#War #Ukraine #Developments
Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
– Guilt traded over strike in POW prison –
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacking a prison housing Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian-held Olenivka, with Moscow saying 40 prisoners and eight prison staff were killed.
Russia’s Defense Ministry says Ukraine has carried out attacks using US-supplied long-range missiles in a “egregious provocation” aimed at preventing soldiers from surrendering.
It said that among the dead were Ukrainian forces who had laid down their arms after repelling Moscow’s attack on the sprawling Azovstal Steelworks in Mariupol.
The Ukrainian military has denied carrying out the attack, blaming Russian forces for “aimed artillery shelling” at the detention facility.
– First grain ship loaded –
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting the port of Chornomorsk in southern Ukraine to oversee the loading of the first grain for export onto a Turkish ship since Russia’s invasion on February 24.
A deal brokered last week by the UN and Turkey to lift a Russian blockade on Ukraine’s grain exports aims to mitigate a global food crisis that is sending prices soaring in some of the poorest countries.
“The first ship, the first ship to be loaded since the beginning of the war. This is a Turkish ship,” Zelenskyy said, according to a statement from the president.
The statement said exports could start in “the coming days” under the plan, which aims to bring millions of tonnes of grain to world markets from a top grain exporter.
– First war crimes verdict reduced –
The Kyiv Court of Appeals reduced to 15 years a life sentence imposed on a Russian soldier in May for first degree murder in the country’s first war crimes trial.
Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin, 21 at the time of the verdict, was found guilty of war crimes charges of killing an unarmed civilian and sentenced to life imprisonment – the first such verdict since the Russian invasion.
The Siberian sergeant had admitted killing a 62-year-old civilian, Oleksandr Shelipov, while riding his bicycle in the village of Chupakhivka in north-eastern Ukraine.
Shishimarin claimed he shot Shelipov under pressure from another soldier as they attempted to retreat and flee to Russia in a stolen car on February 28.
– Five dead in strike at bus stop –
Russian attacks killed five people and injured seven others at a bus stop in the heavily bombed city of Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on social media.
Mykolaiv on the Black Sea has been shelled every day for weeks. It is the largest Ukrainian-controlled urban center near the front lines in the southern Kherson region, where the Kiev army has launched a counter-offensive to regain control of the economically and strategically important coastal area.
In the eastern Donetsk region, the current focus of Russian fighting, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko says Moscow’s forces killed eight and wounded 19 others in attacks the previous day.
– Macron backs controversial Saudi prince –
French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agree to work “to mitigate the effects” of the Ukraine war, Macron’s office said after a meeting in Paris.
Western leaders snubbed the 36-year-old prince over his alleged role in the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
But the heir to the Middle East’s mightiest throne is being courted again as Europe and its allies desperately seek alternative sources of fossil fuels to replace lost Russian production.
Analysts say Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries in the world capable of increasing its oil production, although its room for maneuver is seen as limited.
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