U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Ukraine has what it needs to succeed in its counteroffensive and that trained equipment and troops will make a difference in the coming months, in an offensive that "is still in its infancy and Moscow has mobilized significant defenses to counter it."

Blinken stressed that his country will seize any opportunity for meaningful peace talks with the Russians if it sees evidence of Russia's interest in doing so, noting that he currently sees no evidence in this direction.

The US official's remarks came as Russia continued for the fourth consecutive day to bomb facilities for the export of Ukrainian grains and food in Odessa and other Ukrainian cities, and the Russian navy conducted drills on the detention of ships and missile exercises in the Black Sea.


Bombardment of Odessa

Ole Kabir, governor of the Odessa region, said via Telegram today, "Unfortunately, grain silos belonging to an agricultural enterprise in the Odessa region were bombed."

Images released by Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry showed a fire between collapsed metal structures that looked like storage, as well as a severely damaged fire truck.

Russia has said it will consider since Thursday that all ships bound for Ukrainian waters may carry weapons, justifying their military targeting, in what Washington described as a sign that Moscow could attack civilian cargo ships.

Ukraine said it would consider ships bound for Russia in the Black Sea as potential military targets.

In response to the warning, the Kremlin said Kiev's remarks were dangerous and posed a threat to navigation in the Black Sea.

He also announced that Russia is working on recommendations to reduce the risk to its ships in the Black Sea following the Kiev threats, and that it will examine whether these ships really need to change their routes.

Compulsory conscription

Separately, state media reported today that Moscow plans to increase the number of males eligible for conscription.

The Russian government will keep the age of conscription for young people at 18, permanently increasing the number of those eligible for military service, the sources said, after lawmakers dropped a proposal that sought not to start conscription before turning 21.

Currently, all Russian males between the ages of 18 and 27 must do a year of military service or undergo training while in higher education.


Gradual gains

On the ground, Serhiy Shchervaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Ukrainian forces, said his country's forces were making progress towards the city of Pakhmut in the Donetsk region.

Shirvati added that Ukrainian forces were making gradual gains and controlling new areas.

"Our forces hold the initiative and put pressure on the enemy on the flanks of the city, every day we liberate hundreds of meters of our territory, and every week we control several kilometers. "When the time comes, we will travel tens of kilometres and that means this process is calculated and stable."

On the other hand, Ukrainian Chief of Staff spokesman Andrei Kovalev said that his country's forces are launching attacks on 3 axes in the Donetsk and Zabarojia regions, explaining that they have made progress in some locations and repelled Russian attacks in Liman and Kobyansk.

On the other hand, the Russian army announced its control of 5 positions and 4 observation posts in the direction of Dvorichinsk.

A spokesman for the Russian military's western region said Ukrainian forces had lost more than one battalion, a Polish-made rocket launch system and a U.S. missile system.

The spokesman added that Russian forces managed to shoot down a helicopter and a drone in the Lehman region.