Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 10 prisoners of war each in Belarus, Moscow's Human Rights Commissioner, Yana Lantratova, has said.
Up to 70 vessels are waiting near the Danube's Sulina Canal for access to Ukrainian ports to load grain for export, traders and analysts said on Wednesday, with a shortage of pilots and priority given to other cargoes creating long delays.
After Russian attacks effectively blocked Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which had handled 90 per cent of the country's grain exports, some shipments were rerouted through Danube river ports, which have much lower capacity.
Grain cargoes are competing for access with higher-priority shipments such as fuel, slowing exports. Frequent air raid alerts, which force the suspension of all port operations, have added to the disruption.
Ukraine is one of the world's biggest grain exporters and disruptions to its shipments can drive up global prices.
Armenia won't prevent Russians escaping potential mobilisation from entering the country, Alen Simonyan, the country's Security Council Secretary has said.
During an interview with Russian TV channel, Dozhd, Simonyan was asked whether Armenia would be prepared to accept Russians seeking to avoid being sent to the front line.
"Nobody at the border is going to ask anyone why they have come here," Simonyan replied.
"Armenia will in no way obstruct [their arrival], and if necessary, we will help," he added.
The world's richest man, Elon Musk, has been given one of Ukraine's top state honours, the Order of Freedom, by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Kyiv's armed forces have relied on Musk's Starlink satellite internet for battlefield communication and piloting drones since the onset of the conflict in 2022.
The decision to bestow trillionaire Musk with the honour comes as Ukraine seeks to expand its use of Musk's Starlink internet service.
A presidential decree published online on Wednesday praised Musk for his "outstanding personal contributions to protecting human life and freedom, and for developing relations between the peoples of Ukraine and the United States of America."
Musk switched on the Starlink satellite internet service over Ukraine shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
At the behest of former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Musk agreed to turn off thousands of Russian "grey-market" Starlinks in Ukraine this year, causing problems for Moscow's forces.
Hungary’s new government has formally designated Russia as a threat to the country, Europe and the global order.
The move marks a clear break with the more Moscow-friendly foreign policy pursued under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Ukraine is definitely losing the war with Russia, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said, in response to remarks made by Kyiv's ousted Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov warning that the country appeared to be slowly losing its battle with Russia.
"I think that there's now a turning point which will determine our future trajectory, but it looks as though we're gradually, slowly losing," Fedorov said on Tuesday, in a marked departure from Kyiv's official rhetoric.
The Kremlin added that it was too early to say if a deep crisis in U.S.-Russia relations could be overcome.
Kyiv's military struck Lukoil's NORSI oil refinery in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region overnight, the Ukrainian General Staff has said. The strike caused a fire at the site and the extent of the damage was being assessed, the General Staff said on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged ten prisoners of war each, Yana Lantratova, Moscow's Human Rights Commissioner has said.
She told Russia's Zvezda TV station that the exchange took place in Belarus, adding that the Russian prisoners of war would arrive home later on Wednesday.
Thousands of prisoners have been exchanged between Moscow and Kyiv since the start of the conflict in February 2022.
A Russian guided aerial bomb attack has seriously damaged a combined heat and power plant in Ukraine's southern city of Kherson, the plant's owner, Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz, has said.
Repairs to NKHP's grain terminal at Russia's port of Novorossiysk could take between one and four months, the company said on Wednesday in a financial report.
Operations have been halted at the facility since 12 August when it suffered damage during an overnight drone strike.
Executives at the last major Russian bank operating in Europe could have made more than $10.5 million (€9 million) by buying up cut-price Gazprom bonds stuck in Europe due to sanctions and exchanging them for full-value equivalents in Russia, the Financial Times has reported.
The four senior bankers at Gazprombank's Luxembourg outpost received millions of euros in personal loans from their employer to fund more than 50 transactions, according to documents seen by the newspaper.
Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't meet CIA Director John Ratcliffe during the latter's visit to Moscow on Tuesday, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has told Russia's state-owned TASS news agency.
"No meetings with Putin were planned," Peskov said.
Peskov separately told the Washington Post that Ratcliffe's visit involved "contacts between security services," but didn't provide additional details.
Ukraine's General Staff has shared an update on what it says are the combat losses suffered by Russia since the beginning of the conflict up to Wednesday.
Ukraine shot down or neutralised 134 drones overnight, the country's General Staff said in a post on X, adding that it was attacked with 162 drones in total.
Russia downed 426 drones overnight, Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying. The figure includes Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the comments after Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Ukraine on its Independence Day, which marked 35 years since the country declared independence from the Soviet Union.
“I thank Chinese leader Xi Jinping for his congratulations to Ukraine on our most important national holiday,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that Kyiv valued its relations with Beijing, which he said had been built over more than 35 years on mutual respect and recognition of the values of both peoples.
A Wildberries warehouse in Russia’s Tambov region caught fire after a drone attack, regional Governor Evgeniy Pervyshov said. One person was injured in the incident.
Russia and Ukraine are discussing a new 'quite big' swap of prisoners of war, Russian news agency TASS cited Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova as saying on Wednesday.
Thousands of prisoners have been exchanged since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
An agreement in May to swap a further 1,000 captives each, was one of the main tangible results of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told allied foreign ministers Washington will focus on sanctions and other pressure on Iran “for the time bein...
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Oil prices fell after the U.S. expanded economic sanctions on Iran, as Tehran vowed to retaliate and warned it had tools to respond, raising concerns over potential disruption to regional oil supplies.
Kyiv has recently received a small number of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors capable of downing Russian ballistic missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. It comes as Britain and France pledged stronger military support for Ukraine.
Only four commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, following 13 transits a day earlier, as disruptions continue to restrict traffic through the key energy chokepoint.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told allied foreign ministers Washington will focus on sanctions and other pressure on Iran “for the time being”, Axios reports. Meanwhile, Iran and Oman have resumed talks on a temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 10 prisoners of war each in Belarus, Moscow's Human Rights Commissioner, Yana Lantratova, has said.
Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri has acknowledged that few teenagers used Instagram’s “Take a Break” feature before it became a default setting, as Meta faces a major U.S. trial over child safety.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 26th of August, covering the latest developments.
U.S. President Donald Trump has formally sent a landmark nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress, opening a new phase in a deal that has already sparked debate over nuclear proliferation and Riyadh's ambitions.
The Trump administration has temporarily suspended some visa appointment scheduling at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world as part of a new training initiative for consular staff, adding another layer to the administration's broader immigration policy overhaul.
The United States has launched what it describes as its most aggressive sanctions campaign yet against Iran, expanding secondary sanctions and targeting sectors ranging from shipping and aviation to technology and finance.
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