Ukraine Update….155 days into the Russian move on the Ukraine….

• The deal to lift a Russian blockade on millions of tons of Ukrainian grain is moving ahead. A Panama-flagged vessel left Odessa with corn for Ireland, a Malta-flagged ship departed the port of Chornomorsk for Britain, and a Turkey-flagged vessel will also export corn from Chornomorsk, according to Ankara — which helped broker the deal with the United Nations.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Russian resort city of Sochi on Friday, their second meeting in 2½ weeks. A Russian proposal intercepted ahead of the meeting — and shared with The Washington Post by Ukrainian intelligence — indicated that Russia hoped Turkey would agree to new channels to help avoid restrictions on its banking, energy and industrial sectors.
• In a joint statement, the leaders said they had agreed to increase the volume of trade between their countries, and reaffirmed the Ukraine grain deal. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian state media outlets that the leaders had agreed to “boost cooperation” across transportation, agriculture, construction and energy, but specifics were not forthcoming.
• Ukraine’s Amnesty International director Oksana Pokalchuk said she resigned Friday after her organization accused Ukrainian forces of endangering civilians by setting up military bases and launching strikes from populated areas, such as near schools and hospitals. Amnesty said the violations “in no way justify Russia’s indiscriminate attacks,” yet the report published Thursday prompted fierce criticism from Ukrainian officials.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that his country was ready to discuss a prisoner exchange offer from the United States involving basketball star Brittney Griner but warned that “loud statements” and public diplomacy from the Biden administration could sink hopes of any deal. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday repeated earlier condemnations of the “wrongful detention” of Griner and American security consultant Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence on a spying conviction.
• Biden described the Griner verdict as “unacceptable” but said he was “hopeful” about getting her home after a Russian judge in the trial on drug charges handed down a prison sentence close to the maximum possible. The Olympian did not speak to journalists after the hearing but said “I love my family” as she was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
• If diplomatic efforts or the appeal fail, Griner could be sent to a penal colony, a type of Russian prison facility known for brutal conditions.

• Russia’s war in Ukraine has damaged or destroyed nearly 200 temples and prayer housesof different denominations, along with hundreds of educational institutions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a nightly address.
• Kyiv is asking Ukrainians to evacuate the eastern Donetsk region under a mandatory evacuation order for thousands of people to flee west on government-sponsored transit. Zelensky has said his troops are facing “hell” as they fight Russian advances in the country’s east.
• Ukrainian shelling damaged power lines leading to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Russian occupation officials said in a statement Friday, Reuters reports. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Associated Press earlier this week that the situation at the plant is “out of control” and that “every principle of nuclear safety has been violated” since Russia seized Europe’s largest nuclear plant in February….

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