TOP HEADLINES

• A fire that broke out at the military training grounds on the Crimean Peninsula has forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people and a closure of nearby highway, Crimea's Moscow-backed governor said. There was no reason given for the fire. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia has launched what one Ukrainian official called a "truly massive" and "hellish" air attack on Odesa for a second night in row. The strikes on one of Ukraine's main ports for exporting grain comes after Russia vowed retaliation following an attack on a bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula. READ MORE BELOW

• A senior Ukrainian presidential adviser has accused Russia of intentionally striking grain terminals and port infrastructure in Odesa in the attacks. "The main objective is to destroy the possibility of shipping Ukrainian grain," said political adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.

• Russia's foreign ministry said that unless the UN implemented the terms of a memorandum about its agricultural exports within three months, Moscow would not restart talks about rejoining the deal to allow Ukrainian exports through the Black Sea.

• The UN said there were a "number of ideas being floated" to help get Ukrainian and Russian grain and fertilizer to global markets after Moscow quit the deal earlier this week. 

• Meanwhile, the Kremlin reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan had discussed alternative options for supplying grain to the world's neediest countries.

• The head of Britain's MI6 foreign spy service said the Wagner group's mutiny attempt showed Russian President Vladimir Putin was under pressure. He added that Russians who are against the conflict should "join hands" with his intelligence service to bring the fighting to an end.

• Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russia is far from a failure, but the fight ahead will be long and bloody, a top U.S. general said, even as casualties on both sides mount while the front lines of the conflict continue to move only incrementally.

• Russia and Ukraine are reporting vastly different accounts of fighting in northeastern Ukraine, with Moscow claiming advances and Kyiv saying it had seized the initiative in the region.

• A nephew of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has been appointed the new head of Russia's Danone subsidiary after the Kremlin ordered the state to take temporary control of the French yogurt maker's business in Russia.

• The head of the International Olympic Committee said that athletes from Russia and Belarus should not be punished for the actions of their governments and be allowed to compete internationally as neutrals.

IN DETAIL

'Hellish' attacks on Odesa, Crimea blaze

Russia launched an extensive air attack on the Ukrainian city of Odesa for a second night in row, but authorities vowed on Wednesday to keep grain exports moving from its ports.

The attack was "very powerful, truly massive," Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, said on Telegram on Wednesday.

"It was a hellish night," he added, saying that details on the damage and casualties would come later.

Ukraine's air force said 63 missiles and drones had been launched across the country by Russia in the overnight attack, of which 37 had been shot down – less than have usually been reported in attacks over the past months.

The air force said the attack's main focus were infrastructure and military facilities in Odesa region.

"(The strike) hit a grain and oil terminal, damaged tanks and equipment for loading, a fire started, all relevant services are working to deal with the consequences," the military said.

Odesa's three ports were the only ports operating in Ukraine during the conflict under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement which Moscow withdrew from on Monday. Russia has since conducted two major bombardments of the city.

The attacks on Odesa followed a pledge of retaliation by Moscow after a blast on a bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula on Monday that Moscow said was carried out by Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had hit military targets in two Ukrainian port cities overnight as "a mass revenge strike" for the attack on the Crimean Bridge.

In Russian-controlled Crimea, a fire broke out a military training ground in the Kirovske district, forcing the evacuation of more than 2,000 people from four settlements, the peninsula's governor Sergei Aksyonov said, without giving a reason for the blaze.

Russia's Telegram channels linked to Russian security services and Ukrainian media reported that an ammunition depot was on fire at the base after an Ukrainian overnight air attack.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, but Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration in Ukraine posted two videos of a fire in an uninhabited area, saying, "Enemy ammunition depot. Staryi Krym," the locality hit in Crimea. 

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