Russia Says It Destroys Ukraine’s ‘Last Warship’ 

The Yuriy Olefirenko. (Russian media)
The Yuriy Olefirenko. (Russian media)
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Russia Says It Destroys Ukraine’s ‘Last Warship’ 

The Yuriy Olefirenko. (Russian media)
The Yuriy Olefirenko. (Russian media)

Russia's defense ministry said 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," Defense 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.

Ukrainian officials said on Monday that Russia had put five aircraft out of action in an attack on a military target in western Ukraine and caused a fire at the Black Sea port of Odesa in heavy air strikes early on Monday.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the battlefield accounts of either side.

The Russian defense ministry also said on Wednesday that its forces had pushed Ukrainian units out of positions around the settlements of Krasnohorivka and Yasynuvata in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, which Moscow claims to have annexed.

The ministry said "fierce fighting" was continuing around Avdiivka, a large town located between the two settlements, which has been largely razed to the ground during months of fighting.



Congress is Notified by the Biden Administration of Planned $8 Billion Weapons Sale to Israel

The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel - File Photo/AFP
The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel - File Photo/AFP
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Congress is Notified by the Biden Administration of Planned $8 Billion Weapons Sale to Israel

The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel - File Photo/AFP
The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel - File Photo/AFP

The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel, US officials say, as the American ally presses forward with its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Some of the arms in the package could be sent through current US stocks but the majority would take a year or several years to deliver, according to two US officials Saturday who spoke on condition of anonymity because the notification to Congress hasn't been formally sent.

The sale includes medium-range air-to-air missiles to help Israel defend against airborne threats, 155 mm projectile artillery shells for long-range targeting, Hellfire AGM-114 missiles, 500-pound bombs and more.

The weapons package would add to a record of at least $17.9 billion in military aid that the US has provided Israel since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, launched the war, The AP reported.

The Biden administration has faced criticism over mounting deaths of Palestinian civilians. There have been demonstrations on college campuses and unsuccessful efforts in Congress by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and some Democrats to block sales of offensive weapons to Israel.

The United States paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in May over concerns about civilian casualties if the bombs were to be used during an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Biden administration has demanded that Israel increase humanitarian aid into the enclave. But in November, citing some limited progress, it declined to limit arms transfers as it threatened to do if the situation did not improve.

In recent days, Israel has been conducting airstrikes in Gaza that have killed dozens of people, adding to the tens of thousands of deaths since the war began more than a year ago.

The Israeli army said Friday that it had struck dozens of Hamas gathering points and command centers throughout Gaza. Israel’s military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas.

The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times. Winter has now arrived, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea.

The informal notice to Congress isn’t the final notification before a sale. Now the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee or the Senate Foreign Relations Committee can review the package.

News of the weapons sale was first reported by Axios.