LIVE UPDATES: IAEA Chief Says Wants to Meet With Putin Again As Soon As Possible

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told reporters that he would like to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin again as soon as possible.

"I hope so. And I hope, as soon as possible," Grossi said when asked if he plans to visit Russia and meet with the Russian president.

Grossi met with Putin on October 11. The Russian leader invited him to discuss the situation with the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, noting that Moscow is open to resolving all issues.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has returned 110 citizens, including 72 sailors, from Ukraine after a prisoners’ exchange, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"On October 17 this year, as a result of the negotiation process, 110 Russian citizens were returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime, including 72 Russian sailors from civilian ships held by the Kiev regime since February 2022," the ministry said on Monday.

The ministry added that Ukraine received 108 female soldiers during the exchange.

"Two Ukrainian women before the exchange voluntarily refused to return to Ukraine, wishing to remain in the Russian Federation," the ministry said.

The first trains carrying Russian soldiers arrived in Belarus on Saturday. On Sunday, the Belarusian defense ministry said that the air force part of the joint regional military group also began to arrive in Belarus from Russia.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Col. Gen. Alexander Fomin discussed the "food deal" with UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths at talks in Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"On October 17, 2022, negotiations were held in Moscow between the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Col. Gen. Alexander Fomin, and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths. The parties reviewed in detail the progress of the project to export grain from Ukrainian ports in direct connection with the implementation of agreements on export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers," the ministry said.

The Black Sea "food deal" can be extended only if all previously reached agreements are fully implemented, the ministry stressed.

Fomin and Griffiths also discussed initiatives on prisoners of war and promotion of Russian ammonia on the global market, the ministry said.

Hungary is the only EU country to refuse support for an initiative to train Ukrainian military in Europe and will not participate in it, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.

"It was decided today that ... EU countries representatives will carry out training of Ukrainian military. I would like to say that Hungary did not vote for the initiative ... We will not participate in the mission," Szijjarto said, as broadcast on its social media.

Hungary is the only EU country that has taken such a position, since it does not support steps leading to an escalation of the conflict, but is in favor of the early start of peace negotiations, the minister added.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday that the energy infrastructure in Kiev, and in the Sumy and Dnipro regions had been attacked.

"Five drone strikes were recorded in Kiev," Shmyhal said on Telegram.

According to Shmyhal, energy facilities have been damaged. The prime minister also reported attacks on critical infrastructure facilities in the Sumy and Dnepr regions.

"Hundreds of settlements are without power," Shmyhal added.

On Monday morning, Ukrainian media reported that air raid alerts had sounded throughout Ukraine.

The Russian Armed Forces carried out regular strikes with precision-guided weapons at military command and control facilities and the military command and energy system of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"Over the day, the Russian Armed Forces continued to strike with high-precision long-range air- and sea-based weapons at military command and control facilities and the energy system of Ukraine. All designated facilities were hit," the ministry said.

Air raid alerts sounded throughout Ukraine on Monday morning, Ukrainian media reported.

The authorities of the Volin, Poltava and Ivano-Frankovsk regions of the country confirmed the information about the air raid alert.

Air raid alerts went of for the second time during the early hours of Monday in the Ukrainian city of Odessa and the Nikolaev Region on the Black Sea coast, local authorities said.

The first air raid alert in Odessa went off at 3 a.m. local time (00:00 GMT) and stopped three hours later.

"Attention. Air raid alert," the Odessa city administration said on Telegram.

In the Nikolaev Region, the first air raid alert sounded at 6:15 a.m.

"Air raid alert. The entire region. 8:10 [a.m.]," regional governor Vitalii Kim said on Telegram.

More than 30 countries stopped purchasing Ukrainian grain in June-July of this year, while the number of new customers was significantly lower, according to Sputnik calculations based on data from the UN Comtrade platform.

In the first two summer months of 2022, the volume of supplies of Ukrainian grain fell by 43% ($771 million worth of deliveries against $1.3 billion a year earlier). Countries with developed economies became the main purchasers of Ukrainian grain in June-July this year, as they accounted for 81% of all deliveries.

More than 30 countries, including India, Jordan, Iran, Yemen, Canada, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United States, stopped purchasing Ukrainian grain in the two months. In June-July of last year these same countries bought nearly $222 million worth of grain.

Ukraine did attract new customers this summer - Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, Seychelles, Slovakia and Slovenia. They purchased grain worth $2.3 million, which is only 3% of all the sales in June-July 2022.

Romania became the main buyer of grain from Ukraine in June-July this year, displacing China from the first place.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that there was an explosion in the city’s central Shevchenkivskyi district on Monday morning. He later reported on a second blast in the same district.