The Ukrainian authorities said on Tuesday that they had confiscated 10 Russian ships anchored in the port of Odessa (southwest of the country) with the aim of nationalizing them later, while the Russian Sputnik agency reported that NATO has a secret base in Odessa that monitors ships in the Black Sea, in When the United States and Britain said they were investigating the possible use of chemical weapons by Russian forces in the city of Mariupol.
The Ukrainian State Investigation Bureau announced the detention of 8 Russian cargo ships and two Russian tankers, which were undergoing maintenance in the port of Odessa, and were prevented from leaving Ukraine.
In the past few days, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyal said that all Russian property in Ukraine will be nationalized to compensate for the damage caused by the Russian war on Ukraine.
And in early April, the Verkhovna Rada approved a bill extending the authority to confiscate property subject to nationalization, to include those of Russian citizens and individuals linked to Moscow.
NATO base
On the other hand, the Russian Sputnik news agency quoted a source as saying that a secret NATO group had begun work in the city of Odessa to monitor the Russian Navy in the Black Sea.
The source said that a secret NATO base in Odessa is equipped with equipment that allows monitoring and determining the coordinates and precise movements of any ship in the Black Sea, within a radius of 200 kilometers.
The source explained that the main specialized team supervising this work are employees of a private military company in Romania, and that the group's goal is to prevent the landing of Russian forces in Odessa, and to identify the target for the location of Russian warships, to direct Ukrainian anti-ship missiles.
chemical use
On the other hand, the United States and Britain said they were investigating reports of the use of chemical weapons by Russian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol, and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that her country was working with its partners to investigate the possibility that Russia used chemicals in an attack on the residents of Mariupol.
British Armed Forces Minister James Hebei said that all options are on the table in the event Russia uses chemical weapons in Ukraine, and the minister added that there are actions that cannot be avoided, and will call for the use of chemical weapons.
For his part, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that reports of the use of chemical weapons in Mariupol could not be confirmed, adding that the ministry would monitor the situation closely.
On Monday, the Ukrainian Special Operations Battalion "Azov" said that Russian forces had dropped an unknown toxic substance on the Ukrainian army and civilians in Mariupol, using a drone.
denial of separatists
On the other hand, the pro-Russian separatists - who are participating in the siege of Mariupol - denied today, Tuesday, accusations that their forces launched a poison gas attack in Mariupol.
In the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, the Russian forces continue to reinforce their forces in preparation for a major attack on the Ukrainian forces with the aim of controlling all the territory of the region, which the pro-Moscow separatists declared the establishment of two independent republics from Ukraine, and asked to join Russia.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that Russia has completed its military reinforcements, in preparation for a new attack on the Donbass regions.
In its regular Twitter briefing, the British Ministry of Defense said fighting in eastern Ukraine would intensify over the next two to three weeks, as Russia continues to shift the focus of its efforts there.
British military intelligence revealed that Russian forces continue to withdraw from Belarus, in order to redeploy to support operations in eastern Ukraine.
A US Defense Department official confirmed - to Reuters - this news by saying that Russia has begun to reinforce its forces in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, and the US official said that there is evidence that Russia is trying to strengthen its position southwest of Donetsk city mainly with artillery units.
But he stressed that despite the efforts to redeploy and supply in the Donbass, Washington does not believe that Russia is planning to start a new offensive in the region, but rather is working to strengthen its capabilities with equipment and personnel only.
war crimes
The French Ministry of Interior and Justice said - in a statement today, Tuesday - that a military team, including forensic experts, was sent to Ukraine, with the aim of finding evidence that Russia committed war crimes.
The mayor of Bucha, near the Ukrainian capital, said that the authorities had so far found 403 bodies of people believed to have been killed by Russian forces during their control of the region.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian forces of committing hundreds of rapes in Ukraine, including "underage girls and young children."
On the other hand, Russia said that French special forces accompanied by technicians have arrived in Ukraine, and that their main goal is to conceal - what it says are - war crimes committed by Ukrainian forces, and to fabricate charges against the Russian army.