Ukraine war round-up: Torture claims and MH17 convictions

Ukraine has erstwhile again travel nether dense bombardment from Russia - conscionable 2 days aft Moscow unleashed immoderate of its largest strikes since the warfare began.

A gas-production tract successful the eastbound of the state was besides said to person been struck arsenic Russia continued to people vigor infrastructure pursuing a fig of battlefield setbacks.

The attacks travel arsenic the archetypal snowfall of the play fell successful immoderate areas - a concern, arsenic galore Ukrainians stay incapable to vigor their homes owed to powerfulness outages.

The Kremlin has sought to warrant its caller strikes by accusing Kyiv of "unwillingness" to negotiate.

Eight years aft a rider level was changeable down implicit eastbound Ukraine, a tribunal successful the Netherlands has recovered a Russian-backed radical blameworthy of the execution of each 298 radical connected board.

Many relatives of the victims of the MH17 downing judge if the satellite had reacted differently, and taken a tougher stance against Russia astatine the time, the penetration of Ukraine and the geopolitical instability that has followed could person been avoided.

Moscow has ever denied engagement successful the downing of the jet. However, the tribunal recovered that the pitchy was brought down by a rocket made and supplied by Russia, which was fired by an equipped radical nether Russian control.

Judges ruled that determination was a deliberate enactment to bring down a plane, adjacent though the blameworthy men had intended to sprout down a subject aircraft, alternatively than a civilian one.

Two Ukrainians person told the BBC they were held for a period successful what person been described arsenic "torture chambers" successful the recently-liberated metropolis of Kherson.

The confederate metropolis had been controlled by Russian troops since the aboriginal days of the war, until they withdrew earlier this period pursuing pressuring from advancing Ukrainian forces.

Anzhela said she was held with 4 different women successful a constabulary compartment aft being captured.

In particular, she recalled the "peculiar sound" of radical being electrocuted. "Men were screaming successful pain," she said.

Meanwhile, Oleksandr said helium was forced into confessing expected crimes, and described different antheral being beaten truthful severely that "he was astir afloat bluish from his caput to his legs".

Ukrainian officials accidental they person recovered the bodies of 63 civilians bearing signs of torture successful the portion of the precocious reclaimed city.

Russia continues to contradict committing atrocities during its invasion, contempt grounds to the contrary.

A mining magnate has unveiled a caller money which helium hopes volition 1 time beryllium worthy astatine slightest $25bn (£21bn), allowing Ukraine to "completely regenerate aged coal-fired [and] atomic powerfulness stations with marque caller greenish energy".

Andrew Forrest - who made his luck successful Australia's mining roar - told the BBC the superior "would beryllium disposable the instant that the Russian forces person been removed from the homelands of Ukraine".

The Ukrainian authorities said a woody that allows it to export atom by ships connected the Black Sea has been extended until mid-March.

The statement has allowed millions of tonnes of nutrient to beryllium shipped retired of Ukraine successful caller months - easing worries astir planetary nutrient security. Ukraine is 1 of the world's apical atom exporters.

Before the statement was implemented successful July, Russia had been blocking Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

The Kremlin confirmed connected Thursday that the woody would beryllium continued for different 120 days "without changes".

The United Nations and Turkey - who some helped to broker the accord - some welcomed the news.