Russian attacks were reported across large areas of Ukraine with heavy shelling in numerous regions damaging infrastructure.
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has again been disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling damaged the remaining high voltage lines, leaving it with just diesel generators, Ukraine nuclear firm Energoatom said.
The Russian defence ministry said it received written guarantees from Kyiv not to use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia.
Russia told civilians to leave an area along the eastern bank of the Dnieper River in the Ukrainian province of Kherson, an extension of an evacuation order that Kyiv says amounts to the forced depopulation of occupied territory.
The streets of the Russian-held port of Kherson are virtually empty. Many shops and businesses have been closed. Evacuations have picked up as Ukrainian forces advance to the north and east of the strategic city.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was important to stand up to “crazy Russian aggression that destabilises international trade”.
Grain and diplomacy
Seven ships carrying agricultural products left Ukrainian Black Sea ports, a day after the resumption of a grain deal aimed at delivering Ukrainian food to foreign markets.
Russia said on Wednesday it would resume its participation in the deal to free up vital grain exports from war-torn Ukraine after suspending it over the weekend in a move that threatened to exacerbate hunger across the world.
The British ambassador to Russia was summoned to discuss Moscow’s claims that Britain was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he and Zelenskyy discussed sending grain to African countries.
Foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich democracies will discuss how best to coordinate further support for Ukraine when they meet in Germany.
The British government said it sanctioned four Russian steel and petrochemical tycoons in relation to the war in Ukraine.
The United States says it has information that indicates North Korea is covertly supplying Russia with a “significant” number of artillery shells for its war in Ukraine.
