Ukraine

Axios reports: Russia’s Defense Ministry threatened on Friday to increase bombings on Kyiv if Ukraine attacks targets on Russian territory. The threat comes after the ministry announced the sinking of the Moskva cruiser, the flagship of its Black Sea fleet. Ukraine said it struck the ship with cruise missiles, while Russia claimed it sank in a storm while being towed …

The BBC reports: A Russian warship that was damaged by an explosion on Wednesday has sunk, Russia’s defence ministry has said. Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was being towed to port when “stormy seas” caused it to sink, according to a ministry message. The 510-crew missile cruiser was a symbol of Russia’s military power, leading its naval …

Reuters reports: Russia said the crew of its Moskva warship were evacuated on Thursday after an explosion of ammunition aboard that Ukraine said was caused by a missile strike, and a U.S. defence official said the stricken vessel was still trying to put out a fire. The warship, a Soviet-era missile cruiser, is still believed afloat and the United States …

The Independent reports: Steven Seagal reiterated his support for Vladimir Putin and his allies at a party in Moscow for his 70th birthday, it has emerged. In a video circulated on Twitter, Seagal, who called Putin “one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest world leader, alive today”, could be seen calling everyone in the room “my family …

Via press release from the White House: I just spoke with President Zelenskyy and shared with him that my Administration is authorizing an additional $800 million in weapons, ammunition, and other security assistance to Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has used the weapons we are providing to devastating effect. As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region, the …

Axios reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered during a televised address Wednesday to exchange Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Kremlin Ukrainian oligarch who was recently arrested, for Ukrainian prisoners of war. “I offer the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and our girls who are now in Russian captivity,” Zelensky said. “It is therefore important that our …

The New York Times reports: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Tuesday that the “main goal” of the war in Ukraine was “to help people” in the country’s east, the latest sign that Russia is focused on the battle for the Donbas region as the next stage of the war. “What we are doing is helping people and …

The Hill reports: In an interview with CNN, Donestk region military governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said that Russian troops were taking the bodies in order to destroy them in “territory not controlled by Ukraine” in an attempt to hide “evidence of genocide.” “They are using mobile crematoriums and mobile cremation machines and, also, taking people out, taking bodies of the dead …

The Daily Beast reports: Italian police have added another stunning villa to their collection of sequestered Russian properties after seizing the so-called Rocky Ram belonging to former Formula One driver Nikita Dmitrievich Mazepin and his father, chemical baron Dimitry Mazepin, on Monday. The property, valued at around $115 million, sits on a cliff overlooking Sardinia’s rocky Paradise Beach coast and …

The Associated Press reports: The mayor of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol said Monday that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the Russian siege of his city, and that the death toll could surpass 20,000, with corpses that were “carpeted through the streets.” Speaking by phone Monday to The Associated Press, Mayor Vadym Boychenko also said Russian forces …

ABC News reports: Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt because it offered bondholders payments in rubles, not dollars, credit ratings agency S&P has said. Russia attempted to pay in rubles for two dollar-denominated bonds that matured on April 4, S&P said in a note on Friday. The agency said this amounted to a “selective default” because investors are unlikely …

Agence France-Presse reports: Pro-Russia protesters rallied in Germany on Sunday, the country’s significant Russian-speaking population demanding an end to the discrimination it says it has suffered since war began in Ukraine. Germany is home to 1.2 million people of Russian origin and 325,000 from Ukraine. Authorities fear the conflict could be imported into Germany and the protests used to promote …

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis opened Holy Week Sunday with a call for an Easter truce in Ukraine to make room for a negotiated peace, highlighting the need for leaders to “make some sacrifices for the good of the people.” Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass before crowds in St. Peter’s Square for the first time since the pandemic, Pope Francis …

Politico Europe reports: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. The visit was first made public by the Embassy of Ukraine to the U.K., which tweeted a photo of the two. A No. 10 spokesperson later confirmed the trip. “The Prime Minister has travelled to Ukraine to meet President Zelenskyy in person, in …

Reuters reports: European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the civilian deaths in the Ukrainian town of Bucha showed the “cruel face” of Russia’s army and pledged to try to speed Ukraine’s bid to become a member of the European Union. During a visit to Bucha, where forensic investigators started to exhume bodies from a mass grave, von der …

Reuters reports: At least 39 people were killed and 87 wounded on Friday when two rockets hit a railway station in eastern Ukraine packed with evacuees, Ukrainian authorities said, as the region braced for a major Russian offensive. Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said thousands of civilians had been at the station at the time the rockets struck, …

Sky News reports: Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has admitted a “significant” loss of Russian troops since the invasion of Ukraine began, telling Sky News their deaths are a “tragedy”. Dmitry Peskov, in his first broadcast interview with Western media, also said Russia hopes “this operation” will reach its goals “in the coming days”. He told Sky News’ Mark Austin that “we’re …

Global News reports: The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from its human rights body. The vote to remove Russia from the Human Rights Council comes several weeks after the country invaded Ukraine and just days after reports of a massacre of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, Ukraine. The vote count was 93 in favour of the resolution, …

Axios reports: Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Facebook says it has removed “tens of thousands of accounts, Pages and Groups” around the world for spreading misleading content about the conflict to build audiences and bring in cash. Spammers switched user names repeatedly to trick people into following them. They would then push their followings to other websites …

Der Spiegel reports: The Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany’s foreign intelligence service, has acquired gruesome new insights into the atrocities committed by Russian military forces in the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. DER SPIEGEL has learned that the BND intercepted Russian military radio traffic in which the murder of civilians in Bucha was discussed. Some of the intercepted …