Ukrainianian foreign minister’s request to NATO: ‘Weapons, weapons, and weapons’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with G7 and NATO members on Thursday in a bid to gather more support for his country’s fight against Russia.
“I came here today to discuss three most important things: weapons, weapons, and weapons. Ukraine’s urgent needs, the sustainability of supplies, and long-term solutions which will help Ukraine to prevail,” he wrote in a tweet.
Kuleba asked specifically for planes, missiles, armored vehicles, and heavy air defense systems. The meeting came as Russia intensifies its strikes on Ukraine’s east and south after retreating from areas around the capital Kyiv.
— Natasha Turak
Shell to write off roughly $5 billion in assets after leaving Russia
Shell will write off between $4 and $5 billion in the value of its assets after pulling out of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, revealing some of the financial impact to Western oil companies of leaving Russia.
“For the first quarter 2022 results, the post-tax impact from impairment of non-current assets and additional charges (e.g. write-downs of receivable, expected credit losses, and onerous contracts) relating to Russia activities are expected to be $4 to $5 billion,” Shell said in a statement Thursday.
The company added that the additional charges “will not impact Adjusted Earnings.”
— Natasha Turak
UN says 63 children are among the 1,563 civilians killed in Ukraine
A young boy gives an offering of food to his mother’s grave as his younger brother and a neighbor stand next to it, in the town of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, after the Ukrainian army secured the area following the withdrawal of the Russian army from the Kyiv region on previous days, Bucha, Ukraine, April 4th, 2022.
Narciso Contreras | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The United Nations has confirmed 1,563 civilian deaths and 2,213 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24.
Of those killed, the UN has identified at least 63 children.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights adds that the death tolls in Ukraine are likely t higher, citing delayed reporting due to the armed conflict.
A resident searches for the graves of relatives in a cemetery in Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, on April 5, 2022.
Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images
The international body says that most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missile and airstrikes.
The UN says the war has created more than 4.2 million Ukrainian refugees, mostly the elderly, women and children.
Serhii Lahovskyi, 26, mourns next to the grave of his friend Ihor Lytvynenko, who according to residents was killed by Russian soldiers, after they found him beside a building’s basement, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 6, 2022.
Alkis Konstantinidis | Reuters
U.S. charges Russian oligarch with Ukraine-related sanction violations
Konstantin Malofeev, chairman of the board of directors of the Tsargrad media group, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Moscow, Russia September 16, 2021.
Tatyana Makeyeva | Reuters
The Department of Justice charged Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev for conspiracy to violate and for violating U.S. sanctions that were imposed in 2014 following Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Malofeyev, 47, eight years ago for playing “a leading role in supporting Russia’s 2014 invasion of eastern Ukraine.” He remains at large but is believed to be in Russia, according to U.S. authorities.
The FBI said Malofeyev “recently described Russia’s 2022 military invasion of Ukraine as a holy war.”
The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the charges.
— Amanda Macias
U.S. sanctions Putin’s adult children, bans all new investment in Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Governor of the Novgorod Region Andrei Nikitin during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 22, 2022.
Mikhail Klimentyev | Sputnik | Reuters
The U.S. announced a slate of new sanctions on Russia as it tries to squeeze Moscow’s economy and elites in response to mounting Russian atrocities in Ukraine.
The Biden administration will ban all new investment in Russia and put full blocking sanctions on Sberbank and Alfa Bank, two of the country’s largest financial institutions.
The U.S. will also sanction two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and family members of other top Russian officials.
The Biden administration believes “many of Putin’s assets are hidden with family members, and that’s why we’re targeting them,” said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
— Christina Wilkie