Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Not long after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, soldiers broke down the office door of Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov. They put a bag over his head, bundled him into a car and drove him around the southern city for hours, threatening to kill him.

Fedorov, 34, is one of over 50 local leaders who have been held in Russian captivity since the war began on Feb. 24 in an attempt to subdue cities and towns coming under Moscow’s control. Like many others, he said he was pressured to collaborate with the invaders.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Diplomatic efforts salvaged a wartime agreement that allowed Ukrainian grain and other commodities to reach world markets, with Russia saying Wednesday it would stick to the deal after Ukraine pledged not to use a designated Black Sea corridor to attack Russian forces.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow reserves the right to withdraw again from the agreement if Kyiv breaks its word.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The decorative candles Yaroslav Vedmid bought more than a year ago were never meant to be lit, but the dried wax that now clings to them attests to how they’ve been used almost nightly — a consequence of power cuts across Ukraine.

KIEV, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine had suspended foodstuffs exports due to blockage of the "grain corridor," Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov has said.

"Due to the blockage of the grain corridor by Russia the export is impossible," Kubrakov tweeted on Sunday.

The minister said a vessel carrying 40,000 tons of grain intended for Ethiopia got stuck in the port in Ukraine on Sunday.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A massive barrage of Russian strikes hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, knocking out water and power supplies in apparent retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea Fleet over the weekend.

Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s power plants and other key infrastructure as the war enters its ninth month. Large parts of Ukraine are already experiencing rolling power cuts as a result of Russia’s strategy.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden has warned that global hunger could increase because of Russia’s suspension of a U.N.-brokered deal to allow safe passage for ships carrying Ukrainian grain.

“It’s really outrageous,” said Biden speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday. “There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The U.N. negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia announced Saturday that it will move to suspend its implementation of a U.N.-brokered grain deal that has seen more than 9 million tons of grain exported from Ukraine during the war and has brought down soaring global food prices.

The Russian Defense Ministry cited an alleged Ukrainian drone attack against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships moored off the coast of occupied Crimea, which Russia says took place early Saturday, as the reason for the move. Ukraine has denied the attack, saying that the Russians mishandled their own weapons.

BAKHMUT, Ukraine (AP) — Russian soldiers pummeling a city in eastern Ukraine with artillery are slowly edging closer in their attempt to seize Bakhmut, which has remained in Ukrainian hands during the eight-month war despite Moscow’s goal of capturing the entire Donbas region bordering Russia.

While much of the fighting in the last month has unfolded in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, the battle heating up around Bakhmut demonstrates Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire for visible gains following weeks of clear setbacks in Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces attacked Russia’s hold on the southern city of Kherson on Thursday while fighting intensified in the country’s east. The battles came amid reports that Moscow-appointed authorities in the city have abandoned it, joining tens of thousands of residents who fled to other Russia-held areas.

Ukrainian forces were surrounding Kherson from the west and attacking Russia’s foothold on the west bank of the Dnieper River, which divides the region and the country.

25 October 2022; MEMO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed Israel's alleged neutrality in relation to the Russian-Ukrainian war, Israeli media reported yesterday.

Zelensky claimed Israel's decision not to supply Kyiv with arms had encouraged Russia's military partnership with Iran.

"This alliance of theirs simply would not have happened if your politicians had made only one decision at the time. The decision we asked for," Zelensky told a conference organised by Haaretz.