On August 24, 2021, Ukraine celebrated its 30th Independence Day. In honour of this date, a naval parade took place in Odesa. Odesa is one of those Ukrainian ports where the Ukrainian naval forces were relocated after the occupation of Crimea by Russia.
On the eve of Independence Day, Ukraine acquired British icebreaker James Clark Ross. The ship will arrive in Odesa under the Ukrainian flag. This is expected to happen in early autumn.
Earlier, Ukraine could analyze and monitor such an environmental catastrophe as oil spill, because the Russian port of Novorossiysk is located near Crimea. But after Russia had occupied the peninsula, Ukrainian scientists were deprived of the opportunity to do such work.
Ukraine and the Kingdom of Belgium have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on water protection and reproduction and the rational use of water resources.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence blames Russia for the attack, saying that the country is intentionally conducting information operations against Ukraine.
According to the Russian military, HMS Defender was told to change course, and when it failed to do so, a Russian border patrol ship sent several warning shots. The UK government rejected Russia's account of the incident and denied that any warning shots had been fired.
Babcock International Group (Babcock) has signed a tripartite Memorandum of Implementation (MoI) in Odesa with the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the UK Government.
