Ukraine says Russia used long-range bombers on Mariupol; Russia warns of more attacks on Kyiv: Top developments

In a major setback to the Russian forces, a guided-missile cruiser of the Black Sea fleet, Moskva, sank on Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, alluding to the development, in a late-night address paid homage to the war efforts of those “who halted the progress of the endless convoys of Russian military equipment … Those who showed that Russian ships can go … down to the bottom.”

Here are the top 10 developments from the Russia-Ukraine war:

🔴 Ukraine’s defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk Friday said that for the first time since the start of its invasion, Russia used long-range bombers to attack the port city of Mariupol. He stated that with ongoing street fighting, the situation in Mariupol is hard. Mentioning that active fighting is ongoing around Illich Steel and Iron Works in Mariupol’s port area, he claimed Russia is concentrating its force on capturing Rubizhne, Popasna and Mariupol.

🔴 A large explosion struck the eastern city of Kramatorsk in Ukraine — the site where a missile strike on a train station left more than 50 dead and dozens wounded a week ago. AP journalists in the city heard the sound of a rocket or missile followed by the blast on early Friday afternoon. Sirens were sounded after that. It was not immediately clear what was hit or whether there were casualties.

🔴 Seven people were killed and 27 injured after Russian forces attacked the buses carrying civilians in the Ukrainian village of Borovaya, near Kharkiv, AP reported.

🔴 Major explosions were heard in the cities of Kyiv, Kherson and Kharkiv and the town of Ivano-Frankivs on early Friday morning, news agency Reuters reported. No significant damage was immediately reported from the areas.

🔴 Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that he will redirect his energy supplies eastwards as European countries try to find alternatives. Putin asserted that “there is simply no reasonable replacement for it (Russian gas) in Europe now”, adding that supplies from the United States would be costlier and affect people’s standard of living.

A cemetery worker takes a break from working in the graves of civilians killed in Bucha during the war with Russia, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday. (AP)

🔴 The loss of the Moskva ship has been a major hit to Russian capabilities, as it could carry 16 long-range cruise missiles. While Ukraine has claimed that its missile hit the ship, Russia has acknowledged the fire on board but not the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry said the ship sank in a storm while being towed to a port, news agency AP reported.

Story continues below this ad

🔴 The UK’s Military Intelligence said on Twitter, “This incident means Russia has now suffered damage to two key naval assets since invading Ukraine, the first being Russia’s Alligator-class landing ship Saratov on 24 March. Both events will likely lead Russia to review its maritime posture in the Black Sea. (sic)”

🔴 Zelenskyy in an address to the nation said that Ukrainians should be proud of having survived 50 days under Russian attack when the Russians “gave us a maximum of five.” Remembering the first day of the invasion, Zelenskyy said that he had been advised to leave the country, “but they didn’t know how brave Ukrainians are, how much we value freedom and the possibility to live the way we want.”

People look at a crater of an explosion in a village of Horodnya, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. (AP)

🔴 In view of the military setbacks faced by Russia, CIA Director William Burns Thursday said that Putin may resort to using tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “We haven’t seen a lot of practical evidence of the kind of deployments or military dispositions that would reinforce that concern,” Burns was quoted as saying by Reuters. Such weapons are designed for the battlefield, and according to Reuters, experts estimate that Russia has about 2,000 of these low-yield nuclear weapons.

🔴 Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of launching airstrikes in Bryansk, a city in Russia. According to the Investigative Committee of Russia, two Ukrainian military helicopters entered Russia’s air space Thursday and attacked residential buildings in Klimovo village, which is located 11-km from the Russian border. It claimed that seven people, including a child, sustained injuries.

Story continues below this ad

🔴 Canada has lent a hand to Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Defense Minister Anita Anand announced that 150 troops would be sent to Poland to help coordinate and resettle refugees and send some of them to Canada.

People gather outside a shopping centre destroyed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine. (Reuters)

🔴 The UN World Food Program has expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, flagging the ‘starving’ population of the besieged Mariupol city. WFP executive director David Beasley had also told AP that the war can potentially destabilise nations across the world, due to disruptions in grain exports from Ukraine, triggering a wave of migrations.

🔴 US Ambassador to the UN also accused Russia of the food crisis in the world while addressing a UN Security Council meeting over Yemen. The Russian Ambassador, however, hit back stating, “The main factor for instability and the source of the problem today is not the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, but sanctions measures imposed on our country seeking to cut off any supplies from Russia and the supply chain, apart from those supplies that those countries in the West need, in other words energy.”

— with inputs from agencies

From the homepage