Russia will seek peace or leave the international arena forever: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during an address where he says that Russian forces could use chemical weapons in Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 11, 2022 in this still image taken from video.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | via Reuters
In his latest nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy predicted that the Russian leadership will either seek peace, or would leave the international arena forever.
He also called again for an oil embargo from his European counterparts. “The European Union must stop sponsoring Russia’s military machine,” he said in the speech.
-Matt Clinch
Czech Republic reopens embassy in Kyiv
Messages of support for Ukraine outside the Russian Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic, on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. The Czech Republic reopened its embassy in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, nearly 2 months after its closure on 24 February following Russia’s invasion of the country.
Milan Jaros | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Czech Republic has reopened its embassy in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, nearly two months after it closed on Feb. 24 when Russia’s invasion began.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet its diplomats are back in Ukraine and the Czech flag is once again flying above the embassy.
“This is one of the many steps we are taking to show our support for Ukraine. Czechia will always stand with Ukraine,” the ministry said.
Other countries that have announced the return of their diplomats to Kyiv include Slovenia, Estonia and Turkey.
— Chelsea Ong
‘Sapiens’ author says Ukraine war could mark most dangerous moment since Cuban missile crisis
Israeli author, historian and professor Yuval Noah Harari has spoken out frequently against President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, adding that it has had the unintended consequence of forging greater unity between Europe and the U.S.
Kristof Van Accom | AFP | Getty Images
Israeli historian and bestselling author Yuval Noah Harari has told CNBC said the growing risk that Russia may turn to nuclear weapons or other forms of chemical or biological warfare to advance its onslaught posed an existential threat to humanity.
While acknowledging the current threat of nuclear war is “not very likely,” Harari said that everybody — governments and individuals — should be “very concerned.”
“It’s a possibility, a real possibility that we need to consider. And that’s terrible news for the whole human race,” he said.
Read the full story here.
-Karen Gilchrist
Details revealed on $800 million U.S. weapons package for Ukraine
Ukraine was already stocking up on U.S.-made Javelins before Russia invaded. Here a group of Ukrainian servicemen take a shipment of Javelins in early February, as Russia positioned troops on Ukraine’s border.
Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday night revealed details about the latest military aid package the United States will send to Ukraine, which includes 300 armored vehicles, artillery and anti-chemical protective equipment.
A post on his official Twitter account listed 200 M113 armored personnel carriers and 100 other armored, wheeled vehicles. The M113 is an older, tracked vehicle that the United States began using before the Vietnam War.
Among the newer weapons in the package are 500 Javelin missiles and 300 Switchblade attack drones. Ukrainian defenders have used the Javelin and other shoulder-launched weapons to devastating effect against Russian tanks and other vehicles.
Eight howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds are also part of the newest U.S. arms shipment.
The list includes “protective equipment” against chemical, biological and radiological attacks, as well as 30,000 sets of body armor and helmets.
Military observers and others have voiced fears that Vladimir Putin may use weapons of mass destruction against Ukrainian troops and civilians as Russia continues to suffer defeats on the battlefield.
“We continue to stand with the brave Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom,” Austin said. “To that end, this latest support package contains many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided along with critical new capabilities.”
— Ted Kemp
Ukraine claims it has damaged a Russian warship in the Black Sea
The Russian missile cruiser Moskva was set afire and evacuated after a Ukrainian attack on the ship. Here the Moskva is shown off the coast of Syria in 2015.
Max Delany | AFP | Getty Images
Ukraine claimed it has damaged a Russian warship, the Moskva, stationed in the Black Sea after striking it with Neptune missiles.
“It has been confirmed that today the missile cruiser ‘Moscow’ went exactly where it was sent to by our border guards on Zmiinyi Island! Neptune missiles which are guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship,” Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the Odesa region, said in a Telegram post.
Russian State Media service TASS, quoting the Russian Ministry of Defense, confirmed the ship caught fire after being “seriously damaged” and that the entire crew had been evacuated.
According to the Russian ministry, the fire started after ammunition was detonated onboard the warship. “As a result of a fire, ammunition detonated on the Moskva missile cruiser. The ship was seriously damaged. The crew was completely evacuated,” TASS quoted the Russian the ministry as saying.
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Oleksiy Arestovych claimed that 510 Russian crew members were on board the ship during a television interview. During the interview, Arestovych sarcastically said two sailors must have caused the fire by smoking in the wrong place, or maybe they were just unlucky.
Arestovych also said the Moskva was the same warship that asked Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island (a Ukrainian island on the Black Sea) to surrender at the start of the conflict, with the Ukrainian troops telling the marines on the ship to “go f— yourself.” Audio recordings of this incident went viral back in February.
Unlike the Russian logistics vessel Orsk which Ukraine destroyed last month, the guided missile cruiser Moskva is an offensive warship designed to attack targets from a distance. Moscow used the ship off the coast of Syria in 2015.
—NBC News, Riya Bhattacharjee, Ted Kemp
