One hundred and twenty-second day of the war in Ukraine. Russian troops blockaded Lisichansk from the south, and the Ukrainian army withdrew from Severodonetsk. In response to Washington's accusations that famine will affect up to 50 million people, Moscow has blamed sanctions on fertilizers from Russia and Belarus and on grain exports.

Russian forces have completely occupied the area south of Lisichansk, the last stronghold of Ukrainian troops in the Luhansk region. Ukrainian forces were ordered to withdraw from Northeast.

The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that the Ukrainian armed forces have begun to leave combat positions en masse in the vicinity of Severodonetsk and Lisichansk. This also applies to fighters from the Ajdar Battalion in the Azot industrial zone, which could very quickly be brought under Russian control.

In Kherson, in southern Ukraine, an official of the administration formed by Russia was killed. The Kremlin says his killing is considered a terrorist act.

In the east of the country. A sports hall in Kharkov was destroyed in a rocket attack. Moscow accuses the West of forming a coalition against Russia.

Ahead of the G7 summit in the German state of Bavaria, where the main topics will be support for Ukraine and food shortages, the foreign ministers of Western countries, Ukraine and Turkey, met in Berlin. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken claims that because of the war in Ukraine, and not because of Western sanctions, hunger will further affect another 40 to 50 million people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has again rejected Western accusations that Moscow is responsible for rising prices and food shortages. Putin cited sanctions on fertilizers from Russia and Belarus and on Russian grain exports as reasons for high prices and food shortages.

He stressed that this year's harvest in Russia was very good and that the Russian side is ready to deliver 50 million tons of grain to the world market.