This was CNBC's live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine. Click here for the latest updates.
The first shipment of grain exports from Ukraine in months has departed from the port of Odesa, Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov confirmed and data from MarineTraffic.com showed.
Meanwhile, Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced Sunday that the Russian Navy would soon be armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainian civilians still living in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine to evacuate on Saturday.
"The more people leave Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill," Zelenskyy said in a video address Saturday.
US 'deeply concerned' of Russian control of Ukrainian nuclear facilities, Blinken says
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is "deeply concerned" about reports that Russian forces have taken over nuclear facilities in Ukraine.
Money Report
"There are credible reports, including in the media today, that Russia is using this plant as the equivalent of a human shield, but a nuclear shield in the sense that it's firing on Ukrainians from around the plant," Blinken told reporters at the United Nations, adding that this was "the height of irresponsibility."
"And of course, the Ukrainians cannot and will not fire back, lest there be a terrible accident involving a nuclear plant," he said.
Blinken said that it was important that the International Atomic Energy Agency be granted access to nuclear facilities in order to safeguard against an accident.
— Amanda Macias
Germany argues over nuclear shutdown amid gas supply worries
Rising concern over the impact of a potential Russian gas cutoff is fueling the debate in Germany over whether the country should switch off its last three nuclear power plants as planned at the end of this year.
The door to some kind of extension appeared to open a crack after the Economy Ministry in mid-July announced a new "stress test" on the security of electricity supplies. It's supposed to take into account a tougher scenario than a previous test, concluded in May, that found supplies were assured.
Since then, Russia has reduced natural gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to 20% of capacity amid tensions over the war in Ukraine. It cited technical issues that Germany says are only an excuse for a political power play. Russia recently has accounted for about a third of Germany's gas supply, and there are concerns it could turn off the tap altogether.
The main opposition Union bloc has made increasingly frequent demands for an extension of the nuclear plants' lives. Similar calls are coming from the smallest party in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government, the pro-business Free Democrats.
— Associated Press
Macron tells Zelenskyy that Russian war crimes will not go unpunished
French President Emmanuel Macron told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call that war crimes committed by Russian forces will "not go unpunished."
"While war crimes are multiplying, the President of the Republic reaffirmed his support for the Ukrainian people and their resistance and declared his determination to ensure that these crimes do not go unpunished," a French presidential office source wrote in a readout of the call.
During the call, the 36th exchange between the two leaders since Russia's war in Ukraine began, Macron said that France would send a team of forensic experts and a mobile DNA analysis laboratory to Ukraine.
— Amanda Macias
Biden authorizes $550 million in military aid for Ukraine
The White House announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $550 million.
With its 17th assistance package, the U.S. has now committed more than $8.8 billion toward weapons, training and other aid since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
The new package will include 75,000 rounds of 155 mm howitzer artillery, as well as High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. The HIMARS, manufactured by defense giant Lockheed Martin, is designed to shoot a variety of missiles from a mobile 5-ton truck.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin previewed the latest security package with his Ukrainian counterpart on Friday.
— Amanda Macias
About 16 ships carrying agricultural products are ready to go, Ukraine says
Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov told NBC News that the first vessel carrying agricultural products that left port from the country is expected to reach Tripoli, Lebanon in two days.
Kubrakov said that only one ship left port because all parties involved are carrying out a "trial run" to make sure that an agreement on a sea corridor to restart agricultural shipments from Ukraine works. He added that 16 ships are ready to go, but that only three vessels will leave the port each day for the next two weeks.
Kubrakov said that in the next two months, Ukraine hopes to export up to 3 million tons of agriculture products by sea per month.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, blocking shipments from key ports, Ukraine exported 5 million to 7 million tons per month.
— Amanda Macias
Zelenskyy calls first agricultural product shipment a 'positive signal'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the departure of the first vessel carrying agricultural products since Russia invaded his country is a "positive signal."
"The port started working, the export traffic started, and this can be called the first positive signal that there is a chance to stop the development of the food crisis in the world," Zelenskyy said during in a nightly address on the Telegram messaging app.
"It is also of great benefit to our state. And the issue is not only billions of dollars in foreign exchange revenue. About half a million Ukrainians are involved in the cultivation of export agricultural crops and if we add related industries, then this is plus a million jobs," he added.
— Amanda Macias
UN chief warns world is one step from 'nuclear annihilation'
The United Nations chief warned the world that "humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation."
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave the dire warning at the opening of the long-delayed high-level meeting to review the landmark 50-year-old treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and eventually achieving a nuclear-free world. He cited especially the war in Ukraine and the threat of nuclear weapons to conflicts in the Middle East and Asia, two regions "edging towards catastrophe."
Guterres told many ministers, officials and diplomats attending the month-long conference to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that the meeting is taking place "at a critical juncture for our collective peace and security" and "at a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War."
The conference is "an opportunity to hammer out the measures that will help avoid certain disaster, and to put humanity on a new path towards a world free of nuclear weapons," the secretary-general said.
— Associated Press
More U.S.-made rocket systems arrive for the fight against Russia, Ukrainian defense minister says
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that four more U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, have arrived for the fight in Ukraine.
"We have proven to be smart operators of this weapon. The sound of the HIMARS volley has become a top hit of this summer at the front lines," he wrote on Twitter.
The HIMARS, manufactured by defense giant Lockheed Martin, is designed to shoot a variety of missiles from a mobile 5-ton truck.
— Amanda Macias
Top Ukrainian officials speak with Biden administration officials about Russia's war
The head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said that he spoke to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Ukraine's top military officer Valery Zaluzhny were also on the call.
"Every conversation with Ukraine's friends leads to new results in the fight against the enemy. Big surprises await the Russian aggressors," wrote Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy's office, on Twitter.
— Amanda Macias
Modular home set up for family in Makariv after shelling destroyed their house
A modular home is set up to replace a family's house destroyed by shelling from Russian troops in Makariv, in northern Ukraine.
- Volodymyr Tarasov | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Russia says it has little ability to help with Nord Stream 1 repair
There is little Russia can do to help with urgent repairs required to malfunctioning Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline equipment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
Russia cut gas supplies via Nord Stream 1, its main gas pipeline to Europe, to just 20% of capacity last week, saying that a turbine sent to Canada for maintenance had not yet come back and that other equipment also needed repair.
This signalled a deepening of a row in which Moscow has cited turbine problems as its reason for cutting gas supply via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
"There are malfunctions which require urgent repairs and there are certain artificial difficulties which were caused by sanctions," Peskov said.
— Reuters
3 charts show Europe’s unprecedented natural gas crisis
Europe is facing an unprecedented energy crisis that's pushing the economy closer into a recession and posing serious questions about the region's climate change ambitions.
CNBC takes a look in three charts at how Russia is squeezing gas supplies to Europe and what this means for the future. Take a look here.
— Silvia Amaro
Russia likely to be reallocating forces to southern Ukraine, UK says
Russia is likely reallocating a significant number of its forces from the northern Donbas sector to southern Ukraine, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Monday, echoing comments by the Ukrainian authorities last week.
"Russia is probably adjusting the operational design of its Donbas offensive after failing to make a decisive operational breakthrough under the plan it had been following since April," the ministry said on Twitter.
"It has likely identified its Zaporizhzhia front as a vulnerable area in need of reinforcement."
The ministry noted that, over the last four days, Russia has continued to attempt tactical assaults on the Bakhmut axis, northeast of Donetsk, but had only managed to make slow progress.
Several southern cities have experienced Russian shelling over the weekend, including Mykolaiv and Odesa.
On Sunday evening, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy commented that "now the Russian army is trying to strengthen its positions in the occupied areas of the south of our country, increasing activity in the relevant areas. Part of the Russian forces are transferred from their positions in the east to the south - to the Kherson region and the Zaporizhzhya region... But this will not help them there," he said, saying Ukraine's armed forces "are ready to respond to any new activity of the occupiers."
— Holly Ellyatt
The body overseeing Ukraine grain exports says it's watching first shipment closely
The Joint Coordination Centre, a body set up by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations to coordinate and oversee the shipments of vital produce from Ukraine, has said it is monitoring the safe passage of the merchant ship.
A statement from the JCC on the so-called "Black Sea Grain Initiative" issued on Monday said it had "authorised the M/V Razoni to sail from the port of Odesa today."
The JCC has agreed to the specific coordinates and restrictions of a humanitarian maritime corridor and has communicated those details in accordance with international navigation procedures, it said.
It added that it "has requested all its participants to inform their respective military and other relevant authorities of this decision to ensure the safe passage of the vessel."
The Razoni will carry over 26,000 metric tons of corn, the JCC said, and having left Odesa this morning it is estimated to arrive at the inspection location in Turkish territorial waters tomorrow, Aug. 2.
Following inspection, it will proceed to its final destination in Tripoli, Lebanon.
The JCC was agreed upon in late July and set up by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. in a bid to get vital exports, such as wheat, fertilizer and cooking oils, out of Ukraine after months of a blockade on Ukraine's ports. Ukraine blamed Russia for the blockade while Moscow blamed Ukraine for mining waters in the Black Sea that it said prevented shipping.
The deal will see ships guided through such waters, through what the JCC terms "the Safe Humanitarian Maritime Corridor." Ukraine's infrastructure minister said the shipment would help to prevent world famine.
— Holly Ellyatt
Putin says Russia's navy will get new hypersonic missiles soon
Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced Sunday that the Russian Navy would soon be armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles.
"We will provide protection firmly and by all means," Putin said in a speech Sunday to mark Russia's "Navy Day," saying that "the key thing here is the capability of the Russian Navy."
He said its combat readiness was "constantly improving," adding that the latest Zircon hypersonic missile systems, "which have no countertypes in the world and no barriers," would be added to the navy's arsenal.
"Dear comrades, their delivery to the Russian armed forces will begin in the coming months," Putin remarked in a speech in St. Petersburg. Zircon missiles, intended for use by the Russian navy against enemy ships and ground targets, can purportedly fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of just over 600 miles.
Putin said the area of their deployment would depend on Russian interests. He did not mention Ukraine in his speech.
Planned Navy Day celebrations in Sevastopol in Russian-annexed Crimea were canceled on Sunday after officials accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone attack on the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters there, injuring five people.
"An unidentified object flew into the courtyard of the fleet's headquarters," wrote Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of Sevastopol — which is where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is stationed — on the Telegram messaging app.
"According to preliminary information, it is a drone."
Ukraine has not officially commented on the explosion amid reports that it could have been a homemade device made by Ukrainian insurgents in the city.
— Holly Ellyatt
Ukraine's first grain shipment in months departs from Odesa port
The first shipment of grain exports from Ukraine in months has departed from the port of Odesa, Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov confirmed and data from MarineTraffic.com showed.
The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, which is loaded with corn, will head to Lebanon, Turkey's Defense Ministry said, according to a Reuters translation of a statement from the ministry.
"As a result of the intense work the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul and talks by (Turkish) Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, the ministers and relevant parties: It has been agreed that Sierra- Leone flagged and corn loaded Razoni dry cargo ship will leave Odesa port on 1 August 0830 am for Lebanon."
The shipment comes after Turkey and the United Nations brokered an agreement between Ukraine and Russia to allow for the resumption of key exports from Ukraine, such as grain and fertilizer, of which both countries are key producers.
The deal aims to allow safe passage for grain shipments in and out of the ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi. More ships are expected to leave Ukraine in the coming days.
— Holly Ellyatt
Ukrainian grain tycoon killed during shelling of Mykolaiv
One of Ukraine's richest men, the agricultural tycoon Oleksiy Vadatursky, and his wife Raisa died during Russian shelling of the southern city of Mykolaiv this weekend.
Video footage released by the local emergency services on Sunday showed firefighters tackling burning buildings after heavy shelling of the city, a key target for Russia's invading forces trying to make territorial gains in the south of Ukraine, on Saturday night into Sunday morning.
Vadatursky, founder and owner of agriculture company Nibulon, and his wife were killed in their home, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his condolences to the family and friends of the businessman and his wife on Sunday evening, saying "people like them, companies, and our Ukrainian south guaranteed the world's food security."
Zelenskyy went on to thank Mykolaiv residents for "their indomitability and for protecting the city and the region," as well as other southern cities that have faced intense shelling in recent weeks.
"I also thank Nikopol, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and the entire Dnipropetrovsk region, the strong people of Zaporozhzhia and the region, all Ukrainians of the Kherson region, everyone who defends the approaches to Odesa and the region... Thank you for your courage," he said.
— Holly Ellyatt
Zelenskyy urges civilians to leave Donetsk as Russians look to advance
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainian civilians still living in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine to evacuate on Saturday.
Russia's bombardment of cities and settlements in the area has become intense over recent weeks as its forces look to advance after capturing neighboring Luhansk, with both regions making up the Donbas in the east.
"The more people leave Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill," Zelenskyy said in a video address Saturday. "We will use all available opportunities to save as many lives as possible," he added.
— Holly Ellyatt
