Kyiv hit with most powerful explosions heard in weeks; Finland ‘highly likely’ to join NATO. Follow our live updates

Facing a dramatic change in its security assessment and relations with Russia, Finland is ‘highly likely’ to join NATO now, Finland’s European affairs minister Tytti Tuppurainen told Sky News in an interview.

“The people of Finland seem to have already made up their mind and there is a huge majority for NATO membership of Finland,” she said from Helsinki.”

“Of courses, that’s not all. We are a parliamentary democracy so we need to discuss this issue in our parliament. At this point I would say it is highly likely, but a decision is not yet made.”

Russia has warned of consequences if the Nordic country makes such a move, and saying it would need to make new nuclear deployments in the Baltics is the alliance expanded along Russia’s borders.

— Natasha Turak

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv was hit Friday with the most powerful explosions heard since Russian forces retreated from the areas around the capital two weeks ago.

Russia said it targeted and hit a plant in Kyiv that made and repaired Ukrainian missiles, including anti-ship missiles. The strikes come a day after Russia’s flagship missile cruiser, Moskva, sank in the Black Sea off the Ukrainian coast. Moscow said it was due to a fire on board, while Ukrainian authorities say they struck it with missiles.

— Natasha Turak

The loss of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva is likely to force the Kremlin to review its maritime strategy in the Black Sea, according to a Western assessment.

Ukraine said that it struck the Moskva on Wednesday with two cruise missiles. Moscow admitted that the missile cruiser Moskva sank on Thursday, but blamed it on onboard ammunition that detonated.

A Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday that the United States could confirm neither story.

Regardless, the Moskva was Russia’s command vessel on the Black Sea, and it was critical to the Russian fleet’s air defense strategy, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence assessment posted Friday.

“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,” the Ministry of Defence said.

“Both events will likely lead Russia to review its maritime posture in the Black Sea,” the ministry said.

Military analysts have speculated that the Moskva would have played an important role in any amphibious attack on Odesa, Ukraine’s most important maritime port.

The Soviet-era Moskva was refitted to improve its capabilities and returned to operational status last year, the British ministry said. It played roles in Russia’s bombing of Syria in 2015, its invasion of Crimea in 2014, and its war with Georgia in 2008.

Russia has claimed that its crew of 510 individuals was safely evacuated.

— Ted Kemp

Two U.S. lawmakers visited Ukraine on Thursday, becoming the first known American officials to do so since Russia began its offensive on Feb. 24.

Senator Steve Daines (R-MO) and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), who was born in Ukraine, traveled to there to meet Ukrainian officials in the capital of Kyiv and Bucha, where Russian troops have been accused of mass atrocities.

“There is indisputable evidence of Putin’s war crimes everywhere — the images of shallow mass graves filled with civilians, women and children are heart wrenching,” Daines said in a statement.

“America and the world need to know about Putin’s atrocities against the innocent people of Ukraine now, not after time has passed and the aftermath of evil and bloodshed have been cleaned up. The sooner we can provide Ukraine with the lethal aid they need to win this war, the sooner we will end the war crimes.”

The bodies and mass graves were found after Russian troops pulled out of Bucha, a suburb on the outskirts of Kyiv. The atrocities prompted the UN to suspend Russia from its seat on the Human Rights Council and pushed the U.S. and European leaders to impose more sanctions on Moscow.

— Joanna Tan