Russia is attacking scores of civilian and military targets in its bid to establish full control over the east Ukraine regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, with 120 rockets hitting the area around the town of Nikopol overnight, Ukrainian officials said yesterday.

Ukraine yesterday accused Russia of exploiting its position in a nuclear power plant it had seized to target a nearby town in a rocket attack that killed at least 13 people and left many others seriously wounded.

China, which Russia has sought as an ally since being cold-shouldered by the West over its invasion of Ukraine, has called the United States the "main instigator" of the crisis.

Ukraine's president called on the West to impose a blanket travel ban on Russians, an idea that has found support among some EU member states but angered Moscow which pressed on with a fierce military offensive in eastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin yesterday accused Ukrainian forces of firing on the Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant, warning against potential “catastrophic consequences” for Europe.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for international inspectors to be given access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after Ukraine and Russia traded accusations over the shelling of Europe's largest atomic plant at the weekend.

Amnesty International yesterday apologised for “distress and anger” caused by a report accusing Ukraine of endangering civilians which infuriated President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and triggered the resignation of its Kviy office head.

Kyiv and Moscow yesterday accused each other of striking Europe’s largest nuclear site, causing a reactor stoppage as three grain ships departed Ukraine under a deal to avert food shortages.

Three grain ships left Ukrainian ports yesterday while the first inbound cargo vessel since Russia’s invasion was due in Ukraine later in the day to load, as Kyiv called for the safe passage deal to be extended to other cargoes such as metals.

Three ships carrying a total of 58,041 tonnes of corn have been authorised to leave Ukrainian ports on Friday as part of a deal to unblock grain exports, as a Russian offensive forced Ukraine to cede territory in the east.

The war in Ukraine is the most dangerous moment for Europe since World War Two, and Russia must not be allowed to win, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday, as Kyiv had been forced to cede some territory in the east in the face of a Russian offensive.

The first shipment of grain from Ukraine since the Kremlin’s invasion five months ago passed inspection and sailed through Istanbul yesterday under a landmark deal designed to help alleviate a global food crisis sparked by the war.

The UN nuclear chief warned that Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine “is completely out of control” and issued an urgent plea to Russia and Ukraine to quickly allow experts to visit the sprawling complex to stabilize the situation and avoid a nuclear accident.

A new round of US sanctions targeting Russian elites includes a woman named in news reports as Vladimir Putin’s longtime romantic partner.

The first shipment of grain to leave Ukraine under a deal to ease Russia’s naval blockade was expected in Istanbul “after midnight,” as Kyiv yesterday said it had begun mandatory evacuations from the war-torn Donetsk region.

The Russian Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Ukraine’s Azov Regiment a terrorist organisation banned in Russia, a designation that fuels the Kremlin’s narrative of the war in Ukraine and that may expose Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Moscow to terrorism charges.

A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon yesterday under a safe passage agreement, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago.

For the first time since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, a Russian ship carrying machineries for Rooppur nuclear power plant arrived at the Mongla deep sea port today (August 1, 2022).

Russian missiles pounded the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv on Sunday, killing the owner of a major grain exporter, while a drone strike on Russia's Black Sea naval base in Sevastopol was launched from within the city in a "terrorist attack," a Russian lawmaker said.

Ukraine yesterday said the “strongest” shelling by Moscow so far of the southern city Mykolaiv killed a grain tycoon, as Russia claimed an attack from a drone wounded six personnel at the headquarters of its Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea.