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Russia's President Vladimir Putin says his country will continue its yearlong "special military operation" in Ukraine, and he accused the US-led NATO alliance of fanning the flames.
Russia-Ukraine conflict would have cost world economy $1.6 trillion in 2022, according to a study published by the German Economic Institute.
KYIV－Kyiv said on Wednesday it was severing relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after the DPRK recognized the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, media reported.
The DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency said on Thursday that Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui sent letters to her counterparts in both territories on Wednesday in which she recognized their independence. "In the letters, she… expressed the will to develop the state-to-state relations with those countries in the idea of independence, peace and friendship," the agency said.
In a statement, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry denounced the DPRK's decision as an attempt by Pyongyang to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and severed ties in response.
Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, told a news conference on Thursday: "China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent. We believe that disputes should be peacefully resolved in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and differences settled through negotiation to avoid further escalation of the situation."
A day earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the first meeting in weeks between Russia and Ukraine took "a critical step "toward ensuring Ukraine's Black Sea port exports could resume.
The United Nations chief said that "more technical work will now be needed" to reach an agreement, "but the momentum is clear… I'm encouraged. I'm optimistic, but it's not yet fully done". There was very substantive progress and a broad agreement in the talks held in Istanbul, said Guterres.
Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said agreements would be signed when negotiators meet again in Istanbul next week.
Akar said that several technical issues, such as establishing a coordination center in Istanbul where representatives of all parties will be present, conducting joint controls at ports, and ensuring navigational safety on transfer routes, have been agreed upon.
Coordination center
Turkey would also set up a coordination center with Ukraine, Russia and the UN for grain exports.
Turkey, which controls maritime traffic to and from the Black Sea through its Bosporus Strait in Istanbul, has been playing a mediating role, seeking ways to establish a mechanism that will allow Ukraine to export its grains safely.
On trading routes to Kaliningrad, Lithuania will allow sanctioned Russian goods to transit its territory on their way to Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, its Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, reversing its policy after new European Commission guidelines. But Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on Thursday that Lithuania will keep restrictions on Kaliningrad trade in place while it works out rules on how to resume the trade.
The European Union's executive said on Wednesday that sanctioned Russian goods could transit through the bloc's territory by rail, after tensions between Moscow and EU member Lithuania escalated over trade with Kaliningrad.
Agencies - Xinhua
UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday hailed what he called "substantive progress" in ensuring the export of Ukrainian food products through the Black Sea.
"Today in Istanbul, we have seen a critical step forward to ensuring the safe and secure export of Ukrainian food products through the Black Sea," he told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York. "In a world darkened by global crises, today, at last, we have a ray of hope -- a ray of hope to ease human suffering and alleviate hunger around the world, a ray of hope to support developing countries and the most vulnerable people, a ray of hope to bring a measure of much-needed stability to the global food system."
More technical work will be needed to materialize today's progress. But the momentum is clear. In the end, the aim of all parties is not just an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, but an agreement for the world, he said.
He thanked the Turkish government for its outstanding efforts to convene the talks and its critical role going forward. He thanked Russian and Ukrainian officials for their constructive engagement.
"The United Nations pledges to do our full part to support the follow-up," he said. "Today is an important and substantive step, a step on the way to a comprehensive agreement. We must also do more for struggling people and developing countries getting pummeled by a food, energy and financial crisis not of their making. We must do more to help all those living on the margins around the world -- countries on the brink of bankruptcy, families on the edge of famine."
There was very substantive progress and a broad agreement in the Istanbul talks, said Guterres.
There was substantive agreement on many aspects, mainly the questions related to the mechanisms of control, to the system of coordination, and to demining, he said.
"But of course, this was a first meeting. The progress was extremely encouraging. We hope that now the delegations are coming back to their capitals, and we hope that the next steps will allow us to come to a formal agreement," he said.
The UN chief would not predict how soon a final agreement will be reached.
"We are hoping that we'll be able to reconvene very soon -- I'm sure next week -- and hopefully we'll be able to have a final agreement. But as I said, we still need a lot of goodwill and commitment by all parties. They have shown it. I'm encouraged. I'm optimistic. But it's not yet fully done."
The United Nations will be together with Russia, Ukraine and Turkey in making sure that the next steps of coordination, of control, of the implementation, are done effectively. The United Nations is fully engaged in that common effort, he said.
The progress in the Istanbul talks is an extremely relevant step in relation to addressing the food crisis, together with the efforts in relation to the access of Russian food and fertilizers to the global markets, he said. "But I do not see immediately the perspective of a peace agreement. I think in any case, this demonstrated that the parties are able to have a constructive dialogue. And this is, of course, very good news. But for peace, we still have a long way to go."
The hopeful news from Istanbul shows the importance of dialogue, said Guterres. "Let us take inspiration from that ray of hope to help light a way to a desperately needed negotiated solution for peace in line with the UN Charter and international law."
Ukraine and Russia have made some progress at the talks on grain exports in Istanbul that also involved representatives of Turkey and the United Nations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.
"The Ukrainian delegation informed me that there is some progress. We will agree on the details with the UN secretary-general in the coming days," Zelensky was quoted as saying by his press service.
Ukraine is making significant efforts to restore the supplies of food to the global market, he said.
Earlier in the day, delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey met with a UN delegation in Istanbul to find ways to export Ukrainian grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports to the global market.
KYIV - Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Tuesday welcomed the decision of the European Union (EU) to grant Ukraine a new aid package of 1 billion euros.
The aid, which was approved by the finance ministers of the EU member states earlier in the day, would help Ukraine to maintain financial stability amid the conflict with Russia, Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine also plans to attract up to 200 million euros on preferential terms from Italy, Shmyhal said.
Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said that Kyiv has received a grant of 1.7 billion dollars from the United States and will use it to cover state budget expenditures for medical services under the medical guarantee program.
Kyiv plans to raise 20 billion dollars in international aid from its Western partners by the end of 2022, said Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko at a public event last month.
KYIV - Ukraine has become an associate member of the Multilateral Interoperability Program (MIP), which coordinates technological cooperation of the armies of NATO member states, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Tuesday.
"Ukraine has strong IT (Information Technology) potential and it is a worthy NATO ally. I am sure that we will bring our expertise to the development of collective security," Reznikov was quoted as saying by the Defense Ministry's press service.
According to the ministry, the associate membership in the MIP gives Ukraine a right to join the development and introduction of key NATO standards related to the interaction of combat control systems and related practices.
The MIP is a program of technological cooperation between the Armed Forces of NATO member states, which was established at the level of national developers of combat control information systems and aims to achieve interoperability of national C2IS systems.
Five African nations are among 10 countries which are most exposed to the global poverty impact due to the cost of living crisis linked to the conflict in Ukraine, according to an international report.
The United Nations Development Programme listed Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan in its report as some of the countries facing the most drastic impact of the Ukraine crisis across all poverty lines.
The report said 3 percent of the population on average in the 10 countries could fall into poverty.
"We are witnessing an alarming growing divergence in the global economy as entire developing countries face the threat of being left behind as they struggle to contend with the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, crushing debt levels and now an accelerating food and energy crisis," said Achim Steiner, the UNDP administrator, in a statement issued on Sunday.
Steiner said new international efforts can take the wind out of the vicious economic cycle, saving lives and livelihoods.
This comes even as the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that millions of people in parts of Africa and the Middle East are at risk of severe hunger in the coming months as extreme poverty, inequality and food insecurity rise due to climate change linked drought, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and COVID-19 impact.
"We face an urgent and rapidly deteriorating global food security situation, especially in parts of Africa and the Middle East. Armed conflict, political instability, climate shocks and the secondary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have weakened capacities to withstand and recover from shocks," said Robert Mardini, director-general of the ICRC, in a statement on Tuesday.
The organization warned that the number of malnourished children is expected to rise in the coming weeks as children are disproportionately affected by food crises.
KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday met with visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to discuss financial and military support for Kyiv, the presidential press service reported.
At the talks, Zelensky thanked Rutte for the Netherlands' allocation of 200 million euros (about 201.5 million U.S. dollars) of additional financial support for Ukraine, which will help ensure the financing of payments for Ukrainian teachers, doctors and pensioners.
The Ukrainian leader also appreciated the Netherlands for the pledge to provide heavy weapons for Kyiv.
"In terms of the amount of defense support provided, the Netherlands is among the top ten partners of our country," Zelensky said.
For his part, Rutte said the Netherlands will continue to support Ukraine politically, and strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Besides, the Dutch Prime Minister pledged that his country will supply more military aid for Ukraine, including modern weapons and equipment.
Zelensky and Rutte also touched upon the situation on the frontline in Ukraine, sanctions against Russia and Ukraine's post-conflict reconstruction.
Rutte arrived in Kyiv earlier in the day for his first visit since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February.
ROME - The ongoing crisis in Ukraine continued to take a negative toll on Italy's economic situation, the country's main statistics entity reported Monday.
The National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) said in its monthly update on economic trends that there was "high uncertainty linked to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine" combined with inflationary pressure and a change in monetary policy in the euro zone.
The crisis in Ukraine is seen as helping spark an increase in energy crisis that has had a knock-on effect on other parts of the economy, including industrial production and transportation.
The institute also noted the announcements from the European Central Bank that it intended to raise interest rates this month and in September and to at least temporarily halt its economic support for national bond sales.
ISTAT said that its seasonally adjusted index of industrial production's post-pandemic recovery phase that started in January was "interrupted" in May, though it still remained above levels from 2021.
Household confidence was "deteriorating" due to consumer behavior amid a weakening labor market, it said.
Rising costs in June showed "a new widespread acceleration across all components," said ISTAT, noting that while the difference between the inflation rate in Italy and the average in the euro zone as a whole was shrinking, it remained negative.
"The growth outlook for the coming months appears to be negatively affected by the continuation of the inflation phase, the deterioration in the trade balance, and the fall in household confidence," ISTAT said.
In an upbeat note, however, the institute said business sentiment had continued to improve, with retail sales growing by 1.9 percent in value and 1.5 percent in volume in May compared to April.
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the development of bilateral economic cooperation, and the situation in Ukraine during a telephone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.
Both leaders "focused on tasks to further promote economic cooperation, including measures to improve the contractual legal framework, boost trade and use national currencies in transactions, as well as to ensure uninterrupted supplies of Russian energy," the Kremlin said.
"The two leaders agreed on close interaction in these areas at the level of the co-chairs of the bilateral intergovernmental commission and the leaders of relevant agencies," it added.
Putin and Erdogan also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, including ways in which both countries can coordinate efforts to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea, and the export of grain to global markets.
Erdogan noted it is time for the United Nations "to take action for the plan regarding the formation of secure corridors via the Black Sea for the grain export," according to Turkey's presidential office.
He added Turkey is ready "to provide all kinds of support for the revival of the negotiation process" between Russia and Ukraine.
KYIV－Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he has dismissed several of Kyiv's senior envoys abroad, including the ambassador to Germany.
Zelensky announced the sacking of Ukraine's ambassadors to Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, India and Norway on Saturday, saying new candidates were being readied for the positions. "This rotation is a normal part of diplomatic practice," he said.
It was unclear whether the envoys would be assigned new positions.
Zelensky has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and military aid for Ukraine.
Ukraine and Germany are at odds over a German-made turbine undergoing maintenance in Canada.
Germany wants Canada to return the turbine to the Russian natural gas company Gazprom to pump gas to Europe, but Ukraine had urged Canada to keep the turbine, saying a return would violate sanctions against Moscow.
The turbines are undergoing maintenance at a Canadian site owned by the German company Siemens.
Berlin says it has been in regular contact with Ottawa in recent weeks in order to ensure the turbine's swift transfer back to Europe without Canada falling foul of Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has signaled that the Kremlin is in no mood for compromise, saying sanctions against Russia risk causing catastrophic energy price rises.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Saturday that Ukraine will receive $1.7 billion in grant aid from international donors.
The money will be channeled to Ukraine through a single-donor trust fund set up by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association and the US Agency for International Development, Shmyhal said.
The funds will be used to cover Ukraine's spending on medical services under a medical guarantee program. Ukraine plans to raise $20 billion in international aid from its Western partners by the end of this year, said the country's Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko last month.
On Friday US President Joe Biden signed a weapons measure for Ukraine worth up to $400 million, including four additional high mobility artillery rocket systems.
Agencies - Xinhua
KYIV -- Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Friday that about 1 million people are participating in defending Ukraine, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported.
Some 700,000 soldiers of Ukraine's Armed Forces, 100,000 officers of the National Police, 90,000 members of the National Guard and 60,000 border guards are involved in the activities of the security and defense sector in Ukraine, Reznikov said.
Ukraine is interested in attracting more investment in its military-industrial complex and creating joint ventures with partners to meet the needs of the defense forces, the minister said.
Due to the conflict with Russia, Ukraine has become a kind of "huge training facility" where new types of weapons and innovative solutions are used, Reznikov noted.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict started on Feb 24.
MOSCOW, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Russia is open to peace talks, and the negotiations with Ukraine will get more difficult with time passing by, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
"We do not refuse peace negotiations, but those who refuse should know that the more time they waste, the more difficult it will be for them to negotiate with us," Putin said during a meeting with State Duma leaders and party faction heads.
Putin said that the West led by the United States has been extremely aggressive towards Russia for decades.
"Our proposals to create a system of equal security in Europe were rejected. Initiatives for joint work on the problem of missile defense were rejected. Warnings about the unacceptability of NATO expansion are ignored," he added.
The attempts of Western countries to impose a new order on the world are doomed to fail, said the president.
KYIV - Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) will shrink at least 35 percent this year due to the conflict with Russia, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
While addressing the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Switzerland, Shmyhal said that the Ukrainian economy has started recovering from the "shock coma" of the first weeks of the conflict.
The government carried out a "relatively successful" grain sowing campaign and resumed logistics across the western border, Shmyhal said, noting that the economy still faces many challenges.
According to the State Statistics Service, Ukraine's GDP contracted 15.1 percent year on year in January-March 2022.
According to the estimates of the National Bank of Ukraine, in the second half of the year the rate of economic contraction will be lower, but in general, Ukraine's real GDP will decrease by more than 30 percent over the course of the year.
LUGANO, Switzerland - Tasked with establishing the principles and framework for the future reconstruction of the conflict-torn country, a two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference opened here on Monday.
The conference participants are expected to define the criteria for handling assistance to Ukraine and for the distribution of roles among the various partners, Ignazio Cassis, president of the Swiss Confederation and head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, said in his opening address.
He said he expected the senior officials from around 40 countries and representatives from 18 international organizations attending the conference to adopt the "Lugano principles" conducive to the sustainable recovery of Ukraine.
"The sustainable restructuring of the economy should be guided by the principle of building back better and creating the conditions for prosperity and intact livelihoods," he said.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who attended the conference in person, said that his country will need 750 billion US dollars for a three-stage reconstruction plan, which he presented in detail.
Addressing the conference by video link from Kyiv, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the plan also covers the country's institutional development.
Among the key principles and goals, Zelensky singled out heightened security, technological development, compliance with environmental standards, transparency and the rooting of the reconstruction project in Ukraine's real economic life.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told Monday's opening session that her institution has proposed to the government of Ukraine the creation of a reconstruction platform to map investment needs, coordinate action, channel resources and support an ambitious reform agenda.
The event, co-hosted by the governments of Switzerland and Ukraine, was originally planned as the 5th annual Ukraine Reform Conference. It was renamed earlier this year to reflect the new focus of the gathering.
"The way to rebuild Ukraine is through a broad-based political and diplomatic process. Switzerland and Ukraine want to start this process in Lugano," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that next year's Ukraine Recovery Conference will be hosted by the United Kingdom.
KYIV - The United States is considering the possibility of providing training to the Ukrainian military, the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency reported Monday, citing the US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink.
"I can't tell the exact number or the plan, but I can say that I talked about it with officials from the Pentagon," Brink said after her visit to Washington.
The United States is working to provide Kyiv with more aid designed to strengthen Ukraine's positions on the frontline, the ambassador said.
On June 15, the US embassy in Ukraine said on Twitter that the US government had provided 4.6 billion US dollars worth of defense aid for Kyiv amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
According to the embassy, the United States sent to Ukraine 26,500 Javelin and other anti-armor systems, 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 108 howitzers, and 75,000 sets of body armor and helmets.
On June 23, Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said his country received High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) from the United States.
SIVERSK, Ukraine－Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared victory in the eastern Ukrainian region of Lugansk, one day after Ukrainian forces withdrew from their last remaining bulwark of resistance in the province.
Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin in a televised meeting on Monday that Russian forces had taken control of Lugansk, which together with the neighboring Donetsk Province makes up Ukraine's industrial heartland of Donbas.
Shoigu told Putin that "the operation" was completed on Sunday after Russian troops overran the city of Lysychansk, the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in Lugansk.
Putin's declaration came as Russian forces tried to press their offensive deeper into eastern Ukraine after the Ukrainian military confirmed that its forces had withdrawn from Lysychansk on Sunday. Lugansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Monday that Ukrainian forces had retreated from the city to avoid being surrounded.
"There was a risk of Lysychansk encirclement," Gaidai told The Associated Press, adding that Ukrainian troops could have held on for a few more weeks but would have potentially paid too high a price.
In an address late on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed Kyiv would fight on and ensure the military had "the most modern weapons".
The latest country to provide aid was Australia, after its Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday pledged further military support, including armored vehicles and drones during a meeting with Zelensky in Kyiv.
On Sunday, Moscow accused Kyiv of firing three cluster missiles at the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border, which came a day after neighboring Belarus said it had intercepted Ukrainian missiles.
In what would represent an escalation of the conflict, Russia said its anti-aircraft defenses shot down three Tochka-U cluster missiles launched by "Ukrainian nationalists" against Belgorod.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said 11 residential buildings and 39 houses had been damaged.
Russia has previously accused Kyiv of conducting strikes on Russian soil, particularly in the Belgorod region.
'Colossal' work
On Monday, leaders from dozens of countries and organizations were meeting in the Swiss city of Lugano, where they aim to hash out a "Marshall Plan" for Ukraine's reconstruction, which is expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars. The plan is aimed to begin even as conflict continues to rage.
Zelensky, who was expected to take part virtually, warned on Sunday that the work ahead in the areas that have been liberated alone was "really colossal".
Ukraine will also face demands for broad reforms, especially in cracking down on corruption after Brussels recently granted Kyiv candidate status in its push to join the 27-member European Union bloc.
Agencies via Xinhua
BRUSSELS -- Ukraine's bid to join the European Union (EU) is "within reach" but requires "hard work, determination and above all unity of purpose," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.
Addressing the Ukrainian parliament via video link, she said the path towards EU membership required reforms in many areas including tackling corruption. She also took note of the steps Ukraine had already taken in this direction.
"You have created an impressive anti-corruption machine. But now these institutions need teeth, and the right people in senior posts," she said.
Von der Leyen said Ukraine should appoint new heads for the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and National Anti-Corruption Bureau as soon as possible.
She also highlighted the need to reform Ukraine's constitutional court, which requires legislation outlining selection procedures for judges, in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
"Many of the laws and institutions you need are already in place. Now is the time to translate rules and bodies into positive and enduring change," she said.
Von der Leyen was addressing the Ukrainian parliament following the approval of Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for EU membership on June 23.
Ukraine applied for EU membership shortly after the conflict with Russia had begun at the end of February. The country handed over its application on Feb. 28, while Moldova applied for EU membership on March 3.
KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with visiting Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on Friday to discuss further support for Kyiv, the presidential press service said.
During the talks, Zelensky thanked Store for the defense, political and humanitarian support and for the decision to allocate 1 billion euros for Ukraine.
For his part, Store said Norway will continue supporting Ukraine amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
At their talks, the parties also discussed further defense support for Kiev and Ukraine's post-conflict recovery.
Store arrived in Kyiv earlier in the day.
WASHINGTON -- The United States on Friday announced a new round of security assistance to Ukraine that included advanced anti-aircraft and aerial defense systems as well as additional ammunition for advanced rocket systems.
Totaling $820 million, the new weapons came in two parts, according to an announcement from the Department of Defense. Fifty million dollars' worth of aid, of which additional ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems is a part, will be drawn from the presidential drawdown authority that authorizes President Joe Biden to directly tap into existing US weapons inventories.
The remaining $770 million falls under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, through which the US government contracts with arms manufacturers to make weapons for Ukraine. In this part, the United States will provide Ukraine with two National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition for the howitzers and four counter-artillery radars, the Pentagon said.
The United States has now committed $6.9 billion of security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched the special military operation on Feb 24 and a total of $7.6 billion since the start of the Biden administration.
SLOVIANSK, Ukraine－Russian forces withdrew from a strategic Black Sea island on Thursday, potentially easing the pressure to the vital Ukrainian port city of Odessa, but kept up their push to encircle the last stronghold of resistance in the eastern province of Lugansk.
The Kremlin portrayed the pullout from Snake Island as a "goodwill gesture".
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said the withdrawal was intended to demonstrate that Moscow is not hampering the United Nations' efforts to establish a humanitarian corridor for exporting agricultural products from Ukraine.
But Ukraine's military claimed it forced the Russians to flee in two small speedboats following a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes.
Senior Ukrainian military official Oleksiy Gromov earlier said Kyiv was planning to deploy troops to Snake Island, but did not specify a timeline.
Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of blockading Ukrainian ports to prevent exports of grain, contributing to a global food crisis. Russia has denied that and said Ukraine needs to remove mines from the Black Sea to allow safe navigation.
Snake Island sits along a busy shipping lane. Russia took control of it in the opening days of the conflict in the apparent hope of using it as a staging ground for an assault on Odessa, Reuters said.
Meanwhile, Moscow kept up its push to take control of the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. It is focused on the city of Lysychansk, the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Lugansk.
Russian troops and local militias control 95 percent of Lugansk and about half of Donetsk, the two provinces that make up the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas.
On Friday, residential areas in a town near Odessa were hit by missiles and at least 18 people were killed, including two children, media said.
Video of the predawn attack showed the charred remains of buildings in the small town of Serhiivka, located about 50 kilometers southwest of Odessa.
Agencies Via Xinhua
