Ukrainian troops advanced in the south yesterday after Moscow began one of the war’s biggest retreats, though Kyiv remained publicly wary, warning that fleeing Russians could turn Kherson into a “city of death”.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday ordered his troops to withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the face of Ukrainian attacks near the southern city of Kherson.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has distracted world governments from efforts to combat climate change, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video message played at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt on Tuesday.

Ukraine doubled down on its tough stance on negotiations with Russia yesterday, saying talks could only resume once the Kremlin relinquishes all Ukrainian territory and that Kyiv would fight on even if it is “stabbed in the back” by its allies.

Ukraine announced yesterday it had received more air defence systems from Western military allies, as officials in Kyiv said the situation with supplies was “tense” after protracted Russian attacks on energy facilities.

Emergency services in Moscow-occupied Ukraine said yesterday the key Kakhovka dam in the Russian-controlled region of Kherson was “damaged” by a Ukrainian strike, Russian news agencies reported.

The United States is privately encouraging Ukraine to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia, the Washington Post reported, as the State Department said Moscow was escalating the war and did not seriously wish to engage in peace talks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly endorsed the evacuation of civilians from parts of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region yesterday, the latest sign of Russia’s retreat in one of the most bitterly contested areas in Ukraine.

Grain ships left Ukraine’s ports yesterday, a day after Russia rejoined an international agreement to guarantee their safe passage through the Black Sea.

Russia said yesterday it would resume its participation in a deal to free up vital grain exports from war-torn Ukraine after suspending it over the weekend in a move that had threatened to exacerbate hunger across the world.

Russia confirmed on Wednesday that it was resuming its participation in the Ukraine grain deal, saying it had received "sufficient" guarantees from Kyiv on demilitarising a maritime corridor.

Water and power supplies were fully restored in Kyiv yesterday a day after Russian missile strikes, as grain exports from Ukraine continued despite Moscow pulling out of a deal to let ships through.

Ships brought grain from Ukrainian ports yesterday, suggesting Moscow had stopped short of reimposing a blockade that might have caused world hunger, despite suspending its participation in a UN programme to safely export grain from the war zone.

Ukraine’s maritime grain exports were halted yesterday after Russia suspended its participation in a landmark agreement that allowed the vital shipments, blaming drone attacks on its ships in Crimea.

Russia announced on Friday it had finished calling up reservists to fight in Ukraine, having drafted hundreds of thousands of people in a month, with more than a quarter of them already sent to the battlefield.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has plunged Europe into an era of insecurity, Germany said yesterday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin predicted a “dangerous” decade ahead.

Russia yesterday announced it had finished calling up reservists to fight in Ukraine, having drafted hundreds of thousands of people in a month, with more than a quarter of them already sent to the battlefield.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday scolded the West for playing what he cast as a “dangerous, bloody and dirty” geopolitical game, but said the United States and its allies would ultimately have to talk to Russia.

A senior Russian government official raised the possibility that Moscow could shoot down commercial Western satellites being used to help Ukraine's war effort. The White House has vowed response if Russia attacks US satellites.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the world faced the most dangerous decade since World War Two as Western elites scrambled to prevent the inevitable crumbling of the global dominance of the United States and its allies.