Chinese naval hospital ship makes maiden visit to Benin

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark, which is on the Mission Harmony-2024, arrived at the port of Cotonou, the Republic of Benin, for a 7-day friendly visit.

This is Peace Ark's first visit to Benin, and also the first time a Chinese naval ship has paid a visit to the country since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Medical teams on the vessel will provide service for local residents during their stay.

Local residents, Chinese citizens in Benin, and representatives of Chinese-invested companies boarded the naval hospital ship for a visit during its public opening.

"We are Chinese working in Benin. The moment we saw the arrival of Peace Ark coming from our homeland, we were excited, and tears filled our eyes because we feel the strength of our country," said Xu Hewei, a Chinese in Benin.

This is the 10th Mission Harmony for "Peace Ark" since its commissioning in 2008.

This mission will be the longest voyage undertaken by the "Peace Ark" among all the Harmony missions, and it is set to visit a record number of 13 countries.

Russia on Monday said it took control of two settlements in the Sumy and Donetsk regions while Ukraine claimed to have repelled Russian attacks in multiple directions over the past day, according to the latest updates from both sides.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that over the past day, its forces struck energy and transportation infrastructure facilities in Ukraine used for military purposes.

Russia's air defense systems successfully shot down eight HIMARS rockets and 345 fixed-wing drones.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said 235 combat engagements occurred on the front lines over the past day and 601 Russian drones were shot down.