MOSCOW, Russia: Russia said on July 15 that it would not accept any multinational force sent by Ukraine's allies to the country after a peace deal. It warned that such a move would be seen as a threat and those forces could become military targets.

Western allies in the pro-Ukraine "coalition of the willing" met in Paris this week and repeated their plan to send a force after fighting stops. They said the aim would be to reassure Ukraine and help rebuild its military strength.

They also said military exercises would be held in the coming months to show that the planned force, called the Multinational Force for Ukraine (MNF-U), is ready to operate.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that in this situation, Russia wanted to repeat that sending any troops from the so-called coalition to Ukraine was unacceptable for the country.

She added that such a move would effectively mean foreign intervention and would increase threats to Russia's security. She said Russia would treat those forces as legitimate military targets.

In Ukraine's port city Odesa, Russia and Ukraine increased their fighting over the Black Sea and important trade routes on July 15, with Moscow killing three people.

In turn, Kyiv's drone forces targeted Russian shipping.

Odesa region Governor Oleh Kiper said that a massive Russian drone and missile attack on the southern region continued for a fifth day, with civilian, industrial and port infrastructure being hit.

Ukrainian authorities said three people were killed and at least three others were injured after a Russian missile hit a seven-storey residential building in Odesa.

In recent days, Russia has increased attacks on Ukraine's deepwater Black Sea ports in the Greater Odesa area, which handle much of the country's grain and other cargo and are important for its wartime economy. At the same time, Ukraine has expanded its campaign to disrupt Russian military supply routes in occupied southern areas and to isolate Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Kyiv's top drone forces commander said Ukrainian drones struck 20 Russian vessels in the Black Sea overnight on July 15.

Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, said on Telegram that they were now focusing on the Black Sea, and added that 116 vessels had been hit in the Sea of Azov this month.

Sources told Reuters that the Ukrainian attacks have forced Russia, the world's largest grain exporter, to limit shipping in the Sea of Azov, which handles about a quarter of its grain exports. They said shipping was still restricted on July 14.

Russia Planning on Hitting Lithuania Infrastructure

In a related development from Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, President Gitanas Nausėda said in an interview published on July 15 that his country had intelligence suggesting Russia was planning attacks on infrastructure and that security around energy and transport sites would be increased as a precaution.

Nausėda said he had no information about when or where the attacks might happen and did not say that Lithuania was the target in his interview with the BNS news agency.

He said they had received such signals from their intelligence services, but they did not clearly identify the place or time because the opponent had not completed its planning, and they only knew about the plan or goal.

Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that it is planning or carrying out sabotage or other attacks outside Ukraine, saying such reports are part of an anti-Russian propaganda campaign.