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The Tass news agency is reporting that grain is being shipped from Kherson, which the Russians now occupy, to Russia.

They quote Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the military-civilian administration that has been imposed on Kherson, as saying “We have space to store (the new crop) although we have a lot of grain here. People are now partially taking it out, having agreed with those who buy it from the Russian side.”

Brigade and battalion commanders likely deploy forwards into harm’s way because they are held to an uncompromising level of responsibility for their units’ performance.

Similarly, junior officers have had to lead the lowest level tactical actions, as the army lacks the cadre of highly trained and empowered non-commissioned officers (NCOs) who fulfil that role in Western forces.

Annual global survey of attitudes to democracy finds many countries maintain positive views of Russia

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

The sharp polarisation between mainly western liberal democracies and the rest of the world in perceptions of Russia has been laid bare in an annual global poll of attitudes towards democracy.

Within Europe, 55% of those surveyed for the Alliance for Democracies said they were in favour of cutting economic ties with Russia due to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, whereas in Asia there was a majority against, and in Latin America opinion was evenly split.

The Russian president warned the French and German leaders it was ‘dangerous’ for the west to supply further weapons to Ukraine

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest updates

Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz held a three-way telephone conversation with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Saturday, with the French and German leaders urging Putin to hold “direct serious negotiations” with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The call came as Russia’s assault on Ukraine’s Donbas region continues to grind on. During the 80-minute conversation, the two leaders “insisted on an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops”, according to a readout from Scholz’s office.