Britain announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine, including 120 armored vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems, after a meeting between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Saturday.
Johnson's office said the aid is on top of 100 million pounds ($130 million) of advanced military equipment including Starstrike anti-aircraft missiles, and includes another 800 anti-tank missiles, and high-quality munitions for precision strikes.
The office stressed that the UK would do everything in its power to support a brave Ukraine against the "brutal Russian invasion".
Britain will also guarantee an additional $500 million loan from the World Bank to Ukraine, bringing the total of Britain's loans to Ukraine to one billion dollars, in addition to about 400 million pounds sterling provided by the United Kingdom as a grant to guarantee humanitarian aid to the Ukrainians.
Britain will liberalize tariffs on most imports from Ukraine and take other measures to liberalize trade.
Johnson said - in a press conference with Zelensky - that he understands the difficult situation in Ukraine, expressing his appreciation for the resistance of the Ukrainian people, their strength and courage in repelling what he called Russian aggression.
Johnson - who is the highest-ranking Western official to visit Ukraine since the start of the Russian war on it - emphasized the continuation of imposing sanctions on Russia, especially the wealthy there, in addition to providing more necessary aid to Ukraine so that it would not be exposed to any aggression later.
For his part, Zelensky stressed the continuation of work for peace in Ukraine, and thanked the British guest for the weapons provided by London to his country.
On the ground, CNN quoted a European official as saying that about a quarter of the Russian forces used in the invasion of Ukraine are no longer able to fight.
In parallel, Ukrainian intelligence said that the Russian army is regrouping its forces in the east of the country and is planning to advance towards Kharkiv and then Mariupol, to return later to attack Kyiv.
A British military intelligence report stated that Russian operations continue to focus on Donbass, Mariupol and Mykolaiv, backed by bombing from the sea with cruise missiles.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Lugansk reported an increase in the bombing of the city, and the Russian Defense Ministry spoke of attempts by members of the Ukrainian Azov Battalion to leave Mariupol by sea with the help of a cargo ship.
Meanwhile, the head of Sumy's regional administration said that Ukrainian forces were partially controlling the city's borders.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the destruction of an ammunition depot for Ukrainian forces near Novomoskovsk in Dnipro with high-precision missiles.
It also announced the destruction of a MiG-29 fighter and a helicopter of the Ukrainian forces at the Mirgorod military airport.
The military command in Odessa, southern Ukraine, announced the targeting of the city of Chornamorsk with a Russian missile launched from the Crimea.
She added that the missile targeted infrastructure facilities in the city, west of Odessa, without causing any casualties.
Witnesses said that the missile landed near the main administration building of the port of Chornamorsk, which is one of the three main ports in the Odessa region and throughout Ukraine.
On the other hand, the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, said that they now control 70% of the port of Mariupol, and the separatists published aerial photos of the port showing smoke rising from some ships anchored there, and some traces of the destruction of its facilities as a result of the battles.
Humanitarianly, the International Red Cross said that a large number of civilians are still trapped in Mariupol, and stressed in a tweet their urgent need for a safe passage before it was too late, as he put it.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Verychuk had said that it was agreed today, Saturday, to open 10 humanitarian corridors, including corridors in the city of Mariupol.