Russian strikes in eastern and southern Ukraine

Mystery still surrounds the fate of Ukrainian grain crops, on Wednesday, in the wake of Turkish mediation to facilitate their export, while the Russian army continues to bombard eastern and southern Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Russian strikes hit cities in eastern Ukraine, and a missile attack killed one person in the main city of Kramatorsk under the control of Kyiv in the Donbass region, which Russian forces seek to control completely.

In southern Ukraine, in the Odessa region, at least six people were injured, one of them a child, according to the Ukrainian presidency.

In Tehran, where he was invited to hold talks with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts, Ibrahim Raisi, on the Syrian and Ukrainian files, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Tuesday evening that progress had been made in talks on the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain that the world needs to achieve food balance.

During a press conference following the summit, Putin said: "We will facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain, but we proceed from the idea that all restrictions on possible Russian grain exports will be lifted."

The day after the summit, Damascus announced severing its diplomatic relations with Kyiv in accordance with the principle of "reciprocity", weeks after Ukraine took the same step following the Syrian government's recognition of the independence of the pro-Russian separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

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