In this photo provided by the Odesa Regional Administration Press Office, a granary destroyed in a Russian drone attack at night is seen in a Danube port near Odesa, Ukraine, Aug 16, 2023. (PHOTO / ODESA REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION PRESS OFFICE VIA AP)

MOSCOW/KYIV/RIYADH - Russian forces have prevented a Ukrainian sabotage group from crossing into Russia's western Bryansk region, Governor Alexander Bogomaz said Wednesday.

Bogomaz said that the units of Russia's Defense Ministry and the country's security forces had thwarted an attempt by six militants of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group to cross into the Bryansk region on Wednesday morning.

Five of the militants have been killed, Bogomaz said in a Telegram post.

Meanwhile, Russia carried out two waves of drone attacks overnight Wednesday on the port infrastructure in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, according to regional authorities.

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The combat drone strikes damaged warehouses and grain storage facilities in one of the ports on the Danube River, the Odesa regional military administration said in a statement on Telegram.

The fires caused by the attack have been extinguished, the statement said, and 11 combat drones were downed over the Odesa region overnight, it said.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said earlier on Tuesday that Ukraine will not cede its territories to Russia to obtain NATO membership

Two other drones targeting port infrastructure in the region were downed in the neighboring Mykolaiv region, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. There were no reports of casualties in the attacks.

Ukraine has lost up to 250 troops in the Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

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Over the past day, Russian armed forces have repelled five attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk direction, two in the Zaporizhzhia direction, nine in the Kupyansk direction and one in the Krasnyi Lyman direction, the ministry said, adding that Russian troops had conducted offensive operations and improved their position along the front line in the Kupyansk direction.

Moreover, Russian troops have hit a command post of the 72nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces near the village of Paraskoviivka, which is near the Russian-controlled city of Bakhmut, also known as Artyomovsk.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said earlier on Tuesday that Ukraine will not cede its territories to Russia to obtain NATO membership.

"The talks about Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for giving up parts of Ukrainian territories are absolutely unacceptable," Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.

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He emphasized that Ukraine is committed to further cooperation with NATO to achieve full membership in the alliance.

The statement came after a comment from Stian Jenssen, the director of the private office of the NATO Secretary-General, who proposed that Ukraine cede part of its territory to Russia in exchange for NATO membership to end the war, the Ukrinform news agency reported.

A Ukrainian soldier watches a Grad multiple launch rocket system firing shells with flyers near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Aug 13, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

GCC supports ‘peaceful efforts’ to address conflict

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held a phone conversation with Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi on Wednesday.

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Albudaiwi said the GCC member states support "peaceful efforts" aimed at resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Saudi Press Agency reported. He noted that the GCC's stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict is based on the principles of international law and the UN Charter, which underscores the importance of upholding the existing international order on the basis of respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of states, non-interference in their internal affairs, and the avoidance of using or threatening to use force.