Russo-Ukrainian War Events Thread, Pt. 9

(The Guardian) Our Emma Graham-Harrison points out that the Ukrainian defence minister is trolling Russia over the sinking of its flagship Moskva — boasting of his plans for a scuba diving trip to its wreckage. Oleksii Reznikov tweeted: A “flagship” Russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war. BTW, I already have 300 scuba dives.

(The Guardian) 2:57am Summary
--Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has praised his people’s bravery and resolve on the 50th day of war, calling Russia’s invasion “absurd” and “suicidal” in his latest national address. “We have withstood 50 days already. Fifty days of Russian invasion, although the occupiers gave us a maximum of five,” he said.
--The Russian flagship cruiser Moskva has sunk in the Black Sea off southern Ukraine, according to Russia’s defence ministry. Ukraine claims it was was hit by Ukrainian weaponry – the Neptune cruise missile, which Ukraine builds itself. Russia maintains that a fire onboard and then “stormy sea conditions” while it was being towed to port were to blame. Russia only has three of this flagship-class of warship, which have crews of almost 500 sailors, and the loss of the Moskva is a big blow. The former CIA director David Petraeus described Russia’s admission as a “rare moment of truth … I’m surprised that they admitted it,” he told the BBC.
--Moskva served a “key role as command vessel and air defence node”, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.
--Vladimir Putin may resort to using a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon in light of military setbacks in the invasion of Ukraine, the CIA director, William Burns, has said. During a speech 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 a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons.” The Kremlin placed Russian nuclear forces on high alert shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February.
--A total of 6,673 alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine are under investigation, Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office has said. 198 children have been confirmed to have been killed, the office added.
--Russia’s deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said Moscow would take “security and defence measures that we will deem necessary” if Sweden and Finland join Nato. In an interview with the Russian state-owned news agency Tass, the minister said the membership in the military alliance would “seriously worsen the military situation” and lead to “the most undesirable consequences”. Finland and Sweden had earlier taken a major step towards joining Nato.
--Ukraine’s foreign ministry has appealed to the United Nations to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children who have been “illegally deported” to Russia. In a statement, the ministry said Russia had “engaged in state-organised kidnapping of children and destruction of the future of the Ukrainian nation”.
--France is planning to return its embassy to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. It had moved to the western city of Lviv in March as Russia invaded. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged allies to resume their normal diplomatic presence in Ukraine.
--Zelenskiy further urged European countries to give up Russian oil that provides “blood” money to Moscow, and appealed for more weapons to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion.
--Nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed for Friday, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, has announced. A total of 2,557 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Thursday, Vereshchuk confirmed, with 289 of those from Mariupol. The head of the UN World Food Programme, meanwhile, said people were being “starved to death” in the besieged city.
--Armenia has begun making payments for Russian gas in roubles, minister of economy Vagan Kerobyan told RBC. “We need to move towards national currencies … As far as I know, the last few payments were in roubles, but at the appropriate rate,” RIA cited Kerobyan as saying.
--A Russian legislator and two aides pushed a covert propaganda campaign aimed at winning US government support for Russia’s foreign policy agenda, including moves against Ukraine, according to a Justice Department indictment seen by the Associated Press.
--French president Emmanuel Macron has pledged to deliver 24 fire trucks and ambulances as well as 50 tons of emergency equipment to Ukraine.

(The Guardian) While Russia has not provided many details on what exactly happened to the Moskva, A crowd in Crimea gathered to mourn the ship’s demise. From Reuters: Dozens of people gathered in the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Friday to mourn the sinking of the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, a symbol, the crowd heard, of hope, revival and power until its demise.

Some embraced and others laid flowers in memory of the Moskva missile cruiser at a monument to the 1696 foundation of the Russian navy in the centre of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet.

Moscow, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, said the ship sank while being towed in stormy seas after a fire caused by an ammunition explosion. Ukraine said one of its missiles had caused it to sink.

“Even for those who have not been on it, the Moskva was a symbol for everyone, a symbol of our power, of our hope, of the revival of the fleet in the 1990s” following the collapse of the Soviet Union, said Reserve Captain Sergei Gorbachev, who spoke to the crowd in his naval uniform. “There will be victories, there will be tragedies, but the memory remains,” Gorbachev said.

The crowd, which included a number of people who served on the ship, stood in respectful silence. Some wore the ribbon of St. George, a symbol of the Russian military. “The loss of every ship, especially a flagship, is a tragedy for all those tens of thousands of people who served there for over 20 years,” said priest Georgiy Ployakov.

Russia sent tens of thousands of soldiers into Ukraine on Feb. 24 on what it calls a “special operation”.