A series of explosions rang out in the capital, Kyiv, and regional authorities in the north, east and center of Ukraine also reported rocket strikes. Aside from the actual war, the UN, Turkey and Ukraine are pushing to preserve the Black Sea Grain Export Agreement, with plans to transit 16 ships on Monday, despite Russia suspending its participation in the agreement.

The most interesting thing is Monday, the 250th day of the war in Ukraine, LIVE TEXT:

08:39 This morning’s assessment by the British Ministry of Defense explains why equipping new recruits with old AKMs creates a new problem for the Russian logistics system:

• Since mid-October, Russia has transferred several thousand newly mobilized reservists to the front line in Ukraine. In many cases, they are poorly equipped. In September, Russian officers were concerned that some newly mobilized reservists were arriving in Ukraine without weapons.
• Open-source images show that the rifles issued to mobilized reservists are generally AKMs, a weapon first introduced in 1959. Many of them are probably almost unusable due to improper storage.
• The AKM fires 7.62mm cartridges, while Russia’s regular combat units are armed primarily with 5.45mm AK-74M or AK-12 assault rifles.
• The integration of reservists together with contract servicemen and veterans of combat operations in Ukraine means that Russian logisticians will have to carry not one, but two types of small arms to the front lines.
• This is likely to further complicate Russia’s already struggling logistics systems.

Air alert over most of Ukraine, explosions heard in Kyiv

08:29 According to Reuters, new columns of smoke are rising in the sky of Kyiv after about 10 explosions occurred:

Mayor of Kharkiv Igor Terekhov said that the city was hit by two missiles that hit a “critical infrastructure object”, regional authorities in the north, east and center of Ukraine also reported missile strikes, presidential adviser Anton Gerashchenko said about “40 Russian winged rockets”. were fired upon by Ukraine.

08:13 This morning, an air raid alarm sounded throughout Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian military, a significant part of the territory of Ukraine, in particular Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhya and Odesa regions, has been put on alert.

Guardian reporter Luke Harding confirmed air raid sirens went off in the capital just after 7am on Monday morning. Explosions rang out in Kyiv, a witness reported to Reuters.

07:45 US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke by phone with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday about Russia’s war against Ukraine and the threats it poses to global security and economic stability, the US State Department said in a statement.

07:42 While Ukraine says that Russian troops are preparing to withdraw their units from the south of the Kherson region, Moscow officials say that the situation “remains unchanged.”

“The city of Kherson continues to live its life. All those wishing to leave the right bank of the Kherson region can move freely through organized checkpoints. The situation on the contact line remains unchanged,” said Kyrylo Stremousov, the governor in charge of Russia in the region.

Ukrainian forces “continue to build up forces for a counteroffensive on Kherson,” Stremousov added. (The Guardian)

A brief summary of recent events:

• On Saturday, Russia said it had suspended participation in July’s Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed major exporter Ukraine to send agricultural products, after a Ukrainian attack on a ship in Crimea.
• A total of 218 vessels are “effectively blocked” as a result of Moscow’s decision, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry said on Sunday, as analysts predicted a sharp rise in global wheat prices.
• Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Russia is trying to create an artificial famine in developing countries and called for a tough response from the UN and the G20. US President Joe Biden called this action “simply outrageous”, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Russia is using the food market as a weapon.
• Russia said Ukraine attacked its Black Sea fleet near Sevastopol with 16 drones on Saturday and claimed the drones were equipped with Canadian-made navigation systems. Moscow asked the UN Security Council to meet on Monday to discuss the attack.
• Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said that Moscow used explosions 220 km from the grain corridor as a “false pretext” for withdrawing from the grain export agreement. NATO appealed to Moscow to extend the urgent agreement through UN mediation.
• Ukraine’s Eastern Military Command reported fierce fighting near Bakhmut in Donetsk region, while Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks in two other areas of the region, around Avdiivka and Ugledar. The invading troops plan to withdraw artillery from the western bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region, the General Staff of Ukraine reported.
• Tens of thousands of Czechs gathered in Prague’s main square on Sunday to protest the rise of populism and extremism and to show their support for Ukraine.
• Sergey Lavrov said that Vladimir Putin is still ready to negotiate with Ukraine, but has certain conditions.

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• Sunday’s events regarding Ukraine were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro