Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: UN chief hails progress in talks over Ukraine grain exports

BEIJING, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:

The Donetsk Regional State Administration on Wednesday urged civilians to timely evacuate from combat areas in Donetsk.

The Ukrainian authorities are ready to evacuate up to 395,000 people from Donetsk, it said in a statement.

More than 150,000 people could be evacuated from Donetsk by train to Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Kirovograd as well as to Lviv, Ternopil, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky, the statement said.

In recent months, Donetskhas been one of the epicenters of fighting in the Ukraine crisis.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday hailed what he called "substantive progress" in ensuring the export of Ukrainian food products through the Black Sea.

"Today in Istanbul, we have seen a critical step forward to ensuring the safe and secure export of Ukrainian food products through the Black Sea," he told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York.

"In a world darkened by global crises, today, at last, we have a ray of hope -- a ray of hope to ease human suffering and alleviate hunger around the world, a ray of hope to support developing countries and the most vulnerable people, a ray of hope to bring a measure of much-needed stability to the global food system," Guterres said.

More technical work will be needed to materialize today's progress. But the momentum is clear. In the end, the aim of all parties is not just an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, but an agreement for the world, he said.

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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday officially recognized the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Thursday.

In a statement, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry denounced the DPRK's decision as an attempt by Pyongyang to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and severed ties with the DPRK in response.

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Ukraine has begun construction of a dry port for the exports of agricultural products in the northwestern Volyn region, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Wednesday, citing Volyn Governor Yuriy Pohulyaiko.

"This year there will be a lot of challenges with the export of grain and other agricultural products. That is why we are building a very large dry port," Pohulyaiko said.

The facility will store grain and other food products and ship them to Europe, the official said.

Now, Volyn is preparing to receive grain from a new crop harvested in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Mykolayiv regions, Pohulyaiko added.