Ukraine attacked a barracks in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol over the weekend, with some Ukrainian sources claiming scores of Russian casualties. According to witnesses, 10 explosions were heard, although some of those may have been from Russian anti-aircraft systems. Ukrainian officials claimed scores of Russian dead and injured while Russia conceded a handful of casualties.

Emergency crews were working to ease power shortages in many parts of Ukraine after Russian attacks. Russian forces used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy plants in Odesa, knocking out power to about 1.5 million customers.

Two people were killed and another 5 wounded after Russian troops shelled the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson. “The enemy again attacked the residential quarters of Kherson”, governor Yaroslav Yanushevich said on Telegram, adding the Russian forces hit a maternity ward, a cafe and apartment buildings on Saturday.

An international team of legal advisers has been working with local prosecutors in Ukraine’s recaptured city of Kherson to gather evidence of alleged sexual crimes by Russian forces. A team from Global Rights Compliance, an international legal practice headquartered in The Hague, are conducting a full-scale investigation part of a broader international effort to support overwhelmed Ukrainian authorities as they seek to hold Russians accountable for crimes they allegedly committed during the conflict.

European Union foreign ministers and G7 leaders will meet on Monday to try to agree on further sanctions on Russia and Iran and an additional USD 2.11bn for arms deliveries to Ukraine. It remains unclear whether Hungary will block some decisions, resorting to what diplomats have denounced as “blackmail diplomacy” due to a dispute over locked EU funds for Budapest.