The United States plans to announce as early as Tuesday a new package of up to $400 million in military aid to Ukraine, consisting mostly of artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and ground vehicles, as Ukraine’s counteroffensive intensifies, three U.S. officials said Friday. At the same time, Wagner’s mercenary group is not currently fighting in Ukraine, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 514, LIVETEXT:

00:47Russia wants to be able to inspect ships bound for Ukraine in the Black Sea

Russia wants to be able to inspect ships bound for Ukraine after withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Agreement, the country’s deputy foreign minister said.

It comes after both Moscow and Kyiv announced they would consider ships bound for each other’s ports as potential military targets.

A brief summary of recent events:

• President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused Poland of territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union and said any aggression against Moscow’s neighbor and close ally Belarus would be considered aggression against Russia, Reuters reported.
• Prominent Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who was detained by the Russians on charges of inciting extremism after criticizing President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the Russian regular army, appeared before Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court on Friday. See the first photos of the detained Girkin.
• Wagner’s mercenary group is not currently fighting in Ukraine, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, Reuters reported.
• On Friday, Bulgaria decided to send about 100 armored vehicles to Ukraine, a first for the Balkan country, which has so far been reluctant to directly help Kiev because of its historically strong ties with Moscow, AFP reported.
• Russia also launched a missile attack during the day for the first time in recent days on the port city of Odessa, whose port infrastructure it is trying to destroy after Moscow pulled out of an agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.
• Russia launches missiles into the Black Sea, the UN warns of the risk of escalation
• Turkey’s escort of grain ships to the Black Sea is not a viable alternative to the collapse of the grain deal after Russia suspended its participation in it on Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said on Friday, CNN reported, News.ro reported.
• Another surprise for Russian men: Parliament decided to leave mandatory military service at 18 after MPs rejected General Andriy Kartapalov’s proposal to raise the minimum age for conscripts, but instead raise the upper.
• Poland’s defense ministry said on Friday that the military drone that crashed Tuesday night in the country’s southwest was a reconnaissance drone used by US soldiers for training.

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Friday’s events regarding Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro.