US ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink has tweeted about a meeting she had with members of the Ukrainian judiciary yesterday.

She said she heard about plans the country’s High Council of Justice has to recruit new judges to restart court proceedings there.

A functioning justice system will be a key part of rebuilding Ukraine after the war, which in turn will help bodies like the EU and NATO consider it for membership.

Ukraine declares all Black Sea ports ‘military threat zones’

Ukraine has declared all Russian Black Sea ports and the waters around them as “military threat zones”, according to the Ukrainian agency for navigation and hydrographic services.

This will last until 23 August – when it expects all commercial vessels trading with Russia to have left the Black Sea.

It covers the internal and external harbour areas around the ports of Anapa, Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik, Tuapse, Sochi, and Taman.