The Russian Defense Ministry said that a fire in the Moskva missile cruiser caused the ammunition to explode, Interfax news agency reported. He did not say what caused the fire, but Maksym Marchenko, the Ukrainian governor of the Black Sea port of Odessa, said Moskva had been hit by two Ukrainian-made Neptune cruise missiles. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “The Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused severe damage,” he said in an online post. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment, and Reuters could not confirm either side’s allegations. The Moskva is the second largest ship known to have suffered severe damage since the start of the war. Last month, Ukraine said it had destroyed a support ship, the Orsk, in the smaller Azov Sea. The Russian navy has launched cruise missiles into Ukraine and its activities in the Black Sea are vital to supporting ground operations in the southern part of the country, where it is fighting to take full control of the port of Mariupol. Russian news agencies reported that the Moskva, launched in 1983, was armed with 16 Vulkan cruise missiles with a range of at least 700 km (440 miles). Russia says 1,026 troops from Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, including 162 officers, have surrendered in Mariupol and that the city is under full control. A spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said he had no information about a surrender. read more The capture of the Azovstal industrial area, where the Marines are based, would give Russia control of Ukraine’s main port of the Azov Sea, strengthen a southern land corridor and extend its occupation to the east of the country. “Russian forces are stepping up their activities on the southern and eastern fronts, trying to avenge their defeats,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video clip Wednesday night. Reuters reporters accompanying Russian-backed separatists saw flames erupt from the Azovstal region on Tuesday, a day after Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade said its troops had run out of ammunition. The United States announced Wednesday that it would send an additional $ 800 million worth of military equipment to Ukraine, including artillery, armored personnel carriers and helicopters. France and Germany also promised more. Senior US officials are considering sending a top cabinet member, such as Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd, to Kyiv in solidarity, a source familiar with the situation said. Russia will consider US and NATO vehicles carrying weapons on Ukrainian soil legitimate military targets, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS news agency. It will impose sanctions on 398 members of the US House of Representatives and 87 Canadian senators, Interfax reported, citing the State Department, after Washington targeted 328 members of Russia’s lower house. Britain announced new economic measures against the separatists and Australia imposed targeted financial sanctions on 14 Russian state-owned enterprises on Thursday. read more The Fiji Islands have said they are investigating the arrival of the Amadea superyacht, owned by Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, who has been sanctioned by the United States, Britain and the European Union. read more ‘CAN YOU RELEASE US FROM WHAT?’ Ukraine says tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed in Mariupol and accuses Russia of blocking aid convoys to civilians there. Its mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said Russia had brought mobile crematoria “to get rid of evidence of war crimes” – a statement that could not be verified. Moscow has blamed Ukraine for civilian deaths and accused Kyiv of underestimating Russia’s armed forces. In the village of Lubianka northwest of Kiev, from where Russian forces tried and failed to subdue the capital before being driven out, a message to Ukrainians was written on the wall of a house occupied by Russian troops. “We did not want that … forgive us,” he said. The Kremlin says it has launched a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “liberate” Ukraine from nationalist extremists, a message villagers say has been echoed by Russian troops. “To free us from what? We are peaceful … We are Ukrainians,” said Lubyanka resident Viktor Saposnikov. Polish President Andrzej Duda said during a visit to Kyiv with his counterparts from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia that those who committed and ordered crimes should be brought to justice. The President of Germany did not join them as he had planned. Zelensky denied a report in the newspaper that he had refused the visit because of Steinmeier’s recent good relations with Moscow. read more BIDEN GENOCIDE COMMENTS The Kremlin has denounced President Joe Biden’s description of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine as genocide, with spokesman Dmitry Peshkov saying it was unacceptable that it came from the leader of a country that said it had committed its own crimes. An initial report by a mission of experts set up by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe documents a “list of inhumanity” by Russian troops in Ukraine, according to the US ambassador to the OSCE. “This includes evidence of direct targeting of civilians, attacks on medical facilities, rape, executions, looting and forced deportation of civilians to Russia,” said Michael Carpenter. Russia has denied that it targeted civilians. The Kyiv region police chief said 720 bodies had been found in the area around the capital from where Russian forces had retreated, with more than 200 people missing. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Additional reports from Elizabeth Piper in Kyiv, Max Hunder in London, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and the Reuters offices. Written by Costas Pitas and Stephen Coates. Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Michael Perry Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
