* Russian forces have released Julija Pajevska, a civilian Ukrainian paramedic who documented her work in the beleaguered port city of Mariupol during a two-week period earlier this year. She managed to smuggle the recordings to the AP news agency. She was later captured by Russian forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced last night that she had been released and was back home.
* Ukraine received a loan of NOK 7.3 billion from Canada. The money will be used to finance priority expenditure items, and in particular social and humanitarian expenditure.
* Analyzes of satellite images from the US private company Maxar show a sharp drop in grain production in the Chernihiv region and the Zhytomyr region by almost 70% and 67%, respectively, compared to last year. Maxar footage also shows two Russian grain cargo ships at a port on the Crimean peninsula in May this year, loaded with grain. More recent photos show the same thing. the ships are docked in Syria, with cargo hatches open.
* It is absolutely necessary to speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, said German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz. He says he and French President Emmanuel Macron will continue to do so. The two have had several phone conversations with Putin since the war began on February 24.
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