In eastern Ukraine, Russia continues its push to control the entire Donbas region. The strategic towns of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Bakhmut have all seen intense bombardment in recent days, leaving Ukrainian forces to shore up their lines of defence. Our reporters Luke Shrago, Taline Oundjian and Achraf Abid spent the night with some of those forces near the front, offering a glimpse into the life of a typical Ukrainian soldier at war.

After orders to step up operations in Ukraine, Russian forces appear to be resuming their attacks in the Donbas region with small-scale offensives near the city of Sloviansk.

Analysts say Russia may be seeking to take over Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired his head of state security and his prosecutor general. Follow DW for more.

The African Union has called on farmers in Africa to boost agricultural production amid a worsening drought in the Horn of Africa, rising food insecurity and supply chain disruptions.

The US Department of Defense believes Russia is installing proxy officials in order to seize Ukrainian land. A bridge in the Russian-controlled Kherson region was reportedly damaged by shelling. DW rounds up the latest.

Vladimir Putin works his Middle East connections. For his first international outing since the war in Ukraine, he went to Iran to meet with supreme leader Ali Khamenei and Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Iran and Russia are seeking closer ties in the face of Western sanctions. Also on the agenda: negotiations over blockaded imports of Ukrainian grain and the situation in Syria.

Germany's foreign minister told DW that Moscow's justification for focusing on territory beyond the Donbas does not stack up. She also said Berlin must not leave itself open to blackmail from other states.

US intelligence services have said Russia's military has lost 15,000 troops so far in its war on Ukraine. Meanwhile, the mayor of Ukraine's Kharkiv reported Russian shelling in the city. Follow DW for more.

The plan, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, allows Ukrainian ports to restart grain exports. A monthslong Russian blockade has pushed prices higher and threatened global food shortages.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it would encourage Russia aggression, prolong the war and give Moscow a chance to rearm. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine reached a key grain deal.

According to reports, Alexander Lukashenko is preparing to instruct Belarusian forces to play a more active role in Russia's war in Ukraine. But the opposition leader doesn't think soldiers will "betray our motherland."

Ukraine and Russia have signed "mirror" deals which will allow Kyiv to resume exports of grain through the Black Sea. The agreement will allow millions of tonnes of grain, currently trapped in Ukraine by the war, to be exported.