of ammunition, which is radioactive.

At least 16 people were killed in an attack on Kostiantynivka town in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

TOP HEADLINES

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday for a two-day visit in which he is expected to announce a new package of U.S. assistance worth more than $1 billion. On the first Kyiv trip by a top U.S. official since the Ukrainian counteroffensive began, Blinken is expected to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia said Blinken's Ukraine visit showed that Washington would fund Kyiv's war effort "until the last Ukrainian." “They are going to continue to support Ukraine in a state of war and to wage this war to the last Ukrainian, sparing no money for this," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Western powers had installed Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, as president of Ukraine to cover up the glorification of Nazism. Moscow accuses Kyiv's leaders of pursuing a neo-Nazi "genocide" of Ukraine's millions of native Russian-speakers – something Kyiv and its Western allies call a baseless pretext for conflict. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia carried out air strikes on Kyiv and the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa early on Wednesday, killing a civilian and causing a fire and damage at a Danube River port, Ukraine's military said.

• The Russian defense ministry said its air defense systems destroyed a Ukraine-launched drone just before midnight on Tuesday over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.

• A Russian-appointed official has acknowledged that Moscow's forces have abandoned the Ukrainian village of Robotyne, more than a week after Kyiv announced its recapture. Yevgeny Balitsky, the top Moscow-installed official in the Zaporizhzhia region, said in a television interview that the Russian army had "tactically abandoned" the settlement "because staying on a bare surface when there is no way to completely dig in... doesn't generally make sense.”

• Ukraine's ground force commander said the situation along the eastern frontline remains difficult and the main task for Ukraine's troops is to ensure reliable defense and prevent the loss of strongholds. "The enemy does not abandon his plans to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions," Oleksandr Syrskyi was cited as saying on the Telegram messaging app.

• Ukraine's gross domestic product grew by 2.2 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2023, the economy ministry said, citing the beginnings of a recovery after an extremely difficult 2022 in which the economy shrank by a third.

• The UK is set to proscribe the Russian mercenary Wagner Group as a terrorist organization, the interior ministry said, making it illegal to be a member or to support the group.

• The Democratic and Republican leaders of the U.S. Senate expressed support for continued assistance for Ukraine as lawmakers returned to Washington facing a tight deadline for passing spending bills.

• Russia said that Ukraine had used Australian drones to attack targets on Russian territory and that Australia was increasingly being drawn into the conflict. "Australian drones are actually used to strike targets in Russia," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, accusing the Australian government of "enthusiastically contributing to the anti-Russian campaign directed from Washington."

• ROK President Yoon Suk Yeol said any attempt to cooperate with DPRK on military affairs in a way that damages international peace must immediately halt. Yoon spoke at the ASEAN summit meeting, amid reports of arms negotiations between Russia and DPRK – negotiations denied by both those countries.

IN DETAIL

Blinken arrives in Kyiv

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday in a gesture of support as Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian forces grinds into its fourth month with only small gains.

During his two-day visit, Blinken is likely to announce a new package of U.S. assistance worth more than $1 billion, a senior State Department official told reporters on the trip.

Blinken, on the first trip to Kyiv by a top U.S. official since the Ukrainian counteroffensive began, is expected to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba among other senior officials as well as civil society figures, the official said.

Several hours before his arrival, Russia carried out air strikes on Kyiv and the southern region of Odesa. No casualties were reported in the capital but a civilian was killed and port infrastructure damaged in the south, Ukrainian officials said.

Media reports have cited unidentified U.S. officials as saying the Ukrainian counteroffensive has been too slow and hindered by poor tactics – criticism that angered Ukrainian officials and prompted Kuleba to tell critics to "shut up."

Ukraine has retaken more than a dozen villages and small settlements in its offensive but its soldiers' push into Russian-held territory has been slowed by minefields and miles of trenches. U.S. officials have been careful not to publicly criticize Ukraine's military tactics, and last week said they had seen notable Ukrainian progress in the previous 72 hours of its push in the southeast.

The State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Washington would like to have a discussion with the Ukrainians on how the offensive is going, assess the battlefield needs as well as any steps that might be required to shore up Ukraine's energy security ahead of the winter months.

"I think what's most important is that we get a real assessment from the Ukrainians themselves," the official said. "We want to see, hear how they intend to push forward in the coming weeks."

Blinken's visit follows the dismissal this week of Oleksii Reznikov who, as Ukraine's defense minister, had lobbied Washington and its allies for arms. Parliament was expected to confirm former lawmaker Rustem Umerov as his successor.

Despite staunch U.S. support for Ukraine so far since Russia's attack began in February last year, several Republican presidential hopefuls have questioned that aid, fueling concerns over whether Washington will be able to back Ukraine at the same level once the U.S. 2024 election campaign intensifies.

The U.S. government has so far provided more than $43 billion in weaponry and other military aid to Ukraine, with a new package of security assistance set to be announced this week. Kyiv is hoping to receive U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets pledged by a number of NATO allies.

U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress in August to approve about $40 billion in additional spending, including $24 billion for Ukraine and other international needs.

The request could face opposition in Congress, where some far-right Republicans – especially those with close ties to former President Donald Trump – want to pare back the billions in assistance Washington has sent to Ukraine. 

Putin: West installed an ethnic Jew in Ukraine as cover

Russian President Vladimir Putin alleged in a television interview on Tuesday, without citing evidence, that Western powers had installed Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, as president of Ukraine to cover up the glorification of Nazism.

Moscow accuses Kyiv's leaders of pursuing a neo-Nazi "genocide" of Ukraine's millions of native Russian-speakers – something Kyiv and its Western allies call a baseless pretext for a war of acquisition.

It was not the first time Putin had tried to associate modern Ukraine's government with the mass murder of Ukrainian Jews in World War II by Nazi German occupiers of Soviet Ukraine and their local collaborators.

Zelenskyy, himself a native Russian-speaker who was democratically elected in 2019, has said some of his grandfather's brothers were killed in the Nazi Holocaust, and has repeatedly rejected Russian accusations that he has supported neo-Nazis in Ukraine.

Putin told Russian television reporter Pavel Zarubin: “Western curators have put a person at the head of modern Ukraine – an ethnic Jew, with Jewish roots, with Jewish origins. And thus, in my opinion, they seem to be covering up an anti-human essence that is the foundation ... of the modern Ukrainian state.”

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Ukraine's parliament approved Rustem Umerov as the country's new defense minister, replacing Oleksiy Reznikov, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a Ukrainian lawmaker.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited Kyiv on Wednesday, local media reported.

U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday, Ukrinform reported. 

A Russian drone attack earlier on Wednesday on the Danube port of Izmail in the Odesa region killed one person and damaged several agricultural and port facilities, the region's governor said on the Telegram messaging app.

"An employee of an agricultural enterprise, who was seriously injured, died in the hospital," said Governor Oleh Kiper.

Russia has not yet responded to the accusation.

(With input from Reuters)

Russia-launched missiles were coming towards Ukraine's Kyiv, city mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Wednesday.

"Air defense works in Kyiv. Stay in shelters. Rockets are still coming at the capital," he wrote on Telegram. 

Air raid alerts were issued throughout Ukraine on Wednesday, local media reported. 

Russia would be ready to return to the Black Sea grain deal once all agreements relevant to the accord are fulfilled, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort Sochi.

Putin said the West has deceived Russia about the humanitarian goals of the grain deal and the food corridors were used by Ukraine for terrorist attacks on Russian infrastructure. Russia exited the deal in July

Russia has repeatedly complained about its food and fertilizer exports being restricted and Ukraine's food exports going to European countries instead of Africa. 

Speaking at a joint press conference, Putin announced a proposal to supply African countries with one million tons of grain via Türkiye and with financial support from Qatar. But he clarified that it was not intended as an alternative to the Black Sea grain deal.

Erdogan also said that Ankara was against alternative proposals to last year's Ukraine grain agreement and said that Kyiv should soften its negotiating position against Russia in talks over reviving a grain export deal.

"Ukraine needs to especially soften its approaches in order for it to be possible for joint steps to be taken with Russia," Erdogan told reporters alongside Putin on Monday.

After Russia pulled out from the deal, Ukraine has been working to sending grain across the Black Sea on their own. So far, four ships were sent along a new sea route.

TOP HEADLINES

• Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Monday he had submitted his resignation letter to the chairman of parliament, in the biggest shakeup of the defense establishment since Russia started military operation in February 2022. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukraine said on Monday Russian drones fell and detonated on the territory of NATO member Romania during an overnight attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River, but Bucharest categorically denied the report.

• A Russian drone strike on a Ukrainian grain exporting port damaged warehouses and set buildings on fire on Monday, Kyiv said, hours before scheduled talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan.

• Russia's overnight attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube river on Monday did not generate direct military threats to neighboring NATO state Romania's territory, Romania's defence ministry said in a statement.

• Russia's three-and-a-half drone attack early on Monday on the Danube River port of Izmail in Ukraine's Odesa region inflicted widespread infrastructure damage with drone debris setting several buildings on fire, the governor of the region said.

IN DEPTH

Reznikov submits resignation letter

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Monday he had submitted his resignation letter to the chairman of parliament, in the biggest shakeup of the defense establishment since Russia invaded in February 2022.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced late on Sunday he had decided to replace his wartime defense minister and proposed Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar who heads the State Property Fund, as his replacement.

In his resignation letter, Reznikov provided an overview of his 22 months in the post, praising Ukraine's fierce wartime resistance against Russian forces and his ministry's lobbying efforts to secure vital military aid from the West.

"Over 50 percent of the temporarily occupied territories by Russia have already been liberated. Every day our defenders are moving forward," he said in the letter posted on X, formally known as Twitter.

"There is an understanding that Ukraine is a shield of Europe in the east."

Reznikov, who has been tipped as Ukraine's possible next ambassador to London, said he saw one of Kyiv's key priorities as building long-term partnerships with key allies and securing "real security guarantees."

Reznikov's ministry has faced wartime scandals over the procurement of food and clothing, as well as allegations from some military aid NGOs that bureaucratic red tape has not been cut quickly enough. Reznikov denies wrongdoing.

He said in his resignation letter that defense procurement and purchase processes had been reformed during his tenure, and that he had fulfilled all the tasks which had been set for him when he was appointed 22 months ago.

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Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began on Monday with the Turkish leader seeking to persuade Russia to revive an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports.

Putin said he was open to discussing the grain deal, among other issues.

Russia in July refused to extend the agreement, which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year earlier, complaining that its demands to improve its own grain and fertilizer exports have not been met. It also said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year.

The initiative, which was initially valid for 120 days, was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days till March 18, 2023.

Then, Russia agreed to extend the deal for only 60 days. On May 17, Russia agreed to extend the deal for yet another 60 days.

(With input from agencies)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the Russian city of Sochi on Monday for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Turkish media said. 

Romania on Monday said it "categorically denies" Russian drones fell on its soil, rejecting a claim by Kyiv that they detonated there overnight during a strike on the Ukrainian port city of Izmail. 

The Romanian Defense Ministry said it had been monitoring "in real time the situation caused by the Russian drone attacks" and "categorically denies ... Russian drones fell on the national territory of Romania."

The denial came after Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oleg Nikolenko claimed earlier that Russian drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory on Monday during an overnight attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River as he urged Western partners to speed up supplies of air defense systems to Ukraine.

(With input from agencies)

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Monday that he has submitted a letter of resignation to parliament chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk.

"It was an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the Ukrainian army for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraine's modern history," Reznikov said on the social media X, formerly known as Twitter.

In the letter, Reznikov, who was appointed as defense minister in November 2021, said that all the key tasks set for his mandate have been accomplished.

On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he plans to dismiss Reznikov and ask parliament this week to confirm Rustem Umerov, head of the country's main privatization fund, as his replacement.

"I believe the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole," Zelenskyy said.

The parliament is set to vote on the appointment later this week.

(Cover: Oleksii Reznikov in Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit, June 4, 2023. /CFP)

Russian naval aircraft destroyed four U.S.-made Willard Sea Force high-speed military boats with Ukrainian troops en route to Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday on Telegram.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday announced on Telegram the departure of defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov, and nominated Rustem Umerov to replace Reznikov.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday held a phone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, discussing ways to ensure the functioning of the grain corridor and enhance the security of the Odesa region.

The Russian army said on Sunday that it had hit the Ukrainian port of Reni on the Danube River with drone strikes overnight.  

"Today at night, the Russian army carried out a group drone strike on fuel storage facilities used to supply military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the port of Reni in the Odesa region," the army said.

Ukrainian officials earlier said Russia launched a drone attack on the southern parts of the Odesa region, hitting the Danube River port infrastructure and injuring at least two people.

The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Telegram post on Sunday that it had destroyed 22 Russian drones in the southern Odesa region.

There has been no response from Russia.

Traffic on the Crimean bridge, which connects Russia with the Crimean peninsula, has been suspended, Russian media reported on Sunday. 

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday to discuss the black sea grain deal, TASS reported, citing Russian defense ministry.

Danish government announced to cut number of Russian diplomats in Copenhagen, Reuters reported on Friday.

At least one person was killed after Russia shelled Ukraine's Kherson region, Ukrinform reported on Friday.

Russia has not responded to it yet.

The EU and Ukraine have put into effect mutual recognition of judgments under The Hague Convention, the European Commission said on Friday.

Under which, judgments from EU countries' courts will be acknowledged and enforced in Ukraine for civil and commercial matters, and vice versa.

The Kremlin said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 4 in south Russia's Sochi, TASS news agency reported.

Two Ukrainian drones attacked the Russian town of Kurchatov in the Kursk region early on Friday, Governor Roman Starovoit said.

The drones damaged an administrative building and a residential one, he wrote on Telegram, and emergency services were assessing the damage.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that its air defense systems destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk region in the morning.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

A drone was destroyed by air defense forces near Moscow, said Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Thursday.

"There were no previous casualties or damage. Emergency services are on the scene," he wrote on Telegram. 

Russia has thwarted another Ukrainian attack in Bryansk region, destroying two drones that had tried to attack a TV tower, local governor said on Wednesday.

No casualties or damage were reported.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner military group, was buried in private on Tuesday in his native city St. Petersburg, Russia.

Prigozhin's press service said in a post on Telegram that the burial ceremony took place in a closed format, and those who wish to pay respect to him may visit the cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Russia's TASS news agency, citing sources, reported that in accordance with the wishes of Prigozhin's family, only his family members and close friends were invited to the funeral.

A Russian private jet crashed on August 23 in Russia's Tver Region en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing all 10 passengers and crew members on board. Prigozhin and some senior members of Wagner were among the victims. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

At least two people were killed and one wounded in an aerial attack on Kyiv on Wednesday morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on messaging app Telegram, as debris from targets destroyed by air defenses fell on several buildings in the Ukrainian capital. 

The bodies of two people were found in a nonresidential building and one person was wounded by glass shards, Klitschko said. 

Several buildings were on fire, he said. Klitschko did not say whether the debris was from missiles or drones.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday claimed intercepting a Ukrainian drone over the Moscow region.

The drone fell in the Ruza district, the ministry said on social media.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that its aircraft destroyed four Ukrainian vessels carrying up to 50 paratroopers in the Black Sea. 

The Russian military repelled a drone attack at an airport in Pskov, western Russia, where four transport aircraft were damaged, officials said early on Wednesday.

"The Ministry of Defense is repelling a drone attack on Pskov airport," Pskov Governor Mikhail Vedernikov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "More detailed information will follow after a meeting of the crisis center, which I will chair personally."

There were no reports of casualties.

TASS news agency, quoting emergency services, said four Il-76 transport aircraft, long the workhorse of the Russian military, were damaged at the military airfield.

"As a result of the drone attack, four Il-76 aircraft were damaged. A fire broke out and two planes burst into flames," TASS reported.

Videos posted by Russian media showed thick black smoke rising over the airport. They cited posts of local residents who heard explosions and gunfire. 

The fire has been contained, according to the latest report.

The Russian military said early in the day that it had downed three Ukrainian drones over southern Bryansk region and one over central Orlov region, RIA news agency reported.

(With input from Reuters)

The United States announced on Tuesday an additional package of military assistance to Ukraine worth 250 million U.S. dollars.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the new package includes AIM-9M missiles for air defense, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, and over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition.

The airspace around Moscow's Vnukovo airport was closed early on Wednesday, TASS news agency quoted Russian aviation officials as saying.

The closure was ordered after officials said the military was repelling a drone attack on an airport in the western city of Pskov in which four military transport aircraft were damaged.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday that Japan planned to keep on supporting Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry said via Telegram that it downed two Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea on Tuesday.

The ministry said the first drone was destroyed by its naval aircraft at around 12:00 p.m. local time, and the second one was intercepted and crashed in the sea about one hour later.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

The bodies of 84 soldiers have been returned to Ukraine, Ukrinform reported on Tuesday.

The European Union must be ready to admit new member states by 2030, European Council President Charles Michel told a forum in the Slovenian lake resort Bled on Monday.

"I believe we must be ready by 2030 to enlarge," Michel said. "This is ambitious, but necessary. It shows that we are serious."

TOP HEADLINES

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said voting could take place during the country's ongoing conflict with Russia if partners shared the cost, legislators approved, and everyone could get to the polls. READ MORE BELOW

• The passage of a second ship from Ukraine along a temporary Black Sea corridor has nothing to do with the prospects for reviving a grain deal involving Russia, said the Kremlin. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukraine said its troops had liberated the southeastern settlement of Robotyne and were trying to push further south in their counter-offensive against Russian forces.

• Three people were killed in an overnight Russian missile strike on Ukraine, and a fourth was killed in shelling on Monday morning, Ukrainian officials said.

• Poland and the Baltic states will close their borders with Belarus entirely if a 'critical incident' involving Wagner mercenaries takes place, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said. 

• Russian air defenses downed a Ukrainian cruise missile over the Black Sea near Crimea, Russia's defense ministry said. 

• Russia's FSB security service has charged a former employee of the U.S. consulate in the Russian Far East with collecting information on the Ukraine conflict and other issues for Washington, TASS has reported.

• Russia said it scrambled a fighter plane to deter a U.S. air force reconnaissance drone from crossing its borders over the Black Sea.

IN DEPTH

Elections in Ukraine possible despite conflict - Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, responding to calls by a U.S. senator to announce elections in 2024, said voting could take place during the conflict if partners shared the cost, legislators approved, and everyone could get to the polls.

Elections cannot currently be held in Ukraine under martial law, which must be extended every 90 days. This is due to expire on November 15, after the normal date in October for parliamentary polls but before presidential elections which would normally be held in March 2024.

Top American legislators visited Kyiv a week ago, including Senator Lindsey Graham, who said the country needed to show it was different by holding elections during the conflict.

In a TV interview with the 1+1 Channel, Zelenskyy said he had discussed the issue with Graham, including the question of funding and the need to change the law.

"I gave Lindsey a very simple answer very quickly," he said. "He was very pleased with it. As long as our legislators are willing to do it."

He said it cost 5 billion hryvnia ($135 million) to hold elections in peacetime. "I don't know how much is needed in wartime," he said. "So I told him that if the U.S. and Europe provide financial support."

Zelenskyy added: "I will not take money from weapons and give it to elections. And this is stipulated by the law."

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would also need help setting up additional voting access for millions of people overseas, especially from the European Union. "There is a way out," he said. "I am ready for it."

Grain deal hope?

Meanwhile, the Kremlin insisted on Monday that the passage of a second ship from Ukraine along a temporary Black Sea corridor had nothing to do with the prospects for a new grain deal involving Russia.

Kyiv said on Sunday a vessel carrying steel products to Africa had left Ukraine's port of Odesa through a temporary Black Sea corridor.

This was the second ship to do so since Russia withdrew last month from a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed for grain to be safely exported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing that the prospects of reviving the grain deal would depend on whether the West delivered on promises it gave to Moscow regarding Russia's own grain and fertiliser exports.

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Poland and the Baltic states will close their borders with Belarus entirely if a "critical incident" involving Wagner mercenaries takes place, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Monday.

"We demand from the authorities in Minsk that the Wagner Group immediately leave the territory of Belarus and that illegal migrants immediately leave the border area and are sent back to their home countries," Kaminski told a press conference.

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will take place "soon," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday.

Peskov said the exact date and location will be announced later. 

A Turkish official later on Monday announced that Erdogan will visit Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi soon and that there may be developments regarding the deal that allowed the maritime export of Ukrainian grain.

Speaking at a meeting, Omer Celik, spokesperson for Erdogan's ruling AK Party, did not mention when the trip would take place or specify whether Erdogan would meet with Putin there. 

According to a Bloomberg news report, citing Turkish officials, Erdogan may visit Russia on September 8.

The UN- and Türkiye-brokered Black Sea grain deal ended after Moscow quit last month. Ankara has been trying to persuade Russia to return to the agreement.

(With input from Reuters)

Talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan will be held in Moscow in the near future, Russia's TASS news agency reported Monday citing Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

Russian air defense forces have shot down two Ukrainian reconnaissance UAVs in the north and west of Crimea, Crimea's head Sergei Aksyonov said Monday.

Two people were killed in an overnight Russian missile attack on Ukraine's central Poltava region, Governor Dmytro Lunin said on Monday.

Russia has not responded to this claim yet.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) accused an ex-employee of U.S. consulate general of collecting data on special military operation for the U.S., TASS reported on Monday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that air defense forces have shot down three Ukrainian drones over the Moscow and Bryansk regions, and accused Ukraine of "making another attempt at terrorist attacks" on Russia.

Two airports in Moscow temporarily restricted flights but later returned to normal operation, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

A second blocked grain vessel has left Odesa port and is now sailing through a temporary corridor, Minister for Communities and Territories Development and Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov said Sunday.

The Air Force of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Sunday that it destroyed four cruise missiles during an overnight Russian air strike.

Air raid alerts were declared throughout Ukraine early on Sunday.

Russia has not responded to the claim.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Russian air defense systems have destroyed two Ukrainian drones in flight over the Bryansk and Kursk regions.

The ministry accused Ukraine of "making another attempt at terrorist attacks" on Russia.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

Two people were killed and another wounded on Saturday when Russian shelling hit a cafe in the village of Podoly in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, local governor Oleh Synehubov said.

"The enemy hit a civilian object - a cafe where local residents were during the day," Synehubov wrote on Telegram.

Russia has not responded yet.     

The Russian Ministry of Defense has thwarted an attempt by Ukraine to launch a drone attack on targets in the Belgorod region, RIA news agency reported on Saturday. 

The Russian Ministry of Defense has thwarted an attempt by Ukraine to launch a drone attack on targets in Moscow and the Moscow region, the ministry said on Saturday.

An unmanned aerial vehicle was destroyed by air defense systems over the Istra district in the Moscow region, the ministry added. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Russia has thwarted a Ukrainian attack in Crimea involving 42 drones, the Russian Defense Ministry said early on Friday.

"Nine UAVs were destroyed, 33 were suppressed by electronic warfare and crashed without reaching the target," the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden by phone on Thursday, the White House said.

The two discussed the commencement of training of Ukrainian fighter pilots and assurance of expedited approval for other nations to transfer their F-16s to Ukraine upon completion of training to increase Ukraine's defensive capabilities, according to the White House.

The Pentagon said Thursday it would begin training Ukrainian F-16 pilots in the United States starting next month.

The training will involve "several" pilots and "dozens" of personnel to maintain the aircraft, said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder.

Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence said on Thursday that it carried out a "special operation" in Crimea overnight, with its special units landing on the shore in the area of Olenivka and Mayak settlements.

It added that officials of Crimea have not made any comments yet.

Norway will donate F-16 jets to Ukraine, Norwegian broadcaster tv2 reported on Thursday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said early on Thursday air defense systems had shot down two Ukrainian drones over Russia's Bryansk region that borders Ukraine and one more over the Kaluga region that is closer to Moscow. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Finish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in Kyiv, and the two discussed the preparation of an 18th aid package to Ukraine that would include defense equipment and ammunition, Ukrinform reported on Wednesday.

Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo arrived in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's social media account showed on Wednesday.

Two people were killed in a Russian attack on a school in Romny in northern Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced on Wednesday. 

A Ukrainian drone was discovered and shot down on Wednesday over Russia's Belgorod region, and there were no casualties or damage, the RIA news agency reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

There has been no response from Ukraine.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has arrived in Kyiv for his first ever visit, Ukraine's news outlet Ukrinform reported on Wednesday.

Three people were killed after a drone attack on a sanatorium in the Belgorod village of Lavy, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram on Wednesday.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda arrived in Ukraine's Kyiv on Wednesday, according to his statement on X. 

Russia overnight attacked with drones the south of Ukraine's southern Odesa and the Danube River regions, causing fires in grain facilities, Ukrainian military and local authorities said on Wednesday.

Russia has not responded to the claim.

The Russian air defense shot down a drone in the Mozhaisk district of the Moscow region, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram, adding a second drone hit an under-construction  building in the city.

According to preliminary information, there were no casualties, the mayor said.

Explosion and smoke were reported in the Moscow business district, as per RIA's report on Wednesday, without specifying the reasons.

Flights were temporarily halted in airports in Moscow on Wednesday, TASS reported, citing aviation services.

Russian defense ministry said it has destroyed U.S.-made military vessel near Snake Island, RIA news agency reported on Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a tweet on Tuesday that he expects a positive outcome from October's enlargement package assessment.

"We expect a positive assessment of Ukraine's progress in the October Enlargement Package and a consequent decision by EU member states to open Ukraine's EU accession talks until the end of 2023," Zelenskyy said on social media.

He posted the tweet after meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Greece. 

Zelenskyy also wrote that he "thanked her for her efforts to normalize Ukraine's agricultural exports and transit, which is important to achieving full restoration by September 15."

Greece will take part in the training of Ukrainian Air Force pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on Monday, adding that Greece has also joined the G7 declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Athens, discuss Russia-Ukraine conflict and Kosovo situation, Ukrinform news agency reported on Tuesday.

An Su-30 aircraft destroyed a Ukrainian reconnaissance boat approaching Russian gas production facilities in the Black Sea, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.

Ukraine has not responded to the incident as yet.

The Russian Defense Ministry said early on Tuesday that the military downed two Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine.

The Moscow mayor also said earlier that Russian air defense systems shot down two drones near Moscow.

Ukraine has not responded yet.

(With input from Reuters)

Three Moscow airports were closed for arriving and departing flights on Tuesday, TASS reported.

"The capital's airports Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo do not accept flights, and flights have also been postponed," the report said. 

One person was killed by an explosion in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, RIA reported on Monday, citing local authoritie

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Danish parliament in Copenhagen on Monday.

Moscow's Vnukovo international airport has resumed normal operation after it was temporarily closed due to a drone, RIA news agency reported on Monday.

Russia thwarted two "terrorist attacks" attempted by Ukrainian drones on Monday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Both the drones were detected by the Russian air defense forces over the territory of the Moscow region and were subsequently destroyed, the ministry added.

There has been no response from Ukraine yet.

Russia said Ukrainian drones had attacked four separate regions in a flurry of attempted strikes on Sunday, injuring five people and forcing two of Moscow's airports to briefly divert flights.

Russia's Kursk, Rostov and Belgorod regions, all of which border Ukraine, reported attempted drone strikes, while Russia's Defense Ministry said it had jammed a Ukrainian drone in the Moscow region, forcing it to crash in an unpopulated area.

Russia's aviation watchdog said it had briefly halted flights to the city's Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports in response.

The Kursk region's governor said five people had been injured and a fire had broken out when a drone hit Kursk city's railway station.

Rostov's governor said no injuries or damage had occurred.

Later on Sunday, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had prevented two separate drone strikes on the Belgorod region, the border province most regularly attacked by Ukraine. The local governor said on Telegram that 12 airborne targets had been downed on the approaches to Belgorod city, before later saying only three drones had been shot down.

Ukrainian drone strikes both on border regions and on the Russian capital have become increasingly common in recent months, with repeated strikes on Moscow's financial district.

Russia said in May that two Ukrainian drones had tried to attack the Kremlin.

Ukraine typically does not comment on who is behind attacks on Russian territory, although officials have publicly expressed satisfaction over them.

The Netherlands and Denmark will transfer F16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Sunday.

Russian air defense systems destroyed two unmanned aerial vehicles over in Belgorod region, Russia's defense ministry said Sunday.

Ukraine has not made response to it.

At least one person was killed when Russia shelled Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Ukrinform reported on Sunday.

Russia has not responded to it yet.

TOP HEADLINES

• Russia said Ukrainian drones hit three separate regions on Sunday, injuring five people and forcing two of Moscow's airports to briefly divert flights. Drone strikes both on Russian border regions and on the Russian capital have become increasingly common in recent months, with repeated strikes on Moscow's financial district. READ MORE BELOW

• Seven people, including a 6-year-old girl, were killed and nearly 150 wounded by a Russian missile strike on the center of Ukraine's northern city of Chernihiv, in what the UN denounced as a "heinous" attack. Coinciding with the Orthodox holiday of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the strike hit while some people were attending morning church services in the city. READ MORE BELOW

• "I am sure our soldiers will give a response to Russia for this terrorist attack," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, delivered early on Sunday at the end of a visit to Sweden. "A notable response."

• Ukraine has begun discussing with Sweden the possibility of receiving Gripen jets to boost its air defenses, Zelenskyy said after meeting Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm. On Sunday, he arrived in the Netherlands for talks with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte.

• Ukraine's Defense Minister has said that training has begun for Ukrainians to operate U.S. F16 fighter jets, but it would take at least six months and possibly longer before they were ready to use the jets. That's two days after a U.S. official said F-16s would be transferred to Ukraine once its pilots were trained.

• The UK's Ministry of Defense said in its latest intelligence update that there have been increasing reports of long-range Soviet-era missiles striking inside Russia's borders. It says the 7.5 tonne, 11-meter-long SA-5 Gammon missiles were retired from Ukraine's air defense roster, but were now apparently being used as ground attack missiles to attack behind the Russian frontier.

IN DETAIL

Zelenskyy vows response to deadly Chernihiv strike

Seven people including a 6-year-old girl were killed, 148 wounded, and 41 were in hospital after a Russian missile struck a central square in the historic northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

"I am sure our soldiers will give a response to Russia for this terrorist attack," President Volodymyr Zelensyy said in his nightly video address on Sunday. "A notable response."

He said that 15 of the people injured were children, and named the girl killed as Sofia. 

Fifteen others were police officers, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram. Klymenko said most of the victims were in vehicles, crossing the road, or returning from church.

Zelenskyy said the strike on Chernihiv, a city of leafy boulevards and centuries-old churches about 145 kilometers north of Kyiv, coincided with the Orthodox holiday of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

Debris was scattered across a square in front of the damaged theater and surrounding buildings, where parked vehicles were heavily damaged. A 63-year-old who only gave her first name, Valentyna, showed the damaged balcony in her apartment opposite the theater.

"It is horrific. Horrific. There were wounded, ambulances and broken glass in here. Nightmare. Just nightmare," she said.

Denise Brown, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said it was "heinous to attack the main square of a large city, in the morning, while people are out walking, some going to church to celebrate a religious day for many Ukrainians."

"I condemn this repeated pattern of Russian strikes on populated areas of Ukraine... Attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law," she added.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack targeting Moscow and its region was intercepted on Sunday, while other drone strikes took place in the Russian border regions of Kursk and Rostov, one of which injured five people. 

According to the Russian army, "around 04:00 (01:00 GMT), an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by a drone on infrastructure in Moscow and the Moscow region was foiled." The craft "crashed in an uninhabited area" and "there were no casualties or damage."

According to Russia's Tass news agency, the international airports of Domodedovo and Vnukovo serving the Russian capital had to be temporarily closed.

In Kursk, according to the region's governor, a drone crashed on the roof of a train station, after which a fire broke out, with five people "slightly injured by shards of glass."

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Netherlands on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday arrived in the Netherlands for a meeting with the country's prime minister, a Dutch government spokesperson said.

Russia said it had thwarted Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and its region on Sunday, the second such incident in two days.

The Russian defense ministry said there were no victims or damage.

Two major airports in Russian capital Moscow have resumed normal operation after take off and landing was suspended earlier on Sunday, RIA news agency reported.

Two major airports in Russian capital Moscow have suspended flight arrivals and departures, TASS reported on Sunday, citing the aviation services, without specifying reasons.

According to the Flightradar service, planes due to land at Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports are being rerouted to Sheremetyevo, another Moscow airport, or awaiting further instructions in midair over Ryazan. 

A Ukrainian drone attack on a railway station in Russia's Kursk has left five people injured, the regional governor Roman Starovoit said on Telegram on Sunday.

The UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine condemned a Russian missile attack on Chernihiv's city center Saturday that killed at least seven and wounded 117 as "heinous", calling for Moscow to end strikes on "populated areas."

"Attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law. It must stop," Denise Brown, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said in an online statement. 

Russia has not yet responded to Ukraine's claim on the attack.

At least one person was killed and another injured after Russia shelled Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region on Saturday, Ukrinform reported, citing the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Russia has not made response to the claim.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday it thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack targeting the Moscow region, including the capital city.

The UAV was detected in a timely manner and suppressed by electronic warfare before it crashed in a deserted area near Putilkovo, the ministry said. 

There were no casualties or damage, it added.

A Ukrainian drone was shot down over Belgorod region, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Saturday on his Telegram channel.

Death toll has risen to seven after a Russian missile struck a central square in the historic northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the interior ministry said on Saturday.

And 90 others were wounded.

There was no immediate comment from Russia on the attack.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday, Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post.

Ukraine carried out a "terrorist attack" using a drone on a military airfield in Russia's Novgorod region on Saturday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

As a result of the attack, a fire broke out in a parking space for aircraft, which was promptly put out by fire brigades, the ministry added. There were no casualties, it further stated.

There has been no response from Ukraine yet.

At least five people died after the Russian shelling of Chernihiv city center, said Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko.

And 37 people, including 11 children, were injured and were provided with medical care, he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. 

The victims came as a result of an alleged Russian attack on the Drama Theater in Chernihiv.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said a square and a university were also hit in Chernihiv. 

There was no immediate comment from Russia on the attack on Saturday. 

Ukraine's authorities said on Saturday that Russia shelled the center of Chernihiv city in northern Ukraine.

"A Russian missile hit right in the center of the city, in our Chernihiv. A square, the polytechnic university, a theater," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app. 

He added there were casualties without specifying the number.

There was no immediate comment from Russia. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post on Saturday that he is on a working visit to Sweden.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its forces had shot down a Ukraine-launched missile over Crimea overnight, RIA news agency reported on Saturday.

Ukraine has made no comment on the claim.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with military commanders at the headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, RIA news agency reported on Saturday, citing the Kremlin.

Putin heard reports from Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, commanders of areas, and other senior officers of the group, the report said. 

Canada on Friday announced new sanctions against Russia, targeting 15 Russian individuals and three entities.

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs limited the powers of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in Russia to carry out operational-search activities, TASS news agency reported on Friday, adding that the division was left with only the job of inquiries and identification.

U.S. has extended temporary protected status for Ukraine for 18 months through April 19, 2025, according to a Homeland Security statement on Friday. 

Ukrainian pilot training on F-16 fighter jets will be followed by a transfer of those jets to the Ukrainian military, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Friday.

An explosion was heard in Zaporizhzhia, Ukrinform reported on Friday.

The container ship that left the Russian-blocked Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa earlier this week is crossing through Türkiye's Bosphorus Strait, a Reuters witness said on Friday.  

A drone was shot down by Russian forces in central Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Friday as Russia's Defense Ministry declared it another attempted drone attack from Ukraine. 

"Tonight, during an attempt to get to Moscow, the air defense forces destroyed a drone. The wreckage of the UAV fell in the area of the Expo Center, and did not cause significant damage to the building. There are no victims, according to preliminary reports," Sobyanin said on Telegram.

The Expo Center is a large space used for massive exhibitions, less than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from the Kremlin.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the drone was launched by Ukraine "against objects located in Moscow and the Moscow region" and called it another "terrorist attack." 

"The UAV, after being targeted by air defense weapons, changed its flight path and fell on a non-residential building in the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment area of Moscow," the ministry said, adding there are no casualties or fires.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv. 

Russia has accused Ukraine of launching several drone attacks at Moscow and the region in the past few months. 

Last week, Russia said its air defense system has downed a drone that attempted to fly over Moscow. The vehicle crashed in a forest area in the west of the Russian capital without casualties and damage on the ground.

In early May, two drones attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin residence with Russia calling it Ukraine's attempt to assassinate Putin.

(With input from agencies)

An explosion was heard near Moscow city center, Reuters reported Friday citing witness. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday signed bills to extend martial law and general mobilization for another 90 days, until November 15, local media reported.  

The United States has issued its latest sanctions targeting four individuals linked to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), according to a notice posted on the U.S. Department of Treasury website on Thursday.

Air raid alerts were issued throughout Ukraine on Thursday, according to local media reports.

TOP HEADLINES

• Ukraine's military will liberate all territory occupied by Russian forces regardless of how long it takes, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, adding this was the Ukrainian people's wish. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia's FSB security service said it had "eliminated" a group of four Ukrainian fighters who tried to cross into Russia's western Bryansk region from northern Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported. 

• Ukraine will need a steady supply of Western arms and ammunition until its military has routed Russian forces from all occupied Ukrainian territory, said Kuleba.

• Russia's defense ministry said its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian territory, the RIA news agency reported. Interfax said a drone had been downed over Russia's southern Belgorod region, citing the defense ministry.

• Ukraine announced the recapture of the village of Urozhaine from Russian troops in the southeast, but warned the situation on the northeastern front was deteriorating amid Russian counter attacks. Urozhaine, on the edge of Donetsk region, is the first village Kyiv says it has retaken since July 27, a sign of the challenge Ukraine faces advancing through heavily mined Russian defensive lines without powerful air support. 

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the departure of the first cargo ship to use a new Black Sea lane, after Moscow exited a deal protecting Ukrainian grain exports from its southern ports. "Ukraine has just made an important step toward restoring the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. The first civilian vessel has passed through Ukraine's new humanitarian corridor, departing from the port of Odesa," despite warnings from Moscow that its navy could target vessels, Zelensky said. 

• President Zelenskyy denounced Russian strikes on his country's ports as a threat to global food security, after another night of attacks. Russia targeted "infrastructure guaranteeing not only our own, but also common global food security", Zelenskyy said in his daily address, adding that "every Russian attack on them is a blow to world food prices, it is a blow to social and political stability in Africa and Asia.”

• The U.S. said that Russia's drone strikes on Ukraine's Danube infrastructure showed that President Vladimir Putin did not care about food supply for the developing world. "It is unacceptable. Putin simply does not care about global food security," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

• Russia fined Alphabet's Google 3 million rubles ($31,845) for not deleting what it said was fake information about what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, the TASS news agency reported.

• The EU transferred €135 million ($147 million) initially allocated for programs with Russia and Belarus towards strengthening the cooperation with Ukraine and Moldova, it said in a statement. 

IN DETAIL

Ukraine FM: 'Our goal is victory'

Ukraine's military will liberate all territory occupied by Russian forces regardless of how long it takes, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, adding this was the Ukrainian people's wish.

"Our goal is victory, victory in the form of the liberation of our territories within (Ukraine's) borders of 1991. And we don't care how long it takes," he said during an interview in Kyiv.

"As long as the Ukrainian people share this goal, the Ukrainian government will move hand in hand with its own people."

Kyiv launched its long-anticipated counteroffensive in June but has acknowledged tough battles as it struggles to break through heavily fortified Russian positions.

But Ukraine is not under pressure from its Western allies, which have provided far-reaching contributions to the military, to make faster gains, Kuleba said. 

"We're not feeling this," he said, acknowledging "an increase in the voices of commentators and experts in the public space" discussing the pace of Ukraine's gains on frontlines in the east and south of the country.

He encouraged critics of Ukraine's offensive to "go and join the foreign legion" to aid Ukraine's efforts.

"It's easy to say that you want everything to be faster when you are not there."

He said, however, that Ukraine will still need a steady supply of Western arms and ammunition until its military has routed Russian forces from all occupied Ukrainian territory.

"The truth is that until we have won, we need more, we need to move forward, because war is a reality, and in this reality, we need to win. There is no other way," he said.

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Russia has thwarted a drone attack from Ukraine over Belgorod region, RIA reported on Thursday, citing Russia's defense ministry. 

Ukraine has not responded yet. 

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) foiled an attempt by Ukrainian saboteurs to cross into the Bryansk region, TASS news agency reported on Wednesday, adding that four people had been killed in the incident.

Russia's air defense systems detected and destroyed a Ukrainian drone over Crimea on Wednesday, RIA news agency reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

A cargo ship has left Ukraine's port of Odessa for the first time since July 16, moving along a new corridor to the Bosporus Strait, local media reported on Wednesday, citing Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine.

Ukraine last week announced a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to release cargo ships that have been trapped in its ports due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Moscow has not indicated whether it would respect the shipping corridor, and shipping and insurance sources have expressed concerns about safety.

Moscow on July 17 suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain export deal, which allowed Ukraine to export its grain and other agricultural products from its Black Sea ports.

(With input from agencies)

One person was killed by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian border region of Belgorod on Tuesday, the region's Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a social media post on Wednesday.

A Ukrainian Danube river port is continuing operations after an overnight drone attack, which damaged grain silos and warehouses, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Warehouses and grain silos were damaged in Russian overnight attacks at one of Ukrainian Danube River ports, the governor of southern Odesa region, Oleh Kiper said on social media on Wednesday.  

Russia has yet responded to the claim.  

The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated Urozhaine in Donetsk region, Ukrinform news reported citing Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar on Wednesday.

Russia's air defense systems destroyed three Ukrainian drones over Kaluga Oblast, southwest of the Moscow region, Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

No damage or casualties were caused, the ministry added.

Ukraine has not yet commented on the claim.

Ukraine's air force on Wednesday said a large group of Russian army drones entered the mouth of the Danube river and headed toward river port Izmail near the border with Romania.

Russia has not responded to the claim.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia and met troops involved in the counter-offensive in the south, the president's office said on Tuesday.

At least 35 people were killed and 80 others injured on Monday in an explosion following a fire at a gas station in Russia's southernmost Republic of Dagestan, RIA reported, citing the health ministry.

Ukraine's air defense forces destroyed 16 out of at least 28 Russia-launched missiles overnight, Ukraine's air force said in a Telegram post on Tuesday.

There has been no response from Russia yet.

Air raid alerts were issued throughout Ukraine on Tuesday, according to local media reports.

Russia's ambassador to the United States said on Monday the U.S. denied entry visas to some Russian officials who planned to travel to Seattle for a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC).

"Entry visas for officials from several ministries and government bodies were not issued," Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador, said.

The United States on Monday said it will send Ukraine new security assistance valued at $200 million.

The aid includes air defense munitions, artillery rounds, anti-armor capabilities, and additional mine-clearing equipment, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

(With input from Reuters)

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin has arrived in Moscow for a working visit, BelTA news agency reported on Monday.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner has arrived in Kyiv for the first visit since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, dpa news agency reported on Monday.

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has put three Ukrainian military leaders on the wanted list over the shelling of the Donbas region, RIA news agency reported on Monday.

There has been no response from Ukraine yet. 

Traffic on the Russian-built Crimean Bridge was "temporarily stopped", an official Telegram channel said on Sunday.

No reason for the halting of traffic was given.

A Russian warship on Sunday opened warning fire on a Palau-flagged dry cargo ship on its way to Ukraine in the Black Sea, the Russian defense ministry said.

The ship went on its way to port in Ukraine after Russia carried out an inspection, the defense ministry said.

Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in a Telegram post on Saturday that he discussed the urgent needs of the Ukrainian army with British Chief of Defense Staff Tony Radakin, who is on a visit to Kyiv.

Another Ukrainian missile was shot down over the Kerch Strait, Sergey Aksenov, the head of Crimea, said on Saturday, hours after he claimed two Ukrainian missiles were intercepted in the strait. 

There has been no response from Ukraine yet.

Russia's Foreign Ministry later condemned what it called Ukrainian terrorist attacks on the Crimean Bridge and vowed retaliation.

"There can be no justification for such barbaric actions and they will not go unanswered," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

She said Russian forces had also shot down a number of Ukrainian drones targeting the peninsula.

According to Russia's Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian missiles targeting the Crimean bridge Saturday afternoon, respectively at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., were detected by Russian air defense systems and shot down in the air with no damage or casualties.

(With input from agencies)

Russian air defense forces shot down two Ukrainian missiles over the Crimean bridge, said Governor Sergey Aksenov on Saturday, adding that no damage has been caused to the bridge.

Russia's Defense Ministry later confirmed that Ukraine had tried unsuccessfully to strike the Crimean bridge with S-200 rockets at about 13:00 Moscow time (1000 GMT). 

Ukraine has not responded to the claim yet. 

LATEST HEADLINES

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the heads of military conscription in every region after a series of corruption allegations. "This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery at a time of war is high treason," Zelenskyy said.

• The incessant drone attacks continue on both sides as Russian forces destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones launched onto the Crimean Peninsula. 

• Ukraine officials say an elderly woman and a police officer were killed by Russian shelling on a settlement in eastern Ukraine and Zaporizhzhia in the south.

• Ukrainian officials urged residents of Kupiansk to evacuate as Russia says it has improved its fighting positions in the area.

• The U.S. has imposed new sanctions on four Russians linked to financial and investment conglomerate Alfa Group and a Russian business association, the latest measures targeting Moscow's financial elite over the war in Ukraine.

IN DETAIL

Zelenskyy dismisses all recruitment center chiefs

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy broadened his battle against graft, firing all the heads of Ukraine's regional army recruitment centers as the war with Russia enters a critical stage.

Zelenskyy said a state investigation into centers across Ukraine had exposed abuses by officials ranging from illegal enrichment to transporting draft-eligible men across the border despite a wartime ban on them leaving the country.

He said 112 criminal cases had been opened in a wide-ranging probe launched after a graft scandal at a recruitment office in the Odesa region last month. 

"This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason," he said, adding that those fired would be replaced by recent veterans and soldiers wounded at the front.

Zelenskyy said that any sacked army recruitment officers who are not being investigated should head to the front to fight for Ukraine "if they want to keep their epaulettes and prove their dignity."

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Cover image: AFP/Kacper Pempel

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has inspected the remote Arctic garrisons of Russia's northern fleet, RIA reported on Saturday. 

Russia has shot down 20 unmanned Ukrainian drones near the Crimean peninsula, the country's Defense Ministry said on social media on Saturday.

Fourteen drones were destroyed by air defense systems and six more were suppressed by electronic warfare, the ministry said on Telegram.

No casualties or damage were reported, it added.

Ukraine has not responded to the claim.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday that the heads of all of Ukraine's regional military recruitment centers were being dismissed from their jobs amid concerns about corruption.

"This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason," he said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

He said top general Valery Zaluzhny would be responsible for implementing the decision.

The Ukrainian Air Force said its air defenses shot down one of the four hypersonic missiles fired by Russia on Friday, and three other missiles hit a nearby military airfield in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Friday said that there was an attempt to fly a drone over Moscow, however, air defense eliminated it.

Moscow's Vnukovo international airport has resumed normal operation after it was temporarily closed due to a drone earlier, RIA news agency reported on Friday.

Two Ukrainian drones were destroyed by air defenses on approach to the Russian city of Kursk late on Thursday, the TASS news agency said on Friday, citing regional governor Roman Starovoit.

A mandatory evacuation was announced in 37 settlements of the Kupiansk district in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, local news outlet UNIAN reported on Thursday.

Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov said in a Telegram post on Wednesday that civilians might be evacuated from 53 settlements in the Kupiansk district due to intense shelling.

Russian air defense systems shot down two military drones flying towards Moscow, city mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram on Thursday.

TOP HEADLINES

• Russia said it had shot down two Ukrainian drones near Moscow on Wednesday, one near a major airport to the south of the city and one to the west of the capital. READ MORE BELOW

• Dozens of second-hand Leopard 1 tanks that once belonged to Belgium have been bought by another European country for Ukrainian forces, the arms trader who did the deal said Tuesday.

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the revival of a deal with Russia to allow Ukrainian grain exports, brokered by Ankara and the UN, "depends on Western countries which must keep their promises."

• Ukrainian nuclear power plants located in territories controlled by Kyiv will be at full capacity before winter to supply the country with electricity, the Ukrainian nuclear operator assured Monday.

• Poland will send 2,000 troops to the Belarus border to support the Border Guard, Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik told state-run news agency PAP on Wednesday. The move comes after Belarus conducted military drills near its border with Poland and Lithuania.

• Russia will build up forces at its western borders, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told the Collegium of the Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

IN DEPTH

More drones shot down near Moscow

Russia said it had shot down two Ukrainian drones near Moscow on Wednesday, one near a major airport to the south of the city and one to the west of the capital. 

"An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with unmanned aerial vehicles was prevented over the territory of the Moscow region," the defense ministry said. "Two UAVs were destroyed by air defenses." 

One was shot down near Domodedovo, where one of Russia's biggest international airports is located, and another near the Minsk motorway, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. 

Drone air strikes deep inside Russia have increased since a drone was destroyed over the Kremlin in early May. Civilian areas of the capital were hit later in May and a Moscow business district was targeted twice in three days earlier this month. 

In recent days, Ukrainian remotely piloted boats, also referred to as drones, have attacked a Russian fuel tanker and a navy base at Russia's Novorossiysk port on the Black Sea. 

Ukraine typically does not comment on who is behind attacks on Russian territory, although officials have publicly expressed satisfaction over them. The New York Times reported in May that U.S. intelligence agencies believed Ukrainian spies or military intelligence were behind the drone strike on the Kremlin. 

Russia has launched thousands of long-range drone strikes on Ukraine throughout the war, often striking civilian targets far from the front, but Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians.

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Russia plans to enhance its troop presence along its western border, RIA reported on Wednesday, citing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Two drones were shot down on approach to the Russian capital Moscow and there were no casualties, TASS news agency reported early Wednesday morning, citing the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, he said in a statement on Tuesday.

They discused Ukraine's defense needs, including artillery, armored vehicles, and air defense systems to protect the infrastructure of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday said Russian forces had hit a Ukrainian command post in the eastern Ukrainian region of Pokrovsk, known in Russia as Krasnoarmeysk.

Ukrainian officials said Russian missiles had struck the city of Pokrovsk twice on Monday night, destroying a popular hotel and apartments, killing at least seven people including rescuers, and wounding scores.

(With input from Reuters)

Ukraine said on Monday that 22 of its soldiers had been freed from Russian captivity.   

"Today, another 22 Ukrainian soldiers were returned home from captivity," Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office said in a post on social media. 

A conference hosted by Saudi Arabia to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine was a successful meeting because it showed the willingness of the international community to work towards ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a German government spokesperson said on Monday.

"Germany will also continue to engage actively including in this process," the spokesperson said at a regular news conference in Berlin.

An air defense system shot down a drone in Ferzikovsky District of Kaluga region in Russia in the early hours on Monday, governor of the region Vladislav Shapsha said, adding that there was no damage and casualties. 

The Chonhar road bridge connecting Crimea was damaged by a missile strike, RIA news angecy reported on Sunday, citing local officials. 

Russia's Defense Ministry said it struck Ukrainian air bases in Rivne and Khmelnytskyi regions, RIA news agency reported on Sunday, adding that the target of the strike was reached and all assigned objects were hit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that a Russian missile strike on Saturday hit a facility of the Ukrainian aeronautics group Motor Sich.

"Today there was another Russian missile attack against our country. Kinzhals, Kalibrs. They hit Motor Sich" and the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine, around 300 kilometers (190 miles) southwest of Kyiv, Zelenskyy said in his evening address. 

A hostile drone was destroyed by air defenses as it approached Moscow on Sunday, city mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Sobyanin wrote on messaging app Telegram that the drone approached Moscow around 11 a.m. (0800 GMT).

Temporary restrictions that had been introduced earlier today at Moscow's Vnukovo international airport have been lifted and the airport is operating as usual, RIA news agency reported. 

The restrictions were imposed due to unidentified flying objects, with some flights redirected to other aviation hubs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian guided aerial bomb hit a blood transfusion center in the town of Kupiansk in eastern Kharkiv region late on Saturday.

"There are dead and wounded," he said on his Telegram channel.

The strike came shortly after the Ukrainian president said Russian missiles had hit a facility of the Ukrainian aeronautics group Motor Sich, a maker of plane and helicopter engines and other components.

The Russian side has yet to respond to the claim.

An air alert was announced on Sunday in several regions in Ukraine, including Kyiv, Ukrinform reported, adding that the Ukrainian Air Force warned of danger from missile attacks in the east and south.

Russia scrambled a Su-30 jet after it detected a U.S. reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea, Russian media reported Saturday, citing the Defense Ministry.

As the Russian jet approached, "the Ripper reconnaissance UAV made a U-turn from the state border of the Russian Federation," the report said, adding the Su-30 returned safely to the home airfield.

The U.S. has not yet commented on it.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba held a phone conversation, TASS news agency reported on Saturday, citing a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

TOP HEADLINES 

• A sea drone attack damaged a Russian tanker near the strategic bridge linking Russia to the peninsula of Crimea, Russian authorities said on Saturday. Russian media said the SIG vessel, approaching the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, was hit by Ukrainian drones. READ MORE BELOW

• Vasyl Malyuk, head of Ukraine's SBU security service, did not directly say that Ukraine had attacked the Russian tanker but said that any incident with ships or the Crimean bridge was "an absolutely logical and efficient step towards the enemy."

• A Russian warship was seriously damaged in a Ukrainian naval drone attack on a Black Sea navy base at Novorossiysk, the first time Kyiv has projected its power so far from the country's shores. The port, which handles two percent of the world's oil supply and also exports grain, temporarily halted civilian ship movement before resuming normal operations, according to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium.

• Talks starting in Saudi Arabia this weekend to find a peaceful settlement to end the conflict in Ukraine will be difficult, but Kyiv is counting on persuading more countries to back its peace formula, said Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office.

• Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny had an extra 19 years in a maximum security penal colony added to his jail term on Friday in a criminal case that he said was designed to cow the Russian people into political submission. A court at his IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, about 230 kilometers east of Moscow, on Friday brought to a close his trial on six charges, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation.

• Ukrainian military officials said that Kyiv was persistently working to retake land near the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut while Russian forces were pouring in additional troops in a bid to stop Kyiv's advances.

• Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had made air and artillery strikes on Klishchiivka and surrounding towns, knocking out Ukrainian vehicles and equipment. The report also said Russian forces had pressed offensive action on the southern front and hit Ukrainian personnel and equipment engaged in their drive southward.

• U.S. bank JPMorgan this week stopped processing payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank, Russia said, as it demanded action, not promises, from Washington to help Russian grain and fertilizer reach global markets.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing for foreign investors from "unfriendly" countries to be barred from holding stakes in major Russian companies and banks, state news agency RIA said.

• Putin has signed a law introducing a windfall tax on excess profits of Russian companies. The law, passed by parliament last month, is aimed at raising more than $3 billion and easing strain on the budget as Russia wages what it calls its 'special military operation' in Ukraine.

IN DETAIL

Sea drones hit Russian tanker by strategic bridge

A sea drone attack damaged a Russian tanker near the strategic bridge linking Russia to the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian authorities said on Saturday. Russian media said the SIG vessel, approaching the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, was hit by Ukrainian drones. Ukraine's Interfax agency, citing an unnamed security service source, also said its navy was behind the attack with drones in its territorial waters.

No one was hurt, but the Crimean Bridge and ferry transport were suspended for several hours, according to Russian-installed officials in Crimea. Kyiv seldom claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but has said that destroying Russia's military infrastructure boosts its counteroffensive chances in the 17-month-old conflict.

Vasyl Malyuk, head of Ukraine's SBU security service, did not directly say that Ukraine had attacked the vessel, but he commented that any incident with Russian ships or the Crimean bridge was "an absolutely logical and efficient step towards the enemy."

"Moreover, such special operations are conducted in the territorial waters of Ukraine and are completely legal," Malyuk said on Telegram.

A drone attack on Russia's navy base at Novorossiysk damaged a Russian warship on Friday, the first time the Ukrainian navy has acted so far from its shores. Russia's Novorossiysk Maritime Rescue Coordination Center was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying there was no fuel spill from the SIG, as the ship had been carrying only technical ballast. It said water had stopped pouring into the SIG and recovery work was underway with two tugboats nearby.

The SIG had been supplying oil to Russian troops in Syria, according to Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in Ukraine's southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia.

The United States imposed sanctions on the tanker and its owner, St Petersburg-based Transpetrochart, in 2019 for helping provide jet fuel in Syria.

Rogov posted an audio clip on Telegram in which the SIG requested a tow from tugboats. He also posted pictures of what he described as shattered fixtures and equipment inside the vessel.

"The SIG tanker... received a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, preliminarily as a result of a sea drone attack," Russia's Federal Marine and River Transport agency said in a statement on Telegram.

The Moscow-installed authorities in Crimea said the bridge, which was completed by Russia in 2018 and has come under serious attack twice in the war, was not targeted.

Ukraine's UNIAN news agency said three explosions had been reported in the area.

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Ukraine announced that the waters of six Russian ports in the Black Sea, namely the ports of Anapa, Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik, Tuapse, Sochi and Taman, are in the "zone of military threat," Ukrinform reported on Saturday.

There has been no response from Russia yet.

A Russian fleet found and destroyed a surface drone on the high seas near Sevastopol, Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said on the Telegram messaging app on Saturday. 

The incident came as Russia claimed a Ukrainian maritime drone carrying 450 kg of explosives attacked a Russian oil tanker in the Black Sea on Saturday.

The Russian oil tanker attacked in the Black Sea on Saturday was hit by a Ukrainian maritime drone carrying 450 kilograms of explosives and was struck as it transported fuel for the Russian military, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters on Saturday.

The source said the attack on the SIG vessel was a joint operation by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Navy, and had been conducted in Ukrainian territorial waters.

Air raid alerts were issued throughout Ukraine on Saturday, according to local media reports.

The engine room of Russia's SIG tanker near Crimea was damaged as a result of a sea drone attack, Russia's Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport said early on Saturday.

"The SIG tanker received a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, preliminarily as a result of a sea drone attack," the agency said in a statement on its Telegram messaging app.

There were no casualties, it said.

The U.S. Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie visited Ukraine on Friday and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he underscored strong U.S. support for Kyiv.

Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have observed no mines or explosives on the rooftops of Unit 3 and Unit 4 reactor buildings and the turbine halls at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), after having been given access on Thursday afternoon, the agency said in a statement on Friday.

The IAEA team continues to request to visit the roofs of the other four units, the agency added.

TOP HEADLINES

• Russia has doubled its 2023 defense spending target to more than $100 billion - a third of all public expenditure - a government document showed, as the costs of the war in Ukraine spiral and place growing strain on Moscow's finances. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia said it had thwarted Ukrainian sea and air drone attacks on a naval base in the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula. The number of attacks has increased from both sides since Moscow exited a deal last month that had allowed Ukrainian grain exports via the shipping hub during the conflict. READ MORE BELOW

• Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited a combat zone in Ukraine to inspect a command post and meet senior military officers, the army said. Shoigu got an update on the situation on the front and "thanked commanders and soldiers... for successful offensive operations" in Lyman in eastern Ukraine, it said, without mentioning when the visit took place.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv's troops were faced with brutal fighting all along the front but were prevailing nonetheless. "The occupiers are trying to stop our guys with all their might. The attacks are very brutal," Zelenskyy said.

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took aim at Russia at the UN Security Council, accusing Moscow of "blackmail" over its recent withdrawal from a key grain initiative. America's top diplomat, chairing a meeting about food insecurity at the UN's headquarters in New York, told the 15-member Council that "hunger must not be weaponized." 

• Russia does not believe a U.S. promise that Washington will help ensure Moscow can freely export food if it returns to the Black Sea grain deal, state news agency RIA quoted the Kremlin as saying.

• Russia has enlisted over 230,000 additional personnel into the army since the start of the year, Moscow's Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said. Moscow has conducted an aggressive military recruitment campaign this year as it seeks to stave off an ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive and hold territories it has captured during the conflict. 

• German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius ruled out supplying Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, saying it was "not a top priority" right now. Ukraine asked Germany in late May to provide it with Taurus air-to-surface cruise missiles which have a range in excess of 500 kilometers (310 miles), but the government has so far rebuffed the request. 

• Ukraine's anti-corruption watchdog said it detained an armed forces official accused of helping draft-age men flee the country in exchange for a cash payment. Since Kyiv introduced martial law after Russia's offensive last year, able-bodied men between 18 and 60 have been forbidden from leaving the country and may be called up for military service at any time. 

IN DETAIL

Moscow doubles annual defense budget to $100bn

Russia has doubled its 2023 defense spending target to more than $100 billion - a third of all public expenditure - according to a government document seen by Reuters, as the costs of the war in Ukraine spiral and place growing strain on Moscow's finances.

The figures shed light on Russia's spending on the conflict at a time when sector-specific budget expenditure data is no longer published.

They show that in the first half of 2023 alone, Russia spent 12 percent, or 600 billion roubles, more on defense than the 4.98 trillion roubles ($54 billion) it had originally targeted for 2023.

Defence spending in the first six months of 2023 amounted to 5.59 trillion roubles, 37.3 percent of a total 14.97 trillion roubles spent in the period, the document showed. Russia's budget plan envisages 17.1% of total funds spent on "National Defence".

Russia thwarts attacks on Black Sea naval base

Russia said it had thwarted Ukrainian sea and air drone attacks on a naval base in the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula. The number of attacks in the sea has increased from both sides since Moscow exited a deal last month that had allowed Ukrainian grain exports via the shipping hub during the conflict between the two countries.

"Tonight, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the use of two unmanned sea boats, attempted an attack on the Novorossiysk naval base of the Russian Armed Forces," the defense ministry said on Telegram.

Russian ships destroyed the naval drones, it said. It was the first such attack targeting the port city. The Black Sea port of Novorossiysk hosts the terminus of a pipeline that carries most Kazakh oil exports through Russia.

The fuel artery's operator Caspian Pipeline Consortium said it was continuing to ship oil to moored tankers at the terminal, Russian state media reported.

But "a temporary ban has been established on the movement of ships in the port", said the company, as quoted by Interfax news agency.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law increasing the maximum conscription age to 30 years while keeping the minimum age at 18, RIA news agency reported on Friday.

The law will come into force on January 1, 2024, the report added.

The European Union said it still has "serious concerns" over Poland's adoption of a law that is purported to tackle Russian influence in its domestic politics but is widely seen as a way for the country's ruling party to target the opposition.

Poland - a neighbor of Ukraine and one of its strongest supporters amid the conflict with Russia - set up a committee in late May with the intended goal of investigating citizens who have allegedly succumbed to Russian influence.

Despite criticism that it could serve as a tool to persecute political rivals ahead of a national election due this autumn, Poland's President Andrzej Duda - an ally of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party - signed the law into force on Wednesday.

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Brussels had launched legal action against Warsaw over the bill, which if it had been left unamended, could have been used to ban those found 'guilty' of holding sensitive public positions for up to 10 years. Under pressure, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed an amended bill into law on Wednesday that removed the threat of a ban from public office.

Instead, the panel will issue a statement that the person has succumbed to Russian influence and cannot be guaranteed to work properly in the public interest. Despite the last minute change, critics argue the measure, introduced just months before parliamentary elections, will be used to specifically target opposition leader and former European Council President Donald Tusk. 

His party even dubbed it the "Lex Tusk," or Tusk Law, because of what they said was its true aim. A spokeswoman of the European Commission said the bill risked putting Poland at odds with EU laws when the panel starts operating.

Anitta Hipper said the EU executive had already told Warsaw that "even if the amendments to the law aim to bring improvements, the law as amended continues to raise serious concerns."

There were still issues regarding "compliance with the EU law once the committee becomes operational and launches checks," she added.

Poland's governing conservatives have faced off with Brussels since coming to power in 2015 over claims Warsaw fails to fully uphold EU laws, particularly with regards to the judiciary. Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland and European Council chief, is posing a major challenge to the ruling PiS party ahead of elections later this year.

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Air raid alerts were issued throughout Ukraine on Friday, according to local media reports.

The bodies of 44 soldiers have been returned to Ukraine, Ukrinform reported on Friday.

The Kremlin posted on the Russian president's official website on Friday the text of a joint statement that followed President Vladimir Putin's July 28 meeting with the leaders of the African peace mission on Ukraine, TASS news agency reported.

President Putin and the leaders of seven African countries involved in a peace mission on Ukraine agreed to continue their dialogue, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"Indeed, the dialogue will continue," Peskov told TASS. "There are no exact dates yet."

South African authorities released on Thursday a joint statement by Putin and the African peace mission following their meeting on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit held in St. Petersburg in late July. The mission, led by South Africa, also includes the Comoros, Senegal, Zambia, Egypt, the Republic of Congo and Uganda.

The statement said that the leaders agreed to continue the dialogue, supported lifting sanctions on Russian grain and fertilizer exports and acknowledged the progress made on humanitarian aspects of the initiative.

This was the second round of such talks this summer. The first occurred on June 17, when Putin said Moscow was open to negotiations with Kyiv.

In June, the African peace delegation visited Ukraine and Russia and presented a ten-point peace plan that calls for ending the conflict through negotiation and diplomatic means and de-escalating tensions on both sides.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a plenary meeting at the second Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, July 28, 2023. /CFP)

Ukraine damaged a Russian naval vessel during a sea drone attack at the Russian port of Novorossiysk that was conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Navy on Friday, a Ukrainian intelligence source said.

"As a result of the attack, the Olenegorsky Gornyak received a serious breach and currently cannot conduct its combat missions," the source told Reuters.

Explosions occurred in the Russian city of Novorossiysk, RIA reported on Friday, citing emergency services.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces tried to attack the Novorossiysk naval base with two sea drones, and the drones have been destroyed, TASS reported.

Russia has decided to reduce the number of Romanian diplomats in Moscow, the RIA news agency reported. The move comes in response to Romania's restrictions on the number of Russian diplomats in Bucharest.

Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned the Romanian Charge d'affaires in Russia on Thursday and submitted a diplomatic note to inform them of the relevant situation.

Russia will continue to voluntarily reduce its oil supply in September by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), Russian media reported Thursday, citing Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

"Within the efforts to ensure the oil market remains balanced Russia will continue to voluntarily reduce its oil supply in the month of September, now by 300,000 barrels per day, by cutting its exports by that quantity to global markets," Novak was quoted as saying.

In August, Russia's oil exports were cut by 500,000 bpd.

(With input from agencies)

The European Council announced on Thursday that it would extend the scope of sanctions against Belarus.

It said the new measures create a closer alignment of EU sanctions targeting Russia and Belarus and will help ensure that Russian sanctions cannot be circumvented through Belarus.

The new measures expand the ban on exports to Belarus to a number of highly sensitive goods and technologies, which the EU said contribute to Belarus's military and technological enhancement.

The bloc also agreed to impose an additional export ban on firearms and ammunition, as well as on goods and technology suited for use in aviation and the space industry.

India will participate in Ukraine peace talks being hosted by Saudi Arabia on August 5 to 6, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing the Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

Russia has added Norway to the list of unfriendly countries and regions, Russia media reported Thursday.

The Ukrainian president's office on Wednesday unveiled a three-step strategy to implement Ukraine's Peace Formula.

The first stage includes meetings between Ukrainian authorities and ambassadors accredited to Ukraine, aimed at discussing the Peace Formula in detail, Andriy Yermak, head of the president's office, said in a Telegram post.

At the second stage, Kyiv will hold talks with foreign national security advisers and political advisers to find mechanisms for the implementation of the peace plan, Yermak said.

According to Yermak, a global summit with the participation of world leaders to implement measures aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine would become the final stage of the peace strategy.

The first international meeting to discuss Ukraine's Peace Formula was held in Denmark in June, and the next meeting will be held in Saudi Arabia, Yermak said.

National security advisers and political advisers from countries in the West, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America will take part in the meeting, he noted.

According to Igor Zhovkva, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office, representatives of more than 30 countries will participate in the meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 5-6.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put forward a 10-point formula designed to achieve peace in Ukraine in November 2022.

TOP HEADLINES

•Russian drones attacked port and grain storage facilities in the south of Ukraine in the early hours of Wednesday, setting some of them on fire, regional governor Oleh Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app. READ MORE BELOW

• Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call that he would continue to engage in diplomacy to reinstate the Black Sea grain initiative, Erdogan's office said. The Kremlin's press service noted that Russia was set to interact with Türkiye and other interested countries in considering options of its grain supplies to needy countries.

• The Kremlin restated its position on the Black Sea grain deal, saying it was ready to return to it "immediately" once the part that concerns Russia was implemented.

• A large number of prisoners held in makeshift detention centers in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine were tortured and sexually violated, a team of international experts said on Wednesday in a summary of their latest findings.

• Explosions jolted the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Wednesday and Ukrainian anti-aircraft units were in action against attack drones, Mayor Vitali Klitschko and military officials said.

IN DEPTH

Russia attacks Ukrainian port on the Danube

Russian drones damaged infrastructure at a Ukrainian port on the Danube, as Moscow targeted strikes against facilities vital for grain shipments, the Ukrainian general prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Kyiv was also targeted with drones from several directions in the latest wave of attacks overnight, leaving several floors of a glass high-rise damaged.

A grain elevator, silos and warehouses were damaged or destroyed, it said. The prosecutor's office in the district of Izmail, where a key Danube river port is located, had opened a probe into the strike, the statement added.

Meanwhile the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that Russia was working on reliable options for the supply of Russian grain on a free-of-charge basis to those countries most in need. This issue was substantially discussed at the second Russia–Africa Summit held recently in St Petersburg last week. 

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There were no reports of casualties following the strike despite a blaze breaking out at port facilities, Odesa regional governor Oleg Kiper said. Russia has been pounding the port city of Odesa and the surrounding region since Moscow withdrew from a grain deal last month that allowed Ukraine to continue exports via the Black Sea despite the war.

The deal had allowed around 33 million tonnes of grain to leave Ukrainian ports, easing fears of food shortages in vulnerable countries.

With the Black Sea route effectively blocked, the port at Izmail is now the main export route for Ukrainian agricultural products via neighboring Romania.

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The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov Wednesday restated Russia's position on the Black Sea grain deal, saying Moscow is ready to return to the accord that allows the export of Ukrainian grain by sea once the part that concerns Russia's interests is implemented.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held phone talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.

Erdogan and Putin agreed on the Russian president paying a visit to Türkiye, the Turkish presidency's statement said.

Air raid alerts were issued throughout Ukraine on Wednesday, according to local media reports.

Russia launched a drone strike in Ukraine's southern Odessa region, the regional governor said Wednesday.

"As a result of the attack, fires broke out at the facilities of the port and industrial infrastructure of the region, and an elevator was damaged," Oleg Kiper said, adding that emergency services were on-site and there were no reports of casualties.

There has been no response from Russia yet.

Ukraine destroyed over 10 unmanned aerial vehicles in the capital Kyiv amid a "mass attack" by Russia, the Kyiv City Military Administration said in a Telegram post on Wednesday, adding that there were no casualties or serious damage.

There has been no response from Russia yet.

The Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine Bartos Cihotski was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv over 'unacceptable' comments made by Polish president's aide Marcin Przydacz, a Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

Russia has thwarted an overnight attack of Ukrainian drones on its naval and civilian vessels in the Black Sea, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday. 

"During the night the armed forces of Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the Sergei Kotov and Vasiliy Bykov patrol ships of the Black Sea fleet with three unmanned sea boats," the defense ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Later, in its daily briefing, the ministry said navy ships had destroyed three more sea drones targeting civilian vessels.

"During the night, the Kyiv regime attempted a terrorist attack with three semi-submersible unmanned boats on Russian civilian transport vessels heading towards the Bosphorus Strait in the southwestern part of the Black Sea," the ministry said.

However, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser said that Kyiv did not attack and will not attack civilian vessels or any other civilian objects in the Black Sea, calling Russian statements 'fictitious'.

"Undoubtedly, such statements by Russian officials are fictitious and do not contain even a shred of truth. Ukraine has not attacked, is not attacking and will not attack civilian vessels, nor any other civilian objects," Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told Reuters.

(With input from Reuters)

Several drones while trying to fly to Moscow were shot down by air defense systems, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram on Tuesday.

A drone hit one of the Moscow City towers, damaging the facade at the level of the 17th floor, said Sobyanin.

Emergency services are on the scene.

A Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Monday killed at least six people and injured 75 others, Ukrinform reported.

A video posted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed smoke billowing from a gaping hole in the side of a nine-story residential building, and another four-story building was almost leveled.

More than 200 rescuers are trying to save people trapped under the rubble. 

There has been no response from Russia.

(With input from Reuters)

A Ukrainian drone hit a police station overnight in the frontier Russian region of Briansk but there were no victims, the regional governor said Monday.

"Ukrainian forces attacked the district of Trubchevsky at night," Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram. "A drone hit the police station in this district. No victims" but the windows and roof were damaged, he added. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia would continue dialogue on prospects for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis with China, Brazil and African partners, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported on Monday.

Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow early on Sunday, as stated by the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, in a Telegram post.

The Russian Defense Ministry later confirmed the drone attack.

"On the morning of July 30, the Kyiv regime's attempted terrorist attack with unmanned aerial vehicles on objects in the city of Moscow was thwarted," it said on Telegram.

"One Ukrainian UAV was destroyed in the air by air defense systems over the territory of the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region. Two more drones were suppressed by electronic warfare and, having lost control, crashed on the territory of the Moscow-City's non-residential building complex."

One person was injured during the drone attack, as reported by TASS, citing emergency services.

The restrictions on flights within Moscow and the Moscow region were lifted after a temporary halt, according to the emergency services.

TASS also reported that the capital's Vnukovo airport was "closed for departures and arrivals, with flights redirected to other airports." Within less than an hour, operations appeared to have returned to normal.

There has been no response from Ukraine yet.

(With input from agencies)

A delegation from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) arrived in Ukraine's Odesa city on Saturday to assess the damage to cultural and religious sites, local media reported.

Russia has received around 30 peace initiatives for a settlement in Ukraine through official and unofficial channels, TASS reported Saturday citing Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday arrived at the frontline Bakhmut direction to visit the forward positions of the Special Operations Forces, he said in a statement.

The Russian government has introduced a temporary ban on exporting rice and rice groats until December 31, 2023, TASS reported Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a tweet on Friday that he discussed further steps to ensure global food security and continue the safe functioning of the grain corridor with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is on a visit to Ukraine.

European Union council announced Friday to impose sanctions on seven Russian individuals and five entities over "digital information manipulation' campaign."

An explosion occurred at an oil refinery in Russia's Samara on Friday, senior Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said in a Telegram post.

According to the preliminary investigation, an explosive device was planted, he said, adding that there was no serious damage or victims.

An explosion was reported Friday near a cafe in the southwestern Russian city of Taganrog near the border with Ukraine, injuring at least 15 people, according to the governor. 

"A rocket supposedly exploded. Rescuers are at the scene. There are no dead. There are several injured to whom ambulances have been dispatched," Rostov region governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram, later adding that 15 people suffered "light injuries." 

Russian Defense Ministry said the accident was caused by debris of a Ukrainian missile that it intercepted. 

"Russian air defense equipment detected the Ukrainian missile and intercepted it in the air. The debris of the downed Ukrainian missile fell on the territory of Taganrog," the ministry said in a statement. 

The Ukrainian side has not responded to the accusation yet. 

Qatar will provide Ukraine with $100 million in humanitarian aid to support health, education and demining, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday after talks with the Gulf state's prime minister. 

TOP HEADLINES

• President Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected suggestions that Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine was responsible for high global food prices, saying Western "mistakes" in the form of monetary stimulus were at the root of the problem. READ MORE BELOW

• Putin also told African leaders on Friday in Moscow he respected their peace proposal on Ukraine and was carefully studying it.

• Russian air defenses downed a Ukrainian military drone before it could attack its targets near Moscow on Friday, the RIA news agency cited Russia's defense ministry as saying.

• U.S. Abrams tanks are likely to arrive on the Ukrainian battlefield in September, Politico reported, citing six people familiar with the matter.

• Ukrainian forces pressed their counteroffensive through the Russian-occupied southeast on Thursday, capturing the village of Staromaiorske in a campaign to drive a wedge through Russian defensive positions.

• Russia's withdrawal from a deal that had allowed Ukraine to export its badly-needed grain has sparked volatility in grain prices, the White House said on Thursday.

• Ukraine's parliament voted on Thursday to extend martial law by another 90 days until Nov. 15, ruling out the possibility of parliamentary elections being held in October.

IN DEPTH

Putin blames West for rising food prices

President Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected suggestions that Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine was responsible for high global food prices, saying Western "mistakes" in the form of monetary stimulus were at the root of the problem.

Putin asserted to a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg that the United States and the European Union had printed money to buy food as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that "prices skyrocketed."

Putin appeared to be referring to the policy of "quantitative easing" to help major Western economies function under the social and economic disruption of the pandemic.

Putin also said the West had neglected investment in hydrocarbons: "One mistake led to another, it upended markets."

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The Moscow Exchange Index on Friday exceeded 3,000 points for the first time since February 22, 2022

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani visited Ukraine, a statement from Qatari Foreign Ministry said Friday. 

Russia's Federation Council approved a bill increasing the maximum conscription age to 30 years while keeping the minimum age at 18, TASS news agency reported on Friday.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin signs this bill into law, it will come into force on January 1, 2024, the report added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told African leaders on Friday that Moscow respected their peace proposal on Ukraine and was carefully studying it.

Putin said at a Russia-Africa summit that Russia was increasing food supplies to Africa, including some free grain shipments which he announced a day earlier.

Japan will ban exports of vehicles over 1900-cc including hybrid cars to Russia from August 9, Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday.

The Japanese cabinet decided to revise an export control order banning the exports of goods to Russia that strengthen the country's industrial base, Nishimura told reporters following the cabinet meeting.

One civilian guard died after a Russian missile hit port infrastructure facilities in Odesa on Thursday morning, Ukrainian media reported.

A guard building and two cars were destroyed, and cargo terminal equipment was damaged, the report added.

Russia has not responded to the accusation. 

China supports the efforts of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to bring about the early resumption of exports of grain and fertilizer from Russia and Ukraine, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN Geng Shuang said at the UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine on Wednesday.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative and the memorandum of understanding on Russian food and fertilizer exports "have important roles in stabilizing global food prices, maintaining global food security and improving the food supply for the most vulnerable countries," Geng said.

Noting that the opportunity for the resumption of the package agreement still exists, Geng called for the international community to enhance its sense of urgency and push the parties to intensify dialogue and consultations, address each other's concerns and strive for the early resumption of exports of Russian and Ukrainian grain and fertilizer.

Guterres called on Russia on Monday to return to a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain in accordance with a proposal he made to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia quit the agreement a week ago, saying that demands to improve its own food and fertilizer exports had not been met, and that not enough Ukraine grain had reached the poorest countries under the Black Sea deal.

(With input from agencies)

EU ambassadors on Wednesday agreed on adopting restrictive measures against Belarus, and the measures include listings of individuals and entities, according to the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Moldova will reduce the number of personnel of its embassy in Russia, TASS reported on Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced $400 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday, including air defense missiles, armored vehicles and small drones.

The second Russia-Africa summit will take place this week on Thursday, July 27, and Friday, July 28 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The summit will be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Putin is expected to hold one-on-one talks  with individual African leaders.

At least 40 African heads of state and senior leaders are expected to attend the summit with their delegations.

On the agenda will be trade, security, and grain and fertilizer supply issues, according to Russian officials.

Moscow announced last week that it was leaving the UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal, which allowed Ukraine, one of the largest grain exporters in the world, to safely export grain from its ports.

Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal could cause food shortages in parts of Africa and push up food prices globally.A peace proposal for Ukraine that African leaders have proposed “could be discussed” at the summit, Russian ambassador-at-large Oleg Ozerov told reporters.

The Russian mercenary group Wagner may also be a point of discussion. 

The Wagner group contracts its services with countries like Sudan and Mali in exchange for natural resources like gold.Wagner leaders staged a brief rebellion last month against Moscow before being relocated to Belarus.  

Russia’s Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Wagner’s work in Africa will continue.

The first Russia-Africa summit was held in 2019.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss Ukraine with a group of African leaders in a working dinner at a summit in St Petersburg on July 28, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov as saying on Tuesday.

The state news agency RIA quoted Ushakov as saying that 17 African heads of state would speak at the Russia-Africa summit, which takes place this Thursday and Friday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that the EU will provide another 1.5 billion euros to Ukraine to help keep the state running and repair infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a tweet on Tuesday that he held a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The two leaders discussed the defense needs of Ukraine and future defense cooperation between the two countries, Zelenskyy said.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt overnight to attack a Russian patrol ship of the Black Sea Fleet, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Two Ukrainian remote-controlled boats were destroyed and there were no casualties, the ministry added.

There has been no response from Ukraine yet.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday it had found anti-personnel mines in an area of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and complained for the second month running that this violated safety procedures.

Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of shelling around the station and the IAEA has been trying to set up a safety mechanism to prevent accidents.

The Kremlin said on Monday Russia would press on with its "special military operation" in Ukraine and achieve all of its aims despite Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made the comment when asked how Russia would respond to a drone attack on the Russian capital in the early hours of Monday morning which it blamed on Ukraine.

Allegations that the Russian armed forces hit the cathedral in Odesa was "absolutely untrue," Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Instead, he said the cathedral, protected by UNESCO, was destroyed by a Ukrainian air defense missile.

Seventeen drones from Ukraine targeting a Crimean military facility were intercepted on Monday, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

Eleven drones were intercepted over Crimea and an ammunition depot was hit, TASS news agency reported on Monday, citing Crimea's head Sergey Aksenov.

The Ukrainian Operational Command South said via Facebook on Monday that Russia's overnight drone attack on the southern Ukrainian port of Odessa destroyed a grain hangar and injured four port employees.

There has been no response from Russia yet.

Two drones from Ukraine were intercepted and destroyed on Monday, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine has not yet responded to the claim.

Drones hit two non-residential buildings in Russia's Moscow early on Monday, the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said via Telegram.

"There was no serious damage or injuries," Sobyanin said, adding that emergency services are on the site.

Another drone hit a high-rise building on Likhachev Street in Russia's Moscow, TASS news agency reported on Monday, citing emergency services.

The Komsomolsky Avenue in Russia's Moscow was closed after the fragments of a drone were found, RIA news agency reported on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukraine has taken back about 50% of the territory that Russia seized, although Kyiv's counteroffensive will extend several months.

"It's already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized," Blinken said in an interview to CNN on Sunday.

"These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough," he said, adding: "It will not play out over the next week or two. We're still looking I think at several months."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday called for more air defense systems followfing the overnight Russian attack in Odesa, which Ukraine said killed one and injured 22 others.

"Thanks to the help of our partners and the air defense systems provided to Ukraine, our defenders of the sky have saved thousands of lives. But we need more air defense systems for our entire territory, for all our cities and communities," he wrote on Telegram messaging app.

Russia said Sunday it hit all intended targets in Ukraine's port city Odesa port, saying the sites were being used to prepare "terrorist acts" against Russia.  

"At night the armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out a strike ... on facilities where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation using unmanned boats were prepared," the Russian Defense Ministry said. "All planned targets in the strikes were destroyed."  

(With input from AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine's counteroffensive "has failed" as he hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko for talks in St Petersburg on Sunday.

"There is no counteroffensive," Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenko as saying. Putin replied: "It exists, but it has failed."

Ukraine began its long-anticipated counter-offensive last month but has so far made only small gains.

Putin also mentioned on Sunday that the Ukrainian army has lost 26,000 troops since the start of the counteroffensive. Ukraine has not responded to the comment yet. 

The meeting between Russian and Belarusian leaders was the first since the latter helped broker a deal to end a brief mutiny by Wagner Group fighters last month.

During the meeting, Lukashenko told Putin that Belarus is keeping Wagner forces in central Belarus as he said in a jocular tone that Wagner fighters, who are now training Belarus's army, were keen to push across the border into NATO member Poland.

According to Russian media, Putin's talks with Lukashenko would last two days and another meeting is planned to be held on Monday.

(With input from agencies)

At least one person was killed and 22 others were injured as Russia launched an overnight attack on port city of Odesa, Ukrainian government said Sunday. 

"A man born in 1974 died as a result of night shelling. 22 people were injured. Among them are 4 children -- 11, 12 years old and two 17-year-olds," the National Police of Ukraine said on Telegram messaging app. 

It said several civil infrastructure objects, high-rise and private residential buildings and citizens' cars were damaged and destroyed during the attack.

The Transfiguration Cathedral, located in the historic center of Odesa, protected by UNESCO, was also destroyed. 

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday vowed to take retaliation against Russia. "They will feel this retaliation," he wrote on Telegram.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian army launched an artillery attack on a group of journalists from the Izvestia Information Center and the RIA Novosti news agency on Saturday, killing one journalist and injuring three others.

The ministry said the journalists were attacked by Ukraine's cluster munitions in the Zaporizhzhia region, and the killed journalist is from RIA news agency.

Ukraine has not yet responded to the claim.

A detonation occurred at an ammunition depot in Crimea due to a drone attack, said the head of the region, Sergey Aksenov, on Telegram on Saturday. There were no damages or casualties from the detonation, he added.

A decision was made to evacuate the population within a radius of 5 km from the emergency site to temporary accommodation centers, the governor said.

For security reasons, services along the Crimean Railway were suspended.

The road traffic on the Crimean Bridge resumed after temporary closure on Saturday, Sputnik News reported, citing local authorities, without specifying reasons.

United Nations relief chief Martin Griffiths on Friday said the world body will continue its engagement with all involved in the Black Sea Grain Initiative to try to ensure that Russian and Ukrainian food and fertilizer can continue to reach global markets.

"Unified international support is essential if this is to be successful," said Griffiths, UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

Food and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia remain of crucial importance to global food security, he told a Security Council meeting.

Russia and Ukraine signed separately with Türkiye and the United Nations the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Istanbul in July 2022, which allowed Ukraine to export its grain and other agricultural products from its Black Sea ports.

Moscow suspended its participation in the agreement on July 17, 2023, saying that it would return to the deal as soon as the Russian part of the agreements is fulfilled.

According to Griffiths, in the space of 12 months, the Black Sea Grain Initiative has enabled the safe export of close to 33 million tonnes of food from Ukrainian Black Sea ports to 45 countries, aboard more than 1,000 outbound vessels.

Also speaking at the Security Council meeting, Rosemary DiCarlo, UN undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, echoed the remarks of Griffiths.

"The (UN) secretary-general has been clear: we will not stop our efforts to facilitate the unimpeded access to global markets for food and fertilizers from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation," she said.

Citing the recent situation, DiCarlo stressed that any risk of conflict spillover as a result of a military incident in the Black Sea, whether intentional or by accident, must be avoided at all costs.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday discussed "in detail" the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.

Erdogan said Türkiye had made significant efforts to let the peace prevail during the phone call made upon the request of Zelenskyy, according to the statement.

Russia is working on new grain export routes after the termination of the Black Sea deal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said on Friday.

TOP HEADLINES

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Vadym Prystaiko as Ukraine's ambassador to Britain on Friday, days after the envoy publicly criticized the president. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia's Defense Ministry said on Friday that its Black Sea Fleet had practised firing rockets at surface targets in a live fire exercise, two days after it warned that ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports could be considered military targets.

• Russian missiles hit grain terminals of an agricultural enterprise in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, injuring two people, the regional governor said on Friday. The missile destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley.

• Ukraine's central bank said it will nationalize Russian-owned Sense Bank, one of the country's top commercial banks, and put it under temporary administration on Friday.

• The Kremlin said on Friday that what it called Ukraine's "unpredictable" actions posed a danger to civilian shipping in the Black Sea, and accused Kyiv of carrying out "terrorist attacks" in the area.

• Poland's security committee decided in a meeting on Wednesday to move military units to the country's east due to the Wagner Group's presence in Belarus, state-run news agency PAP quoted its secretary as saying on Friday.

IN DEPTH

Zelenskyy sacks Ukraine's ambassador to Britain

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Vadym Prystaiko as Ukraine's ambassador to Britain on Friday, days after the envoy publicly criticized the president.

A presidential order, which said Prystaiko had also been removed as Ukraine's representative to the International Maritime Organization, gave no reason for the dismissal.

In an interview with Sky News last week, Prystaiko was asked about remarks by outgoing British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace suggesting Kyiv should show more gratitude for weapons deliveries from its allies to fight Russian forces.

Zelenskiy responded by saying Ukraine was always grateful to Britain, a staunch ally. He was also quoted by British media as saying Wallace could let him know how to express his gratitude or how "we could get up in the morning and express our words of gratitude to the minister."

Asked whether Zelenskyy was being sarcastic, Prystaiko told Sky there was "a little bit of sarcasm" when the president "said that each and every morning he will wake up and call Ben Wallace to thank him."

"I don't believe that this sarcasm is healthy," he said, adding that the Russians "have to know that we're working together."

Zelenskyy's order did not say who would replace Prystaiko, 53, an experienced diplomat and former vice prime minister who had held the post as ambassador to Britain for three years.

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Aggression against Belarus by Ukraine will mean aggression against Russia and all means will be used to protect, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council on Friday.

The Kremlin said on Friday that Ukraine's "unpredictable" actions posed a danger to civilian shipping in the Black Sea, and accused Kyiv of carrying out "terrorist attacks" in the area, TASS News Agency reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Vadym Prystaiko as the ambassador to UK without stating reason, Reuters reported. 

Ukraine's Kyiv announced an air alert on Friday, Ukrinform reported, adding that the Ukrainian Air Force warned of danger from missile attacks.

Russian missiles hit grain terminals belonging to agricultural enterprises in Ukraine's Odesa region on Friday, and two people were injured, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.

Russia has not responded to the claim. 

Poland has decided to move military formations from the west to the east of the country due to possible threats related to the Wagner Group's presence in Belarus, state-run news agency PAP quoted the secretary of the country's security committee Zbigniew Hoffmann as saying on Friday.

The Wagner Group has not responded to this decision yet.

Russian navy carried out live fire exercise in the Black Sea, Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

U.S.-supplied cluster munitions are in Ukrainian hands and being deployed in the field as part of Kyiv's battle against Russia, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.

Ukraine's minister for culture Oleksandr Tkachenko said Friday he had resigned after a "misunderstanding" about the mobilization of funds for cultural projects during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Canada is imposing sanctions against a total of 39 Russians and 25 Russian entities in the latest round of sanctions, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Thursday.

In a statement, Joly said some of the sanctions would target leading members of the Wagner group.

The U.S. has imposed new Russia-related sanctions, according to the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday.

Moscow, in response to the policy of London, is introducing restrictions for the movement of employees of British diplomatic missions across Russia, TASS reported on Thursday, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on Thursday it would consider all ships travelling to Russian ports and Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea "occupied by Moscow" as potential carriers of military cargo from July 21.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Russia would regard all ships sailing in the waters of the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports as "potential carriers of military cargo" from July 20.

(With input from Reuters)

The European Union decided to extend the sanctions against Russia for six months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday extended a March 2022 decree imposing restrictions on the export of manufactured goods and raw materials from Russia until December 31 2025, according to the text of a decree published on a Russian government website.

Ukraine's military on Thursday said it has destroyed five missiles and 13 drones during overnight Russian strikes, according to Ukrinform. 

One person was killed and four buildings were damaged due to Ukrainian strike in Crimea, Russian media reported on Thursday, citing regional governor Sergey Aksenov.

Ukraine has not responded to the accusation yet.

The United States on Wednesday announced additional security assistance for Ukraine, totaling about $1.3 billion, with the package including air defense capabilities and munitions.

"This announcement represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional priority capabilities to Ukraine," the Pentagon said in a statement.

Finland will withdraw authorization for Russia to operate its consulate general in Turku as of October 1, the Finnish presidency said on Wednesday.

Five central European countries want a ban on Ukrainian grains to be extended at least until the end of the year, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said on Wednesday.

The European Union in May allowed Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, while allowing transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere. That ban is set to end on September 15.

Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky said on Wednesday that a "considerable" amount of grain export infrastructure at the Chornomorsk port in Ukraine's Odessa region was damaged in a Russian attack.

He said the attack also destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain that should have been loaded and shipped via the Black Sea Grain Initiative 60 days ago.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily update on Wednesday that it had launched a strike on military facilities, fuel infrastructure and ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the city of Odessa, without providing further details.

(With input from Reuters)

TOP HEADLINES

• A fire that broke out at the military training grounds on the Crimean Peninsula has forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people and a closure of nearby highway, Crimea's Moscow-backed governor said. There was no reason given for the fire. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia has launched what one Ukrainian official called a "truly massive" and "hellish" air attack on Odesa for a second night in row. The strikes on one of Ukraine's main ports for exporting grain comes after Russia vowed retaliation following an attack on a bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula. READ MORE BELOW

• A senior Ukrainian presidential adviser has accused Russia of intentionally striking grain terminals and port infrastructure in Odesa in the attacks. "The main objective is to destroy the possibility of shipping Ukrainian grain," said political adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.

• Russia's foreign ministry said that unless the UN implemented the terms of a memorandum about its agricultural exports within three months, Moscow would not restart talks about rejoining the deal to allow Ukrainian exports through the Black Sea.

• The UN said there were a "number of ideas being floated" to help get Ukrainian and Russian grain and fertilizer to global markets after Moscow quit the deal earlier this week. 

• Meanwhile, the Kremlin reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan had discussed alternative options for supplying grain to the world's neediest countries.

• The head of Britain's MI6 foreign spy service said the Wagner group's mutiny attempt showed Russian President Vladimir Putin was under pressure. He added that Russians who are against the conflict should "join hands" with his intelligence service to bring the fighting to an end.

• Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russia is far from a failure, but the fight ahead will be long and bloody, a top U.S. general said, even as casualties on both sides mount while the front lines of the conflict continue to move only incrementally.

• Russia and Ukraine are reporting vastly different accounts of fighting in northeastern Ukraine, with Moscow claiming advances and Kyiv saying it had seized the initiative in the region.

• A nephew of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has been appointed the new head of Russia's Danone subsidiary after the Kremlin ordered the state to take temporary control of the French yogurt maker's business in Russia.

• The head of the International Olympic Committee said that athletes from Russia and Belarus should not be punished for the actions of their governments and be allowed to compete internationally as neutrals.

IN DETAIL

'Hellish' attacks on Odesa, Crimea blaze

Russia launched an extensive air attack on the Ukrainian city of Odesa for a second night in row, but authorities vowed on Wednesday to keep grain exports moving from its ports.

The attack was "very powerful, truly massive," Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, said on Telegram on Wednesday.

"It was a hellish night," he added, saying that details on the damage and casualties would come later.

Ukraine's air force said 63 missiles and drones had been launched across the country by Russia in the overnight attack, of which 37 had been shot down – less than have usually been reported in attacks over the past months.

The air force said the attack's main focus were infrastructure and military facilities in Odesa region.

"(The strike) hit a grain and oil terminal, damaged tanks and equipment for loading, a fire started, all relevant services are working to deal with the consequences," the military said.

Odesa's three ports were the only ports operating in Ukraine during the conflict under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement which Moscow withdrew from on Monday. Russia has since conducted two major bombardments of the city.

The attacks on Odesa followed a pledge of retaliation by Moscow after a blast on a bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula on Monday that Moscow said was carried out by Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had hit military targets in two Ukrainian port cities overnight as "a mass revenge strike" for the attack on the Crimean Bridge.

In Russian-controlled Crimea, a fire broke out a military training ground in the Kirovske district, forcing the evacuation of more than 2,000 people from four settlements, the peninsula's governor Sergei Aksyonov said, without giving a reason for the blaze.

Russia's Telegram channels linked to Russian security services and Ukrainian media reported that an ammunition depot was on fire at the base after an Ukrainian overnight air attack.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, but Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration in Ukraine posted two videos of a fire in an uninhabited area, saying, "Enemy ammunition depot. Staryi Krym," the locality hit in Crimea. 

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