This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows cruiser Moskva in port Sevastopol in Crimea on April 7, 2022. (SATELLITE IMAGE ©2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES VIA AP)
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON/KYIV/HELSINKI/UNITED NATIONS – Russia on Thursday said the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, the Moskva missile cruiser, remains buoyant though damaged in an early blast.
The explosions of ammunition onboard had been stopped, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that the fire on Moskva was localized and there were no open flames.
Its main missile armament was not damaged in the blast, it added.
Moskva was "seriously damaged" by the detonation of ammunition onboard as a result of a fire, the ministry said earlier in the day.
Maksim Marchenko, the governor of Ukraine's Odessa region, said on Telegram on Wednesday that Ukraine's border guards on Snake Island used Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles to deliver "very serious damage" to cruiser Moskva.
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The ministry's confirmation of the blast came hours after multiple Ukrainian government officials claimed that anti-ship guided missiles, hidden in or around the coast of Odessa, scored two hits on Moskva.
The 12,500-tonne cruiser, the most essential ship in Russia's Black Sea fleet, was officially commissioned in 1983 and armed with 16 anti-ship "Vulkan" cruise missiles.
Guterres not hopeful about ceasefire
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that a nationwide humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine seems to be out of reach at the moment.
"I don't think we had a chance to have a humanitarian ceasefire as we wanted globally (in Ukraine)," he said.
"But there is a number of proposals that were made, and we are waiting for an answer from the Russian Federation in relation to those proposals, including different mechanisms for local ceasefires, for corridors, for humanitarian assistance, evacuations, and different other aspects that can minimize the dramatic impact on civilians that we are witnessing."
I don't think we had a chance to have a humanitarian ceasefire as we wanted globally (in Ukraine).
Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, UN
Guterres also called for action to mitigate the global impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on food, energy and finance systems.
The conflict is supercharging a three-dimensional crisis of food, energy and finance that is pummeling some of the world's most vulnerable people, countries and economies, he said at the launch of a report by the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance over the Ukraine crisis.
Biden announces new aid for Ukraine
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday his administration will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth $800 million due to what Washington anticipated to be a "wider assault" by Russia in eastern Ukraine.
"As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself," Biden said in a statement after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The new package, Biden said, "will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine."
Ukraine relocates enterprises internally
The Ukrainian government has relocated more than 250 enterprises from the conflict-affected areas to safer places inside the country.
Out of the companies, 121 are already fully operational in the new location, while another 430 will move their facilities to safer regions with the government assistance soon, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Wednesday.
Besides, the government has allocated some 200 million hryvnias (about $6.8 million) to employers who hire internally displaced persons, Shmyhal said.
Engineers inspect the state of destruction of the bridge that connects Kyiv with Irpin, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. (RODRIGO ABD / AP)
BRICS for comprehensive solution
BRICS countries have expressed their support for continued dialogue and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to seek a comprehensive solution to the Ukraine issue.
During the second BRICS sherpas' meeting in 2022 held from Tuesday to Wednesday via videolink, BRICS countries reiterated their respective national positions on the Ukraine issue, pledging to support multilateralism, abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and respect the legitimate security concerns of all countries.
Ma Zhaoxu, sherpa for BRICS affairs and vice foreign minister of China, chaired the meeting.
BRICS countries, consisting of China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa, expressed their concern over the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine, as well as support for all humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including the contributions of the ICRC and UN agencies.
Russia sanctions US congressmen, Canadian senators
In a retaliatory move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it has imposed personal sanctions against 398 members of the US House of Representatives and 87 Canadian senators.
The decisions were made in response to a "wave of anti-Russian sanctions" imposed by the US administration on March 24 this year against 328 deputies of Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, and Canadian sanctions against all members of the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of parliament.
The ministry said it would impose new countermeasures in the near future, and would expand its stop list and take other retaliatory steps.
Russia expels Czech diplomat
Russia has declared a senior Czech diplomat "persona non grata" and ordered the official to leave the country before the end of the day on April 16, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Czech Ambassador to Russia Vitezslav Pivonka was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday and was handed a note informing him of the decision, the statement said.
The move was made in response to the expulsion of a diplomat working at the Russian Embassy in Prague, the statement added.
The Czech Republic expelled a Russian diplomat from the country in late March, news reports said.
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Ukraine started a major program to relocate its enterprises amid the conflict with Russia in mid-March.
Impact on Finnish economy
The Ukraine crisis has put the brakes on growth in the Finnish economy, according to an economic survey published by the country's Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.
Growth is predicted at 1.5 percent this year, less than previously anticipated, the ministry said in a press release. Before the conflict began in Ukraine, the Finnish economy was recovering well from the COVID-19 pandemic, said the ministry.
