Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Putin’s forces claim they have destroyed Kyiv’s ‘last warship’

Russia’s defence ministry claimed on Wednesday that its forces had destroyed what it described as Ukraine’s “last warship” two days ago in the port of Odesa in a missile strike.

Ukraine’s navy declined to comment.

“The last warship of the Ukrainian navy, the Yuriy Olefirenko, was destroyed at a warship mooring in the port of Odesa,” defence ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a daily briefing on the war.

He said the vessel had been hit with “high-precision weapons” – a phrase he uses to mean missiles – on May 29, but gave no further details.

Oleh Chalyk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian navy, said he would not respond to any assertions made by Russia. The Ukrainian navy will not disclose any information about losses during the war, he added.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has urged NATO to provide Ukraine with“tangible and credible” security as it continues to battle Russia.

Speaking at the GLOBSEC Bratislava Global Security Forum, President Macron said: “We have to build something between the security provided to Israel and full-fledged membership.”

He added that Ukraine needed to be helped with “all means possible” because it is “today protecting Europe”.

A U.S. military aid package for Ukraine that is expected to be announced this week will total up to $300 million and will include additional munitions for drones, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The drone ammunition comes after new attacks by unmanned aircraft targeted Moscow.

There has been no suggestion that U.S.-made drones or munitions were used in the recent attacks on Moscow, and U.S. officials have repeatedly said that Ukraine has agreed not to use any American-provided weapons for attacks on Russian soil. The Kremlin blamed Kyiv for Tuesday’s attack, but Ukrainian officials had no direct comment.

But the new aid package comes at a tense moment in the war. The latest drone attack on Moscow follows Russia’s seizure of the eastern Ukrainian city Bakhmut after a nine-month battle that killed tens of thousands of people. Ukraine is also showing signs that its long-awaited spring counteroffensive may already be underway.

The fiancee of a former British soldier who was killed in a car crash in Ukraine has told how she had made a wedding ring on the day she was told of his death.

Louise Lathbury has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for repatriating Julian Thorn’s body from the war-torn nation, hoping to raise £15,000.

Ms Lathbury, originally from Berkshire, said Mr Thorn’s mother and grandfather were also desperate to bring him back to the UK, saying it would mean “everything to bring him back whole”.

British public officials are a “legitimate military target” because of the UK’s support for Ukraine, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned.

Mr Medvedev, deputy chairman of Vladimir Putin’s security council, claimed the UK’s support for Kyiv amounted to an “undeclared war” against Russia.

His comments came after Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Ukraine had the right to “project force beyond its borders” into Russia to resist Mr Putin’s invasion.

British and US officials acknowledge privately that Ukraine has carried out secret cross-border operations with rising success, writes Kim Sengupta.

The German government said Wednesday that it has told Russia to close four out of its five consulates general in Germany in a tit-for-tat move after Moscow set a limit for the number of staff at the German Embassy and related bodies in Russia.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christofer Burger told reporters in Berlin that the measure was intended to create a “parity of personnel and structures” between the two countries.

Russia has consulates in Bonn, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich, with Moscow deciding which four they will close and which one they will keep open.