Three battalions and one squadron of the marines will be redeployed from the Mykolaiv region to Mariupol in the Donetsk region to beef up the defenses of that city, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"The Ukrainian marines will significantly bolster their defense of Mariupol; this is our response to the panic which the aggressor country, which is preparing a strike from the sea, is trying to stir. Three battalions and one squadron equipped with hardware are heading to Mariupol," the head of state wrote on Facebook after a working trip to the Mykolaiv region to see the Ukrainian Navy exercises.

In turn, presidential press secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko tweeted, "Trained marines and U.S. Hummer [vehicles] have left Shyroky Lan for Mariupol."