One of the ships was a Belgian relief vessel; the other was the SS Mont-Blanc, a French munitions ship packed to the gills with explosives such as TNT, picric acid, benzol and guncotton.

The weapons consignment, which needs approval from US House and Senate committees, includes missiles, shells and other munitions.

It cited "more than 4,800 cases of the enemy using chemical munitions" on Ukrainian territory since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

He had been looking forward to going ashore that evening but soon found himself running to his battle station, passing munitions from the magazine room to the anti-aircraft guns on the deck.

A ring of anti-tank munitions runs around the exterior of the prison, with a secondary ring of anti-personnel mines running through the centre of the facility.