Russia will cut gas supplies to Europe once again in a blow to countries that have supported Ukraine, just as there was hope that economic pressures could ease this week with the resumption of Black Sea grain exports.

fighting

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights gave its latest civilian death toll from the Ukraine war to date as 5,237, with the number of those injured exceeding 7,000.

• Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had destroyed a depot for US-made HIMARS rocket systems in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region. Ukraine said its HIMARS rockets had destroyed 50 Russian ammunition depots.

• The Ukrainian military reported Russian cruise missile strikes in the south. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the battlefield reports.

Diplomacy, economy

• Russia tightened its gas squeeze on Europe as Gazprom said supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany would drop to just 20% of capacity.

• The first ships to export grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports may move within a few days under a deal agreed by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, a UN spokesperson said.

• The Kremlin said Saturday’s Russian missile strikes in Odesa had hit military targets and would not affect grain exports.

• Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said there were no barriers to the export of grain from Ukraine’s ports and that Russia would continue to attack military infrastructure in Ukraine.

• The White House said Russia’s attack on Odesa cast doubt on the grain deal and the United States was exploring options to increase Ukrainian exports through overland routes.

• The boss of Leclerc warned that the French supermarket chain could reduce its opening hours as part of emergency measures to deal with the risk of power shortages linked to the war.

Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Quotes

“This (strike on Odesa) should not affect - and will not affect - the beginning of (grain) shipments,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.