The latest news from the Russia-Ukraine war

The first grain ship to leave Ukraine in months has arrived safely in Turkish waters, where it will be inspected before continuing on to Lebanon.

The shipment comes after Turkey and the United Nations brokered an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, a major producer and exporter of wheat and edible oil, that allowed the country to resume vital exports after the blockade caused a global shortage of wheat and edible oil country.

The vessel, carrying more than 26,000 tons of corn, will be inspected in Istanbul before continuing on to Tripoli.

The United Nations-led joint coordination center asked all parties to notify their military of the ship’s movements to ensure its safe passage from Ukraine through the Black Sea, where Russia and Ukraine have planted mines in the incursion on much of the coast. Turkish waters of the Bosphorus.

The deal, reached after numerous negotiations between the warring nations, was hailed as a rare success in international diplomacy and some officials hoped it could build on a ceasefire.

After the merchant ship Razoni left the port of Odessa on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said it was “loaded with two commodities that are in short supply: corn and hope.”

“It is hoped that millions of people around the world rely on the smooth functioning of Ukrainian ports to support their families. The departure of this vessel is the first concrete outcome of the Black Sea Grains Initiative. Since I told the leaders of the Russian Federation and Ukraine at the end of April held,” he said. He added that Razoni’s departure was a “huge collective achievement.”

— Holly Aryat

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the situation in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine, the epicenter of the Ukrainian war, is “simply hell”.

Describing Russia’s “firepower superiority” in his nightly video message, Zelensky said the Ukrainian army “is still not able to completely break the Russian army’s superiority in artillery and manpower, which is very evident in battle, especially in Dayton. Bas-Pyski, Avdievka, other directions.”

“It’s hell, I can’t even describe it in words,” he added.

Ukraine has ordered the evacuation of residents of Donetsk, one of its constituent regions, as fighting rages in the Donbass, while Kyiv has discussed with its international allies the need for more weapons. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who spoke with President Zelensky about more military aid to Ukraine, tweeted on Wednesday that “NATO and its allies will sooner More aid to Ukraine is critical.”

The two also discussed the first grain shipments since the Russian invasion in late February and the subsequent sea blockade of Ukrainian ports, he said.

Zelensky also commented on the initial success of the Black Sea Grains Initiative, an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations to restore maritime exports of vital Ukrainian agricultural products.

“Our goal now is to have regularity: so that when one ship leaves port, there should also be other ships – loaded and approaching port. Continuity and regularity are necessary principles. All our consumers Produce needs it,” he said.

— Holly Aryat

Two Republican senators have proposed amendments to the vote to add Sweden and Finland to NATO.

As Congress prepares to go into recess, Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) are both seeking votes to change the treaty.

Paul told NBC News that his amendment states that “nothing in Article V of the NATO Treaty can supersede the congressional directive that we must declare war.” The NATO article says that an attack on one member of the alliance is an attack on all members. .

Sullivan told NBC News that his amendment states that every member of NATO, which now includes Sweden and Finland, should commit to spending 2 percent of GDP on defense goals set at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales.

The vote to include Sweden and Finland in NATO is expected to pass by an overwhelming majority.

— Amanda Macias

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and state-owned entities.

below is State Department fact sheet Penalties imposed on the following Russian oligarchs:

• Alexander Ponomarenko “operates or has operated in the aerospace sector of the Russian economy. He is an oligarch with close ties to other oligarchs and the construction of Vladimir Putin’s seaside palace.” UK, EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand sanctions.
• Dmitry Pumpyanskiy “operates or has operated in the financial services sector of the economy of the Russian Federation”. The UK, EU and New Zealand have also designated him. Pumpyanskiy is linked to the yacht “Axioma”, which is now identified as blocked property.
• Andrey Melnichenko “operates or has operated in the financial services sector of the economy of the Russian Federation”. Like Pumpyanskiy, he has also been designated by the UK, EU and New Zealand.

“We also impose additional costs on Russia’s war machine by designating 24 Russian defense and technology-related entities,” Blinken wrote in a statement.

“Russia has systematically focused on using high-tech research and innovation to advance Moscow’s combat capabilities – the Russian military used the same defenses in its vicious attack on Ukrainian population centers as it did in the deaths of civilians, including children. ,” he added.

— Amanda Macias

March was by far the deadliest month in Russia’s war in Ukraine, the UN Human Rights Office said.

The clashes in March resulted in more than 3,100 civilian casualties and 2,400 injuries, according to data compiled by the United Nations.

The United Nations has confirmed that 5,327 civilians have been killed and 7,257 wounded in Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

“The majority of civilian casualties recorded were due to the use of explosive weapons with wide-area impact, including heavy artillery, multiple rocket systems, missiles and airstrikes,” the UN office wrote in a report.

The Human Rights Office added that most of the casualties occurred in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

— Amanda Macias