Two Russian missile strikes on the east Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, including on a residential building, killed at least five people and wounded 18 others, Kiev said.

Moscow had struck an "ordinary residential building", President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, publishing footage of a building that had its top floor destroyed.

Ukraine said rescue operations were ongoing.

The second attack killed a high-ranking emergency official of the Donetsk region, he added.

"Another four rescuers, eight police offices and three civilians were injured."

Klymenko said "search and rescue operations are ongoing."

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1835 GMT - Russia criticizes the talks in Saudi Arabia

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has chided efforts by international officials meeting in Saudi Arabia to find a peaceful settlement for the war in Ukraine, saying the talks don't have “the slightest added value” because Moscow — unlike Kiev — wasn’t invited.

Senior officials from around 40 countries gathered on Sunday in Jeddah for a two-day meeting that aims to agree on key principles about how to end the conflict that has raged for more than 17 months.

But without Russia’s participation and without taking into account Moscow’s interests, the meeting was pointless, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said. It repeated previous assurances that Russia is open to a diplomatic solution on its terms that ends the war and that it is ready to respond to serious proposals.

1803 GMT - Justice Department helping Ukraine in war crimes investigations

The US Justice Department is cooperating with the International Criminal Court and supporting Ukrainian prosecutors carrying out war crime investigations, Attorney General Merrick Garland said as he reaffirmed his department's aid more than a year after the Russia-Ukraine conflict began.

Congress recently allowed for new US flexibility in assisting the court with investigations into foreign nationals related to Ukraine, and the Justice Department will be a key part of the United States cooperation, Garland said.

“We are not waiting for the hostilities to end before pursuing justice and accountability. We are working closely with our international partners to gather evidence and build cases so that we are ready when the time comes to hold the perpetrators accountable,” he said in a speech to the American Bar Association in Denver.

1607 GMT - Ukraine hails Jeddah talks as blow to Russia

A senior Ukrainian official has said that the weekend's talks in Saudi Arabia about the war in Ukraine dealt a "huge blow" to Russia, and that the participants agreed to hold another meeting of political advisers within about six weeks.

More than 40 countries, including China, India, the United States, and European countries, but not Russia, took part in the talks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promoted a set of 10 principles that Kiev wants to serve as the basis for peace to end the full-scale war launched by Moscow in February 2022.

The principles include the withdrawal of all Russian troops and the return of all Ukrainian territory to its control.

Yermak said all the countries present at the talks in Jeddah fully supported Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity, and that only peace initiatives put forward by Ukraine were discussed at the meeting.

He acknowledged a lack of agreement remained between participants on some points of Ukraine's peace formula, without elaborating further. He said that was the reason a summit would not be held by the end of this month.

Those points were still being discussed, he said, adding that participants were working on a draft framework document that would be adopted at a future peace summit.

Moscow has written off the diplomatic effort as doomed to fail.

1722 GMT - US, Ukraine discuss 'security arrangements'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, over the phone, discussing recently held peace talks in Saudi Arabia and "long-term security arrangements".

"The two discussed developments in Ukraine’s counteroffensive efforts, recent conversations about a just and durable peace in Ukraine held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and long-term security arrangements between the two countries," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

"The Secretary reiterated the United States’ staunch and ongoing support of Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s aggression and reaffirmed continued support of a strong Ukrainian military and accountable defence institutions," Miller added.

1350 GMT - Japan raises concerns over Iran's nuclear enrichment

Japan expressed concern over Iran's advancing uranium enrichment program and the Middle East country's suspected supplying of combat drones to Moscow for Russia's war on Ukraine.

Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi raised the two issues during talks with his visiting Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said. A statement from the ministry said Hayashi appealed for Iran to act constructively in the matter but did not elaborate.

1336 GMT - Ukrainian soldiers undergo intensive training in Kiev

Ukrainian soldiers in the Kiev region are being given intensive combat training before being sent to the front line with Russia.

At the headquarters of the 114th Territorial Defense Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, soldiers receive training on the use of weapons, drones, fighting in trenches, passing through obstacles, as well as combat tactics.

"Each unit has its own program and duties ... Soldiers are sent to the units they are affiliated to after the necessary training," Yuriy, the chief officer of the military training center in the Kiev region, who did not want to give his surname, told Anadolu.

"I sincerely wish the soldiers who will go to the front to use the information they obtained during the training process properly, to protect themselves during the conflict and to take care of their fellow soldiers."

1309 GMT - Ukraine gets back 22 soldiers in prisoner exchange with Russia

Ukraine has announced the return of 22 soldiers following a prisoner exchange with Russia.

Another 22 Ukrainian soldiers returned home today, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, said on Monday on Telegram.

Yermak further said that the freed Ukrainian soldiers will undergo a course of physical and psychological rehabilitation, and will receive the necessary medical treatment.

More than 2,000 prisoners have been exchanged between Kiev and Moscow since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, according to figures compiled by Anadolu.

1017 GMT- Peace deal with Ukraine based on Zelenskyy’s plan 'impossible': Russia

Moscow has said that a peace deal with Kiev is "impossible" on the basis of the 10-step peace plan proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last November.

"None of its 10 points is aimed at finding a negotiated and diplomatic solution to the crisis, and their totality is a senseless ultimatum from Russia, which is aimed at protracting hostilities. On such a basis, a peaceful settlement is impossible," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement published by the ministry.

Zakharova claimed that Ukraine and the West are trying to "downplay" the high value of peace proposals given by other countries, while also attempting to monopolise the very right to propose them, by promoting Zelenskyy’s peace plan.

0937 GMT - Ukraine: 22 soldiers return in latest prisoner swap with Russia

Russia and Ukraine have carried out the latest in a series of prisoner exchanges, with 22 Ukrainian soldiers returning home, a senior Ukrainian official said.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy's office, said the released servicemen included two officers, sergeants and privates who fought in different parts of the front. Some of them were wounded.

A video posted on Telegram showed soldiers wrapped in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags posing for pictures and shouting "Glory to Ukraine". "Today we have returned 22 Ukrainian fighters home from captivity," Yermak said, adding the oldest of them was 54 years old and the youngest 23.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

0918 GMT - Germany expands investment guarantees in Ukraine

Germany has announced that its guarantees for German companies investing in Ukraine would be expanded beyond property damage.

From now on, the guarantees will also cover conversion and transfer risks for interest payments on quasi-equity loans often used by German companies to fund Ukrainian subsidiaries, a statement from the economy ministry said.

Fourteen companies are currently making use of the guarantees covering a total maximum liability of $307.24 million (280 million euros), the ministry said, adding that it had received further applications and would process them swiftly.

0843 GMT - Ukraine grain exports total 2.56M tonnes: ministry

Ukraine's grain exports have risen to 2.56 million metric tonnes so far in the 2023/24 July-June season from 2 million tonnes at the same time of the season last year, Agriculture Ministry data showed.

Exports have been affected since Russia quit a grain deal last month that was brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye. The ministry's data did not give a breakdown on exports since the deal collapsed.

Exports for the entire 2022/23 season were almost 49 million tonnes, exceeding the previous season's 48.4 million tonnes.

Most of the volume was exported via deep Black Sea ports under the deal brokered last July to tackle a global food crisis worsened by Russia's offensive in Ukraine and blockade of Ukrainian ports.

Russia left the deal on July 17 after saying its demands to ease sanctions on its own grain and fertilizer exports had not been met.

0803 GMT - Deadly Russian shelling hits Ukraine's Kherson, Kharkiv region

A woman has been killed by Russian shelling on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, while two other people were killed in Russian shelling of border areas of the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, officials said.

Both the city of Kherson and parts of the Kharkiv region are directly adjacent to the front line. The Ukrainian military has reported increased Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region in recent days.

Kherson governor Oleksandr Prokudin said the shelling had started around midnight local time and lasted for several hours.

Separately, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram that two civilians had been killed and three others wounded during Russian shelling of border areas of Kharkiv region.

Reuters could not independently verify the details of the Ukrainian reports.

0507 GMT - Russia destroys drone over Kaluga region - local governor

Russia's air defence system has destroyed an aircraft-type drone over the Ferzikovskyi district in the Kaluga region, Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the region, said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Kaluga region borders the Moscow region to the north.

"There has been no impact on people or infrastructure," Shapsha said.

It was not clear who launched the drones and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kiev almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russia-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Russian authorities, however, have blamed Kiev for the increased number of drone attacks inside Russia this year.

0245 GMT - Peace talks on Ukraine to continue following Jeddah meeting

Talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah on the Ukraine conflict have concluded with participants agreeing on the importance of continuing consultations for peace efforts.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) published the closing statement of the two-day meeting, which was chaired by Saudi National Security Advisor Musaed Al Aiban.

Ukraine and its allies called for international support for principles that Kiev wants to be the basis for peace, including the withdrawal of all Russian troops and the return of all Ukrainian territory.

Moscow called the meeting a doomed attempt to swing the Global South behind Kiev.

For our live updates from Sunday (August 6), click here.