Ships carrying agricultural products could not leave Ukraine due to a suspicious mine-like object near port

An aerial view of the Turkish-flagged ship "Polarnet" carrying grain from Ukraine is seen at the Derince Port, Kocaeli, Turkiye on August 08, 2022.

Omer Faruk Cebeci | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The organization overseeing the export of grain from Ukraine said that no vessels were approved to leave the besieged country due to a "suspicious mine-like object."

The Joint Coordination Center said that it halted departures from Ukraine until an inspection of the suspicious object was completed. The group said that eight vessels will leave Ukrainian ports Thursday.

Since the inception of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal announced in July among Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey, more than 390 vessels have left Ukraine carrying a total of 8.8 million metric tons of grain and other crops.

Read more about theBlack Sea Grain Initiative here.

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Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby holds a press briefing at the Pentagon on May 09, 2022 in Arlington, Virginia.

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The U.S. is "not taking sanctions off the table" in response to Iranian arms transfers to Russia, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

Kirby declined to detail potential diplomatic or economic actions Washington would take.

Moscow has carried out several devastating missile and drone strikes against what Ukraine said were civilian targets and critical infrastructure such as energy facilities.

Iran and Russia's representatives at the United Nations havesharply denied reportsthat Tehran supplied Moscow with a fleet of drones for use in Ukraine. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it uses Iranian-made drones to target residential and other high civilian areas.

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US' Women's National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, waits for the verdict inside a defendants' cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022.

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U.S. officials are still talking with their Russian counterparts about the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

"The conversations with the Russians continue, they haven't stopped," Kirby told reporters at the White House. He added that the Biden administration is working on the immediate release of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

Whelan was arrested in 2018 on charges of acting as a spy for the United States. At the time he was arrested, Whelan was visiting Russia to attend a wedding, according to his brother, David Whelan.

On Tuesday,a Russian court upheld Griner's nine-year prison sentence, a decision that will send the U.S. athlete to a penal colony.

Griner, who plays professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA offseason, was arrested in February after Russian authorities found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier meet, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 25, 2022.

Jesco Denzel | BPA | via Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his country's forces have downed nearly 250 Russian helicopters.

"Russia will not be able to restore these losses. I thank all our fighters for such a gradual and irreversible demilitarization of the enemy," Zelenskyy said in a nightly Telegram address, according to an NBC News translation.

He also said that there is "fierce fighting" in the Donetsk region. He called Ukrainian troops holding positions in the area "simply heroes."

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A war crimes prosecutor examines the damage in a destroyed building, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, following shelling in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, in this handout picture released on July 31, 2022.

Press Service of the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office | Via Reuters

A number of efforts are underway to investigate Russian crimes committed in Ukraine, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the United Nations secretary-general.

"The SecretaryGeneral believes that, in all conflicts, there needs to be accountability," Dujarric told reporters at the United Nations. "And so, there are a number of processes underway, including the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Human Rights Council."

"We also know that the International Criminal Court has had prosecutors on the ground to collect information. We believe that these processes should move forward," he said.

The Kremlin has previously denied that its forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine, including indiscriminate attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure.

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This photograph taken on April 26, 2022 shows the New Safe Confinement at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant which cover the number 4 reactor unit, on the 36th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

Russian state media claimed that Ukraine has made a dummy rocket to deploy a "dirty bomb" near the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

The U.S. and its allies have previously denied Russian allegations that Ukraine is planning to use a "dirty bomb" in order to escalate the conflict.

The report in Russia's RIA Novosti alleges that Ukrainian forces are planning to fill the rocket with radioactive material and blame an explosion on Russian forces.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about US policy towards China during an event hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington, DC, on May 26, 2022.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. and its allies will continue to hold Russia accountable despite some concerns from lawmakers over the mounting financial burden.

"You can't simply go in and seize territory from another country, you can't change the borders of another country by force, you can't try to erase its independence and sovereignty from the map," Blinken said during an event hosted by Bloomberg.

"If we allow that to go unchecked, if we allow them to proceed with impunity, it opens Pandora's box around the world for the would-be aggressors," he added.

Blinked added that in his conversations with "members of Congress, Republicans, Democrats, House and Senate, there's a shared conviction" to stick with Ukraine.

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The Russian Navys Kilo-class submarine Rostov-na-Donu B-237 enters the Bosphorus Strait en route to the Black Sea on Feb. 13, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.

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The Ukrainian navy said that Russian forces have approximately 19 vessels on combat duty in the Black Sea and Azov Sea off of Ukraine's coast, as well as the surrounding Mediterranean Sea.

In a Facebook post, the country's navy said that there are about eight Kalibr cruise missile carriers also in the waters, according to an NBC News translation.

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Russia returned the body of an American citizen who died fighting for Kyiv to Ukrainian forces, the State Department confirmed.

"Out of respect for the privacy of the family, we will not release further details," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

Price reiterated that U.S. citizens should still not travel to Ukraine and urged all Americans currently in the war-weary country to "depart immediately."

"U.S. citizens who travel to Ukraine, including to participate in the fighting there, face significant risks and the United States cannot guarantee their safety," Price added.

Ukraine identified the American citizen as Joshua Jones, a former U.S. service member, who went to Ukraine with his friends to join the fight against Russian forces.

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This photograph taken on September 25, 2022, shows empty graves after exhumation of bodies in the mass grave created during the Russian's occupation in Izyum, Kharkiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Yasuyoshi Chiba | AFP | Getty Images

About 1,000 bodies have been exhumed from mass graves in recently liberated territories of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian forces.

Of those, about 450 bodies were exhumed in Izium in what was described as one of the largest mass graves.

"The shocking facts of the atrocities committed by the occupiers are revealed: there are not only military personnel but also civilians adults and children among the dead," said Ukraine's Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, according to an NBC News translation.

The ministry said that it was still investigating the mass graves.

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Mariya, 77, whose daughter and son-in-law died under the rubble of a building destroyed by Russian shelling, cries, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine in Borodyanka, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 8, 2022.

Gleb Garanich | Reuters

Ukraine's Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization report that at least 10 million people will need psychosocial support due to the trauma from Russia's conflict in Ukraine.

"This includes women and girls suffering sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence, children hearing warning sirens daily, families who have been separated, or people just trying to survive every day," said Denise Brown, the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Ukraine, in remarks before the United Nations Security Council.

Brown added that civilians in recently liberated areas of Ukraine are particularly vulnerable as they have "witnessed or experienced terrible violations" committed by Russian forces.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during the plenary session of the Commonwealth of the Independent States (CIS) Summit, on October 14, 2022 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

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U.S. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said it is unlikely that Russian President Vladimir Putin will deploy a nuclear weapon in his fight with Ukraine, but called the Kremlin's recent rhetoric concerning.

"There is a lot of concern given how Putin has escalated [the conflict]," Wormuth told CNBC's Morgan Brennan when asked about Western fears that Russia could resort to nuclear warfare in its armed conflict with Ukraine.

"Certainly there is a concern," Wormuth said, adding that despite Putin's threats to use such a weapon against its ex-Soviet neighbor, it is "still an unlikely event."

President Joe Biden told reporters yesterday that Russia would be making "an incredibly serious mistake" if Moscow used a tactical nuclear weapon in its fight with Ukraine.

"I'm not guaranteeing that it's a false flag operation," Biden said, referencing Russian allegations that Ukraine is planning to use a "dirty bomb" in order to escalate the conflict.

"It would be a serious serious mistake," Biden added.

The United States and Russia hold the lion's share of the world's nuclear weapons.

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A man holds his child as families, who fled Ukraine due to the Russian invasion, wait to enter a refugee camp in the Moldovan capital Chisinau on March 3, 2022.

Nikolay Doychinov | Afp | Getty Images

More than 7.7 million Ukrainianshave become refugees and moved to neighboring countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, the U.N. Refugee Agency estimates.

Nearly 4.4 million of those people have applied for temporary resident status in neighboring Western European countries, according to data collected by the agency.

"The escalation of conflict in Ukraine has caused civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure, forcing people to flee their homes seeking safety, protection and assistance," the U.N. Refugee Agency wrote.

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U.S. President Joe Biden pictured in London on September 18, 2022. Biden said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that U.S forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, his most explicit statement so far on the issue.

Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images

President Joseph Biden congratulated Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on her appointment as Italy's first woman leader.

"The leaders underscored the strong relationship between the United States and Italy and expressed their readiness to work together within the transatlantic alliance to address common challenges," a White House readout of the call said.

The two spoke about additional ways to offer aid to Ukraine in its months-long fight against Russia. Biden and Meloni discussed the importance of holding Russia accountable for its aggression.

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg holds a closing press conference during the second of two days of defence ministers' meetings at NATO headquarters on October 13, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium.

Omar Havana | Getty Images

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called Russian President Vladimir Putin's nuclear rhetoric "dangerous," adding that "it is reckless and irresponsible."

Stoltenberg, speaking from the U.S. aircraft carrier U.S.S. George H.W. Bush, said that Russia "falsely claims Ukraine is preparing to use a radiological dirty bomb on its own territory."

Stoltenberg said NATO allies reject the false allegation.

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