Ukraine-Russia War Update: Russia flagship cruiser hit with missiles; international prosecutor issues report on alleged Russian war crimes

by mcardinal

Chris Lange, FISM News

 

Ukrainian forces said they hit and badly damaged the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet Wednesday with Neptune cruise missiles. The governor of the Odesa region, Maksym Marchenko, said the Ukrainians struck the guided-missile cruiser Moskva with two missiles and caused “serious damage,” as reported by the Associated Press.

This is the second major blow to Russia’s navy. Late last month, the tank carrier Orsk was struck by Ukrainian forces and set afire in the Sea of Azov.

Russia acknowledged that its crew was forced to evacuate the vessel but said it was the result of a fire caused by the accidental detonation of ammunition on board. Moscow’s defense ministry on Thursday said the fire had been contained and that its crew had been evacuated to other ships, according to Reuters. The officials said the ship’s main weaponry was not damaged and that it remains afloat.

Moscow airs footage of alleged surrender of Ukrainian troops in Mariupol

Ukraine continues to deny Russia’s claim that over 1,000 troops from the Ukrainian 36th Marine Brigade surrendered at a Mariupol metals factory this week. Russian state television on Wednesday aired footage of dozens of men dressed in camouflage walking with their hands up in the air, one of whom was holding a white flag. Some were carried on stretchers. Visible in the background was an industrial building with shattered windows and no roof which the broadcaster identified as the Iliich metalworks facility.

Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, rejected Moscow’s claim of a surrender and told Prague’s Current Time TV Wednesday that “the battle over the seaport is still ongoing today.”

It was unclear when a surrender may have occurred or how many forces were still defending Mariupol.

International Criminal Court investigates Bucha atrocities

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted in his nightly address Wednesday that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court visited the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where hundreds of Ukrainians were found dead bearing evidence of torture and execution. 

“It is inevitable that the Russian troops will be held responsible. We will drag everyone to a tribunal, and not only for what was done in Bucha,” Zelenskyy said.

Elsewhere Wednesday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe found “clear patterns” of evidence that Russian forces violated international humanitarian laws “in their conduct of hostilities” against Ukrainians in a report commissioned by Kyiv. The Vienna-based organization also found violations committed by Ukraine but concluded that Russia’s breaches “are by far larger in scale and nature.”

Pentagon says new aid package shipment to Ukraine will ‘start right away’

The Pentagon on Wednesday said the latest $800 million aid package to Ukraine includes artillery systems, armored personnel carriers and helicopters, according to a Department of Defense press release.

The munitions also include additional Javelin missiles, Switchblade drones, M18A1 Claymore mines, body armor, optics and laser rangefinders, and medical equipment, according to the release. 

“Some of [these capabilities] are reinforcing capabilities that we have already been providing Ukraine and some of them are new capabilities that we have not provided to Ukraine,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said. “All of them are designed to help Ukraine … in the fight that they are in right now.” 

Kyiv is still awaiting delivery on all of the items promised in the last $800 million package, which Kirby said should be completed by the middle of this month, though he said the most recent package will go out immediately.

“We’re not going to wait,” he said. “We’re going to start getting these articles on the way, as well. So, we will literally start right away.” 

President Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials bracing for Moscow’s anticipated massive offensive in the east have repeatedly complained that they are not receiving enough military aid to defeat the Russians. Moreover, they have said that munitions that are being sent are not arriving quickly enough.

Baltic state and Polish leaders visit Zelenskyy in Kyiv in show of support

The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia traveled to Kyiv on Wednesday where they met with Zelenskyy in a show of solidarity, according to Reuters. Together, the leaders visited Borodyanka, one of the towns near Kyiv where evidence of mass atrocities was discovered following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the region. 

“This is not war, this is terrorism,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a joint news conference with the other leaders in Kyiv.

“We’re not just talking about the soldiers who committed those crimes, but those who issued orders – all of them should be brought to justice,” he said.

Latvian President Egils Levits called on the international community to increase military support for Ukraine as it braces for an intensified offensive by Russia in the east.

“It is our duty to help Ukraine with all kinds of weapons,” Levits said. 

The sense of urgency was echoed by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausedo, who said “The future of Ukraine will be decided on the battlefield … Ukraine must win.”

Zelenskyy thanked the leaders for standing “shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine.”

“Those four leaders of the four nations are always protecting us, always standing up for us,” he said

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