Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Over 200 Polish tanks transferred to Ukraine

BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine:

The Polish government has supplied Ukraine with "a sizable number" of Soviet era T-72 battle tanks and smaller batches of infantry fighting vehicles and drones, a presidential advisor confirmed on Friday.

Pawel Soloch, also director of Poland's National Security Bureau, told a news program that he expects the efforts to replenish Polish stock with modern U.S.-made Abrams tanks to be accelerated, noting there are around 10,000 U.S. soldiers currently stationed in Poland.

While Soloch declined to give numbers, Informacyjna Agencja Radiowa, a news agency working with public broadcaster Polish Radio, reported on Friday that over 200 tanks have been transferred to Ukraine.

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A border checkpoint in Russia's Kursk region and a Federal Security Service (FSB) border guard post in the Bryansk region came under mortar fire from Ukrainian territory Friday, according to the governors of the regions.

"Mortars were fired into a checkpoint in the village of Krupets. There were no casualties or destruction," Kursk's Governor Roman Starovoit said in a telegram post. "The firing points were suppressed by return fire of Russian border guards and military."

"An FSB border department in Russia's Bryansk region was subjected to mortar fire from the territory of Ukraine on April 29," Bryansk's Governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on his telegram.

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Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday that Ukraine is willing to sign a deal on the "withdrawal from war" with Russia, which would contain the steps to end the ongoing conflict, the Ukrinform news agency reported.

"It is clear that there will be no 'treaty of friendship and peace' anymore ... But we need to fix positions that will be red lines for Russia," Podolyak, also a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks with Russia, was quoted as saying.

Among the key provisions of the possible agreement, Podolyak listed a ceasefire throughout Ukraine, the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, and the prisoner exchange.

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The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has announced that it would take immediate steps to close the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Friday.

"This is not an easy decision to take. We have explored all possible options through political dialogue with participating States to achieve the renewal of the Special Monitoring Mission's mandate, but the position of the Russian Federation left us with no choice but to take steps to close down the Mission," said Zbigniew Rau, the OSCE chairman-in-office, Polish foreign minister.