Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature UN wheat talks with Russia have not yet succeeded United Nations leaders held talks with Russian officials about Black Sea grain and fertilizer export deals, eight days before one of the deals expired. The talks took place behind closed doors in Geneva, concluding on Friday afternoon. Ukraine is one of the world’s top grain producers and the Russian invasion had blocked 20 million tonnes of grain in its ports until the safe transit deal was agreed. On July 22, two agreements were signed mediated by the UN and Turkey. The first was to allow the export of Ukrainian grain blocked by Russia’s war in the country, while the second involved the export of Russian food and fertilizer despite Western sanctions imposed on Moscow after its invasion. The 120-day Black Sea Grains Initiative expires on November 19, and the United Nations is seeking to renew it for a year. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday accused Russian inspectors of “quiet sabotage,” saying they were deliberately dragging their feet to allow the missions. “Russia must – must – stop playing hunger games with the world,” he said. Moscow, however, has not yet said whether it will agree to renew any deal. Updated at 07:53 GMT Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday that the “war continues” after the successful recapture of the city of Kherson. Speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cambodia, Kuleba said the fight to liberate the country would continue. “We win battles on the ground. But the war continues,” he told reporters in Phnom Penh. Earlier, Kuleba said he understood that “everyone wants this war to end as soon as possible. We are certainly the ones who want it more than anyone else… But as the war continues, and we see Russia mobilizing more troops and bringing more weapons into Ukraine, of course we will continue to count on your continued support.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attends the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: Vincent Thian/AP
The White House hails Ukraine’s “extraordinary victory” in Kherson
The White House on Saturday hailed an “extraordinary victory” for Ukraine in recapturing the city of Kherson from Russian occupiers, Agence France-Presse reported. “It looks like the Ukrainians just won an extraordinary victory where the only regional capital that Russia had captured in this war is now back under the Ukrainian flag – and that’s very remarkable,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. as he accompanied President Joe Biden to the ASEAN summit in Cambodia. Sullivan said a Russian retreat would have “broader strategic implications,” including easing the long-term Russian threat to other southern Ukrainian cities, such as Odesa. “This is a great moment, and it is due to the incredible tenacity and skill of the Ukrainians, backed by the relentless and united support of the United States and our allies,” Sullivan said. Members of Ukraine board a Russian armored personnel carrier in Blahodatne in the Kherson region. Photo: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Summary
Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Christine Kearney and I’ll bring you the latest developments. It’s about 9am in Kyiv, here’s how it goes:
Ukrainians in the city of Kherson celebrate after the arrival of Ukrainian soldiers to recapture the city. In extraordinary scenes, jubilant crowds have been seen welcoming soldiers into the southern Ukrainian city after progress made by the armed forces in recent days continued. Ukrainian forces liberated 41 settlements as they advanced south, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. A Ukrainian flag was raised in Svobody Square near the headquarters of the regional administration for the first time since the city fell to Russia on March 2. Another is thrown outside the city’s national police headquarters. Zelensky declared that the city is “ours” and that it was a “historic” day for the country after Russia announced the completion of its withdrawal from the regional capital. In a statement on his Telegram page, he said people in Kherson never gave up hope for Ukraine, adding: “Hope for Ukraine is always justified – and Ukraine always returns its own.” A spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry told the BBC that Ukrainian forces are almost in full control of Kherson. Russia said more than 30,000 service personnel had withdrawn to the east bank of the Dnieper River. The Defense Ministry said the evacuation had been completed by 5 a.m. Moscow time on Friday. The ministry said there were no military equipment or soldiers left on the west side of the river. However, reports have emerged of some Russian troops staying behind in Ukraine wearing civilian clothes or drowning trying to escape. The intelligence unit of the Ministry of Defense urged the Russian soldiers to surrender. The White House on Saturday hailed what it said was a “tremendous victory” for Ukraine in recapturing the city of Kherson from Russian occupiers, Agence France-Presse reported. The capital that Russia had won in this war is now back under the Ukrainian flag – and that is very remarkable,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday that the “war continues” after the successful recapture of the city of Kherson. Speaking at a Southeast Asian summit in Cambodia, Kuleba said the fight to liberate the country would continue: “We are winning battles on the ground. But the war continues,” he told reporters in Phnom Penh. The Antonivskiy Bridge, the only nearby road crossing from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson to the Russian-controlled east bank of the Dnieper River, was blown up. There was significant new damage to the nearby large Nova Kakhovka dam after the withdrawal, US satellite imagery company Maxar said. Ukraine’s general prosecutor is investigating three bodies found in the Kherson region, suspected of being victims of war crimes. Russian attacks on power facilities have a disproportionate impact on civilians in Ukraine, with indiscriminate effects on critical functions such as healthcare and heating, according to the latest assessment by the UK Ministry of Defence. Ukraine is building a wall on its northern border with neighboring Belarus, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The concrete wall is already 3 km long. Forty-five Ukrainian soldiers have been freed in a prisoner swap with Russia, and the bodies of two slain Ukrainian soldiers have also been repatriated, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office said. The United Nations wrapped up this week’s talks with Russian officials in Geneva, but has yet to finalize a deal to export grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea. The U.N. nuclear watchdog says an investigation at a research plant in the city of Kharkiv found it had been severely damaged, but there was no evidence of a radiological release or diversion of nuclear material. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany’s priority in aid to Ukraine should be to help it defend against Russian airstrikes on its cities and help it rebuild its infrastructure.
