Nato chief makes first Kyiv visit since start of full-scale invasion; Denmark and Netherlands to donate 14 Leopard tanks to Ukraine

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here

Ukraine’s agriculture minister, Mykola Solsky, confirmed on Wednesday that the transit of Ukrainian grain and food products will resume through Poland after an agreement reached in talks with Warsaw.

But Reuters reports he again raised concerns about the status of an agreement with Moscow on the safe passage of ships carrying grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, saying it was impossible to predict how many vessels Moscow would allow through.

Ukraine confirms grain transit to resume in Poland; Patriot air defence systems delivered

West condemns sentencing of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison; US ambassador makes first visit to jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich

The UK has condemned the sentencing of Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was jailed for 25 years for opposing the war in Ukraine. UK foreign secretary James Cleverly summoned the Russian ambassador, Andrei Kelin, for an explanation. Kara-Murza holds dual Russian-British citizenship.

Kara-Murza’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, told British broadcaster LBC that she was “baffled” by the UK government’s “weak” response. “Introducing sanctions against his perpetrators would actually be a very practical step that I would very much like to see,” she said.

The UN’s human rights head, Volker Türk, urged Russia to release him, while Baltic neighbour Latvia sanctioned 10 Russian officials and lawyers involved in the case.

US ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said she had made her first visit to jailed Wall Street reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia two weeks ago on charges of spying. “He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan’s immediate release,” Tracy said.

The United States and more than 40 other countries said in a joint statement that they were deeply concerned over Russia’s detainment of a Wall Street Journal reporter and protested Moscow’s “efforts to limit and intimidate the media.” The statement read further: “We urge Russian Federation authorities to release those they hold on political grounds, and to end the draconian crackdown on freedom of expression, including against members of the media.”

Two Russian fighter jets and a spy plane flying close to Nato airspace have been intercepted by the UK and German air forces. Eurofighter typhoons from the RAF and the German air force’s 71 Richtofen Wing were scrambled to intercept the jets as they flew over the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland.

The US has blasted Brazil’s approach to the war in Ukraine and accused it of parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda after president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on a trip to China that the US “needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace”. The US’s national security council spokesperson John Kirby said: “In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts.”

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov thanked “our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation (in Ukraine)“ after meeting his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira in Brasília at the start of a Latin American tour. He was later due to meet Lula.

The Pentagon said it expected findings within 45 days from a review into how the US military handles classified information after last week’s arrest of an airman over the leak a trove of highly classified documents online.

Russia said it had repelled an “illegal” Ukrainian attempt to infiltrate Russian territory in the southern border region of Bryansk, 11 days after reporting a similar incident. “The intruder stepped on a mined protection line,” said regional governor Alexander Bogomaz on Telegram.

The Kremlin has said prospects for a renewal of the Black Sea grain initiative, in which Russia allows Ukraine to ship agricultural exports from its Black Sea ports via Turkey, were “not so bright”. Russia has repeatedly complained that western economic sanctions are preventing it from exporting agricultural products, and that these need to be lifted in order for it to agree to any extension.

Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine to protect its farmers, joining Poland and Hungary in the move, a government spokesperson said on Monday. Ukraine and Poland meanwhile began talks aimed at reaching an agreement on imports.

Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak defence ministry.

Almost 500 children have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, according to a report by the Ukrainian prosecutor general. As of Monday, 470 children had been killed and 948 injured, it said, adding that the department believes that the number of injured children is higher.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

UN condemns 25-year prison sentence for Vladimir Kara-Murza for criticising the war in Ukraine

• At a glance: what we know on day 418 of the invasion

Ukraine’s agriculture minister said Kyiv would aim to secure the reopening of food and grain transit via Poland as a “first step” at talks in Warsaw on Monday, after Poland and Hungary announced bans on some imports from Ukraine.

Agriculture minister Mykola Solsky also said there would be additional talks this week in Romania on Wednesday, and in Slovakia on Thursday. Reuters reports the minister’s comments were published on the Telegram messaging app by the agriculture ministry.

Intense fighting in middle of eastern city as Russia claims advances; Sloviansk death toll rises to 11 while Russian shelling also kills two in Kherson

• What we know on day 417 of the invasion

More on a story we reported earlier that Poland is to ban imports of Ukrainian grain to protect its own agricultural sector.

A Polish ban on imports of Ukrainian grain and other food will also apply to the transit of these products through the country, the development and technology minister has said, according to Reuters.

Poland and Hungary said on Saturday that they had decided to ban imports from neighbouring Ukraine to protect the local agricultural sector after a flood of supply depressed prices across the region. The Polish ban came into effect on Saturday evening.