Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Kiev plans to strengthen its naval brigades.
“New naval brigades will join our existing units, and we will equip them with modern weapons and equipment,” he said in his video address that evening.
Ukraine’s “main task” is to “strengthen our defence, increase the capabilities of our warriors and our country as a whole,” he said.
Zelenskyi made the remark after visiting frontline positions near the cities of Wuhledar and Maryinka in the Donetsk region.
On the National Day of the Ukrainian Marines, he presented awards to dozens of soldiers.
Here are some of the other developments related to Russia’s war in Ukraine on Wednesday May 24:
Governor claims Belgorod again under drone attack
According to the governor of the Russian region near the border with Ukraine, Belgorod has again been subjected to a drone attack.
Vyacheslav Gladkov reported on his Telegram channel that no one was injured after the explosive device was dropped.
Russia on Tuesday said it repelled an attack on the region by Ukrainian saboteurs after a 24-hour battle killed 70 people. Kyiv denied any involvement.
The US said it would “neither encourage nor facilitate attacks within Russia.” However, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told a news conference that the US “would leave it up to our Ukrainian partners to decide how to wage this war” since Russia was the aggressor.
Miller also said Washington was “skeptical” of reports that US-supplied weapons were used during the attack on Belgorod.
Russia claims to ‘eliminate’ cross-border attackers.
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Russian jet intercepts two US bombers over the Baltic Sea – Russian media
A Russian military jet was dispatched to intercept two US bombers flying over the Baltic Sea, the Russian news agencies TASS and Interfax reported, citing military sources.
The Pentagon said the plane was part of a long-planned exercise in Europe.
A US Department of Defense spokesman said the handling of the Russian plane’s crew was “safe and professional.”
According to Russian media, the two Russian Su-27 jets took off after two US B-1B supersonic bombers approached Russian airspace.
Only very few Russian conscientious objectors have received asylum in Germany – report
Only 55 Russian conscientious objectors have received asylum in Germany so far, reports the editorial network Germany (RND).
Germany has received almost 2,500 asylum applications from Russian conscientious objectors. 88 applications were rejected.
Around 671 applications were resolved either by being transferred to another country under the EU’s Dublin procedure or by the applicant’s withdrawal.
A total of 1,671 applications are still outstanding.
Jan Korte, MP for the Left Party, criticized the low number of conscientious objectors.
“When well over 100,000 men of military age leave Russia and reject Putin’s war, but only 55 of them find official protection in Germany, something goes terribly wrong.”
He accused the German government of being “cynical” and “striving to decimate Putin’s army by supplying arms, but not by supporting desertion and conscientious objection”.
More DW content on the Russian war in Ukraine
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Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted to leading the Wagner mercenary group and a huge internet troll farm. But does he pose a threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin, or is he just doing what the Kremlin chief wants?
Ukrainians are fighting for the right to choose their own future. And yet part of that future is already in Russian hands. DW’s Max Zander investigates how Russia allegedly deports Ukrainian children and how some parents get them back. Check out the report below.
Retrieving Ukrainian children from Russia
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sdi/rt (AP, AFP, Portal, dpa)