Russian forces bombed with ballistic missiles targets in Mykolaiv (southern Ukraine) and Kharkiv (north) today, Wednesday, and escalated attacks on fronts across the country, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country continues its efforts to solve the grain crisis caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The local authorities of the Mykolaiv district reported that 4 civilians were killed and 6 wounded, in a Russian bombing of an apartment building in the district.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that explosions rocked this morning, Wednesday, separate areas of Mykolaiv, and columns of smoke were seen rising heavily from inside the city's port.

In the Donbass region, the attempts of the Russian forces to control the city of Lyschansk continue, as Al-Jazeera correspondent indicated to the encirclement of the city from several sides, while the Ukrainian forces confirm their response to the attempts of the Russian forces to advance to the west.

The Ukrainian General Staff said - in a statement - that the Russian forces are trying to control the road between them and the city of Bakhmut (south).

And it confirmed that it was able to repel a Russian attack at the town of Sberny, on the administrative borders of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

For his part, the governor of Ukraine's Lugansk province, Sergei Gaidai, confirmed that Russian forces are still unable to penetrate the Ukrainian defenses, and have not controlled the road linking Lyschansk and Bakhmut.

In Kharkiv, artillery and missile shelling targeted a number of the city's neighborhoods, in addition to some towns near the areas controlled by the Russian forces.

The Russian Defense Ministry said - in a statement - that it targeted 4 Ukrainian command centers in the province, but Ukrainian sources spoke of fires and destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure.

Away from the traditional fronts of confrontation that witness direct military confrontation, the city of Dnipro (central of the country) witnessed missile bombardment, and columns of smoke were seen rising in the city.

According to Ukrainian media sources, the bombing killed at least two people and wounded seven others.

In turn, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haynes said that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to control most of the territory of Ukraine, noting that the war situation is still "very bleak."


prisoner exchange

Ukrainian intelligence said on Wednesday that 144 Ukrainian soldiers - including dozens of defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in the coastal city of Mariupol - were released as part of a prisoner exchange with Moscow.

The intelligence service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry confirmed on Telegram that this was the largest prisoner exchange since the start of the all-out Russian war.

Ukrainian intelligence did not specify the date or location of the exchange, nor the number of Russian prisoners released as part of the deal, but indicated that 43 of the released soldiers belonged to the Azov Regiment (a former paramilitary unit now integrated into the Ukrainian army).

Russia believes that this unit is an organization of neo-Nazis and its soldiers should be tried.

For his part, pro-Russian separatist leader Denis Pushilin confirmed the exchange, saying that 144 soldiers from the Donetsk People's Republic and Russia had returned home.


Russian control

In a related context, the pro-Russian authorities in the areas they controlled in Ukraine announced the provision of bus and train connections and the establishment of a Civil Status Department, banking and education services, and pensions aimed at integrating them into Russia.

The "Ministry of the Interior" in the Kherson region - which has been controlled by Russian forces since last March - indicated the establishment of bus transport lines between the cities of Kherson and Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Also, starting from July 1, Simferopol buses will connect the cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk in the Ukrainian region of Zaporozhye, which is partially controlled by the Russian army.

A railway will run between the city of Yankoy in Crimea and the cities of Kherson and Melitopol.

For its part, the administration of the Kherson region announced today, Wednesday, via Telegram, the opening of a branch of the Russian Pension Fund responsible for paying pensions.

It also announced the opening of the first branch of a Russian bank in Kherson today, Wednesday, which is affiliated with the private Promsvizbank, which is known to finance the defense sector and is subject to Western sanctions.

It also opened in Kherson a civil status department that adheres to "Russian standards" in registering births, deaths and marriages, according to the same source.


Turkish efforts

On the other hand, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country is continuing its efforts to solve the grain crisis caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Erdogan added - in a statement he made at the beginning of his meeting with his US counterpart Joe Biden on the sidelines of the NATO leaders summit in the Spanish capital Madrid - that Ankara continues its efforts to solve the grain crisis by following a balanced policy and hopes to reap its fruits.

The Turkish president pointed out that there have been negative developments recently in the matter of grain and energy due to the Russian-Ukrainian war.

"Let us provide as soon as possible an opportunity for countries that currently lack grain through open corridors," he added.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Minister Sergei Lavrov told United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday that his country was ready to coordinate efforts to reduce the risks of a global food crisis.

Lavrov also said - in a telephone conversation with Guterres - that Moscow is committed to fulfilling the shipments of grain and fertilizer that it exports.

On the other hand, the Turkish cargo ship "Azov Concorde" arrived at the port of Zongildak state (northwestern Turkey) today, Wednesday, from the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which is under the control of the Russian army and the separatists.

Anadolu Agency reported that the ship had been stuck for about 4 months in the port of Mariupol due to the ongoing war between Moscow and Kiev.

He pointed out that the Turkish ship left Mariupol on June 21.

On the initiative of Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, a "red line" was established between Turkey, Russia and Ukraine to solve the crisis of the exit of cargo ships carrying grain from the latter's ports.

Akar had said earlier that his country wants to end the grain crisis as soon as possible.

It is noteworthy that many countries of the world suffer from a grain crisis as a result of the inability of cargo ships to leave Ukrainian ports due to the war between Moscow and Kiev since last February 24.