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.
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The leaders of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, are meeting for the CIS summit in Astana.
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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