Russian troops building around Sloviansk, Kramatorsk: Governor
Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reports a significant buildup of Russian troops around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, as the region readies for a powerful Russian offensive.
- Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey will meet UN officials in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine’s grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens.
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains quiet about the reported Ukrainian air raid on Nova Kakhovka, in occupied Kherson, where a Russian-backed official says at least seven people have been killed and 60 injured.
- Ukrainian officials claim their forces destroyed an ammunition depot in the city.
- Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reports a significant buildup of Russian troops, particularly in the Bakhmut and Siversk areas, and around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, as the region braces for a powerful offensive.
- The death toll from a collapsed apartment block in the Donetsk town of Chasiv Yar climbed to 43 by Tuesday evening.
Here are the latest updates:
Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and UN to meet Wednesday on grain exports
Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey will meet United Nations officials in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine’s grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa, as a global food crisis worsens.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar announced the meeting on Tuesday. Turkey has been working with the UN to broker a deal after Russia’s invasion stoked global prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertiliser.
According to diplomats, elements of the plan being discussed include Ukrainian vessels guiding grain ships in and out through mined port waters; Russia agreeing to a truce while shipments move; and Turkey – supported by the UN – inspecting ships to allay Russian fears of weapons smuggling.
“We are working hard indeed but there is still a way to go,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters. “Many people are talking about it. We prefer to try to do it.”
Zelenskyy quiet on reported Ukrainian raid in occupied Kherson
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quiet on Tuesday about the reported air raid by Ukrainian forces on Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson, which a Moscow-backed official claimed killed at least seven civilians and injured dozens more.
In his nighttime speech to the nation, which usually addresses the main news of the day, Zelenskyy drew attention to attacks inflicted on Ukraine by Russian forces.
“Every day we receive and experience a lot of painful news. The war continues, Russian shelling does not stop for a single day. Today there were regular strikes at Mykolaiv – missiles, artillery. The occupiers once again hit Kharkiv and the communities of the region … There are victims – wounded and killed,” he said. “In Donbas, offensive attempts do not stop, the situation there does not get easier, and the losses do not get smaller.”
Ukrainian officials claim Kyiv struck and destroyed a Russian ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka.
Separatist and self-declared Ukraine statelet defends death penalty
The self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Tuesday opened an embassy in Russia, one of only two countries to recognise the separatist “statelet” in eastern Ukraine, and defended its right to impose capital punishment.
The DPR’s self-proclaimed foreign minister Natalia Nikonorova said the territory’s use of the death penalty – which it has handed down to two Britons and a Moroccan for fighting as “mercenaries” for Ukraine – was irrelevant to its bid for diplomatic recognition.
Asked if capital punishment would tarnish the DPR’s image, she said: “We consider that mercenary activity is indeed a terrible crime because people, for a reward, come to another country to kill other people, despite having no personal goals connected to the conflict in question.”
“Yes, it is the highest measure of punishment, but it is in our legislation and it is not linked to the further process of recognition of the Donetsk People’s Republic by other states.”
Ukraine braces for new Russian offensive in the east
Ukraine is bracing itself for what it expects to be a massive new Russian offensive in the east of the country where Moscow says it is determined to take control of all of the industrial Donbas region.
Russian forces, which earlier this month completed the capture of Luhansk province in the Donbas, have for weeks been shelling parts of neighbouring Donetsk.
Regional Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said there was a significant buildup of Russian troops, particularly in the Bakhmut and Siversk areas, and around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. The entire front line in the region was under constant shelling as Russian troops tried to break through but were being repelled, he said.
He also said a Russian air raid destroyed Bakhmut stadium, used as a training facility for Ukraine’s Olympic athletes before the war.
