Heavy fighting raged around the eastern Ukrainian town of Pisky on Thursday as Russia pressed its campaign to seize all of the industrialised Donbas region, while to the west Kyiv accused Moscow of using a nuclear plant to shield its artillery.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
FIGHTING
* Ukraine accused Russia of firing rockets from around a captured nuclear power plant, killing at least 13 people and wounding 10, in the knowledge it would be risky for Ukraine to return fire.
* There was no immediate comment from Russia, which has accused Ukraine of shelling the plant, something Kyiv denies.
* Two US newspapers cited unnamed Ukrainian officials as saying Ukrainian special forces had carried out an attack on Tuesday on an air base on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, destroying military aircraft.
* Moscow had said the explosions were detonations of stored ammunition. Kyiv has not taken responsibility for the attacks.
Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports.
* The head of the Russian-backed separatist administration in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region said the trial of captured personnel from Ukraine's Azov Regiment would take place by the end of the summer, likely in the city of Mariupol.
DIPLOMACY
* China's ambassador to Russia called the United States the "main instigator" of the crisis in Ukraine, accusing Washington of backing Moscow into a corner with repeated expansions of the NATO defence alliance and support for forces seeking to align Ukraine with the European Union.
ECONOMY
* Ukraine's overseas creditors backed its request for a two-year freeze on payments on almost $US20 billion ($A28 billion) in international bonds, a move that will allow it to avoid a debt default.
* Ukraine's prime minister says the move will save the country almost $US6 billion ($A8.5 billion), helping stabilise its economy and strengthen its army.
* The second commercial ship to arrive in a Ukrainian port since the start of Russia's invasion has docked in the port of Chornomorsk and is ready to load grain, Ukraine's infrastructure minister said.
* The United Nations expects a "big uptick" in ships wanting to export Ukraine grain through the Black Sea after transit procedures were agreed and a goal of 2-5 million tonnes a month is "achievable," a senior UN official said.
* Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft said oil transit via the southern leg of the Druzhba pipeline had resumed, RIA news agency reported, almost a week after it stopped, affecting supplies to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Australian Associated Press
