Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian forces said they struck and severely damaged the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and Russia said its crew were forced to evacuate as a result of a fire without acknowledging an attack as the battle moved east and in the vicinity moved the battered city of Mariupol, where the defenders still held out.
Odessa Region Governor Maksym Marchenko said the Ukrainians hit the guided missile cruiser Moskva with two missiles and caused “serious damage”.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the ship was damaged, but not that it was hit by Ukraine – it said ammunition on board exploded as a result of a fire of unknown cause. The entire crew was evacuated, it said; The cruiser usually has about 500 on board.
If confirmed, the cruiser’s sinking would be a major blow to Russia after the armored carrier Orsk was hit and set on fire in an attack at Berdyansk in the Sea of Azov late last month.
The reported ship attack by Neptune cruise missiles came a day after President Joe Biden called Russia’s actions in Ukraine “genocide” and approved $800 million in new military aid to Kyiv. He said Western weaponry has kept Ukraine’s fight going so far and “we can’t stop it now.” The munitions include artillery systems, armored personnel carriers and helicopters.
Russia invaded on February 24 with the aim of taking Kyiv, overthrowing the government and installing a pro-Moscow replacement, according to Western officials. But the ground advance slowly faltered and Russia lost potentially thousands of fighters. The conflict has killed scores of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions more to flee. It has also rattled the global economy, threatened global food supplies and shaken the balance of post-Cold War Europe.
The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia showed their support for Ukraine and called for accountability for what they called war crimes during a visit to the war-ravaged areas on Wednesday. They meet with their counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and visit Borodyanka, one of the towns near Kyiv where evidence of atrocities was found after Russian troops withdrew to concentrate on the east of the country.
“There is no doubt that they committed war crimes. And they should be held accountable for that,” said Latvian President Egils Levits.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda added: “The fight for the future of Europe is taking place here.” He called for tougher sanctions, including against Russian oil and gas supplies and all of the country’s banks.
In one of the most decisive battles of the war in the southern port city of Mariupol, the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General. Igor Konashenkov said 1,026 soldiers from Ukraine’s 36th Naval Brigade surrendered at a metal factory. But Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, dismissed the claim, telling Current Time TV that “the battle for the seaport is still ongoing today.”
Russian troops are preparing for a major offensive in the eastern Donbass region, where Moscow Alliance separatists and Ukrainian forces have been fighting since 2014. A key piece in the Russian campaign, Mariupol is located in the Donbass, which the Russians have been invading for weeks.
It was unclear when a surrender might have occurred or how many forces were still defending Mariupol.
Russian state television broadcast footage from Mariupol on Wednesday showing dozens of men in camouflage clothing walking with their hands raised and carrying others on stretchers or in chair handles. A man held a white flag. In the background was a tall industrial building with broken windows and a missing roof, identified by the broadcaster as the Iliich Metal Works.
A UN task force warned that the war threatens to devastate the economies of many developing countries, which face even higher food and energy costs and increasingly difficult financial conditions. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the war is “aggravating” a food, energy and financial crisis in poorer countries already struggling to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and lack of access to finance.
In his late-night address, Zelenskyy noted that the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court visited the Kiev suburb of Bucha, which until recently was controlled by Russian forces and where evidence of mass killings and more than 400 bodies was found.
“It is inevitable that Russian troops will be held accountable. We will drag everyone before a tribunal, and not just for what was done in Bucha,” Zelenskyy said late Wednesday.
He also said work would continue to clear tens of thousands of unexploded shells, mines and tripwires left in northern Ukraine by the retreating Russians. He urged people returning home to beware of unfamiliar objects and to report them to the police.
Also on Wednesday, a report commissioned by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe found “clear patterns of violations of international humanitarian law by Russian forces in the conduct of hostilities.” It was written by experts selected by Ukraine and published by the Vienna-based organization working for security and human rights.
The report said there were also violations by Ukraine, but concluded that those committed by Russia “are far greater in scope and nature.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that his troops committed any atrocities, saying on Tuesday Moscow had “no choice” but to invade and will “proceed until it is fully completed and the tasks set have been accomplished.” He insisted that Russia’s campaign go ahead as planned, despite a major retreat after its forces failed to take the capital and suffered significant casualties.
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Associated Press writer Robert Burns in Washington and AP journalists around the world contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine