China's Diplomatic Comments Spark Outrage and Sovereignty Concerns in Europe.

China disavows its ambassador's comments that the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet republics has not been legally established, affirming their status as sovereign states. Meanwhile, Russian authorities in occupied Crimea claim to have fended off a Ukrainian strike on a main naval base, and an exploding drone was found in a forest near Moscow. The US reportedly talked Ukraine out of launching a large-scale attack on Moscow on the war's one-year anniversary. The British Defense Ministry says Russia is coercing residents in occupied areas of Ukraine to accept Russian passports as part of its efforts to integrate those areas.