Russian proposals on how to resume Ukrainian grain exports were “widely supported” by negotiators during talks this week in Istanbul and an agreement is close, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said work on what it calls the “Black Sea Initiative” will soon be finalized.

—Reuters

Finance ministers from the Group of 20 major economies meet in Bali, Indonesia, as concerns over commodity price inflation and food shortages triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine dominate the agenda .

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has urged leaders to come together and collaborate on solutions, warning the future could be ‘catastrophic’ for poorer countries hit by soaring energy prices and foodstuffs.

“We are acutely aware that the cost of our inability to work together is more than we can afford,” Indrawati said, asking participants to put aside politics to tackle common issues. “The humanitarian consequences for the world, and especially for many low-income countries, would be catastrophic.”

The G-20 countries include Western countries as well as India, Russia and China. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov is expected to attend remotely via video link.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen argued ahead of the rally that Russian officials should not be included because of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

“Russia’s actions are not the actions of a government that abides by international norms and laws. Representatives of Putin’s regime have no place in this forum,” Yellen told a conference. press Thursday.

“I have made it clear that there cannot be a status quo with regard to Russia’s participation in these meetings.”

—Natasha Turak

The next court hearing for detained American basketball player Brittney Griner has been moved to July 26 at the request of her legal team. It was originally scheduled for this week.

The Olympic gold medalist has been detained in Russia since February 17, accused by Russian authorities of having cannabis oil in her luggage and smuggling narcotics.

On July 8, Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges that could see her sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Although she admitted to having vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage, she said there was no criminal intent behind it.

Griner’s attorneys say the substances were prescribed to him for a chronic injury. US officials have argued for months that the athlete is being wrongfully detained.

—Natasha Turak

A 45-year-old Briton named Paul Urey died in custody in the self-declared People‘s Republic of Donetsk in Russian-occupied Ukraine, according to the Presidium Network, a British aid group. Urey’s family has been contacted by the Foreign Office, the group said.

DPR officials in charge of Urey’s detention said he died on July 10 from pre-existing health conditions and “stress”. Urey’s mother had previously said he was at high risk as he had diabetes and needed insulin.

Urey was captured in April by Russian-backed separatists, who accused him of working as a mercenary. He was arrested as he tried to enter an area controlled by Russian forces through a checkpoint in southeastern Ukraine, outside the city of Zaporizhzhia.

The Presidium says he was there to try and carry out a humanitarian mission to save a family trapped in war. He was detained with another man, Dylan Healy, whose status is unclear.

—Natasha Turak

According to a survey by the non-governmental organization Center for Information Resilience (CIR), recent satellite images show a marked increase in mass burial sites in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

“The report identifies graves in areas that were heavily shelled by Russian firing positions,” the UK-based group wrote in its report. “Analyzing available details of six burial sites, this research specifically explores the following areas: Chernihiv, Kherson, Bucha, Mariupol Starokrymske Cemetery, Vynohradne and Manhush.”

CIR uses open source research to uncover human rights abuses and disinformation campaigns in countries around the world. The report detailing the mass graves is part of its Eyes on Russia (EoR) project, an open source survey “to map, document and verify significant incidents during the conflict in Ukraine”, according to its website.

“This report shows a significant expansion, even a doubling, of the Mariupol cemetery since
already reported by some news media,” the report said. “The research adds to the growing body of evidence documenting Russia’s targeting of civilians as part of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

—Natasha Turak

More than 2.5 million people have been evacuated from Ukraine to Russia, the UK Ministry of Defense wrote in its latest intelligence update, with many of those evacuees believed to have been forcibly deported.

“Russia continues to be accused of forcibly deporting Ukrainians; in many cases, Ukrainians were allegedly mistreated in Russian-established filtration camps,” the ministry wrote on Twitter.

In recent years, Moscow has issued Russian passports to tens of thousands of people in eastern Ukraine. While some people have voluntarily traveled to Russia, there are accounts of forcible deportations of Ukrainians, including children, which have described the brutal conditions in Russian “filtration camps”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States suspected that between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens, including 260,000 children, were detained and deported from their homes to Russia.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions set international legal standards and protections for humanitarian treatment in wartime and explicitly prohibit mass forcible transfers of civilians.

—Natasha Turak and Amanda Macias

The United States, European Union states, Canada, Australia, Mexico and several others are among 45 states that have signed a political declaration to work together to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Some 23,000 war crimes investigations are already open and countries need to coordinate to ensure sufficient evidence, organization and to avoid duplication of cases. Different countries are conducting different investigations and together the group will train Ukrainian prosecutors and increase the number of forensic officers in Ukraine.

The signatories also pledged 20 million euros ($20 million) to support the International Criminal Court and the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office.

“The simple truth is that as we speak, children, women and men, young and old, live in terror,” said ICC prosecutor Karim Khan.

Khan stressed “a need for coordination, consistency” and the need for a “comprehensive strategy” among participating countries.

“Meaningful justice can only be achieved if we work together. Today, we pledge to set a new standard of cooperation, strengthening our global accountability efforts,” Khan said during the Ukraine Accountability Conference in The Hague.

—Natasha Turak

The death toll from an attack in the central Ukrainian town of Vinnytsia has risen to 23 people, including three children, according to Ukrainian emergency services.

The service added that 117 people needed medical attention. Thirty-four of these people are in serious condition and 5 people are in critical condition. Search and rescue teams are still looking for at least 39 people in the rubble.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the cruise missile attack on community facilities and the medical center as a “Russian act of terror”.

—Amanda Macias

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin thanked his Italian Pentagon counterpart for bolstering NATO’s eastern flank as well as the country’s “extensive contributions to international security.”

Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini and Austin agreed to maintain close cooperation “especially in these difficult times which have proven the importance of the transatlantic relationship”, according to a Pentagon reading of the meeting.

The two men also discussed “how the United States and Italy could increase their defense cooperation activities in Africa”.

—Amanda Macias