Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missiles hit close to nuclear reactors: IAEA director

Shelling is ongoing near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

Last Updated: August 24, 2023, 10:20 AM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

For previous coverage, please click here.

Jul 25, 2022, 3:07 PM EDT

Ukraine plans to export 3 million tons of agricultural products per month

Ukrainian officials said they aim to export more than 3 million tons of agricultural products every month from three Odesa ports.

In peacetime, about 5 million tons of grain were exported from ​​the three ports every month, Alla Stoyanova, director of the department of agrarian policy of the Odesa RMA, told Ukrainian national broadcaster Suspilne.

A farmer collects harvest on a field around a crater left by a Russian rocket ten kilometres from the front line in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, July 4, 2022.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Two ports will be operational this week and exports from the third port will start next week, Stoyanova said.

Russia and Ukraine last week signed agreements to restart grain exports from Ukraine. In a joint press conference with the President of Guatemala on Monday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine will do everything necessary to ensure the export of agricultural products from Black Sea ports.

-ABC News’ Max Uzol

Jul 24, 2022, 5:18 PM EDT

Russian missiles destroy schools in Donetsk region

Russian forces launched a series of missile strikes on Sunday that destroyed two schools in the Donetsk region of Ukraine and damaged a kindergarten in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, according to local officials.

No one was reported injured when missiles hit schools in Kostyantynivka and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, according to Donetsk region Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Officials said that a kindergarten in Novo Dmytrivka in the Kharkiv region was also damaged.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Russian forces also launched three Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea targeting the Khmelnytskyi region of western Ukraine. All three missiles were shot down before reaching targets, the defense ministry said.

Several powerful explosions were heard in Mykolaiv near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine and in Melitopol in southeastern Ukraine Saturday night. More explosions were heard in Mykolaiv Sunday morning, officials said.

The mayor of Melitopol posted photos on Telegram showing damage to railroad tracks in his city.

Oleksandr Sienkevych, the mayor of Mykolaiv, said in a statement that officials were collecting information on the explosions and conducting a damage assessment. According to the preliminary data, Sienkevych said there were no casualties.

-ABC News Christine Theodorou

Jul 24, 2022, 11:13 AM EDT

Russia missile strike on Odesa jeopardizes agreement to lift grain blockade

Russia’s missile strike on the Ukrainian port of Odesa Saturday cast doubt on its commitment to a U.N.-backed agreement to lift the blockade that has trapped millions of tons of grain in Ukraine and has led to a global hunger crisis.

Ukrainian officials said they still hope the deal will continue and that ships are scheduled to begin leaving next week.

Ukrainian firefighters battle a fire on a boat burning in the port of Odessa after missiles hit the port of Odessa, Ukraine, July 23, 2022.
Odessa City Council Telegram channel via Getty Images

Vyacheslav, a Ukrainian farmer, told ABC News Sunday that his grain harvest from last year is still being held in storage and he showed ABC News 250 tons of it sitting in a pile across from this year’s crop.

Vyacheslav said he witnessed Saturday's missile strike from his fields as he was harvesting. Part of his land contains trenches dug by Ukraine’s military in preparation for an attack.

Ukrainian firefighters battle a fire on a boat burning in the port of Odessa after missiles hit the port of Odessa, Ukraine, July 23, 2022.
Odessa City Council Telegram channel via Getty Images

He said the missile strike made him skeptical of Russia following through on the agreement to lift the grain embargo.

"Russia will only start to agree once we punch it in the teeth,” Vyacheslav said.

For now, he said he doesn’t know when his grain will move. Even if the deal does hold, he’s unsure that it will solve the problem for Ukraine’s farmers since price speculation, he said, is making it unprofitable for him to move it.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Jul 23, 2022, 10:51 AM EDT

2 Americans killed in eastern Ukraine

Two Americans thought to have been fighting for Ukraine have died in the eastern reach of the country, according to officials.

“We can confirm the recent deaths of two U.S. citizens in the Donbas region of Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We are in touch with the families and providing all possible consular assistance.”

One of the Americans killed has been identified as Luke Lucyszyn, his mother confirmed to ABC News.

-ABC News Shannon Crawford, Patrick Reevell and Rashid Haddou

Related Topics

Sponsored Content by Taboola