LYSOHIRKA, Ukraine (AP) — The rising waters came as a relief at first, for both the tiny community living on the islands in the southern Kakhovka Reservoir and for everyone who had feared the low levels risked a meltdown at the nearby Russian-occupied nuclear power plant.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia agreed to a two-month extension of a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, a boost to global food security after the war drove up prices.
Ukraine delegate hits Russian at Black Sea summit in Turkey
May 5, 2023 GMTISTANBUL (AP) — Ukrainian and Russian delegates have had to be separated after a scuffle during a meeting of Black Sea countries in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Oleksandr Marikovski, a Ukrainian member of parliament, landed several blows to the head of a Russian official after his Ukrainian flag was ripped from his hands during a summit at the Turkish parliament building on Thursday.
NATO, US forces join Romania-led Black Sea military drills
March 30, 2023 GMTMAHMUDIA, Romania (AP) — Romania’s navy led multinational military drills in the Black Sea region Thursday that brought together U.S. and NATO troops as the 30-nation alliance looks to boost security on its southeastern flank amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Olympian auctioning medals to help war effort
November 30, 2022 GMTOne of Ukraine's most decorated Olympians is auctioning his medals — two golds and a bronze — in hopes of raising a six-figure donation to contribute to the war effort in his native land.
“My Olympic medals won’t matter if Ukraine can’t stand for this fight for freedom and independence,” two-time canoe champion Yuri Cheban told The Associated Press in an email exchange Wednesday.
Bulgaria to let Russian oil refinery export despite EU ban
November 22, 2022 GMTSOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria will allow a Black Sea refinery owned by a Russian oil company to keep operating and exporting oil products to the European Union until the end of 2024 despite warnings by Brussels that it is against the bloc’s sanctions.
Hungary’s foreign minister travels to Russia for energy expo
November 21, 2022 GMTBUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's top diplomat traveled to Russia on Monday to take part in an international forum on nuclear energy, underscoring his country's persistently close ties with Moscow amid the war in Ukraine.
UN: West Africa next in line for tied-up Russian fertilizer
November 18, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — A top U.N. official said Friday that West Africa is next in line to receive crucial Russian fertilizer that has been prevented from being exported from European ports to needy countries, largely over private-sector concerns about financing and insurance for such deliveries.
Russia-Ukraine grain deal extended in win for food prices
November 17, 2022 GMTANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A wartime agreement that unblocked grain shipments from Ukraine and helped temper rising global food prices will be extended by four months, the United Nations and other parties to the deal said Thursday, preventing a price shock to some of the world’s most vulnerable countries where many are struggling with hunger.
Live Updates | Russia-Ukraine-War
November 16, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS -- A United Nations official says the U.N. is “cautiously optimistic” a wartime deal that has enabled Ukraine to export over 11 million metric tons of wheat and Russia to ship its grain and fertilizer to world markets will be renewed.
Families reunited following Russian retreat in Ukraine
November 15, 2022 GMTTSENTRALNE, Ukraine (AP) — Relatives embraced in the middle of the road. They squeezed hands and choked back tears. Others sobbed outside their homes. All had yearned for this same moment — to be reunited with their loved ones after Russian troops withdrew from their villages in southern Ukraine.
UN reports progress on Russia’s grain and fertilizer exports
November 11, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — Top U.N. officials updated a high-level Russian delegation Friday on progress to facilitate Russia’s exports of food and fertilizer to global markets which have faced obstacles under an expiring wartime deal that has enabled Ukraine to ship over 10 million metric tons of grain from three Black Sea ports.
US presses, but Russia reluctant on Ukraine grain deal
November 9, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations warned that global food security depends on renewing the U.N.-brokered deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports, saying Tuesday that 828 million people in the world are going to bed hungry every night.
No breakthrough in Armenia, Azerbaijan peace talks in Russia
October 31, 2022 GMTMOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday to try to broker a settlement to a longstanding conflict between the two ex-Soviet neighbors, but announced no breakthrough.
Heavy Russian barrage on Ukraine, no water for much of Kyiv
October 31, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A massive barrage of Russian cruise missile and drone strikes hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities early Monday, knocking out water and power supplies in retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea Fleet.
Russia warns it may block ships with Ukraine grain
October 31, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia’s U.N. ambassador accused Ukraine of using the Black Sea shipping corridor to get grain to world markets “for military and sabotage purposes” against its fleet on Monday, saying this is why it suspended implementation of the deal and warning that it will not allow the unimpeded passage of vessels without its consent which is currently taking place.
EXPLAINER: What Russia’s suspension of grain deal could mean
October 31, 2022 GMTNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Russia has suspended its part of a U.N.-brokered deal allowing Ukraine to export grain safely from its Black Sea ports during a monthslong war, saying it was not going to allow ships to travel.
Concerns rise as Russia resumes grain blockade of Ukraine
October 30, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia resumed its blockade of Ukrainian ports on Sunday, cutting off urgently needed grain exports to hungry parts of the world in what U.S. President Joe Biden called a “really outrageous” act.
Russia suspends Ukraine grain deal over ship attack claim
October 30, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia announced Saturday that it will immediately suspend its implementation of a U.N.-brokered grain deal that has seen more than 9 million tons of grain exported from Ukraine during the war and has brought down soaring global food prices.
Putin to host leaders of adversaries Armenia and Azerbaijan
October 28, 2022 GMTMOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to help broker a settlement to a longstanding conflict between the two ex-Soviet neighbors, the Kremlin said Friday.
UN optimistic on Ukraine grain deal; Russia has reservations
October 27, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — A senior U.N. official said Wednesday he is “relatively optimistic” the deal for returning Ukrainian grain and Russian grain and fertilizer to world markets will be extended beyond mid-November, but Russia’s U.N.
ÚK: Russian fighter releases missile in technical mistake
October 20, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — Britain’s defense secretary revealed Thursday that a Russian fighter jet released a missile near an RAF aircraft operating in international airspace over the Black Sea last month.
Ben Wallace told the House of Commons on Thursday that an unarmed RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint - a spy plane - “interacted with’’ two Russian SU-27s.
Family mourns miner’s death in Turkey, demanding punishment
October 16, 2022 GMTAMASRA, Turkey (AP) — “My one and only, where are you,” a mother cried at a cemetery beside a freshly-laid mound of earth. She couldn't process the death of her 33-year-old son who was killed in a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey.
Death toll rises to 41 in Turkey coal mine explosion
October 15, 2022 GMTAMASRA, Turkey (AP) — Funerals for miners killed in a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey began Saturday as officials raised the death toll to at least 41 people.
Desperate relatives had waited all night in the cold outside the state-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise's (TTK) mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin, hoping for news.
Officials: 25 dead, many trapped in Turkish coal mine blast
October 14, 2022 GMTANKARA, Turkey (AP) — An explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey killed at least 25 people, local officials announced, while rescuers working through the night were trying to bring dozens of others trapped to the surface.
‘No waiting’: Turkey, Russia to act on Putin’s gas hub offer
October 14, 2022 GMTANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey and Russia have instructed their respective energy authorities to immediately begin technical work on a Russian proposal that would turn Turkey into a gas hub for Europe.
Putin tempts Turkey, suggests making it Europe’s new gas hub
October 13, 2022 GMTANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday doubled down on his proposal to turn Turkey into a gas hub for Europe after deliveries to Germany through the Baltic Sea's Nord Stream pipeline were halted.
Turkish minister says deadly gun attack was ‘America-based’
October 1, 2022 GMTISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s interior minister on Saturday described a gun attack that killed a police officer in the country’s south as an “America-based” operation.
Two suspected Kurdish militants opened fire on security force lodgings in the Mediterranean province of Mersin late Monday, killing one officer and wounding a second officer and a civilian.
Coalition of leaders: Urgent action needed for food security
September 20, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Leaders from Europe, the Americas and Africa called Tuesday for urgent action and funding to ease a growing global food security crisis that has been exacerbated by Russia’s war with Ukraine and, thanks to climate change, threatens to get worse in coming years.
UN chief and Russia’s Putin discuss war in Ukraine
September 14, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday about exporting Russian fertilizer through Ukraine's Black Sea ports to address a growing global food crisis that threatens multiple famines.
Danube drought reveals parts of hidden World War II history
August 30, 2022 GMTPRAHOVO, Serbia (AP) — The worst drought in Europe in decades hasn't only scorched farmland and hampered river traffic, it also has exposed a part of almost forgotten World War II history: The hulks of dozens of World War II German battleships have emerged from the Danube River as its water levels have dropped.
UN: First grain shipment departs Ukraine for war-torn Yemen
August 30, 2022 GMTCAIRO (AP) — The first vessel carrying grain from Ukraine to conflict-torn Yemen since the war started in Europe departed a Black Sea port on Tuesday, the U.N. food agency said. The move will help ease one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
2 Bulgarian police killed by speeding bus carrying migrants
August 25, 2022 GMTSOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Two Bulgarian police officers were killed early Thursday as they tried to stop a bus containing migrants who had entered the country illegally, a senior interior ministry official said.
Russians down Ukrainian drones in Crimea as war broadens
August 20, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian authorities reported shooting down Ukrainian drones Saturday in Crimea, while Ukrainian officials said Russian forces pressed ahead with efforts to seize one of the few cities in eastern Ukraine not already under their control.
Russia, Ukraine spar over fighting near nuclear facility
August 19, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A fire at a munitions depot inside Russia forced the evacuation of two villages near the border with Ukraine, an official said Friday, while two civilians were reported wounded by Russian shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as both sides traded accusations about fighting near the facility in southern Ukraine.
Ukrainians flee grim life in Russian-occupied Kherson
August 18, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — It was early one morning when life under Russian occupation became too much for Volodymyr Zhdanov: Rocket fire aimed at Ukrainian forces struck near his home in the city of Kherson, terrifying one of his two children.
Russia’s economy gets boost from wartime grain shipments
August 16, 2022 GMTWith much fanfare, ship after ship loaded with grain has sailed from Ukraine after being stuck in the country's Black Sea ports for nearly six months.
Ship carrying grain for Ethiopia ready to leave Ukraine
August 15, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A United Nations-chartered ship loaded with 23,000 metric tons of Ukrainian grain destined for Ethiopia was getting ready Sunday to set sail from a Black Sea port, the first shipment of its kind in a program to assist countries facing famine.
Location of 1st ship to leave Ukraine carrying grain unknown
August 15, 2022 GMTBEIRUT (AP) — The first grain ship to leave Ukraine under a wartime deal has had its cargo resold several times and there is now no information about its location and cargo destination, the Ukrainian embassy in Beirut said Monday.
Ship reaches Ukraine to load up with wheat for hungry Africa
August 12, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A ship docked in a Ukrainian Black Sea port on Friday to begin loading up with wheat for hungry people in Ethiopia. It will be the first food delivery to Africa under a U.N. plan to unblock grain trapped by Russia’s war on Ukraine and bring relief to some of the millions worldwide who are on the brink of starvation.
Large explosions rock Russian military air base in Crimea
August 9, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Powerful explosions rocked a Russian air base in Crimea and sent towering clouds of smoke over the landscape Tuesday in what may mark an escalation of the war in Ukraine. At least one person was killed and several others were wounded, authorities said.
Shift in war’s front seen as grain leaves Ukraine; plant hit
August 7, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Six more ships carrying agricultural cargo held up by the war in Ukraine received authorization Sunday to leave the country’s Black Sea coast as analysts warned that Russia was moving troops and equipment in the direction of the southern port cities to stave off a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Ukraine grain headed for Lebanon under wartime deal delayed
August 7, 2022 GMTBEIRUT (AP) — The scheduled arrival Sunday of the first grain ship to leave Ukraine and cross the Black Sea under a wartime deal has been delayed, a Lebanese Cabinet minister and the Ukraine Embassy said.
Ukraine grain shipments offer hope, not fix to food crisis
August 6, 2022 GMTBEIRUT (AP) — A ship bringing corn to Lebanon’s northern port of Tripoli normally would not cause a stir. But it's getting attention because of where it came from: Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa.
3 more ships with grain depart Ukraine ports under UN deal
August 5, 2022 GMTISTANBUL (AP) — Three more ships carrying thousands of tons of corn left Ukrainian ports Friday and traveled mined waters toward inspection of their delayed cargo, a sign that an international deal to export grain held up since Russia invaded Ukraine was slowly progressing.
Putin hosts Erdogan for talks on trade, Ukraine, Syria
August 5, 2022 GMTMOSCOW (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Russia Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin focusing on a grain deal brokered by Turkey and the U.N., prospects for talks on ending hostilities in Ukraine, the situation in Syria and growing economic ties between Moscow and Ankara.
Inspectors OK 1st Ukraine grain ship but no sign yet of more
August 4, 2022 GMTISTANBUL (AP) — The first grain ship to leave Ukraine and cross the Black Sea under a wartime deal passed inspection Wednesday in Istanbul and headed on to Lebanon. Ukraine said 17 other vessels were “loaded and waiting permission to leave,” but there was no word yet on when they could depart.
1st ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves the port of Odesa
August 1, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain set out Monday from the port of Odesa under an internationally brokered deal to unblock the embattled country's agricultural exports and ease the growing global food crisis.
Drone explosion hits Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters
July 31, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A small explosive device carried by a makeshift drone blew up Sunday at the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet on the Crimean Peninsula, wounding six people and prompting the cancellation of ceremonies there honoring Russia's navy, authorities said.
Zelenskyy visits port as Ukraine prepares to ship out grain
July 29, 2022 GMTODESA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a Black Sea port Friday to watch crews prepare to export grain trapped by Russia’s five-month-old war, a week after a deal was struck to allow critical food supplies to flow to millions of impoverished people facing hunger worldwide.
Security Council can’t agree on statement lauding grain deal
July 28, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has been unable to agree on a statement welcoming last week’s deal to get grain and fertilizer moving from Ukraine and Russia to millions of hungry people around the world, Norway's U.N.
Ukraine’s grain is ready to go. But ships aren’t. Why? Risk
July 27, 2022 GMTShipping companies are not rushing to export millions of tons of grain trapped in Ukraine, despite a breakthrough deal to provide safe corridors through the Black Sea.
New Russian airstrikes target Black Sea regions of Ukraine
July 26, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia targeted Ukraine’s southern Black Sea regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv with airstrikes Tuesday, hitting private buildings and port infrastructure with missiles fired from long-range bomber aircraft, the Ukrainian military said.
Russia says it wants to end Ukraine’s `unacceptable regime’
July 25, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat said Moscow’s overarching goal in Ukraine is to free its people from its “unacceptable regime,” expressing the Kremlin’s war aims in some of the bluntest terms yet as its forces pummel the country with artillery barrages and airstrikes.
Russia hits Ukraine’s Black Sea port despite grain deal
July 23, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles hit Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa just hours after Moscow and Kyiv signed deals to allow grain exports to resume from there.
‘A beacon of hope’: Ukraine, Russia sign grain export deal
July 22, 2022 GMTISTANBUL (AP) — Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements Friday with Turkey and the United Nations clearing the way for the export of millions of tons of desperately needed Ukrainian grain — as well as some Russian grain and fertilizer — across the Black Sea.
Turkey: Ukraine grain export deal to be signed in Istanbul
July 21, 2022 GMTANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish officials say a deal on a U.N. plan to unblock the exports of Ukrainian grain amid the war and to allow Russia to export grain and fertilizers will be signed Friday in Istanbul.
Russian missiles kill at least 23 in Ukraine, wound over 100
July 15, 2022 GMTVINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles struck a city in central Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others far from the front lines, Ukrainian authorities said.
UN sees progress in talks to free up Ukraine grain exports
July 13, 2022 GMTISTANBUL (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the first meeting in weeks between Russia and Ukraine took “a critical step” forward Wednesday to ensuring the export of desperately needed grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to help ease the global food crisis.