A Russian journalist, Rostislav Zhuravlev, has been killed near the front line in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhia region, according to Russia's defence ministry. The attack, which involved cluster munitions supplied by the United States, left four journalists wounded in various levels of severity. The other correspondents had wounds of "medium severity." The Russian foreign ministry claimed that Zhuravlev's death was "a heinous, premeditated crime" committed by Western powers and Kyiv. The Russian foreign ministry denounced the attack as "criminal terror" by Ukraine and claimed that the attack appeared deliberate. The responsibility for the killing also lies with those who supplied Ukraine with cluster munitions.
The Ukrainian defence ministry said Ukraine had used cluster munitions in the incident, but did not provide evidence for this. The governor of Russia's Belgorod region said that Ukraine fired cluster munitions at a village near the Ukrainian border on Friday, but there were no casualties or damage. The United Nations has said Russia itself has repeatedly used cluster munitions during the war.
A Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea blew up an ammunition depot, sparking evacuations on the Moscow-annexed peninsula and halting rail traffic. The Ukrainian military confirmed it had launched the drone attack, claiming through its press service that it had destroyed an oil depot and Russian arms warehouses in the Krasnohvardiiske area, although without specifying what weapons were used. The Moscow-installed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said an "enemy" drone had detonated an ammunition depot and ordered the evacuation of people living within five kilometers of the zone.
Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscow's 17-month-long Ukraine offensive but has come under more intense, increased attacks in recent weeks. The attack came less than a week after a Ukrainian predawn attack on the Kerch bridge, which links the peninsula to Russia, killed two Russians and prompted Moscow to exit a landmark grain export deal. The 19km (12-mile) road and rail bridge is a vital logistics link for Russian forces and is also heavily used by Russian tourists who flock to Crimea in summer.
The Ukrainian president discussed the "unblocking" of the Black Sea grain corridor with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg. Russia ended the international grain agreement last week, which had allowed Ukraine to sell some 33 million tonnes of grain and food abroad since last summer, despite the continuing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moscow said its end of the deal was not being upheld, such as implementing a parallel agreement to ease rules for its own food and fertiliser exports.
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