April 14, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

CIA Director Bill Burns testifies during a Senate hearing in Washington, DC in 2021.

The United States does not “take lightly” the possibility that Russia could seek to use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine as Moscow continues to face difficulties on the battlefield, CIA Director Bill Burns said Thursday.

“Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low yield nuclear weapons,” he said in public remarks at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The CIA “watch[es] for that very intently,” Burns said. But he emphasized that the US has yet to see any signs that Russia is preparing to take such a step.

Still, in the same remarks, Burns warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin has become increasingly isolated and his “risk appetite has grown as his grip on Russia has tightened.”

“His circle of advisors has narrowed and in that small circle it has never been career-enhancing to question his judgment or his stubborn, almost mystical belief that his destiny is to restore Russia’s sphere of influence,” Burns said.

President Joe Biden speaks on Tuesday, April 12.

US President Joe Biden said Thursday he was still working with his team to determine whether he should dispatch a senior member of his administration to Ukraine, a potentially dramatic show of support for the nation as it comes under attack from Russia.

The White House echoed Biden’s comments, saying “we’re still in discussions, deciding this.”

“As you know, obviously we’re in contact with the Ukrainian government every day – pretty regularly and so I just don’t have anything to preview any further,” principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One when pressed for further information.

Since Russian forces withdrew from the region surrounding Kyiv, a number of Western leaders have made their way to the Ukrainian capital to demonstrate support.

US officials have held preliminary discussions about sending a high-ranking member of the administration to Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the talks.

While Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are unlikely to visit Kyiv themselves anytime soon, officials have discussed sending Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin or Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Still, sources said a decision is far from finalized and the visit could ultimately not materialize. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to Kyiv last weekend. US officials said afterward that Biden was not currently planning a trip of his own. 

“We’re not currently planning a trip by the President of the United States to Ukraine,” press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday. She said more important that a presidential visit was a continued supply of weapons and support.

“What is most important to the Ukrainian leadership is that we are expediting weapons and getting them the assistance and security systems they need and that is what our focus is on,” she said.

In a telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, Biden informed his counterpart of a new $800 million security assistance package, including 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 300 Switchblade drones, 18 Howitzers and protective equipment to guard against chemical attacks.

Read more about the potential trip here.

CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed reporting to this post.

The first Russian troops that had left northern Ukraine have begun appearing in the northern Donbas region of eastern Ukraine in preparation for what is expected to be a major push by thousands of Russian forces a senior US defense official said Thursday. 

“They already have a significant amount of forces in the region,” the official told reporters on Thursday. “We would assess that inside Ukraine itself, there’s 65 total operational BTGs. And they are, of the 65, they’re really in that east and south parts of Ukraine. There really isn’t any operation BTGs outside southern and eastern Ukraine … They will try to insert additional BTGs over coming days. We just haven’t seen that really pan out of late.”

These are some of the units that had left northern Ukraine and the areas north of Kyiv in recent weeks to go back to Russia and Belarus for resupply and reinforcement before going to Donbas, the official noted.

The Pentagon is working to move the $800 million worth of weapons, ammunition and other security assistance for Ukraine announced by US President Joe Biden yesterday into Ukraine as quickly as possible, a senior defense official said Thursday.

The new weapons package represents the starkest sign to date that the war in Ukraine is shifting — and with it, the weapons Ukraine will need if it hopes to continue to stymie a Russian military that has regrouped and resupplied after its initial failures in the opening weeks of the war. 

But the official said the material will not arrive all in one shipment.

“A package that size is going to take many shipments. I mean, the last $800 million dollars for instance took more than 20 individual shipments to close it out,” the official said. “I can assure you we’ll move with the same sense of urgency that we’ve been moving with.”

In addition, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba on Thursday to discuss the latest security assistance package to Ukraine, according to the US State Department.

“They noted that the steady supply of materiel from the United States and its Allies and partners has been instrumental in Ukraine’s successful fight against Russia’s forces. The Secretary provided an update on the most recent U.S. and global efforts to hold the Kremlin and its enablers accountable. The Secretary commended the bravery of the Ukrainian people, noting in particular those defending Mariupol,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian refugees cross into Medyka, Poland on April 9.

Canada will deploy up to 150 military personnel in the coming days to Poland to support Warsaw’s efforts in assisting Ukrainian refugees, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand announced on Thursday.  

“To help address the growing crisis at the border between Poland and Ukraine, I am announcing today the deployment of up to 150 Canadian armed forces personnel with approximately 100 personnel in the immediate term, who will assist Poland’s efforts to support and assist Ukrainians fleeing violence,” Anand said, speaking from Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario, a departure point for the country’s military aid to Ukraine.  

Ukrainian speakers will lead the Canadian Armed Forces’ largest component of the deployment at processing centers in Poland to provide general support, spiritual services, and limited medical care, she said. 

A number of Canadian troops will also be deployed to support a Polish-led humanitarian task force, while a third group will act as a liaison between Polish defense forces and Canadian immigration officials to facilitate the resettlement of “thousands more Ukrainians” in Canada, she said. 

Canada will commit a further $396 million ($500 million in Canadian dollars) in military aid to Ukraine on top of the $87 million ($110 million in Canadian dollars) already pledged, “so that our Ukrainian friends have the equipment that they need to keep fighting this war and to win,” according to Anand. 

Canada is home to the world’s largest Ukrainian diaspora after Russia, with more than a million Canadians who claim Ukrainian heritage.  

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks to media at NATO Headquarters on April 6 in Brussels, Belgium.

Turkey is still working on organizing a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish news channel NTV on Thursday.

Cavusoglu said that Turkey continues to approach the negotiations with “cautious optimism,” particularly after recent events of alleged war crimes in Bucha and Irpin which “negatively affected the process.”

“The inhumane images from regions such as Bucha and Irpin, which we also condemn, changed the atmosphere. It created a negative atmosphere on the Ukrainian side. While there were different statements by the Russian Federation regarding this, this ultimately negatively affected the negotiation process,” he said.

“Despite all those challenges, President Zelensky said talks may continue… But it takes two leaders to say yes. Especially President Putin,” he added.

The foreign minister said that while there is possibility of a ceasefire, “if the fighting lasts and new attacks happen in Donbas, this will be harder to reach.”

Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told President Putin that he would like to bring him together with President Zelensky, following an in-person meeting that was held between Russian and Ukrainian negotiation delegations in Istanbul in March.

Alexey Navalny attends a rally in Moscow, Russia in 2019.

Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has issued a series of tweets urging a new front of “truth and free information” against Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he calls the “war criminal from the Kremlin.” 

Navalny, who is serving a nine-year sentence in a Russian penal colony after being convicted of fraud last month, said in his tweets that “truth and free information hit Putin’s insane regime just as hard as Javelins,” the US anti-tank weapons being used by Ukrainian forces against Russian armor. 

Navalny said the Kremlin has lied in asserting there is widespread public support in Russia for the war, asking: “What kind of sociology is there even to talk about when both the question ‘Do you support the war in Ukraine?’ and the answer ‘no’ could result in 15 years of imprisonment for the sociologist and the respondent respectively?” 

He pointed to criminal cases brought against Russian individuals, saying that one man was arrested in Moscow for standing in the street holding Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” 

Navalny said that “Russia has shut down and blocked ALL independent media, including the rather cautious ones, in just a month and a half. Would this have been necessary if the war with Ukraine really had that kind of support?” 

But he acknowledged that the shutdown is “slowly doing [its] job,” as most Russians “have a completely distorted view of what is happening in Ukraine.” 

Navalny called for a new campaign to get the facts in front of the Russian public, saying that “more than 85% of Russian adults still use @YouTube, @instagram, @WhatsApp, @Google and Facebook (@Meta) every day.” 

“We need ads. Lots of ads. A huge national anti-war campaign will start with an advertising campaign,” he said. 

Navalny urged Western leaders and institutions, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Union, “to urgently find a solution to crush Putin’s propaganda using the advertising power of social media.” 

“Even if such advertising is bought for the full commercial price, its cost will be laughable compared to the price of this war,” Navalny said, adding: “One shot from Javelin costs $230,000. For the same money we would get 200 million ad views in different formats and provide at least 300,000 link clicks or at least 8 million views on a video with the truth about what is happening in Ukraine.” 

He ended his appeal by writing: “It should be an unprecedented huge national advertising campaign. Just like in a real election. Our candidate Peace versus Putin’s candidate War.” 

“And Peace must win. We can’t allow any other outcome.” 

The United States assesses that the Russian cruiser Moskva is still battling a fire onboard but still cannot confirm what caused the damage, according to a senior US defense official.

The official also said that the ship is moving east, and the US assumes it will be heading to the port of Sevastopol for repairs.

The US has seen that other Russian ships in the northern Black Sea near the Moskva have all subsequently moved further south, according to the official.

Ukraine claimed to have hit Moskva with a missile, while Russia said the cause of the fire is still “being established” and that there is no “open fire” on the ship.

“We hold the ship moving to the east. Our assumption is that she’ll be heading to Sevastopol for repairs. But that’s really all we can say. The only other maritime activity worth noting is that we did note that other Black Sea ships that were operating in the vicinity of her or in the northern Black Sea have all moved further south, in the wake of the damage that the Moskva experienced. So they’ve all, all of the northern Black Sea ships have now moved out, away from the northern areas where they were operating in,” the official added.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby echoed similar comments in an interview with CNN earlier Thursday, saying that “there was an explosion” on the Russian cruiser, but that the United States cannot assess at this point if the ship was hit by a missile.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto speaks during a press conference on April 13 in Helsinki, Finland.

A day after the country’s prime minister confirmed a decision on NATO membership will be made “within weeks,” Finland’s foreign minister told CNN that it was expecting a reaction from Russia and was “prepared for different kinds of threats.”

Russia has long made threatening statements about Sweden and Finland joining NATO, saying it would have “serious military and political repercussions.” At the beginning of the war, Putin made it clear that one of his aims was to roll back NATO deployments in Eastern Europe to where they had been in the 1990s. Now, Finland and Sweden — nations that are officially non-aligned —are edging ever closer toward joining NATO, the US-led military alliance.

When asked by CNN why Finland has changed its position with regard to military neutrality, Haavisto said the nature of Russia’s attack on Ukraine has changed.

“First, Russia is ready to take higher risks in its neighborhood. Second, it’s ready to concentrate more than 100,000 soldiers in one spotlight, we have seen on the border of Ukraine. And third — this is more of an open speculation — but the potential use of nuclear or even chemical weapons. All of this is of course affecting also the Finnish security,” the foreign minister said.

According to the prime minister, Finland hopes to wrap up discussions regarding the country’s potential application for NATO membership “by mid-summer.” Haavisto told CNN Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed the public discourse inside his country.

Sweden is due to complete an analysis of its security policy by the end of May. A Swedish official previously told CNN that the nation could make its position public sooner, depending on when neighboring Finland does.

“We have seen a major shift in public opinion in Finland during the recent weeks. A clear majority of the population is now supporting NATO membership. … The Finnish parliament will discuss this matter in the coming weeks, and if the majority clearly will state that, then the process will go on. Then, it’s depending on the 30 NATO member states how rapid the process can be,” he added.

US President Joe Biden said this week that the atrocities being uncovered in Ukraine as Russia continues its invasion qualify as “genocide.” Other leaders have rejected the use of the term, such as French President Emmanuel Macron. Haavisto said Finland supports the International Criminal Court investigating what exactly happened.

“I think it’s very important that firstly, before the definition of what exactly happened, we have the full investigation from places like Bucha, and other places where certainly civilians have been attacked in a way that is not allowed under international legislation,” he said.

CNN’s Luke McGee and Maeve Reston contributed reporting to this post.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen looks at bodies that were pulled out of a mass grave in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 8.

As of April 12, the civilian death toll in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24 stood at 1,932, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said Thursday. It warned that “the actual figures are considerably higher.” 

The OHCHR also said that at least 2,589 civilians have been injured since the start of the invasion. 

“Escalating and sustained hostilities in the eastern & southern regions of Ukraine continue to drive rising humanitarian needs,” the UN said Thursday. 

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss attends a meeting in Warsaw, Poland, on April 5.

The United Kingdom would support Sweden and Finland in a NATO membership bid, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Thursday.

“Sweden and Finland are free to choose their future without interference - the UK will support whatever they decide,” she wrote on Twitter.

Prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changing the security landscape in Europe, Sweden and Finland are edging closer to NATO membership. Both countries are set to decide by the summer whether to apply to join the military alliance.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a call with journalists Thursday that Russia’s defense ministry is under the instruction of Russian President Vladimir Putin to submit proposals on strengthening forces near Russia’s borders with NATO countries. 

US President Joe Biden’s administration is expanding its intelligence sharing with Ukraine to allow more information on Russian activities in eastern Ukraine and Crimea to be shared, as the US believes that Russia is shifting its strategy to concentrate on the south and the east, according to US officials and another source familiar with the matter.

New guidelines, put in place over the past several weeks, have loosened rules for intelligence sharing, specifically in regions that were under Russian control prior to the 2022 invasion. 

“With the shift in Russia’s military efforts in southern and eastern Ukraine, we modified our guidelines to provide operators added clarity to enable intelligence sharing with Ukraine to defend themselves in what is sure to be a dynamic battle space,” a US intelligence official told CNN. 

The intelligence official said that the US is “intensely sharing timely intelligence” with the Ukrainians, including in areas held by Russia prior to the 2022 invasion. 

Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee have publicly raised concerns that the Biden administration isn’t providing sufficient intelligence to the Ukrainians, a charge that US officials have denied.

“We remain deeply concerned that not enough is being done to share critical intelligence that would assist the Ukrainians as Russian forces move to secure territory in the southern and eastern parts of the country,” committee lawmakers wrote in a letter to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on Monday. 

“As we watch Russia turn its focus to southern and eastern Ukraine, we urge you to ensure that our intelligence agencies proactively share intelligence with the Ukrainians to help them protect, defend, and retake every inch of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, which includes Crimea and the Donbas,” they wrote.

The White House also announced this week that it would send $800 million worth of additional weapons, ammunition and security assistance to Ukraine. 

Ukrainian soldiers walk near damaged Russian military trucks in the town of Trostsyanets, Ukraine on March 28.

Think about modern warfare and it’s likely images of soldiers, tanks and missiles will spring to mind. But arguably more important than any of these is something on which they all rely: the humble truck.

Armies need trucks to transport their soldiers to the front lines, to supply those tanks with shells and to deliver those missiles. In short, any army that neglects its trucks does so at its peril.

Yet that appears to be exactly the problem Russia’s military is facing during its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, according to experts analyzing battlefield images as its forces withdraw from areas near Kyiv to focus on the Donbas.

Photographs of damaged Russian trucks, they say, show tell-tale signs of Moscow’s logistical struggles and suggest its efforts are being undermined by its reliance on conscripts, widespread corruption and use of civilian vehicles — not to mention the huge distances involved in resupplying its forces, or Ukraine’s own highly-motivated, tactically-adept resistance.

Food, fuel, medical supplies and even the soldiers themselves — the presence of all of these rest on logistical supply lines heavily reliant on trucks, he says. And he has reason to believe there’s a problem with those supply lines.

Read the full story:

File photo of Russian military trucks. Russias parliament approves on Tuesday Feb 22, 2022 a request from President Vladimir Putin to use the countrys military forces outside the country, a move which could allow a broader attack on Ukraine. Putin made his request in a letter to the upper house of parliament to formalise any Russian military deployment. The move was quickly rubber-stamped later on Tuesday and comes into immediate effect. The parliamentary approval came just hours after the US said an invasion of Ukraine had begun following Putin\'s order to dispatch troops to two separatists republics which Moscow newly recognised their status of independence in eastern Ukraine on Monday night.

Related article What images of Russian trucks say about its military's struggles in Ukraine

A file photo from M

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia is looking to focus its exports on “the fast-growing markets” to the country’s south and east in the near future. He warned that “attempts by Western countries to squeeze” Russian suppliers “will inevitably affect the entire world economy.”

“It is necessary to diversify exports. We need to assume that in the foreseeable future, deliveries of energy in the western direction will be reduced. Therefore, it is important to consolidate the trend of recent years: step by step, reorientate our exports to the fast-growing markets of the south and east. To do this in the near future, time to identify key infrastructure facilities and start their construction,” the Russian president said Thursday during a meeting with energy companies and officials.

Putin added that there is no reasonable alternative to Russian gas, warning that if Russian energy supplies get squeezed, it will affect the entire world economy and have “painful” consequences.

“Attempts by Western countries to squeeze out Russian suppliers and replace our energy resources with alternative supplies will inevitably affect the entire world economy. The consequences of such a step can become very painful, and first of all, for the initiators of such a policy themselves. What is surprising here is that our so-called partners from unfriendly countries admit that they cannot do without Russian energy resources, including natural gas, for example,” he said.

On Thursday, Putin also said that there have been failures in payment for export deliveries of Russian energy. 

“Banks from unfriendly countries delay the transfer of payments. I will remind you, the task has already been set to transfer payments for energy resources in national currency, to gradually move away from the dollar and the euro. In general, we intend to radically increase the share of settlements in national currencies in the foreign trade system,” Putin said.

More context: Amid the war in Ukraine, the European Union is trying to slash imports of Russian gas by 66% this year and break its dependence entirely on Russian energy by 2027. A new, sixth round of sanctions is already being discussed, and some EU officials have called for action on Russian oil and gas exports. But a ban on Russian gas in the near term would wreak havoc on Germany, which relied on Russia for about 46% of its natural gas in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency.

At the end of March, Putin delivered an ultimatum to “unfriendly” nations to pay for their energy in rubles starting April 1 or risk being cut off from vital supplies. Germany, France and other EU governments refused, and they have not been immediately cut off.

CNN’s Mark Thompson and Anna Cooban contributed reporting to this post.

The Russian Navy's guided missile cruiser Moskva sails in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, on June 18, 2021.

One of the Russian Navy’s most important warships has been badly damaged in the Black Sea, a massive blow to a military struggling against Ukrainian resistance 50 days into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his neighbor.

Russian sailors evacuated the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, after a fire that detonated ammunition aboard, Russia’s defense ministry said.

Ukraine’s Operational Command South claimed Thursday that the Moskva had begun to sink after it was hit Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles.

Russia’s defense ministry said Thursday that the Moskva “remains afloat” and that measures were being taken to tow it to port. The ministry said the crew had been evacuated to other Black Sea Fleet ships in the area.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told CNN’s Brianna Keilar that “there was an explosion” on the Moskva, but said the United States cannot say at this point if the ship was hit by a missile.

Whatever the reason for the fire, analysts say it strikes hard at the heart of the Russian Navy as well as national pride, comparable to the US Navy losing a battleship during World War II or an aircraft carrier today.

What we know about the Russian warship: The 611-foot-long (186 meters) Moskva, with a crew of almost 500, is the pride of the Russian naval fleet in the Black Sea. Originally commissioned into the Soviet Navy as the Slava in the 1980s, it was renamed Moskva in 1995 and after a refit reentered service in 1998, according to military site Naval-Technology.com.

The Moskva is armed with a range of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles as well as torpedoes and naval guns and close-in missile defense systems.

The Moskva also poses symbolic significance to Ukraine, as it was one of the ships involved in the famous exchange at Snake Island in February, according to Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to a purported audio exchange in late February, as the Russians approached the Ukrainian garrison on Snake Island, also known as Zmiinyi Island, in the Black Sea, a Russian officer said: “This is a military warship. This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed.”

A Ukrainian soldier responded: “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”

If the Moskva is lost, it would be the second large Russian naval vessel to suffer that fate during Moscow’s war with Ukraine.

In late March, Ukraine said a missile strike had destroyed a Russian landing ship at the port of Berdiansk.

Russia and Ukraine have conducted a fourth prisoner swap, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Thursday.

“Another, fourth, prisoner exchange took place today at the orders of [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky,” she wrote on Telegram.

“Five officers and 17 rank and file soldiers were freed, as well as eight civilians including one woman. Thirty of our citizens in total are going home today,” she said.

Details of how many Russian prisoners were freed in the exchange were not immediately available, with Russia yet to confirm the swap.

When asked about US President Joe Biden’s comments that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is committing genocide against Ukrainians, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the President had “assessed that the Russians and Putin seem to be hell-bent on erasing the very idea of Ukrainian identity, of its independent identity.

“And when you combine that with the mass killings, from the President’s perspective, that’s genocide,” he said.

Sullivan noted, however, that as the President said, there is a process the State Department must go through to make a formal determination of whether Russia’s actions meet the legal standard for genocide under the Genocide Convention. “That’s something that will take quite a bit of time, but the President was quite deliberate in his own personal views of that,” he said.

The fighting in Ukraine is also likely to be “protracted,” and will go on “for months or even longer,” Sullivan said.

But Sullivan said that “it is not a foregone conclusion” that the US will lift sanctions on Russia if it reaches a diplomatic agreement with Ukraine. 

Sullivan said that although the US is not “actively participating” in the talks, Ukrainian officials regularly communicate with the US about the status of negotiations. And while he would not discuss whether the US had any “red lines” for intervention in Ukraine, he said the US has made clear to Russia that there will be severe consequences if weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical or biological weapons, are used there.

Asked about the administration’s strategy of declassifying intelligence about Russia’s intentions in Ukraine, Sullivan described it as “a careful, very thoughtful, very systematic and very prudent process that is managed at senior levels across the director of national intelligence, the CIA, the NSA” and other agencies.   

Asked about whether the President had any plans to go to Ukraine when he was in Poland last month, Sullivan said that Biden “would love the opportunity to go to Ukraine to show solidarity with the Ukrainians” and that the possibility was discussed before Biden’s trip to Warsaw.

The discussions included what kind of footprint it would require to ensure the President’s safety, Sullivan said. But it was “not under any serious planning,” he added, and he declined to comment further on reports that a senior US official might visit Kyiv in the near future.

Vladimir Nesterenko.

All Vladimir Nesterenko wanted to do when he grew up was to play basketball. The brown haired 12-year-old dribbled and shot hoops with his dad Oleh in the village where they lived in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region. He idolized NBA legend Michael Jordan.

His mother Julia Nesterenko was happy to encourage the habit. “We even had a basketball hoop at home,” the 33-year-old told CNN as she described their first family home. It was their “nest,” she said, with a small garden and a vegetable patch.

When Russian forces captured the regional capital, also called Kherson, and its surrounding area soon after the invasion began, the family knew they could not stay, Julia said. Russian checkpoints, armed forces, and officers of the FSB intelligence agency were reportedly flooding the region at the same time as disappearances and detentions of local mayors, journalists, and civilians became rife, according to local officials and rights groups.

It was time “to get out of the occupied territories to safety… in order to survive,” Julia said. Russians had taken over their village, Verkhnii Rohachyk, and the Nesterenko family feared the consequences.

With nothing more than a backpack and their important documents, the family took what appeared to be the easiest route out to Ukrainian-held areas, she said. On April 7, the family of three and 11 other people boarded an evacuation boat, operated by a local resident, crossing the Dnipro River from the southern, Russian-occupied part of Kherson region to the Ukrainian controlled territory on the other side of the river. The Dnipro, one of Europe’s longest waterways, cuts through Ukraine and its Kherson region before flowing into the Black Sea.

The boat crossing, which began at the bank of the fishing village of Pervomaivka, should have been simple. It was the seventh evacuation trip via boat from the village to a Ukrainian-held area on the north bank of the Dnipro River since the war began, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, in the neighboring region of Dnipropetrovsk.

Instead, it turned into a bloodbath, according to Julia, two other survivors, a friend of one victim and several regional officials. They said Russian rockets and gunfire targeted the boat after it unintentionally drifted into the frontline.

Read the full story here:

Related article They tried to take a boat to safety. Then Russian rockets came raining down

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby speaks with CNN on Thursday.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told CNN that “there was an explosion” on the Russian cruiser Moskva, but added the United States cannot assess at this point if the ship was hit by a missile.

Russia said its warship “remains afloat” after a fire detonated ammunition on board, while Ukrainian officials said the Moskva was hit by Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles and has sunk.

Kirby said the damaged Russian warship is afloat and “making her own way across the Black Sea.”

“We assess that the ship is able to make its own way, and it is doing that; it’s heading more towards now we think the east. We think it’s probably going to be putting in at Sevastopol for repairs, but we don’t know what exactly caused that,” Kirby added.

Kirby said the ship had been operating with a few other Russian vessels about 60 miles (about 96 kilometers) south of Odesa.

“The explosion was sizable enough that we picked up indications that other naval vessels around her tried to come to her assistance, and so eventually that wasn’t apparently needed. So she is making her own way across the Black Sea and we’ll continue to try and monitor this as best we can,” he added.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday that the battleship was badly damaged on Wednesday as a result of either “incompetence” or a successful attack by the Ukrainians.

“This is their flagship, the ‘Moscow,’ and they’ve now been forced to admit that it’s been badly damaged,” Sullivan continued. “And they’ve had to kind of choose between two stories. One story is that it was just incompetence, and the other is that they came under attack. And neither is a particularly good outcome for them.”

Sullivan said that when the president went to NATO a few weeks ago, he indicated to allies that the US was looking to facilitate the supply of coastal defense and anti-ship capabilities to the Ukrainians “and that is being actively worked.”

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting to this post.

US President Joe Biden speaks on Tuesday, April 12.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the US was sending his nation an additional $800 million worth of weapons, ammunition and other security assistance.

It comes as US officials warn of a potentially bloody new phase in the ongoing war, focused on the eastern regions of Ukraine as Russia withdraws its troops from the area around the capital Kyiv.

Biden detailed the new announcement in a midday telephone call with Zelensky that lasted for about an hour.

According to the Pentagon, the US is providing Ukraine with:

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the $800 million package was intended to “meet urgent Ukrainian needs for today’s fight” as Russian forces shift the focus of their attack to eastern and southern Ukraine. He said the weapons would begin being sent to Ukraine “as soon as possible,” noting that previous security assistance had been sent in as little as four to five days after security packages were approved.

As of Tuesday night, two sources said helicopters had been removed from the assistance list, though Biden said in his statement they were ultimately included. Ukraine had initially asked the White House at the last minute not to send the helicopters, indicating they wanted more time to assess whether they’d be useful. But during Wednesday’s phone call, Zelensky told Biden his country needed them, so they were put back in the package, a source familiar with the matter said.

The Mi-17 helicopters that were added to the package had been earmarked for Afghanistan, Kirby said.

The $800 million shipment brings the total amount of military assistance the US has provided to Ukraine to more than $3 billion. Ukraine’s 2020 defense budget was only about $6 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. In less than two months, the US has provided nearly half of that in security assistance, underscoring the pace at which the White House has worked to send in weaponry and equipment.

Read more about the military aid here.

Employees package bread at a bakery in Khartoum's al-Matar district, on March 17.

CNN visited the Philips Atakele Bakery in Lagos, Nigeria where the intense work was, until recently, profitable and worthwhile.

However, rising inflation in Nigeria and the war in Ukraine could significantly impact production and soaring costs mean the bakery can only produce half of what it used to.

“Entirely this year, precisely around the time of the bombing of Ukraine, it has affected the supply of yeast which has affected our primary item of production which is white wheat loaf,” Abigail Olufunmilayo Phillips, the bakery’s manager, told CNN. The cost of flour is also volatile, she said.

“Our flow has been very expensive, the prices are changing constantly.”

According to the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine provide around 30% of the wheat and barley consumed globally.

Russia is also one of the world’s largest producers of fertilizer. If the war drags on, economists warn that fertilizer costs could stop some farmers from expanding their crops to make up the shortfall of supply.

On the field of battle in Ukraine, farmers will struggle to plant crops and Ukrainian export ports remain blockaded by Russian warships.

While the United Nations forecasts that grain and vegetable oil prices increases could affect countries globally, there is particular concern about several countries in Africa, countries that are heavily dependent on Russian and Ukrainian imports for their food security.

“The war is starting at one of the worst times,” Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agriculture Business Chamber of South Africa, told CNN.

“Africans are spending a lot on fuel and a lot on food and at this current moment this is a tough time for the continent.”

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The condition for a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is an agreement document ready for the two leaders to sign, the Kremlin said Thursday.

“In principle, President [Putin] never refused such a meeting [with President Zelensky], but certain conditions must be prepared for it, namely, the text of the [agreement] document [to sign],” Peskov told reporters on a regular conference call.

“For the time being, there are no updates to report here,” Peskov added.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion, Zelensky has repeatedly called for talks with the Russian president, but there have been no talks at the highest level so far. 

A view of the Liquified Natural Gas import terminal in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Feb. 23.

The Dutch government has instructed energy companies in the Netherlands not to pay for Russian gas in rubles in accordance with European Union sanctions, spokesperson for the economics ministry Pieter ten Bruggencate told CNN Thursday.

The Dutch government had previously made clear that payments in rubles would violate sanctions but reiterated its instructions to firms after ongoing Russian calls for payment in rubles, ten Bruggencate added.

Some background: Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country would seek payment in rubles for natural gas sold to “unfriendly” countries, and British and Dutch wholesale gas prices jumped after the announcement.

At the time, a spokesperson for Dutch gas supplier Eneco, which buys 15% of its gas from Russian gas giant Gazprom’s German subsidiary Wingas GmbH, said it had a long-term contract denominated in euros and could not “imagine” agreeing to change the terms.

The United Nations Secretary-General has warned that the world is on the brink of a “perfect storm” as the war in Ukraine exacerbates an already struggling global economy.

In a press release Wednesday, the UN said the war could lead to a “three-dimensional crisis” of food, energy and finance – areas that have already been hit hard by Covid-19 and climate change.

“We are now facing a perfect storm that threatens to devastate the economies of developing countries,” António Guterres said.

“The people of Ukraine cannot bear the violence being inflicted on them.

The report says Russia and Ukraine provide around 30% of the wheat and barley consumed globally, with Russia also the world’s top natural gas exporter, second-largest oil exporter and a significant producer of fertilizers.

The UN says up to 1.7 billion people in 107 economies are likely to feel the impact of at least one of the three crises, with those in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean particularly at risk.

A UN brief proposes numerous short to long term recommendations to help avert global crises, including moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, G20 countries and banks providing funding to the least developed nations, and limiting export restrictions on food.

“We need to pull developing countries back from the financial brink,” Guterres added. “The international financial system has deep pockets.

“For the people of Ukraine. For the people of the region. And for the people of the world.”

Russia has said its warship “remains afloat” after a fire detonated ammunition on board, provoking conflicting reports from Russian and Ukrainian authorities.

The Moskva guided-missile cruiser’s “main missile armament was not damaged,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Thursday, adding that “there is no open fire. Explosion of ammunition has been stopped.”

The ministry said “the source of the ignition on the cruiser Moskva has been localized,” and the cause of the fire was still being established on the flagship of its Black Sea fleet.

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s regional administrator from Odesa state, Maxim Marchenko, claimed in a Telegram post that Ukrainian forces hit the ship with “Neptune” missiles, causing serious damage to it.

Ukraine’s Operational Command South also said in a statement Thursday that the Moskva was hit by Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. 

“In the Black Sea operational zone, Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles hit the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet – it received significant damage,” the statement said. “A fire broke out. Other units of the ship’s group tried to help, but a storm and a powerful explosion of ammunition overturned the cruiser and it began to sink.”

However, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that the warship Moskva was evacuated after a fire onboard detonated ammunition, seriously damaging the vessel, according to Russian state media.

Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said “we can’t figure out what happened,” suggesting confusion over what occurred.

In Thursday’s statement, the Russian ministry said the “crew of the cruiser was evacuated to ships of the Black Sea Fleet in the area,” and measures were being take to tow the cruiser to port.

The Russian statement gave no information about casualties. 

Due to large storms over the Black Sea obscuring satellite imagery and sensory satellite data, CNN has not been able to visually confirm the ship has been hit.

But analysts who spoke to CNN noted that a fire on board such a ship can lead to a catastrophic explosion that could sink it, and said it strikes hard at the heart of the Russian navy as well as national pride – comparable to the US Navy losing a battleship during World War II or an aircraft carrier today.

According to the Defense Ministry, the Moskva is a missile cruiser that was built and commissioned in 1982.

CNN’s Olga Voitovych in Lviv contributed reporting to this post.

The Russian Navy cruiser Moskva, bottom, is seen in port in Sevastopol, Crimea, on April 7.

Today marks 50 days since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and there has been a marked shift in Moscow’s approach. Ukrainian officials have warned for days they expect a major offensive by Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region.

French military spokesperson Col. Pascal Lanni said Wednesday Russia is potentially preparing for a “large-scale offensive” in the east in the coming days.

Here are the latest developments:

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak speaks to the press in this file photo from March 29, after the first talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in televised remarks that consultations were “ongoing” on a potential roadmap to peace, but added that a sticking point remains the number of countries that would act as security guarantors for Ukraine.

“Consultations on what legal obligations need to be made, how it will be in terms of a multilateral treaty are ongoing now,” he said in televised remarks.

Podolyak added: “We have to understand that the Russians categorically do not want to increase the number of countries that can be guarantors of security. It is important for us to have as many of those countries as possible.”

Some background: At a recent meeting in Istanbul between Ukrainian and Russian teams, negotiators hammered out very preliminary agreements about the possibility of neutral status for Ukraine, but protected by international security guarantees.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week described that negotiating process as being at a “dead end,” but Podolyak said work has continued.

Some 197 children have died and 351 have been injured during the war in Ukraine, the country’s prosecutor general said Thursday, citing figures from juvenile prosecutors.

Bodies of children aged four and 10 were found along with the burnt body of a 17-year-old boy in Hostomel and Bucha, in the Kyiv region, the statement said.

The statement added that a father and his minor son were killed in the Chernobyl zone near the village Dytiatky in the Kyiv region when Russian servicemen fired at a car stopped at a roadside.

Seven children died as a result of a Russian strike on the Kramatorsk train station, the statement said.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said that the burnt bodies of a 16-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy had been found in the villages of Borodianka, northwest of Kyiv, and Korolivka, in western Ukraine.

A Ukraine special-operations unit destroyed a bridge as a Russian convoy crossed it while it headed toward Izium in southeastern Kharkiv region, the Command of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed in a statement Thursday.

Ukrainian officials have reported heavy fighting in the vicinity of Izium in recent days, saying that Russian forces are trying to reach the eastern Donbas region from the direction of the town.

The statement claimed that the Ukrainian unit destroyed the bridge with an explosive charge as a convoy of a Tiger armored vehicle and several trucks crossed it.

CNN could not independently verify the claim. Ukrainian forces destroyed a key bridge in the Kyiv region to slow the advance of Russian forces in the opening days of the war.

Some background: On Wednesday, a CNN team witnessed intense shelling of the residential district of Saltivka, in northeastern Kharkiv, with a local official saying they believed Russia was stepping up attacks amid a new phase of military operations in the region.

Ukrainian officials have warned for days that they expect a major offensive push by Russian forces in the neighboring eastern Donbas region, as Russia repositions troops and equipment following a failed push to take Kyiv, the capital.

A line of Kamaz trucks stand outside a showroom in Libertow, Poland on April 4.

Australia has sanctioned another 14 Russian state-owned enterprises of “strategic and economic importance” to Russia, according to a statement from Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Thursday.

The latest round of sanctions targets defense-related transportation firm Kamaz, as well as shipping companies Sevmash and United Shipbuilding Corporation.

It also targets electronic component manufacturer Ruselectronics, which produces approximately 80% of all Russian electronics components, and Russian Railways, one of the largest single contributors to Russia’s economy.

“Our targeting of Russia’s state-owned enterprises in coordination with key partners undermines their capacity to boost the Russian economy,” Payne’s statement said. 

“By preventing dealings with these important sources of revenue for the Russian Government, we are increasing the pressure on Russia and undercutting its ability to continue funding [Vladimir] Putin’s war.”

Some background: Australia is one of a number of countries, including the US, that have been continually imposing fresh sanctions on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began.

In retaliation against Washington blacklisting hundreds of Russian lawmakers last month, Moscow said Wednesday it had imposed sanctions on 398 members of the US Congress.

Nine evacuation routes for civilians to leave besieged Ukrainian cities have been agreed for Thursday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a Telegram post.

She said four routes have been established to Zaporizhzhia by private transport.

 In the Luhansk region, five routes will be operational:

Vereshchuk said there were no evacuation routes on Wednesday. “In Zaporizhzhia region, the occupiers blocked evacuation buses, and in Luhansk region, they are violating the ceasefire,” she said.

Ukrainian soldiers are seen in a tank on the front line in Donbas, Ukraine on April 12.

Thursday marks 50 days since Russia began its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The initial assault started before dawn with a series of missile attacks and the use of long-range artillery, before quickly spreading across central and eastern Ukraine as Russian forces attacked the country from three sides.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to quickly topple Kyiv failed in the face of strong Ukrainian resistance, a failure to achieve air superiority in Ukraine, command, control and supply problems and through heavy losses of personnel.

As Russian forces withdraw from areas near Kyiv to refocus on the east, the horrors of their occupation have been made clear with reports of widespread civilian casualties and killings, torture, disappearances, and other atrocities. Cities across the country continue to be relentlessly bombarded as Russia deploys a devastating array of aerial assaults, creating a humanitarian catastrophe.

After 50 days, the war is poised to enter a critical new stage:

In this file photo from Feb. 13, Ukrainian soldiers fire a Javelin missile provided by the US Army during an exercise in Ukraine.

The United States has sent so many of its Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine that its stocks are running low for possible use by its own forces, according a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Replenishing the US stockpile with new weapons will take years, according to the report from Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the International Security Program at CSIS.

What is the Javelin? It’s a shoulder-fired anti-armor missile made by US defense giants Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The missile is a so-called “fire and forget” weapon, meaning it guides itself to its target after launch, allowing its operator to take cover and avoid counterfire.

Use in Ukraine: Ukrainian forces have used it to devastating effect against Russian tanks, negating what was, before the war, thought to be an overwhelming Russian advantage.

It could also be very useful to US forces in any unforeseen conflict, but Cancian said the Pentagon needs to keep an eye on the drawdown in its stocks.

Cancian estimates there may be 20,000 to 25,000 Javelins remaining in the stockpiles and the 7,000 systems sent to Ukraine “represent about one-third of the US total inventory.”

Some context: A senior US defense official said Wednesday the massive shipments of weapons to Ukraine, including thousands of Javelin anti-armor missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, have not affected the readiness of US forces.

Ukraine said its last two remaining units in the besieged southern city of Mariupol have been able to join forces thanks to a “risky maneuver,” bolstering their resistance against Russian forces.

Meanwhile, Russia said Mariupol’s commercial seaport had been captured and 1,000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered.

Here’s what we know about the latest situation in the port city:

Editor's note: This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military. It shows people walking down a street in Mariupol on April 12 near the site of a bombed-out theater.

Editor's note: This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military. It shows a Russian soldier on patrol in Mariupol on April 12.

The Russian navy's Black Sea flagship, the cruiser Moskva, is seen in a satellite image off the coast of Crimea on April 10.

One of the Russian Navy’s most important warships is either floating abandoned or at the bottom of the Black Sea, a massive blow to a military struggling against Ukrainian resistance 50 days into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his neighbor.

Russian sailors have evacuated the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, after a fire that detonated ammunition aboard, Russian state media reported Wednesday.

State media outlets TASS and RIA, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, said the Moskva had been seriously damaged in the incident and that the cause of the fire was being investigated. The Russian reports gave no information on possible casualties.

But hours earlier, a Ukrainian official claimed the Russian warship had been hit by cruise missiles fired from Ukraine.

Due to large storms over the Black Sea obscuring satellite imagery and sensory satellite data, CNN has not been able to visually confirm the ship has been hit or its current status, but analysts noted that a fire on board such a ship can lead to a catastrophic explosion that could sink it.

Whatever the reason for the fire, the analysts say it strikes hard at the heart of the Russian navy as well as national pride, comparable to the US Navy losing a battleship during World War II or an aircraft carrier today.

“Massive blow”: Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King’s College in London, said losing the warship would be a “massive blow” for Russia.

Read more here.

US officials are confronting fresh questions about whether a massive aid package for Ukraine will arrive soon enough and whether it will be enough to sustain Ukrainian forces in what is turning into a protracted war with Russia.

Ukraine is bracing for the expected escalation of Russian attacks in the Donbas region in the country’s east. As they try to adapt to that challenging new terrain, the US is ramping up its commitment to help — sending an additional $800 million worth of weapons and ammunition in a package that includes additional Mi-17 helicopters, Howitzer cannons, several hundred Switchblade drones, counter-artillery radar systems and protective equipment to guard against potential chemical attacks.

But getting that aid in the hands of Ukraine’s armed forces is now facing a race against time.

Read the full analysis:

DONBAS, UKRAINE - APRIL 12: Ukrainian soldiers are seen in a tank on the frontline in Donbas, Ukraine on April 12, 2022. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Related article Analysis: US faces a race against time to get massive security aid to Ukraine with fresh assault looming

An aerial view of Mariupol, Ukraine on April 12.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its 50th day, there are growing signs the war is shifting. Ukrainian officials have warned for days they expect a major offensive by Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region — a new theater of war on the open plains, rather than the urban and wooded areas of the north.

French military spokesperson Col. Pascal Lanni said Wednesday Russia is potentially preparing for a “large-scale offensive” in the east in the coming days.

Here are the latest developments:

A Russian warship that was evacuated in the Black Sea on Wednesday was one of the vessels involved in the famous exchange at Snake Island in February, according to a Ukrainian presidential adviser.

The island was hit by Russian missile strikes after Ukrainian defenders responded to the threat of Russian invasion with the words: “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”

Some context: Conflicting reports have emerged from the Russians and Ukrainians about the incident onboard the Moskva on Wednesday. Russia said in state media the cruiser was evacuated after a fire onboard detonated ammunition. The Odesa state regional administrator claimed it was hit by Ukrainian missiles. CNN is unable to independently verify what took place. 

However, comments from Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy, suggest there is confusion over what occurred.

The ship is currently in the Black Sea basin, he added.

Regarding the February Snake Island incident, Arestovych confirmed the Moskva was involved. “Yes specifically this one, it was firing at the defenders. It’s the flagship of the (Russian) navy,” he said.

For the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US is providing Kyiv with the types of high-power capabilities some Biden administration officials viewed as too much of an escalation risk a few short weeks ago.

The $800 million list is driven not only by direct requests from Ukraine, but also in preparation for a new type of fight on the open plains of southeast Ukraine right next to Russia, terrain that plays into Russia’s natural military advantages.

The new weapons package represents the starkest sign to date that the war in Ukraine is shifting — and with it the weapons Ukraine will need if it hopes to continue to stymie a Russian military that has regrouped and resupplied after its initial failures in the opening weeks of the war.

What the package includes:

This package stands out from previous security assistance in part because this tranche includes more sophisticated and heavier-duty weaponry than previous shipments.

Read the full story:

Polish Mi-17 helicopters are seen during Dragon-17 military exercises at the military range near Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland, September 21, 2017. Agencja Gazeta/Cezary Aszkielowicz via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. POLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN POLAND.

Related article Why the Biden administration is giving new, heavier weapons to Ukraine

A satellite image shows Russian warship the Moskva in the port of Sevastopol, Crimea on April 7.

Conflicting reports have emerged from the Russians and Ukrainians about an incident involving a Russian warship in the Black Sea. 

No evidence has emerged to support either claim and CNN is unable to independently verify what took place. 

What the Russians say: The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Wednesday that the warship Moskva was evacuated after a fire onboard detonated ammunition, seriously damaging the vessel, according to Russian state media.

What the Ukrainians say: Hours earlier, Odesa state regional administrator Maxim Marchenko claimed in a post on Telegram that Ukrainian forces hit the ship with “Neptune” missiles causing serious damage to it.

Poor weather: Due to large storms over the Black Sea obscuring satellite imagery and sensory satellite data, CNN has not been able to visually confirm the ship has been hit. The Russian Defense Ministry has also not posted any official statement to its Telegram channel acknowledging the evacuation, or fire onboard.

Russian state media outlets TASS and RIA reported the ship’s crew was evacuated and that the cause of the fire was still being established. According to the Defense Ministry, the Moskva is a missile cruiser that was built and commissioned in 1982.

Satellite images from Maxar Technologies showed the ship just northwest of Sevastopol, Crimea on April 10.

The European Union approved an additional 500 million euros ($544 million) for military equipment for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Wednesday, according to a news release from the European Council.

The additional military aid brings the total financial assistance from the EU for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to 1.5 billion euros, the release said. The financial assistance was approved through the European Peace Facility, “an off-budget instrument that enhances the EU’s ability to act as a global security provider,” according to the website of the European Commission.

The 500 million euros will finance personal protective equipment, military equipment, fuel, and first aid kits, the release said.  

“The European Council demands that Russia immediately stop its military aggression in the territory of Ukraine,” the release added. 

In the days since Russian forces left the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine, authorities say a growing number of bodies have been discovered.

“There are more than 100 dead among the civilians in the Sumy region. Unfortunately, this number is growing every day,” Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, head of Sumy regional military administration, said in a briefing Wednesday.

Zhyvytskyi alleged “there are people who are held captive and there are daily negotiations for them to be exchanged or set free. A lot of people whose fate remains unknown as of today.”

Sumy saw widespread damage in the early days of the Russian invasion, with several confrontations between civilians and Russian soldiers in the region. 

This week, the Ukrainian cabinet allotted about $8 million to the Sumy region to begin the task of repairing housing, roads and utilities.

Russia said Wednesday it had imposed sanctions on 398 members of the US Congress in retaliation against Washington blacklisting hundreds of Russian lawmakers last month. 

Moscow’s “mirror sanctions” include “the leadership and committee chairmen of the lower house of the U.S. Congress,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. 

The US Treasury Department on March 24 announced sanctions against 328 members of the 450-seat Russian State Duma — the lower level of the two-tiered Russian Parliament. 

“Further announcements of Russian countermeasures are planned in the near future,” including adding more Americans to the sanctioned list, Moscow said in Wednesday’s statement.