BEIJING -- Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced on Friday that at the invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui will travel to Jeddah to attend the meeting on the Ukraine issue.

Wang said China stands ready to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in seeking a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

MOSCOW - Ukraine launched an attack on Moscow and the Moscow region with three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with two of them shot down and the third having crashed after being jammed by electronic warfare, said Russian authorities on Tuesday.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the attempt was foiled by air defense systems that destroyed two Ukrainian UAVs over the Odintsovo and Naro-Fominsky districts of the Moscow region.

One more drone, affected by electronic warfare, had lost control and crashed into the non-residential Moscow-City building complex, said the ministry.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed on his Telegram channel that several drones had been shot down by air defense systems while attempting to fly into Moscow.

Emergency services were working at the scene, he added.

Emergency services confirmed that Vnukovo airport, previously closed due to the attack, has now resumed normal operations.

MOSCOW -- Ukraine attempted to launch an attack on targets in Moscow with three drones but failed to achieve its goal, said the Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday.

According to the ministry, Kyiv launched three unmanned aerial vehicles at Moscow early morning on Sunday. One was shot down by air defense forces over the Odintsovo district in the Moscow region, while the other two were jammed by electronic warfare systems and crashed onto a complex of non-residential buildings in Moscow.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel that the Ukrainian drones caused minor damage to the facades of two office towers in Moscow.

The Russian state-owned TASS news agency reported that the attack injured a security guard and caused the temporary suspension of flights at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport.

Russian and Belarusian leaders meet as Ukraine accused of firing cluster bombs

A drone attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea prompted authorities to evacuate an area within a radius of 5 kilometers and briefly suspend road traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia on Saturday, a day after Russian officials accused Ukraine of firing cluster munitions at a village near the border.

Ukraine said its army had destroyed an oil depot and Russian army warehouses in central Crimea.

The attack caused an ammunition depot to explode, said Governor Sergey Aksyonov, adding that there was no reported damage or casualties.

In a video shown by state media, a thick cloud of gray smoke could be seen at the site. Aksyonov ordered people living within 5 kilometers of the zone to be evacuated.

"To minimize risks, it was also decided to halt rail traffic on Crimean railways," Aksyonov said.

The brief halt to traffic on the Crimea bridge, about 180 km to the east of the drone attack, came five days after explosions there killed two people and damaged a section of roadway, the second major attack on the bridge since the start of the special military operation.

"The goal is to return Crimea," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said, according to a transcript published by his office on Saturday of a speech addressing the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado on Friday.

Kyiv considers the Crimea bridge, opened by Russia's President Vladimir Putin in 2018, as an "enemy object" and says it wants it to be "neutralized".

Russia said on Sunday it hit all intended targets in Ukraine's port city Odesa, claiming the sites were being used to prepare "terrorist acts" against Russia.

"At night the armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out a strike … on facilities where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation using unmanned boats were prepared," the Russian army said.

The historic Transfiguration Cathedral, a landmark Orthodox cathedral in the city, was damaged, media reported.

Zelensky promised to strike back.

It came as Putin met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday, for the first time since the latter helped broker a deal to end a mutiny by Wagner fighters last month.

'Strategic partnership'

Lukashenko paid a working visit to Russia and will talk to Putin about further development of the countries' "strategic partnership", the Kremlin said.

A video posted on Sunday by Lukashenko's press service showed the two leaders arriving at Saint Petersburg's Konstantinovsky palace together before scheduled talks.

The governor of Russia's Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov has said Ukraine fired cluster munitions at a village near the Ukrainian border on Friday, but that there were no casualties or damage.

"In Belgorod district, 21 artillery shells and three cluster munitions from a multiple-launch rocket system were fired at the village of Zhuravlevka," Gladkov said on Saturday.

Ukraine received cluster bombs from the US this month, but it has said it will use them only to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers.

Belgorod, bordering Ukraine, has been repeatedly targeted by what Russia says is indiscriminate shelling by Ukraine's armed forces.

It was the first time Russia had reported the weapons being used on its territory. Putin has said Moscow has enough cluster munitions to respond if Ukraine uses the weapons.

Ukraine does not claim responsibility for attacks inside Russian territory and denied it was involved in the cross-border raids.

Russia also alleged that Kyiv had used cluster munitions on settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region and that they had killed one of its journalists and injured three.

Russia's Defense Ministry said a reporter, Rostislav Zhuravlev, "died from his wounds that resulted from the cluster munitions exploding "during the evacuation.

"Other reporters' conditions are medium, stable," the ministry said.

The death of a Russian journalist in Ukraine was "a heinous, premeditated crime" committed by Western powers and Kyiv, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, and it said there would be a "response "against those responsible.

Agencies contributed to this story.

Russia warned that any ships traveling to Ukraine's Black Sea ports from Thursday will be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes after Ukraine said it was setting up a temporary shipping route to try and continue its grain exports.

The moves by both countries on Wednesday came just days after Russia quit a grain deal — brokered by the United Nations and Turkiye — that allowed the safe passage of Black Sea exports of Ukrainian grain for the past year.

Ukraine claimed it wanted to try and continue its Black Sea grain shipments and told the UN shipping agency International Maritime Organization that it had "decided to establish on a temporary basis a recommended maritime route".

But Russia's Defense Ministry then said it would deem all ships traveling to Ukraine to be potentially carrying military cargo and "the flag countries of such ships will be considered parties to the Ukrainian conflict".

The Defense Ministry did not say what actions it might take but announced in a statement on Telegram that the move would start at midnight Moscow time.

Russia also declared the southeastern and northwestern parts of the Black Sea's international waters to be temporarily unsafe for navigation, the ministry said, without giving details about parts of the sea that would be affected.

"It underscores that we're trying to work and continue to work in what is effectively a war zone," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday when asked about the Russian warning.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin met Turkish Ambassador to Russia Mehmet Samsar on Wednesday and explained why the grain deal was terminated.

The Russian side once again stressed that the lack of progress in the implementation of the Russia-UN memorandum was one of the key reasons behind the principled decision to terminate the Black Sea Initiative on exporting Ukrainian food after its expiration on July 17, the Russian foreign ministry said.

During a meeting with government officials on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready to return to the grain deal immediately if all previously agreed-upon conditions for its participation in the initiative are met and the arrangement's "original humanitarian essence" is restored.

Essence 'twisted'

Putin said Western countries entirely twisted the essence of the grain deal, resulting in profits for European companies and losses for Russian businesses.

"The grain deal turned into direct losses and losses for Russian agricultural producers, for enterprises producing fertilizers," Putin said. "Because of a 30-40 percent discount on Russian grain on global markets, the losses of Russian farmers amounted to $1.2 billion."

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a daily briefing: "We hope that parties concerned will properly resolve international food security issues through dialogue and consultation."

China's position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent and clear-cut and "we will continue to play a constructive role in facilitating the political settlement of the crisis", Mao said.

Separately, a video released on Wednesday appears to show Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin for the first time, since he led an attempted mutiny last month. He was seen telling his troops they would spend some time in Belarus training its military before going to Africa.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it had hit military targets in two Ukrainian port cities overnight as "a mass revenge strike" following a "terrorist attack" on a key Crimea bridge.

The ministry said it had struck Odesa, where the Ukrainian navy has its headquarters, and Mykolaiv, near Ukraine's Black Sea coast.

"At night, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation delivered a group retaliation strike with high-precision sea-based weapons at facilities where terrorist acts against Russia had been prepared using unmanned boats," it said in a statement.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised meeting that the Defense Ministry was "preparing relevant proposals "and Russia will "of course" respond to the "terrorist attack" against Crimea's Kerch Bridge.

He called on the authorities, including the Federal Security Service, to investigate the incident and asked for measures to secure the "strategically important transport facility" from future strikes.

Putin also claimed there was no military significance to hitting the bridge because it "has long not been used for military transport". It is also a "brutal" crime since innocent civilians have been killed, he said.

The incident happened as Moscow announced the termination of the Black Sea grain deal. However, the Kremlin said the decision was unrelated to the bridge incident.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signaled that Russia's withdrawal meant the related pact to assist Russia's grain and fertilizer exports was also terminated.

Profound impact

Shashwat Saraf, emergency director in East Africa for the International Rescue Committee, said the impact would be profound in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, which have been facing the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing on Tuesday that Moscow rejected a United States' criticism of its withdrawal from a grain deal backed by Turkiye and the UN. Russia would continue supplying grain to poor countries, he said.

He added that the grain deal zone "is used by the Kyiv regime for combat purposes".

Also on Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Telegram that a total of 28 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles targeting Crimea were intercepted by air defenses, but there were no casualties or damage from what it described as a "terrorist attack".

Russia has been accusing Ukrainian forces of striking its supply lines, while Kyiv said Russia had amassed "over 100,000 troops and more than 900 tanks" in northeastern Ukraine's Kupiansk city.

Agencies contributed to this story.

A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Monday said that the crisis in Ukraine stems from an "outbreak of security conflicts in Europe" and proves that pursuing absolute security, provoking confrontation and expanding military blocs "brings only turmoil and unrest to Europe and the world".

"The evolving situation on the battlefield demonstrates that military means cannot resolve the Ukrainian crisis," Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN said at a Security Council meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Monday.

Geng said the continuation of the armed conflict will bring only more suffering to civilians and may even lead to unpredictable and irreparable scenarios. No matter how long the crisis lasts, it will eventually be resolved through political means, he emphasized.

The envoy pointed out that "rational voices" supporting the resumption of peace talks have become stronger and stronger. Developing countries from Asia, Africa, and Latin America all have put forward peace initiatives. They all reflect a strong will to resolve the crisis politically, said Geng.

He called on both parties to the conflict to meet each other halfway and explore solutions that accommodate each other's concerns, conform to regional realities and help bridge differences.

Geng also called for controlling the spillover effects of the crisis. It has made global food, energy and financial security more vulnerable, and developing countries will face more difficulties in achieving sustainable development goals, he said.

"Relevant countries should immediately stop imposing excessive unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, ensure the safety and smoothness of global industrial and supply chains, increase support and assistance to developing countries, and do more things that are conducive to world economic growth.

"China appreciates the important role of the Black Sea grain transport package agreement in stabilizing the global grain market and hopes that relevant parties can properly resolve the issue of Black Sea grain transport through dialogue and consultation," said Geng.

On Monday, Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out an attack on the bridge linking the Russian mainland and Crimea, alleging involvement from the UK and the US.

On the same day, Russia suspended participation in the Black Sea grain deal just as it was set to expire.

"Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements that concerns Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Russia had been complaining that its demands to improve its own grain and fertilizer exports have not been met, Xinhua News reported.

"As soon as the Russian part is fulfilled, the Russian side will immediately return to the implementation of that deal," Peskov said.

While the grain initiative is out, the controversial weapons banned in more than 100 countries are now in Ukraine, which last week said it has already received cluster munitions from the US.

"The irresponsible transfer of cluster bombs can easily lead to humanitarian problems. Humanitarian concerns and legitimate military security needs should be addressed in a balanced manner, and an attitude of prudence and restraint should be exercised in the transfer of cluster bombs," Geng said.

Geng also said that nuclear safety and security needed to be ensured. "We once again call on both parties to the conflict to exercise maximum rational restraint, abide by nuclear safety conventions and other international laws, and resolutely avoid man-made nuclear accidents," he said.

MOSCOW/VILNIUS, Lithuania — Russia has warned it would be forced to use "similar" weapons if the United States supplied cluster bombs to Ukraine, as the West pledged long-term security commitments for Ukraine on Wednesday.

It came before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was scheduled to hold symbolic talks with NATO's 31 leaders at their summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, a day after blasting them for not moving faster to bring Kyiv into the fold.

While some Eastern European nations have pushed for an explicit timetable to allow Kyiv to join the bloc, the US and Germany are reluctant to go beyond an earlier vow that it will become a member one day.

US President Joe Biden, who met Zelensky at the summit on Wednesday, has said there is no agreement to offer Kyiv membership because this move could drag NATO directly into the conflict.

Instead, the Vilnius gathering was expected to produce more commitments on arms shipments and a reaffirmation that Ukraine's eventual place is within the alliance once the conflict is won, Agence France-Presse reported.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday it would closely follow any decisions taken at the two-day summit and respond with unspecified measures to protect its own security.

Biden had previously mooted a model for Ukraine similar to one under which Washington has committed to giving Israel $3.8 billion in military aid per year over a decade.

Commenting on NATO summit, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, warned on Tuesday the increase in military assistance to Ukraine by NATO brings World War III closer.

He also mentioned there were reports of Ukraine already using the "inhuman weapon" of cluster bombs.

The US announced last week it would supply Ukraine with cluster munitions — explosive weapons that release large numbers of smaller bomblets over a wide area. They are banned by more than 120 countries, including many NATO members.

Ironic remark

Ironically, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Feb 28 last year that if the reports of illegal cluster bombs used by Russians were true, it would potentially be a war crime.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with an Indonesian newspaper published on Wednesday that the armed confrontation in Ukraine will continue until the West gives up plans to dominate and defeat Moscow.

The goal of the "US-led collective West" is to strengthen its global hegemony, Lavrov told Kompas.

Lavrov was due to attend the foreign ministers' meetings of the East Asia Summit and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum on Friday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The pair last met briefly in March at a G20 meeting in India.

In another development, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, on Tuesday reiterated the call for an objective, impartial and professional investigation into the explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines in September last year.

On Sept 26, a series of explosions occurred on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines. In the days following, Denmark, Sweden and Germany initiated their own investigations into the incidents. As of now, no investigation has reached a conclusive outcome.

"The longer the delay, the harder it is to collect evidence and find out the truth, the more doubts and speculations there are from the outside world, and the lower the credibility of the investigation results," Geng told a Security Council meeting.

Minlu Zhang at the United Nations contributed to this story.

Agencies - Xinhua - China Daily

MOSCOW - Five Ukrainian drones were shot down over the New Moscow region in Russia on Tuesday morning with no casualties reported, causing disruptions at the Vnukovo airport for almost three hours.

According to RIA Novosti, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the drones were targeting objects in the Moscow region and the New Moscow region, and that four of them were destroyed by air defense and one by electronic warfare.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the attack was another attempt by Kyiv to destabilize Russia and undermine its sovereignty and security.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced the attack as an act of terrorism.

The Hungarian government has maintained its stance in preventing the European Union from approving a package of 500 million euros ($546 million) in military aid for Ukraine until Kyiv removes its largest bank from a list of international sponsors of war.

The monthlong veto was reaffirmed on Monday during an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told the media after the meeting that the adoption of the eighth support package for Ukraine is still not solved.

"I will engage personally with everybody in order to try to solve it as soon as possible because this support package to Ukraine remains vital," he said.

Hungary has blocked the latest package of military aid to Ukraine by accusing Kyiv of listing OTP Bank, Hungary's largest commercial bank, as "international sponsors of war". Hungarian officials insisted the bank's designation is "unacceptable" and Ukraine must remove it from the list before it approves the aid.

The release of the financial aid package to Ukraine, under the so-called European Peace Facility, requires unanimous agreement by all 27 EU member states.

The European Peace Facility is an off-budget instrument established by the EU in 2021 to enhance its ability to act as a global security provider.

Hungarian Minister of State for International Communication and Relations Zoltan Kovacs reiterated Hungary's stance on Monday.

"FM Peter Szijjarto stated that approval would only be granted once Ukraine removes OTP Bank, which is not in violation of international laws, from the list of international sponsors of war," he said in a tweet.

He added that Szijjarto has "urged his EU counterparts to exert pressure on Ukraine, highlighting that Ukraine could easily resolve the situation by removing OTP Bank (from the list) if they so desired".

According to Kovacs, Hungary also opposes the diversion of European Peace Facility funds, originally intended to support stability globally, toward partial financing of arms deliveries to Ukraine, emphasizing the importance of maintaining stability in regions like the Western Balkans and Africa to prevent security threat and migration waves.

Hungary blocked the eighth aid package delivery to Ukraine since mid-May when Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention, or NACP, added OTP Bank to the list of "international sponsors of war" due to its continued business presence in Russia.

The Ukrainian agency temporarily suspended five Greek shipping companies from the list last week in order for Greece to approve the 11th round of EU sanctions against Russia. But OTP Bank is still on the list.

While the delivery of the eighth aid package to Ukraine is still blocked, EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed to boost their joint military aid fund for Ukraine by 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion).

"We will continue to double down on our military support on both equipment & training. For as long as it takes," Borrell said in a tweet on Monday.

African leaders' peace proposal fails to spark enthusiasm from both sides

Russia reported fierce fighting on Sunday on three sections of the front line in Ukraine, a day after Russia hosted an African peace mission that failed to spark enthusiasm from either Moscow or Kyiv.

The most intense fighting centered on Zaporizhzhia, around the city of Bakhmut and further west in eastern Donetsk, according to a British intelligence assessment on Sunday.

A Russian-installed official said Ukraine had recaptured Piatykhatky, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, and its forces were entrenched there while coming under fire from Russian artillery.

"The enemy's 'wavelike' offensives yielded results, despite enormous losses," said Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We are Together with Russia movement.

Russia's Defense Ministry made no mention of Piatykhatky in its update, in which it said its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks in three sections of the 1,000-kilometer front line. A separate statement from Russia's Vostok group of forces said Ukraine had failed to take the settlement.

The Ukrainian military said on Sunday that Russia carried out 43 airstrikes, four missile attacks, and 51 rocket launches.

According to its statement, Russia continues to concentrate its efforts on offensive operations in Ukraine's industrial east, focusing attacks around Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka, and Lyman in Donetsk.

The latest statement by the Russian Defense Ministry said more than 1,000 Ukrainian troops were killed in the past 24 hours.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday praised his forces for their "very effective" efforts in repelling enemy assaults near Avdiivka.

'Time has come'

He also described the southern front as "the most brutal" and expressed gratitude to troops fighting there.

The fire exchanges happened a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in St. Petersburg with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who presented Putin with a 10-point peace initiative from seven African countries and told him the time had come for Russia and Ukraine to start negotiations to end the conflict.

"The proposal presented by African leaders on a mission to Ukraine and Russia has created a foundation for future engagements that will contribute to a road to peace and resolution to the devastating conflict," the South African president's office said on Sunday.

Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Putin had shown interest in the plan but it would be "difficult to realize".

Peskov said the dialogue with the Africans will continue, including at the Russia-Africa summit to be held in a month in St. Petersburg.

In Kyiv the previous day, Zelensky had told the visiting African delegation that allowing negotiations now would just "freeze the war".

In latest developments on the Kakhovka dam, the collapse of the Moscow-controlled dam on June 6 unleashed floodwaters across parts of the Kherson region. The death toll from the floods has risen to 35, a local official said on Sunday.

The United Nations on Sunday said Moscow had declined its offers of help in flooded areas.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia's decision was motivated by security concerns and other nuances. "There are a lot of issues there," Peskov told reporters.

In another development, Russia's FSB security service said on Monday it had thwarted a series of Ukrainian "sabotage and terrorist plots" targeting Russian-backed officials on Russian-controlled territory.

Agencies contributed to this story.

VLADIVOSTOK/KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russian forces had destroyed the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam in southern Ukraine.

All services are working to eliminate the consequences of the incident, Zelensky said in a Telegram post, adding that he had convened the National Security and Defense Council.

Ukraine's state-run nuclear energy operator Energoatom said that the destruction of the dam may have negative consequences for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The plant is using water from the Kakhovka reservoir to power its turbine capacitors and safety systems, Energoatom said, noting that currently the situation at the plant is under control.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Leontiev, mayor of Nova Kakhovka, said on Tuesday that the upper part of the power plant was destroyed due to shelling, but the reservoir dam remained unaffected.

The Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, serving as the final stage of the Dnieper hydroelectric power plant cascade, is situated just 5 kilometers away from Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region.

Following the destruction of the power plant, the water level downstream rose by 2.5 meters, the mayor said, adding that although evacuation is not required for the city, it might be necessary for downstream settlements.

Approximately 300 houses could potentially be affected by flooding, Leontiev noted. "We have currently diverted buses from their regular routes, and we are prepared to evacuate people if necessary," he said.

The mayor said that there will be "no catastrophic outcome."

MOSCOW — Russia said it had repelled an attempted incursion along its border with Ukraine by what it casts as pro-Ukrainian militants, while heavy shelling and a suspected drone attack prompted a partial evacuation of civilians from the area.

Russia has come under repeated attack in recent days, including a major cross-border incursion and the biggest-ever drone attack on Moscow.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it had repelled three cross-border attacks on Thursday near the town of Shebekino, and it accused Ukraine of using "terrorist formations" to carry out attempted attacks on Russian civilians.

"The selfless actions of Russian servicemen repelled three attacks by Ukrainian terrorist formations," the Russian ministry said. "No violations of the state border were allowed."

Ukraine denied its military was involved in the incursions into Belgorod.

Moscow blames Ukrainian "terrorists" for targeting Russia's western border. Russian officials said the group of fighters is a proxy run by Ukraine.

Russian army units, border guards and units of the Federal Security Service repelled the first attack at around 0100 GMT as two units with vehicles and tanks tried to penetrate the border near Novaya Tavolzhanka and Shebekino, said the Defense Ministry, adding there were three attacks from the Ukrainian side.

More than 50 Ukrainian fighters were killed and four armored vehicles were destroyed, the ministry said. It added that up to 70 fighters, five tanks and four armored vehicles were involved in the attack.

Zero condemnation

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was being regularly briefed on the situation at the border and noted that Western powers had refrained from condemning the attacks on Russian territory that it said Ukraine had carried out.

"As before, there is not a single word of criticism for the Kyiv regime — or any condemnation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The attacks on Belgorod, Peskov said, would have absolutely no impact on the course of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

In the Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Ukraine's armed forces had shelled Shebekino with Soviet-designed Grad 122mm rockets, setting alight a dormitory and damaging an administrative building.

Two civilians were killed in shelling across the region on Friday. Video footage posted on social media showed plumes of smoke rising above a large building in Shebekino as flames licked through the destroyed roof.

Meanwhile, according to a report by Reuters, the United States is seeking to secure supplies of TNT from Japan for 155mm artillery shells, as Washington rushes weapons and ammunition to Ukraine for a counteroffensive against Russian forces, two people familiar with the matter said.

"There is a way for the US to buy explosives from Japan," one of the two people with knowledge of discussions on the matter in Japan said on condition of anonymity, citing the issue's sensitivity.

Agencies Via Xinhua

China is willing to actively consider sending personnel to relevant countries again to communicate on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, said Li Hui, special representative of the Chinese government on Eurasian Affairs.

Beijing "is willing to maintain communication with all parties in this regard", Li told media from home and abroad at a briefing on Friday in Beijing about his recently concluded Eurasian trip for mediating the lingering Russia-Ukraine conflict.

From May 15 to 26, Li, former Chinese ambassador to Russia and a veteran diplomat on Eurasian affairs, visited Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, the European Union's headquarters and Russia.

"China will, in light of the development of the situation and the reaction of the international community, decide the direction of its work and concrete initiatives intended for the near future," Li said when asked about future steps Beijing will take for tackling the crisis.

According to a recent comment by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, Li's trip took place in order to "have extensive contact and exchanges with various parties on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, make clear China's position and propositions, listen to the opinions and advice from various parties, and build up international common understandings".

"At present, various parties may still face a lot of difficulties in sitting down at the table to negotiate, talk and yield due results," Li said.

"But it is important that people step forward to push for achieving consensus and formulating the largest common ground, and to accumulate and create conditions for the final settlement of the crisis," Li added.

KYIV -- Ukraine's combined grain and oilseed harvest is expected to stand at 68 million tons this year, down about 8.5 percent from 2022, as shown in a recent forecast released on Thursday.

The forecast by the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) suggested that this year's harvest will be 36 percent lower than the 2021 yield of about 106 million tons.

Ukraine will sow about 19.5 million hectares of farmland this year, down from 25 million hectares in the previous years, the UGA said.

The association projected that Ukraine will export 56.4 million tons of grain and oilseed in the current marketing year that ends on June 30 if the grain corridor continues functioning.

The forecast predicts that Ukraine has the potential to export 43.9 million tons of crops in the 2023-2024 marketing year.

Days after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba left Africa last week, his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov made a surprise visit to Kenya on Monday for a series of meetings with local leaders.

Lavrov who was on his maiden trip to Kenya, but his fourth to Africa since the war in Ukraine began, met with Kenya's parliamentary leaders led by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula. During the meeting, Lavrov reiterated the importance of Africa-Russia relations and said that his country is looking forward to the Russia-Africa Summit, which will take place at the end of July in St Petersburg.

"During the summit, we will discuss our cooperation in security, trade, investment and economy, as well as cultural and humanitarian issues, education, cooperation within the UN, and many other matters. This is a wonderful opportunity to coordinate our steps and outline plans for the future," Lavrov said.

Later that day Kenyan President William Ruto hosted the Russian foreign minister at Nairobi's state house and said that Kenya and Africa are calling for the Ukraine conflict to be resolved in a manner that respects both parties.

Ruto also said the United Nations Security Council needs to be reformed to make it more representative and responsive to the needs of the 21st century, adding that Africa should be represented at the UN's top-decision making organ.

Lavrov's trip reflects the latest effort by both Russia and Ukraine in their ongoing campaign to win support in Africa, after Ukraine's foreign minister visited Ethiopia, Morocco and Rwanda last week.

After his trip to Kenya, Lavrov is expected to attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China in South Africa.

Early this month, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said a delegation of African leaders will soon travel to Russia and Ukraine to present a peace plan. Ramaphosa added that Africa wants to be involved because the conflict has an impact on the lives of many Africans with regard to food security, the rising prices of fertilizers, cereals and fuel.

Gilbert Khadiagala, a professor of international relations at South Africa's Witwatersrand University, said Africa's offer to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has elicited varied reactions on the continent and globally.

Some observers have lauded the African initiative, while others have derided it. "To supporters of Africa's proposal, it is about growing African agency and African voices would bring a measure of neutrality required to unlock the stalemate," Khadiagala said.

otiato@chinadaily.com.cn

UNITED NATIONS -- The nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine remains extremely fragile and dangerous, said the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday.

"Military activities continue in the region and may well increase very considerably in the near future," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told a UN Security Council briefing.

The plant has been operating on significantly reduced staff, which despite being in temporary shut-down is not sustainable, he said.

There have been seven occasions when the site lost all off-site power and had to rely on emergency diesel generators, the last line of defence against a nuclear accident, to provide essential cooling of the reactor and spent fuel. The last one, the seventh, occurred just one week ago, Grossi said.

"We are fortunate that a nuclear accident has not yet happened... we are rolling a dice and if this continues then one day our luck will run out," he warned.

"So we must all do everything in our power to minimize the chance that it does," said Grossi.

The IAEA chief laid out new "concrete principles" which he said are essential to avoid the danger of a catastrophic incident at the Zaporizhzhia plant.

There should be no attack of any kind from or against the plant, in particular targeting the reactors, spent fuel storage, other critical infrastructure or personnel, he said.

Zaporizhzhia should not be used as storage or a base for heavy weapons or military personnel that could be used for an attack from the plant, and off-site power to the plant should not be put at risk, he added.

All structures, systems and components essential to the safe and secure operation of the Zaporizhzhia plant should be protected from attacks or acts of sabotage, Grossi said.

Russia's Defense Ministry accused Ukraine on Tuesday of a "terrorist attack", saying it had intercepted all of the eight Ukrainian drones aimed at Moscow.

"This morning the Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack with drones on targets in the city of Moscow," the ministry said on social media. "Eight drones were used in the attack. All of the enemy drones were downed."

There were no reports of deaths.

The drone attack was the biggest on the Russian capital since President Vladimir Putin ordered the February 2022 special military operation in Ukraine. Nobody has yet claimed responsibility.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said two people were injured, one of whom was hospitalized, in the early morning attack. Residents of several parts of two apartment blocks had been evacuated but later returned.

"Early this morning, as a result of the drone attack, minor damage occurred in several buildings," Sobyanin said. "No one has been seriously injured."

Some residents of a building on Profsoyuznaya Street in the city's south were being evacuated, Russia's state RIA news agency reported.

A video posted on social media showed what appeared to be a drone being shot down and a plume of smoke rising over the city skyline.

Moscow's airports remained open.

It was the most serious attack on Moscow since Nazi attacks during World War II, Russian lawmaker Maxim Ivanov said, adding no citizen could now avoid what he said was "the new reality".

Russia's investigative committee said a number of drones were shot down and that there was minor damage due to the falling wreckage, but did not specify the number (of drones).

The Telegram channel Baza, which has good sources among Russia's security services, said about 25 drones attacked the capital. Moscow business daily RBK cited an unidentified interior ministry source as saying that more than 10 drones were shot down.

Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, said on Telegram that several drones were shot down on their approach to Moscow.

The attack on Moscow came after two drones exploded over the Kremlin on May 3 in an attack that Russian officials blamed on Ukraine, which denied involvement.

Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia have been growing in intensity in recent weeks. The United States intelligence believes Ukraine was behind the drone attack on the Kremlin, The New York Times reported.

Russian territories close to Ukraine have come under repeated attack in recent months and the Defense Ministry in Moscow said last week that troops defeated an incursion by attackers who crossed the border into the Belgorod region.

Agencies via Xinhua contributed to this story.

China will continue to strengthen dialogue and exchanges with all parties to work for a political settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular news conference on Monday, as Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui wrapped up a two-week trip in Europe.

During his recent trip to Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, the European Union headquarters and Russia, Li had extensive contact and exchanges with all sides over the conflict's political settlement, explained China's position and listened to opinions and suggestions from all sides, Mao said.

All the countries and organizations Li visited had attached great importance to the trip and fully recognized China's positive role in promoting peace talks, Mao said.

They also appreciated China's call for respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as observance of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and expected China to continue to exert its constructive influence, Mao said.

The conflict is still at a critical stage, she said, adding that China will continue to act upon President Xi Jinping's call for joint efforts in four areas, four principles and three observations, and contribute its part to a political settlement.

Fundamental approach

These proposals put forward by President Xi last year have outlined China's fundamental approach to the conflict.

Mao also dismissed a Wall Street Journal report that cited Western officials as saying China is proposing a cease-fire that would leave Russia in possession of parts of Ukraine.

The public should refer to the readouts that China has issued on Li's trip for authentic information, she said.

"I also noted that the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said publicly that he contacted all relevant parties and no country said Special Envoy Li Hui made the remarks as reported by The Wall Street Journal," Mao said.

KYIV -- The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) admitted on Saturday that it implemented "certain measures" linked to the explosion on the Crimean Bridge in October 2022.

"According to our legislation, international legislation and the customs and traditions of warfare, taking into account the fact that it was a logistical route that we were obliged to cut off the enemy, certain measures were taken," Vasyl Malyuk, head of the SSU, said in a statement published on the agency's website.

Still, it is too early to make public the details of the "special operation," Malyuk said.

On Oct 8, 2022, a deadly blast hit the 19-km Crimean Bridge, which consists of two parallel routes for automobiles and trains over the Kerch Strait.

A truck exploded on the road bridge, causing seven fuel tanks of a train heading to the Crimean Peninsula to catch fire. Three people were killed in the blast, which also led to the partial collapse of two spans of the road bridge.