Russia’s flagship cruiser Moscow sank in the Black Sea off southern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said. It is still unclear whether the ship was hit by Ukrainian weapons. Ukraine says so, but Russia says it was the fault of a fire on board and then a “stormy sea” as it was towed to port. Russia has only three of this flagship warships, which have a crew of nearly 500 sailors, and the loss of Moscow is a big blow. Former CIA Director David Petraeus described Russia’s recognition as “a rare moment of truth – I’m surprised they recognized it,” he told the BBC.
Vladimir Putin could resort to the use of low-yielding tactical or nuclear weapons in light of military failures in the invasion of Ukraine, said CIA Director William Burns. Speaking in Atlanta, Burns said: “Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership … none of us can take lightly the threat posed by the potential recourse to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons.” . The Kremlin put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert shortly after the February 24 attack.
Russia has asked Brazil for support from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the G20 group of leading economies to help it resist crippling sanctions, according to a letter seen by Reuters. On March 30, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov wrote asking for support from Brazil to prevent political accusations and attempts at discrimination in international financial institutions and multilateral fora. A spokesman for the Brazilian economy minister said Brazil would like Russia to remain part of discussions in multilateral organizations.
The lives of about 2.7 million people with disabilities are in danger in Ukraine, a UN committee has warned, citing reports that many have been trapped or abandoned in their homes, care centers and orphanages without basic supplies or medicines. The commission said it was “deeply concerned” that the fate of people with disabilities in Ukraine was “largely unknown”.
At least 503 civilians, including 24 children, have been killed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region since Russia launched its invasion on February 24, the region’s local governor said. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city with a pre-war population of about 1.5 million, is 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Russia’s border.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Moscow would take “security and defense measures we deem necessary” if Sweden and Finland join NATO. In an interview with the Russian state news agency TASS, the minister said that membership in the military alliance “will seriously worsen the military situation” and will lead to “the most undesirable consequences.” Finland and Sweden have previously taken a major step towards joining NATO.
Russia’s investigative commission says Ukrainian forces have carried out at least six helicopter strikes against the village of Klimovo in Russia’s Bryansk region, injuring seven people. The Bryansk district governor said earlier that two residential buildings in the village had been affected by shelling. The region is located north of the Ukrainian region of Chernihiv. A village in Russia’s Belgorod region has also come under fire from Ukraine, the region’s governor said.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has called on the UN to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children who have been “illegally deported” to Russia. A statement from the ministry said Russia had “committed itself to state-sponsored child abductions and the destruction of the future of the Ukrainian nation”.
France plans to return its embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. He moved to the western city of Lviv in March when Russia invaded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on his allies to resume their normal diplomatic presence in Ukraine.
Turkey is still working to arrange a meeting between Putin and Zelenski, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the condition for the meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents was a document ready to be signed by the two leaders.
The UK government has imposed sanctions on Chelsea football club director Eugene Tenenbaum in an attempt to freeze up to £ 10 billion in assets linked to the club’s owner, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. The United Kingdom has said it is extending sanctions on Tenenbaum and David Davidovich, another close aide to Abramovich, because the oligarch transferred billions of pounds of assets to the couple when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Zelensky released a video compiled by his government, which further called on European countries to give up Russian oil, which provides “blood” money to Moscow, and called for more weapons to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion.
A total of 2,557 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities along humanitarian corridors on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said, 289 of them from Mariupol. Meanwhile, the head of the UN World Food Program said people in the besieged city were “starving to death.”
Moody’s Investors Service said Russia “could be considered a default” if it did not repay its US bonds by May 4. Russia paid off two ruble bonds this month after sanctions tore the country off global financial systems and the United States banned Moscow from making debt payments using dollars held in US banks. Payments in rubles “represent a change in the terms of payment” and can be considered non-performance, according to Moody’s. S&P Global Ratings also declared Russia in default.
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