Ukraine attacks Russian Black Sea Fleet HQ: authorities

STORY: Ukrainian forces struck the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Russian-held Sevastopol early on Sunday (July 31).

That's according to the Crimean port city's governor.

Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev told Reuters six people were wounded in the attack, when what was presumed to be a drone flew into the courtyard of the headquarters.

Heavy Russian strikes also hit the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv overnight and early on Sunday, killing the owner of one of the country's largest grain producing and exporting companies, according to the local governor.

Meanwhile, fierce fighting in the eastern Donestsk region continues, and hundreds of thousands of people are still living in combat zones.

In a televized address late on Saturday (July 30), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered the mandatory evacuation of citizens in the area, which Russia seeks to control completely.

Swathes of the Donbas were held before the invasion by Russian-backed separatists.

"The more people leave the Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill," he said, adding that residents who left would be given compensation.

Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations in recent days over a missile strike or explosion early on Friday (July 29) that appeared to have killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the front-line town of Olenivka, held by Moscow.

Reuters journalists confirmed some of the deaths at the prison, but could not immediately verify the differing versions of events.

Russia on Sunday invited the United Nations and Red Cross experts to probe the incident.

Ukraine has accused Russia of atrocities against civilians and identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes.

Russia denies targeting civilians and war crimes during the invasion, which it calls a "special military operation".