Extract from ABC News
A Russian naval ship in Crimea has been damaged in an Ukrainian air strike according to Russia's Defence Ministry.
Key points:
- Russia claims the landing ship Novocherkassk was hit by Ukrainian missiles
- Ukraine says Russia had launched 19 drones, mostly against the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions
- Ukraine has also proposed lowering the age of those who can perform combat duty from 27 to 25
The ministry said the landing ship Novocherkassk was hit at a base in the city of Feodosia by plane-launched guided missiles.
It added that two Ukrainian fighter jets were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire during the attack.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said President Vladimir Putin had been briefed about the attack.
Over the past several months, Ukrainian forces have conducted attacks around Crimea, mostly with sea drones.
The Russian-appointed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said one person was killed in the attack. The RIA news agency said four people had been injured.
"The Russian fleet has become smaller," Ukrainian air force Commander Mykola Oleschuk said on Telegram.
He urged Russians to leave Crimea "while it's not too late."
The ministry did not specify the extent to which the Russian ship was damaged, but videos circulating on Ukrainian channels showed a large fire in the port area.
Ukrainian authorities claimed the ship was destroyed and said it was likely carrying an ammunitions shipment, possibly including drones.
"We saw how powerful were the blast and detonation. It's extremely difficult for a ship to survive something like that," Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on Radio Liberty.
Mr Ihnat denied that Ukrainian planes were shot down in the attack.
Landing ships such as the Novocherkassk "are now used by the enemy almost constantly as logistics facilities, as transportation of important cargo," the spokesperson for Ukraine's military southern command, Nataliya Gumenyuk, was quoted as saying by the UNIAN news agency.
The Novocherkassk was damaged in an attack in March 2022, about a month after the war started, but Mr Ihnat said it has been recently used to transport weapons and soldiers to the Zaporizhzhia region, which is partly held by Russian forces.
In a Tuesday morning update the Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 19 drones, mostly against the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions — 13 of which were shot down — over the past night.
The remaining drones caused infrastructure damage, but no casualties were reported, according to Ukraine's presidential office.
Ukraine seeks to terminate free trade deal with Belarus
Ukraine's government has proposed terminating a free trade agreement with Russian ally Belarus.
Cabinet minister Taras Melnychuk said the move to cancel the agreement was taken "in connection with a fundamental change of circumstances…. involvement of the Republic of Belarus in the illegal use of force against Ukraine", in a Telegram post on Monday.
The proposal would terminate the free trade agreement of December 1992 and two protocols related to the treaty.
Ukraine had already suspended its trade relations with Belarus following Russia's February 2022 invasion.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus remained one of Ukraine's main trading partners, supplying significant amounts of fuel and fertilisers to Kyiv.
Belarus has allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to use its territory as a launch pad for the Ukraine invasion, while not committing its own troops to the war.
Ukraine draft law proposes lowering fighting age
Ukraine has also proposed lowering the age of those who can perform combat duty from 27 to 25.
The draft law, posted by Ukraine's parliament on Monday, proposed conscription for those "who have reached the age of 25."
In December, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said the military had proposed mobilising 450,000—500,000 more Ukrainians in its war with Russia, but that it was a "highly sensitive" issue that the military and government would discuss before sending the proposal to parliament.
Mr Zelenskyy, who has yet to back the proposal publicly, said at the time he wanted to hear more arguments for mobilising additional people.
"This is a very serious number," he said.
Ukraine's troop numbers are not publicly known, but in the past it has been said the country has about one million people under arms.
US officials estimate hundreds of thousands have been killed and wounded since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Neither country publishes its casualty figures.
David Arakhamia, the head of Mr Zelenskyy parliamentary party, said the government was working on the bill at the request of the military and that it was due to be introduced on Monday.
"The military needs a solution to its problems," he said in a Telegram post on Monday.
"Society wants to hear answers to all sensitive questions."
AP/Reuters
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