Live blog: Second ship departs Odessa after grain deal lapse — Ukraine

Sunday, August 27, 2023

1459 GMT — Ukraine has said that a second cargo ship stuck in the port of Odessa left via a temporary corridor set up after the Black Sea grain deal collapsed.

"The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier PRIMUS of a Singaporean operator has left the port of Odessa and is sailing through the temporary corridor established for civilian vessels," Ukraine's reconstruction ministry said.

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1456 GMT — Ukraine investigates incident that killed 3 pilots while Russia attacks with cruise missiles

Ukrainian authorities have launched an investigation after a midair collision between two warplanes in the west of the country killed three pilots.

Ukraine's Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told Ukrainian television that it wasn't immediately clear how long the probe would take.

According to the Air Force's Telegram page, two L-39 training military aircraft collided on Friday during a combat mission over Ukraine's western Zhytomyr region.

Three pilots were killed, including Andriy Pilshchykov, a well-known pilot with the nickname “Juice” who was an outspoken advocate for Ukraine getting F-16 fighter jets.

1051 GMT — Wagner boss Prigozhin's death confirmed by investigators: Moscow

Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been formally confirmed dead following genetic analysis, investigators said, as anger and questions over what caused his plane to crash earlier in the week continued to mount.

"Molecular-genetic examinations have been completed as part of the investigation into the plane crash in the Tver region," Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman from Russia's Investigative Committee said.

"According to their results, the identities of all 10 victims were established, they correspond to the list stated in the flight list," she added.

0600 GMT — Russia launches air attack on Kiev: military

Russia has launched an overnight air attack on Kiev and other parts of Ukraine, Ukraine's military said, with air defence systems destroying missiles heading towards the capital.

All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for about three hours early on Sunday before they were cleared at around 6am local time (0300 GMT), Ukraine Air Force data showed.

"Enemy targets moving in the direction of Kyiv were destroyed by air defence forces," Serhiy Popko, head of Kiev's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. The attack involved cruise missiles, he said.

There was no immediate information about the scale of the attack, possible damage or casualties.

0510 GMT — Russia shoots down two drones over Kursk, Bryansk regions

Russia's defence ministry has said its forces shot down two drones overnight in two regions bordering Ukraine.

One drone was shot down over the Bryansk region in Russia's west and another in the Kursk region, just south of it, the defence ministry said on the Telegram messaging channel.

There was no further information about possible damage or casualties.

0351 GMT — Gazprom to ship 41.5 mcm of gas to Europe via Ukraine

Russia's Gazprom has said it will send 41.5 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine, a volume in line with recent days.