Ukraine, Briefly

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• Ukraine’s air force reported Wednesday that nine Russian jets were destroyed in a fatal spate of explosions at a Crimean air base, amid speculation that the blasts were the result of a Ukrainian strike, a significant escalation in the war, according to the Associated Press.

• The first grain shipment to leave Ukraine since the Russian invasion is still stuck in Istanbul because a Lebanese customer refused to buy the cargo, the Middle East Eye reported. The Razoni, sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone, is carrying roughly 26,000 tonnes of grain. This week, it traveled from Ukraine through a safe passageway in the Black Sea set up by the Joint Command Centre, a UN organization tasked with keeping an eye on grain exports.

• The delivery of Russian oil to three European countries via Ukraine has been interrupted owing to sanctions, according to Russian company Transneft, Al Jazeera noted. The firm said the Ukrainian side stopped the oil transport “due to not receiving funds for these services.” Meanwhile, the European Union is to impose a ban on Russian coal imports on Friday, Radio Free Europe added. The ban is part of a set of EU measures aimed at punishing Russia’s economy following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

• Premature births have increased in Ukraine as a result of the war, according to the international health agency Unitaid, as it announced oxygen equipment deliveries to health centers in the country to help them cope, Agence France-Presse wrote.