Zelenskyy: Russia must pull back before negotiations

Ukraine’s president said Wednesday he is willing to restore diplomatic talks if Russian troops retreat from Ukraine. Russia has blockaded the Black Sea port at Odesa, so Ukraine is trying to export grain over land to ease global grain prices. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces will continue to try to recover Russian-controlled territory. On Wednesday, the Kremlin approved a bill to remove the age limit of 40 in voluntary military contracts in a likely attempt to bolster the army.

What’s happening in the east? Ukraine’s foreign minister said the situation in the eastern Donbas region was “extremely bad,” with key supply routes and cities under constant shelling. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an order to fast-track Russian citizenship for people in two southern regions of Ukraine. The deputy prime minister said the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions could become “our Russian family.” Ukrainian officials reported finding 200 people dead in an apartment building basement in Mariupol. Authorities claim roughly 21,000 people died in the port city’s three-month siege and that Russians tried to cover up abuses with mobile cremation equipment. Russia now controls Mariupol and said it has reopened the port.

Dig deeper: Read WORLD’s latest coverage of the war in Ukraine.