AFP
The city of Kherson near the front line in southern Ukraine will be under curfew for 58 hours from Friday evening, a local official said, as Ukraine prepares for a spring offensive.
"During these 58 hours, it is forbidden to move on the streets of the city. The city will also be closed for entry and exit," Prokudin said on Telegram, advising residents to stock up on food and medicine.
Prokudin said residents could go for short walks near their houses or visit shops but should carry identity documents with them.
The curfew announcement came as officials said three people were killed and five injured in a Russian strike on Kherson's only working hypermarket on Wednesday.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that seven people connected with Ukrainian intelligence had been detained in Crimea, state-owned news agency TASS reported.
In a statement, the FSB said that attacks against Russian-backed Crimea governor Sergei Aksyonov and other officials had been thwarted.
The deputy defence ministers of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey will meet in Istanbul on Friday to discuss a deal that allows the exports of Ukrainian grains on the Black Sea, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
"During the meeting, some issues starting with the grain initiative will be discussed," state-owned Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying about the meeting scheduled to take place in Istanbul.
"In this regard, we can say that the sides are looking warmly at the extension of the duration. Our wish is that this initiative is extended without any trouble," he said.
Russia launched a third nightly round of attacks on Kyiv in six days, authorities in the Ukrainian capital said on Wednesday, but a drone hit a building in the Dnipropetrovsk region as Moscow steps up attacks on its neighbour.
Ukraine's Air Force Command said its forces destroyed 21 of the 26 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia, while Kyiv officials said air defence systems eliminated those sent over the city, with no initial reports of casualties or destruction.
"All enemy targets were identified and shot down in the airspace around the capital," Kyiv's military administration said on the Telegram messaging app, citing initial details.
A fuel storage facility in Russia's Krasnodar region was on fire in the early hours on Wednesday, the region's governor said, adding that according to preliminary information there are no casualties.
"The fire has been classified as the highest rank of difficulty," Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region which lies in Russia's southwest across the Sea of Azov from Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Washington did not warn Kyiv about the top-secret documents leaked to internet chat rooms – containing sensitive information about Ukraine's war effort – before the news broke in the media last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Washington Post.
The embarrassing security breach revealed US unease about a coming counteroffensive by Kyiv's forces against Russian troops as well as concerns about Ukrainian air defenses.
"I did not receive information from the White House or the Pentagon beforehand," Zelensky told the newspaper in an interview in Kyiv Monday.
"We did not have that information. I personally did not. It's definitely a bad story," he said, calling the situation "unprofitable".
Ukrainian forces shelled a village in the Russian Bryansk region bordering Ukraine early on Tuesday, the local governor said in a social media post, a day after an explosion derailed a freight train in the region.
The EU announced it will put forward a plan to boost its production capacity of artillery shells to one million a year, as it scrambles to arm Ukraine and replenish its own stocks after decades of under-investment in defence.
"During these 58 hours, it is forbidden to move on the streets of the city. The city will also be closed for entry and exit," Prokudin said on Telegram, advising residents to stock up on food and medicine.
Prokudin said residents could go for short walks near their houses or visit shops but should carry identity documents with them.
The curfew announcement came as officials said three people were killed and five injured in a Russian strike on Kherson's only working hypermarket on Wednesday.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that seven people connected with Ukrainian intelligence had been detained in Crimea, state-owned news agency TASS reported.
In a statement, the FSB said that attacks against Russian-backed Crimea governor Sergei Aksyonov and other officials had been thwarted.
The deputy defence ministers of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey will meet in Istanbul on Friday to discuss a deal that allows the exports of Ukrainian grains on the Black Sea, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
"During the meeting, some issues starting with the grain initiative will be discussed," state-owned Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying about the meeting scheduled to take place in Istanbul.
"In this regard, we can say that the sides are looking warmly at the extension of the duration. Our wish is that this initiative is extended without any trouble," he said.
Russia launched a third nightly round of attacks on Kyiv in six days, authorities in the Ukrainian capital said on Wednesday, but a drone hit a building in the Dnipropetrovsk region as Moscow steps up attacks on its neighbour.
Ukraine's Air Force Command said its forces destroyed 21 of the 26 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia, while Kyiv officials said air defence systems eliminated those sent over the city, with no initial reports of casualties or destruction.
"All enemy targets were identified and shot down in the airspace around the capital," Kyiv's military administration said on the Telegram messaging app, citing initial details.
A fuel storage facility in Russia's Krasnodar region was on fire in the early hours on Wednesday, the region's governor said, adding that according to preliminary information there are no casualties.
"The fire has been classified as the highest rank of difficulty," Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region which lies in Russia's southwest across the Sea of Azov from Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Washington did not warn Kyiv about the top-secret documents leaked to internet chat rooms – containing sensitive information about Ukraine's war effort – before the news broke in the media last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Washington Post.
The embarrassing security breach revealed US unease about a coming counteroffensive by Kyiv's forces against Russian troops as well as concerns about Ukrainian air defenses.
"I did not receive information from the White House or the Pentagon beforehand," Zelensky told the newspaper in an interview in Kyiv Monday.
"We did not have that information. I personally did not. It's definitely a bad story," he said, calling the situation "unprofitable".
Ukrainian forces shelled a village in the Russian Bryansk region bordering Ukraine early on Tuesday, the local governor said in a social media post, a day after an explosion derailed a freight train in the region.
The EU announced it will put forward a plan to boost its production capacity of artillery shells to one million a year, as it scrambles to arm Ukraine and replenish its own stocks after decades of under-investment in defence.
