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Destruction in Mariupol
Photo: ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / REUTERS
What has happened in the past few hours
The stricken Russian missile cruiser Moskva has sunk, according to Russian sources.
The flagship of the Black Sea Fleet went down during a storm on Thursday while being towed to its destination, the state agency TASS reported on Thursday evening, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.
Towing became necessary because the ship lost stability due to damage to the hull, which was damaged during a fire caused by munitions detonation.
Ukrainian military officials had previously reported that the ship was hit by an anti-ship missile.
On Thursday night, the Russian side said that the crew of the ship had been completely evacuated to other Black Sea Fleet ships in the area after a fire.
According to Ukrainian sources, more than 500 civilians have been killed in the Kharkiv region since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A total of 503 civilians have been killed since February 24, including 24 children, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said in a video published by Telegram on Thursday.
In the past 24 hours there have been 34 attacks in the region in eastern Ukraine.
One person was killed and eight others were injured.
Air raid sirens have been wailing in Luhansk and Zaporizhia in eastern Ukraine since midnight, according to the Reuters news agency.
Previously, therefore, huge explosions from Kyiv, southern Cherson, Kharkiv in the east and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west were reported.
Ukrainian media reported power outages in parts of the capital Kyiv.
That says Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his compatriots for 50 days of resistance against Russia.
"Thank God, the armed forces of Ukraine and our people - we have defended most of our country," he said in a video message published on Telegram on Thursday evening on the occasion of the 50th day since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
»50 days of our defense is an achievement.
An achievement of millions of Ukrainians.«
Zelenskyi said he remembered the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"To put it mildly, nobody was convinced that we would survive." Many had advised him to leave the country.
"They advised that we surrender de facto to tyranny." However, they did not know the Ukrainians and how brave they were and how much they value the freedom "to live as we want".
Zelenskyy also thanked all supporters of Ukraine.
In the 50 days he saw many political leaders in a different way.
He saw "great generosity" in those who weren't rich, or determination in those who weren't taken seriously by others.
But he also saw politicians behaving as if they had no power.
International reactions
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck is campaigning for an increase in arms deliveries to Ukraine.
“We cannot leave Ukraine alone in the war.
She fights for us too.
Ukraine must not lose, Putin must not win,” said the Green politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
When asked whether Germany was also supplying heavy weapons, the Vice Chancellor said: »The people in Ukraine are fighting back with courage and a willingness to make sacrifices.
We have an obligation to support them with arms.
At the same time, we have a responsibility not to become a target ourselves.
That is the framework within which we deliver everything that is possible.' This framework 'so far does not include large tanks or fighter planes'.
The head of the US foreign intelligence agency CIA warns that the danger of Russia using tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine should not be taken lightly.
According to Bill Burns, Moscow used threatening gestures to make statements about increased readiness for its nuclear weapons.
So far, however, the United States has seen little practical evidence of this, such as troop movements or military preparations, he said on Thursday at a university in the state of Georgia.
Russian politician Alexander Babakov has been accused by the US judiciary of illegal influence and propaganda.
Together with two employees, he is said to have been pursuing "illegitimate actions against Ukraine beyond the battlefield" on US soil since 2012, according to the New York prosecutor's office on Thursday.
In their activities, the suspects used the cover of the organization "Institute for Studies on International Integration".
In 2017, for example, they are said to have invited "at least one member of the US Congress" to a free trip to a conference on the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia.
France wants to move its embassy in Ukraine from Lviv to Kyiv again.
The step will be taken "very soon" and should make it possible to "further deepen" France's support for Ukraine, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday evening.
The French embassy in Kyiv was relocated to Lviv in western Ukraine in early March, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Economic Reactions
With the help of global sanctions, the US government wants to largely shut down seven Boeing machines of the state-owned Belarusian airline Belavia.
The Commerce Department in Washington said it was the first time Belarusian planes had been sanctioned for violating US export regulations.
In addition, three more Russian aircraft were added to the sanctions list.
Any service to enable the aircraft to fly – be it maintenance or refueling of the aircraft, for example – can be penalized.
humanitarian situation
The head of the World Food Program (WFP) of the United Nations, David Beasley, drew attention to the great suffering in Mariupol.
Well over 100,000 civilians who urgently need food, water and heating are trapped in the port city, he told the AP news agency.
Russian forces, which control access to the city, did not allow relief supplies, although WFP has requested access.
“We will not give up on the people of Mariupol and other people we cannot reach.
But the situation is devastating: people are starving,” Beasley said.
Ukraine's humanitarian crisis is likely to worsen as Russia intensifies its attacks in the coming weeks.
About 2,550 civilians were evacuated from the contested areas in Ukraine on Thursday.
This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk in Kyiv.
Around 2,300 people have arrived in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia, including 290 residents of Mariupol.
During the evacuations, Russian units "constantly" broke the ceasefires set up for this purpose, Vereshchuk said.
Another 220 people were brought to safety from the Luhansk region in the east of the country.
There, as in the neighboring Donetsk region, a Russian offensive and heavy fighting are expected in the coming days.
What you should read
A million people died when the Wehrmacht starved Leningrad - Lyudmila Vasilieva survived.
Today the 80-year-old is protesting against Putin's Ukraine campaign and has been arrested three times.
German politicians have often expressed solidarity with Ukraine in the past.
But for a good hundred years, it has primarily been about German interests – and the pattern continues to this day.
Turkey has apparently delivered more war equipment to Ukraine than previously known, including reconnaissance drones.
What can they do and what is the use of them?
bbr/dpa/AP/Reuters/AFP