The U.S. State Department has cleared the sale to Ukraine of 16

The U.S. State Department has cleared the sale to Ukraine of 16 Mark VI patrol boats and other gear worth $600 million, it was announced Wednesday. “The sale weapons, sensors and communications gear to deter Russia from muscling Ukraine in the contested Kerch Strait and key ports along the Azov Sea,” Defense News reports from Washington. The boats are designed to help Ukraine patrol its coastal waters and exclusive economic zones in the Black and Azov Seas.