Twelve ships carrying grain have left Ukrainian ports despite Russia abandoning a UN-backed deal to guarantee exports from the war zone, suggesting Moscow has stopped short of reimposing a blockade that might have caused world hunger.
Norwegian oil and gas workers normally don't see anything more threatening than North Sea waves crashing against the steel legs of their offshore platforms. But lately they have noticed a more troubling sight - unidentified drones buzzing in the skies overhead.
As Russian attacks leave Ukrainian cities without power and water, this correspondent asks the ACT Government to stop supplying utilities to the Russian Embassy in Canberra.
Australian troops could be sent to Ukraine to help train the country's armed forces following Russia's "appalling" attack on Kyiv, Defence Minister Richard Marles has declared.Â
Russia has rained cruise missiles on busy Ukrainian cities in what the United States called "horrific strikes," killing civilians and knocking out power and heat with its most widespread air attacks since the start of the war.
Russia has struck cities across Ukraine during rush hour, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure in apparent revenge after President Vladimir Putin declared an explosion on the bridge to Crimea to be a terrorist attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of orchestrating the powerful blast that damaged a bridge linking Russia and Crimea, describing the explosion as an "act of terrorism".
Russian divers will examine the damage caused by a powerful blast on Russia's road-and-rail bridge to Crimea that hit a prestigious symbol of Moscow's annexation of the peninsula and a key supply route to forces battling in southern Ukraine.
The latest defeat for Moscow has been marked by the bodies of Russian soldiers lying in the streets of a key eastern Ukrainian city following their comrades' retreat.
Ukrainian forces have achieved their biggest breakthrough in the country's south since the war began, bursting through Russian defences and advancing rapidly along the Dnipro River, threatening supply lines for thousands of Russian troops.
Ukraine has claimed full control of the eastern logistics hub of Lyman, its most significant battlefield gain from Russia in weeks, providing a potential staging post for further attacks to the east while heaping further pressure on the Kremlin.
Australia will impose further financial sanctions and travel bans on almost 30Â Russia-backed separatists and senior officials following Moscow's move to annex swathes of Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian troops are moving to capture the Russian-held eastern town of Lyman, threatening a new setback for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's campaign in the Donbas as he prepares to declare the region part of Russia.
The United Nations Security Council will convene at the request of Russia to discuss damage to two pipelines as the European Union promised a "robust" response to any intentional disruption of its energy infrastructure.
Shelling has hit southern Ukraine, while Russia sought to defend its seven-month war even as it moves to escalate the conflict with the expected annexation of regions in the east and south that its forces have seized.
