Ukraine said it clawed back a chunk of the industrial centre of Sievierodonetsk, appearing to stymie a Russian drive to capture the ruined eastern city, the focus of Moscow’s offensive to take the Donbas region.

FIGHTING

* Russia will continue its military operation in Ukraine until all its goals have been achieved, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

* Ukraine does not plan to use multiple-launch rocket systems it receives from the United States to attack facilities in Russia, a Zelenskiy adviser said.

* Prosecutors investigating war crimes cases in Ukraine are examining allegations of the forcible deportation of children to Russia since the invasion as they seek to build a genocide indictment, the country’s top prosecutor told Reuters.

* Two Reuters journalists were injured and a driver killed on Friday after the vehicle they were in came under fire while heading to Sievierodonetsk.

ECONOMY AND DIPLOMACY

* Putin denied Russia was preventing Ukrainian ports from exporting grain, saying the best solution would be to ship it through Belarus if sanctions on that country were lifted.

* Turkey expects progress on a plan to unlock grain exports from Ukraine's Black Sea ports when Russia's foreign minister visits next week, a senior Turkish official said.

* U.N. officials warned a protracted war in Ukraine threatened a hunger crisis there and around the world.

* The EU blacklisted Russian military commanders who it said led troops involved in atrocities in Ukraine, calling them the "butchers" of Bucha and Mariupol.

* Russia accused Germany of throwing European security into imbalance by "remilitarizing", as Berlin shores up its military spending.

* Russia's Foreign Ministry said it was summoning the heads of U.S. media outlets in Moscow on Monday to notify them of tough measures in response to U.S. restrictions against Russian media.

Reuters