TOP HEADLINES

• Wikipedia's owner has been fined 1.5 million roubles ($18,400) by a Russian court for failing to delete an article on the conflict in Ukraine, the TASS news agency said on Thursday.

• NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday paid his first visit to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale attack, in a show of support for Ukraine as it prepares to launch a counteroffensive.

• Hungary has banned the import of certain meat products and honey in addition to grains from Ukraine until June 30, the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff said on Thursday.

• Denmark and the Netherlands will jointly donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the two countries said on Thursday. The Leopard 2A4 tanks, which will be bought from a third party and refurbished, are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2024, they said in a joint statement.

• The Russian military has launched a video campaign to lure more professional soldiers to fight in Ukraine which challenges those interested to show they are "a real man" and swap what it casts as hum-drum civilian life for the battlefield.

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IN DEPTH

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg laid a wreath to honor Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed fighting in the east of the country, and reviewed captured Russian armored vehicles on the capital's St Michael's Square during his first visit to the country since the start of the conflict.

Ukrainian leaders and NATO officials did not immediately make any announcements about the trip. Wartime visits by foreign officials are often shrouded in secrecy but top leaders visiting Kyiv often hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Stoltenberg began his unannounced trip at a vital juncture in Russia's almost 14-month-old invasion which has killed thousands, uprooted millions, destroyed cities and devastated the Ukrainian economy.

After weathering a Russian winter and spring offensive that has made only small advances in the east, Ukraine now hopes to retake land in its south and east in a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months.

After paying his respects to Ukrainian soldiers, the NATO secretary-general got into a car and was driven away after the event, a Reuters photographer said.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has supported Ukraine throughout the war, with member states sending weapons but not fighting troops. Kyiv has repeatedly called for more weapons from its allies.

Ukraine sees its future in the alliance and last September announced a bid for fast-track membership after the Kremlin said it had have annexed four Ukrainian regions that its troops have partially occupied.

Moscow regards NATO as a hostile military bloc bent on encroaching on what it sees as its sphere of influence. Ukraine gained independence from the Russia-led Soviet Union in 1991.

Russia did not immediately comment on Stoltenberg's visit.

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