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Ukrainian authorities have blocked bank accounts on the territory of the Kherson region, "stealing" local people’s savings, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the regional military-civil administration, told Sputnik.

"People can't withdraw money. Their cards are no longer being serviced. ATMs are not working after the disconnection of communications and the internet by Ukraine. Ukraine has done everything to rob people so as not to pay the money that they had left in their bank accounts… They purposefully did everything so that people cannot withdraw funds from their accounts," Stremousov said.

He added that within a few days, banks are expected to open in the Kherson region that are integrated into the Russian banking system.

On Tuesday, Stremousov told Sputnik that the Kherson region plans to hold a referendum on joining Russia, and it is estimated that at least 60-70 percent of the local population will agree to become a part of Russia. He later specified that the referendum will only be possible once the situation in the region fully stabilizes.

The letter specifically pointed to “lower-tier” Russian officials, including members of the military, legislators, senior federal workers and propagandists as targets for further sanctions. It was signed by members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, including Mark Warner, Marco Rubio, Ron Wyden and James Risch.

US officials are meeting regularly with their counterparts from the United Kingdom and the European Union to discuss potential frameworks for a ceasefire in Ukraine, CNN reported on Friday.

The topics discussed in meetings included a four-point framework proposed by Italy in May that involves Ukraine being a neutral state in exchange for security guarantees, the report said.

Ukraine has not been a part of the discussions and the United States has not been requiring that Kiev commit to a ceasefire plan or start negotiations with Russia, the report added.

Russia's anti-aircraft defense systems worked in the skies over the outskirts of Kherson, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

Three explosions were heard, two of them were very strong.

Canada must prepare to send warships and cargo ships to Ukraine's sea ports in the Black Sea to secure exports of grain, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Friday.

"We need to be ready not only to send ships, and particularly also cargo ships, to Ukrainian ports to export the grain and make sure that Middle Eastern countries and African countries can have access to it," Joly said, when asked if Canada would commit to sending warships to the Black Sea, like the UK, to accompany ships with humanitarian cargo.

Joly added that she will have a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas next week in Los Angeles to discuss securing the export of grain from Ukraine.

Two people, one of them a child, died due to a bomb explosion on the territory of a sandy beach along Bolshaya Morskaya Street in Mariupol, the Donetsk People's Republic's territorial defenсe said.

Earlier on Friday, a Sputnik correspondent reported that the explosion had occurred in the sea, a few dozen metres from the Mariupol beach, not far from the Azovstal plant.

"As a result of the detonation of an explosive object on the territory of a sandy beach located on Bolshaya Morskaya Street, two people died, one of them is a child," the statement says.

Russia has added 41 citizens of Canada to its travel ban list in response to Ottawa’s sanctions against Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"In response to the new personal sanctions against Russia announced by Ottawa on May 8 against the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense, military leaders and representatives of the business community, entry to Russia is permanently closed for Canadian citizens, including heads of organizations supporting ultra-nationalist forces in Ukraine, as well as top military officials," the ministry said in a statement.

Sanctions have been imposed against members of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, among others, the ministry said.

The European Union published information about the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, that includes the oil embargo and the SWIFT ban of Sberbank, in its official journal on Friday.

The union updated its personal sanctions list, and it now includes retired Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, who allegedly has personal ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moreover, the EU imposed sanctions against family members of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and co-founder of Yandex Arkady Volozh.

The sanctions are also imposed against several Russian entities, including Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant (UAZ), vehicle developer KAMAZ and aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed issues related to exports of Ukrainian grain during a phone conversation on Friday, the state-run Belta news agency reported.

According to Belta, Lukashenko said that Belarus is ready to transport Ukrainian grain to the ports of the Baltic countries.