Dhe most important ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser “Moskva”, is badly damaged after an explosion. As the Interfax news agency reports, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense, ammunition on board the ship is said to have exploded. The entire crew was rescued and the cause of the fire is currently being investigated.
A Ukrainian official previously said the ship was hit by two rockets, but gave no evidence to support this claim. The governor of Odessa had previously said that a Russian warship had been fired upon and damaged in the Black Sea. Neptun-type missiles caused “considerable damage” to the Russian ship, Governor Maxym Marchenko wrote in the Telegram messenger service on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Oleksiy Arestovych also spoke on YouTube of a “surprise” in connection with the “flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet”. Arestovych said the Russian ship Moskva was on fire. “At this moment”.
Archive recording of the missile cruiser “Moskva” from 2014 passing through Istanbul
Source: pa/dpa/Can Merey
Due to the stormy seas, it is unclear when the ship and its 510-strong crew will receive help. The cause of the fire is being investigated, it said.
Among other things, the “Moskva” is said to have been involved in the conquest of the Ukrainian Snake Island at the beginning of the war almost seven weeks ago. Advisor to Ukraine’s Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko, in a social media post, suggested that the warship was hit by a Neptun missile. The Ukrainian in-house development has a range of 280 kilometers.
Ukraine news – all events in the live ticker:
03:00 – Military – Forces repel 8 Russian attacks in East
According to the Ukrainian armed forces, they repelled eight Russian attacks in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. “In particular, Ukrainian defenders destroyed one enemy tank, four armored vehicles and six other vehicles,” the Ukrainian military said in a statement.
2:35 am – Insider – US plans to send senior US officials to Kyiv
According to an insider, the US wants to send a high-ranking US official to visit the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in solidarity. According to the insider, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd are possible candidates for a surprise visit. It is unlikely that US President Joe Biden will make the trip himself.
According to the person familiar with the matter, a final decision has not yet been made. The US daily newspaper “Politico” also reports on talks about sending a high-ranking member of the government, citing two other insiders.
02:00 a.m. – Habeck calls for de-escalation after Steinmeier’s unloading
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Die Grünen) calls for de-escalation after Ukraine’s cancellation of a trip to Kyiv by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “Now we should all make sure that we solve the problem and don’t escalate it. That’s what phones were invented for,” says Habeck, according to a preliminary report in the newspapers of the Funke media group. The federal government would be in constant and ongoing exchange with the Ukrainian government. Nevertheless, according to the Green Party politician, the Ukrainian side made a diplomatic mistake.
00:48 – “Tens of thousands” of unexploded explosive devices
Russian troops are said to have left large quantities of unexploded explosive devices in the north of the country, according to Ukrainian sources. Tens of thousands of unexploded grenades or mines are in the area, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his video message on Thursday night. Demining is ongoing and residents returning must be extremely careful and vigilant.
The military situation, said Zelenskyj, is currently not significantly different from that of the past few days. Russian troops increased their activities in the east and south. They tried to make up for their losses, bombing and artillery attacks continued. They also wanted to recruit residents of areas in the south of the country held by Russian troops into their forces. The information could not be independently verified.
12:32 a.m. – Zelenskyy: “Friends of Ukraine” were visiting Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia for their commitment to Ukraine after a visit by their presidents to Kyiv. The visit of the presidents of the “four states – friends of Ukraine” on Wednesday was useful and fruitful, Zelenskyj said in his video message on Thursday night. It was the presidents of those countries that had helped Ukraine from day one, who had no hesitation in supplying arms to Kyiv and had no doubts about sanctions against Russia.
12:05 a.m. – KMK President: 400,000 Ukrainian students expected
According to the President of the Conference of Ministers of Education, Karin Prien, Germany must prepare for up to 400,000 refugee Ukrainian schoolchildren and would need 24,000 teachers for this. “The federal government assumes that one million people from the Ukraine could come to Germany. Of these, 40 percent will certainly be schoolchildren,” said Prien, who is Minister of Education in Schleswig-Holstein, to the editorial network Germany (Thursday). “That would then be up to 400,000 young people that we first have to do justice to in the German school system,” the CDU politicians continued.
“We calculate that you need about 60 teachers for every 1000 students. So for 400,000 children and young people from the Ukraine we would need 24,000 teachers”, at least if one wants to continue working with small group sizes in the area of welcome classes.
11:30 p.m. – Moscow is considering government aid for airlines
According to a media report, the Russian government is considering supporting airlines and airports with state aid. The Interfax agency reports that the airlines and airports could use the money to better compensate for the economic damage caused by the western sanctions.
10:45 p.m. – USA delivers howitzers to Ukraine for the first time
The US is also supplying howitzers to Ukraine for the first time as part of its new military aid program. The 18 guns have a caliber of 155 mm, according to the announcement. Military expert John Spencer of the Madison Policy Forum think tank welcomed the deployment of artillery and associated ammunition. “You need these bigger, more powerful weapons to match what Russia is bringing to the attempted takeover of eastern Ukraine,” he told Reuters.