Russia has not decided on extending the grain agreement and no indications of the "dirty bomb" in Ukraine

Russia said on Thursday it did not specify its position on the possibility of extending the grain deal, which expires soon, at a time when shipments of agricultural products resumed normally from the ports of Ukraine, while the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not found evidence to support Moscow's accusation of authorities. Kyiv manufactures the "dirty bomb".

Days after suspending its participation in the grain agreement that was signed under the auspices of Turkey and the United Nations last July in Istanbul, Russia returned to participate in the agreement;

This allowed many ships to depart from Ukrainian ports.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure announced that 7 ships left the Ukrainian ports on Thursday, carrying 290,000 tons of agricultural products.

The ministry published a video clip showing the export process from the ports, and explained that since August 1, Ukraine has operated 430 ships carrying 10 million tons of Ukrainian foodstuffs.

Russia had justified the suspension of its participation in the agreement by Ukraine launching an attack by planes and drones on the Russian fleet in Crimea via the same path taken by ships loaded with grain, while Kyiv accused it of using a "false excuse" to withdraw from the agreement, which is supposed to be renewed on November 19.

Moscow demanded written guarantees from Kyiv, and confirmed that it had already obtained them, yet Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to withdraw again if the guarantees were breached.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia's resumption of the grain deal did not mean that it was automatically extended, and that the results should be evaluated before a decision was made.

For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow was satisfied that the Ukrainian leadership had signed guarantees that humanitarian tracks would not be targeted for military purposes, as he put it.

As for Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar - whose country is participating in the implementation of the grain agreement - he said that the Ukrainians gave verbal and written guarantees for the continuation of the agreement, adding that Kyiv pledged to observe the terms of the agreements reached.

While the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, called on Russia and Ukraine to extend the agreement, German Foreign Minister Annalina Birbock said today, Thursday - during the meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries in Münster (western Germany) - that the countries of the group (America, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan) will not allow Russia will "starve" Ukrainians this winter.

The "dirty" bomb

On the other hand, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced today, Thursday, that it found no indications of undeclared nuclear activities at 3 sites in Ukraine during inspections it conducted at the request of Kyiv, after Russia accused it of developing a "dirty bomb".

The agency added that its inspectors were able to reach the relevant sites without hindrance.

Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said - in a statement - that the agency will publish as soon as possible its report on the results of samples collected by its inspectors at the three sites, including the Nuclear Research Institute in Kyiv.

Russia had accused Ukraine of preparing to use "dirty bombs" against its Russian forces, but Kyiv and its Western allies saw that the Russian accusations might be an excuse to justify the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

A radioactive bomb or "dirty bomb" consists of conventional explosives surrounded by radioactive materials intended to be dispersed in the air at the time of the explosion.

Two Ukrainian soldiers cross a bridge in Kherson Province (Anatolia)

Military Developments

In the field developments, the Kherson Regional Council (south) said that the Russian forces removed their flag from the main government building in the city, and also removed checkpoints in other areas of the province.

And local sources indicated that the number of Russian forces in the city decreased recently.

The Ukrainian forces said that they targeted Russian military vehicles near the Antonov Bridge in Kherson while they were being transferred to the southern bank of the Dnipro River.

The pro-Russian authorities had confirmed the evacuation of tens of thousands of Kherson residents in anticipation of an attack by Ukrainian forces to retake the city, which fell to the Russians at the beginning of the war that erupted on February 24.

In the Donetsk district of the Donbass region (east), the pro-Russian local authorities said that 3 civilians were killed and others wounded as a result of Ukrainian shelling on different areas.

For his part, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Army Valery Zalogny said today, Thursday, that Ukrainian forces destroyed 278 Russian warplanes during 8 months of fighting, explaining that this is more than twice the number of warplanes lost by the Soviet Union during its occupation of Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989, he said.

Ukraine says 74,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the past eight months.

The Russian defense minister said in September that 61,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed.