The Latest Breaking News from Black Sea

Russia has targeted Ukraine’s Black Sea regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv with air strikes, hitting private buildings and port infrastructure

Russia said it will cut gas supplies to Europe from Wednesday in a blow to countries that have backed Ukraine, while missile attacks in Black Sea coastal regions raised doubts about whether Russia will stick to a deal to let Ukraine export grain.

The deal to open up Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, brokered by the UN and Turkey, is expected to facilitate the much-needed export of several million tonnes of grain and other food products, and potentially ease an international food crisis.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday there are no barriers to the export of grain from Ukrainian ports, after Ukraine and Russia signed a deal to unblock grain shipments on the Black Sea in Turkey last week.

The first shipments of Ukrainian grain could leave Black Sea ports within days under a U.N.-brokered deal to tackle a global food crisis that has worsened since Russia invaded its neighbor, the United Nations and Ukraine said on Monday.

Russia appears to have reversed itself after the country's top diplomat said Moscow's overarching goal is to topple the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian artillery barrages and air strikes continue to pummel cities across Ukraine. The remark from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov comes amid Ukraine's efforts…

Barely a kilometre from Russian positions defending the captured eastern city of Izium, Ukrainian and foreign fighters hunker in a dank basement. Artillery rains down on them most nights, shaking loose the plaster and filling the air with dust.

Russia will further cut gas supplies to Europe in a blow to countries that have supported Kyiv just as there was hope on Monday that Ukraine's blocked grain exports would resume this week.

The Kremlin said Monday that a strike on the Ukrainian port town of Odesa would not impact grain exports as it only hit military targets. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov offered reassurances over Russian grain supplies to Egypt during a visit to Cairo on Sunday, amid uncertainty over a deal…