Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Military tank and soldiers
Here's what you need to know. Photo credit: Reuters

Two Russian missiles hit the area of the grain pumping station in the Black Sea port of Odesa, the Ukrainian military said, the day after the signing of a deal to unblock exports and ease global food shortages caused by the war.

More on Odesa

  • Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said the missile strike showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement the deal. However, Ukrainian officials said the missiles had not caused significant damage and preparations continued to restart grain exports.
  • Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said: "The Russian missile is Vladimir Putin's spit in the face of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who went to great lengths to reach an agreement and to whom Ukraine is grateful."
  • Turkey's defence minister said Russian officials had told Ankara that Moscow had "nothing to do" with the Odesa strikes.
  • Neither a Russian defence ministry statement nor the military's evening summary on Saturday mentioned any missile strike in Odesa. The ministry did not reply to a request for comment.
  • The United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Britain, Germany and Italy condemned the missile strikes.

Fighting

  • Ukraine's defence ministry urged citizens in and around the Russian-occupied southern city of Enerhoder, home to a nuclear power station, to reveal where Moscow's troops were living and who among the population was collaborating with Russian officials. read more
  • Ukrainian forces are gradually moving into the eastern Kherson region, which was taken over by Russia at the start of the war, Zelenskiy said in a video address.
  • The Russian-installed regional authority said a bridge in Kherson had been hit by seven rockets from Western-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), but that the bridge still worked, Russia's TASS news agency reported.
  • Three people were killed when 13 Russian missiles hit a military airfield and railway infrastructure in Ukraine's central region of Kirovohrad, the regional governor said. read more

Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.

Economy

  • The European Union is seeking additional gas supplies from Nigeria as the bloc prepares for potential Russian supply cuts, a European Commission energy official said. read more
  • Ukraine has around $10 billion worth of grain available for sale in the wake of Friday's deal and will also have a chance to sell the current harvest, Zelenskiy said. read more
  • A number of insurance underwriters are interested in providing cover for grain shipments from Ukraine although details need to be worked out. read more

Reuters