Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozayev, according to Russian media, said five staff members were injured in the attack when what was believed to be a drone flew into the headquarters’ courtyard. The attack coincided with Russia’s Navy Day, which President Vladimir Putin marked by announcing that the Russian navy would receive what he called “awesome” supersonic Zircon cruise missiles in the coming months. Hypersonic weapons can travel at nine times the speed of sound. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register He did not mention Ukraine directly. Ukrainian authorities said heavy Russian airstrikes hit the southern cities of Mykolaiv and Nikopoli overnight and into the early hours of Sunday. Two people were killed and three wounded when 12 rockets hit homes and educational facilities, Mykolayiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich told Ukrainian television, earlier describing the strikes as “probably the most powerful” in the city of the entire war. Up to 50 Grad rockets hit residential areas in Nikopoli on Sunday morning, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Valentin Reznichenko wrote on Telegram. One person was injured. Reuters could not independently verify reports on the battlefield. Putin sent tens of thousands of troops over the border on February 24, sparking a conflict that has killed thousands, uprooted millions and deeply strained relations between Russia and the West. Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II has also sparked an energy and food crisis that is rocking the global economy. Both Ukraine and Russia are leading grain suppliers.
HARVEST CAN HATE
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that the country’s harvest could be half the usual amount this year because of the invasion. “Ukraine’s harvest this year is at risk of being double,” indicating half the usual amount, Zelensky wrote in English on Twitter. “Our main goal is to prevent the global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion. Grains find a way to be delivered alternatively,” he added. Ukraine is struggling to get its product to buyers through its Black Sea ports because of the war. However, an agreement signed under the auspices of the United Nations and Turkey on July 22 provides for the safe passage of ships carrying grain from three ports in southern Ukraine. There is a strong possibility that the first grain export ship will leave Ukrainian ports on Monday, a spokesman for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday. read more
EASTERN DANGER
In a televised address late Saturday, Zelensky said hundreds of thousands of people were still exposed to fierce fighting in the Donbass region, which includes Donetsk and Luhansk provinces and which Russia is seeking to fully control. Parts of Donbas were held by Russian-backed separatists before the invasion. “Many refuse to leave, but it still has to be done,” Zelensky said. “The more people leave the Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have to kill.” Russia on Sunday invited UN and Red Cross experts to investigate the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners held by Moscow-backed separatists. Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations over a rocket strike or explosion early Friday that appeared to have killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the front-line town of Olenivka in eastern Donetsk. Russia has invited experts from the UN and the Red Cross to investigate the deaths “in the interest of conducting an objective investigation”, the defense ministry said on Sunday. The ministry had released a list of 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war killed and 73 wounded in what it said was a Ukrainian military strike with a US-made high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS). Ukraine’s armed forces have denied responsibility, saying Russian artillery struck the prison to cover up mistreatment there. Reuters reporters confirmed some of the deaths in the prison but could not immediately verify the different versions of events. The UN had said it was prepared to send experts to investigate if consent was obtained from both parties. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was seeking access and offered to help evacuate the injured. Russia denies that its forces deliberately attacked civilians or committed war crimes in the invasion, which it calls a “special operation”. Ukraine’s military said on Saturday that more than 100 Russian soldiers were killed and seven tanks destroyed in the south on Friday, including in the Kherson region that is the focus of Kiev’s counteroffensive in that part of the country and a key link in Moscow’s supply lines. . Rail traffic to Kherson over the Dnipro River had been cut, the army’s southern command said, possibly further isolating Russian forces west of the river from supplies in occupied Crimea and to the east. Ukraine has used Western-supplied long-range missile systems to severely damage three bridges on the Dnipro in recent weeks, cutting off the city of Kherson and – according to British officials – leaving Russia’s 49th Army extremely vulnerable on the river’s west bank. Officials from the Russian-appointed administration that runs the Kherson region earlier this week rejected Western and Ukrainian assessments of the situation. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting from the Reuters offices Writing by Lincoln Feast and William Maclean Editing by William Mallard and Frances Kerry Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
