As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 233rd day, we take a look at the main developments.
- Civilians in the southern Kherson region have started to flee to Russia amid Ukrainian advances, and evacuees were expected to begin arriving there on Friday. A Russian-installed official suggested residents should leave for safety, a sign of Moscow’s weakening hold on territory it claims to have annexed.
- A Russian region adjoining Ukraine said it was preparing to receive refugees from the Russian-held part of Kherson.
- Ukraine’s armed forces have retaken more than 600 settlements in the past month, including 75 in the strategic Kherson region, the government said.
- The governor of a Russian border region accused Ukraine of shelling an apartment block, but a Kyiv official said a stray Russian missile was to blame – one of a series of apparent attacks on Russian towns.
- Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv. A five-storey residential building was hit, the two upper floors completely destroyed, the mayor said.
- Three drones attacked the small town of Makariv, west of the capital Kyiv, with officials saying critical infrastructure facilities were hit by Iran-made drones.
- NATO said it will closely monitor an expected Russian nuclear exercise but will not be cowed into dropping support for Ukraine.
- Zelenskyy accused the International Committee of the Red Cross of inaction in upholding the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war and urged it to undertake a mission to Olenivka – a notorious camp in eastern Ukraine.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying in Izvestia newspaper that the goals of Russia’s “special military operation” could be achieved through negotiations.
The leaders of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, are meeting for the CIS summit in Astana.
Putin is scheduled to take part in the first Russia-Central Asia summit later on Friday.
Economy
- Russia has submitted concerns to the United Nations about an agreement on Black Sea grain exports and is prepared to reject renewing a deal next month unless its demands are addressed, Russia’s UN ambassador in Geneva told Reuters.
- Putin courted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a plan to pump more Russian gas via Turkey, turning it into a new supply “hub”, bidding to preserve Russia’s energy leverage over Europe.
Source: Aljazeera