- Russia discloses its Black Sea warship Moskva has sunk after an explosion and fire, state media reported, following the crew’s evacuation.
- Ukraine earlier had claimed it struck the warship with two missiles.
- US President Joe Biden says a decision will be made soon on whether to send a senior official to Kyiv in a show of support for Ukraine.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister calls on Germany to make a quick decision on weapons delivery to Kyiv.
Here are all the latest updates:
Members of UN’s cultural body refuse to attend meeting on heritage protection in Russia
A group of UNESCO’s National Commissions – bodies set up by member governments – have signed a letter stating they will not travel to Russia’s city of Kazan where the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) is to be held, deeming the session “impossible”.
The letter states no WHC session should be held in Russia while its troops are “destroying ‘outstanding universal value’ in Ukraine”. “The credibility of UNESCO and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage is at stake”, the letter adds.
Recent figures released by UNESCO show 53 of Ukraine’s cultural buildings, including historical monuments and places of worship, had been destroyed as of 31 March due to the Russian invasion. The 45th session of the heritage committee is due to be held in Kazan from 19 to 30 June.
Signatories to the letter include Australia, Albania, Finland, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
40 signatories National Commissions for @UNESCO deem it is impossible for the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee to be held either in #Kazan or under #Russian presidency while the latter is destroying “outstanding universal value” in #Ukraine 1/2 pic.twitter.com/KgmlfLkfOF
— Emine Dzheppar (@EmineDzheppar) April 14, 2022
President tells Ukraine’s Invictus Games athletes to fight for those who ‘deserve to be in the Hague’
Ukraine’s president has told the country’s athletes participating in the upcoming Invictus Games that beyond competing, they be fighting for Russian war criminals to end up in the Hague, where the Games take place. The Hague is also the location of the International Criminal Court.
“In The Hague today, you will basically fight for the Russian occupiers and all those who deserve to be in The Hague in due time. Because what they did is a crime against the people,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the 19 member team, most of whom are current servicemen of Ukraine’s National Guard.
Zelenskyy also noted the world needed to know the story of a member of the national team Yulia Payevska (nicknamed “Tayra”), who is being held captive by the Russian occupiers. “You will tell about her to journalists, media and other athletes,” he said.
Trapped Mariupol citizens being ‘starved to death’: World Food Program director
The head of the UN World Food Program has said people are being “starved to death” in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol and predicted the country’s humanitarian crisis is likely to worsen as Russia intensifies its assault in the coming weeks.
“It’s not just going to be the next few days – but the next few weeks and few months… it’s getting worse and worse, concentrated in certain areas, and the front lines are going to be moving,” David Beasley said in an interview with the Associated Press news agency.
Around 100,000 civilians remained trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol, in desperate need of food, water and heating. Beasley noted the lack of access to the city for aid workers and called the situation “devastating”.
Russia’s invasion ‘absurd’ and ‘suicidal’, Zelenskyy says
In an address to the nation on the 50th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked why the world is still debating the severity of necessary sanctions when “Russian troops are already repeating on our land what Europe saw only during World War 2.”
He asked why Russian troops are destroying towns in villages in Donbas, the area Russia wanted to “destroy in the first place… as if they want only stones to be left. And no people to be left at all.”
Zelenskyy stressed these were not rhetorical questions. “This is a question of how absurd this invasion of the Russian Federation is. How suicidal it is for everything that Russia allegedly ‘protects’. For Russian culture … even for the Russian language. Russia is burning all this with its weapons,” he added.
They’ve been trying to destroy us for 50 days, but the 🇺🇦 people are heroically resisting. We fear nothing, we know what we’re fighting for. We are brave enough to put an end to evil. Stop feeding the 🇷🇺 military machine. Help 🇺🇦 with weapons. Then peace & good will win faster. pic.twitter.com/WdDbZsvZ4e
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 14, 2022
Will the war in Ukraine worsen global food shortages?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the flow of food, fuel and money around the world.
That’s because Moscow and Kyiv are major food and energy suppliers.
Now, the United Nations has warned that the conflict’s cascading effects could affect nearly 1.7 billion people. Watch more here:
Ukraine war is deepening food crises in vulnerable countries
The UN has announced it is releasing $100m from its emergency fund for seven hotspots for hunger: Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan and Nigeria.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson said that while “armed conflict, drought and economic turmoil are the main drivers of food insecurity in the seven recipient countries”, the conflict in Ukraine is “making a dire situation even worse”.
The war is “disrupting food and energy markets and driving up the cost of imports beyond the reach of consumers”, Stephane Dujarric said.
Sinking of warship delivers ‘big blow’ to Russia: Pentagon
The sinking of the warship Moskva is a “big blow” to Russia’s naval strength in the Black Sea, the Pentagon has said.
“This is a big blow to the Black Sea fleet, this is … a key part of their efforts to execute some sort of naval dominance in the Black Sea,” Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby told CNN.
“This is going to have an effect on their capabilities.”
‘Horror story,’ WFP director says on visit to Bucha
David Beasley, executive director for the UN World Food Programme, has tweeted a video from the wreckage of what he said was an orphanage that previously housed 40 children in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, near Kyiv.
“What happened to this community is a horror story,” he wrote.
#Ukraine: This was an orphanage with 40 children in #Bucha; now it’s a pile of rubble. What happened to this community is a horror story—and families here need support. We’re doing as much as we can with residents, churches and local government to help as many people as possible. pic.twitter.com/VcwR5qrBVW
— David Beasley (@WFPChief) April 14, 2022
US readies to crack down on Russian sanctions evasion
The United States is preparing new efforts to crack down on sanctions evasion by Russia, Biden’s national security adviser has said.
“Where our focus will be over the course of the coming days is on evasion,” Jake Sullivan said in an interview at the Economic Club of Washington.
“I think we’ll have some announcements in the next week or two that identify targets that are trying to facilitate that evasion both inside Russia and beyond,” he said, without giving details on the coming plans.
Air raids alerts in all of Ukraine: The Kyiv Independent
The Kyiv Independent media outlet has tweeted that air raids alerts have been declared in all Ukraine’s regions at the same time.
⚡️Air raid alert declared in all of Ukraine’s regions at once.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 14, 2022
Zelenskyy tweets after meeting with Macron
In a tweet, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he held talks with France’s President Emmanuel Macron, during which they discussed the investigation into Russian crimes as well as the negotiations process.
“We appreciate the strong support of France. The negotiation process was also discussed. We strive for peace in Ukraine, in Europe!”
Held negotiations with 🇫🇷 President @EmmanuelMacron. Discussed the investigation of Russian crimes, the resistance of 🇺🇦 people to the invader. We appreciate the strong support of 🇫🇷. The negotiation process was also discussed. We strive for peace in Ukraine, in Europe!
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 14, 2022
ICC says war crimes probe should be conducted ‘with some urgency’
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan said that an investigation into allegations of war crimes will study all the evidence, and must be done “with some urgency”.
“We should do so with the realisation that already, for whatever reason, by whatever means people have died, buildings have been destroyed,” he said.
“I won’t accept from any NGO or even from the Ukrainian government or authorities, even from the prosecutor general, any evidence uncritically. We will review everything to make sure that we have it right and any evidence we review is reliable and is authentic,” he said.
Ukraine’s prosecutor demands swift war crimes investigation
Ukraine’s chief prosecutor has said the country wanted to pursue legal action into alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces.
In a briefing alongside International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan, Iryna Venediktova said achieving justice in Ukraine is urgent, even as the war remains ongoing.
“Ukrainians want justice now,” Venediktova said, “but we all understand that the process of criminal procedure for starting the collection of all evidence when we are still in the war actually, when we have a huge number of cases, it’s not so fast and it’s not so simple.”
Russia says flagship missile cruise ship has sunk after fire
Russia’s defence ministry has said the missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the country’s Black Sea fleet, sank as it was towed back to port in stormy weather following an explosion and fire, Russian news agencies reported.
The defence ministry said the vessel sank while being towed towards the destined port “given the choppy seas”.
“The vessel lost its balance due to damage sustained in the hull as fire broke out after ammunition exploded,” the state-owned TASS news agency quoted the ministry as saying.
Russian legislator and two aides criminally charged in US
A Russian legislator and two aides have been charged with conspiring to violate US sanctions, according to an unsealed indictment that accuses them of pushing a covert Russian propaganda campaign in the US to win support for moves against Ukraine and other countries.
Three conspiracy charges were brought in the indictment in Manhattan federal court against the legislator, Aleksandr Babakov, 59, and two of his staff members — Aleksandr Nikolayevich Vorobev, 52, and Mikhail Alekseyevich Plisyuk, 58.
All three men are based in Russia and remain at large, authorities said. Babakov currently serves as deputy chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature, federal authorities said in a statement.
NATO expansion promotes European stability: US official
When asked how Washington views the potential addition of Sweden and Finland to NATO, the US State Department said there was no change in Washington’s position and repeated that “NATO’s open door is an open door”.
“Without speaking to any countries in particular, we would not be concerned that the expansion of a defensive alliance would do anything other than promote stability on the European continent,” Spokesperson Ned Price said during a briefing.
Russia had earlier warned the two countries against joining the US-led alliance.
503 civilians killed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, governor says
At least 503 civilians have been killed in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region since Russia launched its invasion on February 24, the local governor has said.
Oleg Synegubov wrote on Telegram that the dead included 24 children.
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Read all the updates from Thursday, April 14 here.
Russia discloses its Black Sea warship Moskva has sunk after an explosion and fire, state media reported, following the crew’s evacuation. Ukraine earlier had claimed it struck the warship with two missiles. US President Joe Biden says a decision will be made soon on whether to send a senior official to Kyiv in a show of support for Ukraine. Ukraine’s foreign minister calls on Germany to make a quick decision on weapons delivery to Kyiv. (Al Jazeera) Here are all the latest updates: 1 min ago (00:57 GMT) Members of UN’s cultural body refuse to attend meeting on heritage protection in Russia A group of UNESCO’s National Commissions – bodies set up by member governments – have signed a letter stating they will not travel to Russia’s city of Kazan where the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) is to be held, deeming the session “impossible”. The letter states no WHC session should be held in Russia while its troops are “destroying ‘outstanding universal value’ in Ukraine”. “The credibility of UNESCO and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage is at stake”, the letter adds. Recent figures released by UNESCO show 53 of Ukraine’s cultural buildings, including historical monuments and places of worship, had been destroyed as of 31 March due to the Russian invasion. The 45th session of the heritage committee is due to be held in Kazan from 19 to 30 June. Signatories to the letter include Australia, Albania, Finland, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom. 40 signatories National Commissions for @UNESCO deem it is impossible for the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee to be held either in #Kazan or under #Russian presidency while the latter is destroying “outstanding universal value” in #Ukraine 1/2 pic.twitter.com/KgmlfLkfOF — Emine Dzheppar (@EmineDzheppar) April 14, 2022 47 mins ago (00:11 GMT) President tells Ukraine’s Invictus Games athletes to fight for those who ‘deserve to be in the Hague’ Ukraine’s president has told the country’s athletes participating in the upcoming Invictus Games that beyond competing, they be fighting for Russian war criminals to end up in the Hague, where the Games take place. The Hague is also the location of the International Criminal Court. “In The Hague today, you will basically fight for the Russian occupiers and all those who deserve to be in The Hague in due time. Because what they did is a crime against the people,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the 19 member team, most of whom are current servicemen of Ukraine’s National Guard. Zelenskyy also noted the world needed to know the story of a member of the national team Yulia Payevska (nicknamed “Tayra”), who is being held captive by the Russian occupiers. “You will tell about her to journalists, media and other athletes,” he said. 1 hour ago (23:55 GMT) Trapped Mariupol citizens being ‘starved to death’: World Food Program director The head of the UN World Food Program has said people are being “starved to death” in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol and predicted the country’s humanitarian crisis is likely to worsen as Russia intensifies its assault in the coming weeks. “It’s not just going to be the next few days – but the next few weeks and few months… it’s getting worse and worse, concentrated in certain areas, and the front lines are going to be moving,” David Beasley said in an interview with the Associated Press news agency. Around 100,000 civilians remained trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol, in desperate need of food, water and heating. Beasley noted the lack of access to the city for aid workers and called the situation “devastating”. Resident in Mariupol prepares to cook at an entrance of a building damaged during fighting. April 13, 2022.(/Alexei Alexandrov/AP) 1 hour ago (23:37 GMT) Russia’s invasion ‘absurd’ and ‘suicidal’, Zelenskyy says In an address to the nation on the 50th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked why the world is still debating the severity of necessary sanctions when “Russian troops are already repeating on our land what Europe saw only during World War 2.” He asked why Russian troops are destroying towns in villages in Donbas, the area Russia wanted to “destroy in the first place… as if they want only stones to be left. And no people to be left at all.” Zelenskyy stressed these were not rhetorical questions. “This is a question of how absurd this invasion of the Russian Federation is. How suicidal it is for everything that Russia allegedly ‘protects’. For Russian culture … even for the Russian language. Russia is burning all this with its weapons,” he added. They’ve been trying to destroy us for 50 days, but the 🇺🇦 people are heroically resisting. We fear nothing, we know what we’re fighting for. We are brave enough to put an end to evil. Stop feeding the 🇷🇺 military machine. Help 🇺🇦 with weapons. Then peace & good will win faster. pic.twitter.com/WdDbZsvZ4e — Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 14, 2022 2 hours ago (22:50 GMT) Will the war in Ukraine worsen global food shortages? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the flow of food, fuel and money around the world. That’s because Moscow and Kyiv are major food and energy suppliers. Now, the United Nations has warned that the conflict’s cascading effects could affect nearly 1.7 billion people. Watch more here: 2 hours ago (22:36 GMT) Ukraine war is deepening food crises in vulnerable countries The UN has announced it is releasing $100m from its emergency fund for seven hotspots for hunger: Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan and Nigeria. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson said that while “armed conflict, drought and economic turmoil are the main drivers of food insecurity in the seven recipient countries”, the conflict in Ukraine is “making a dire situation even worse”. The war is “disrupting food and energy markets and driving up the cost of imports beyond the reach of consumers”, Stephane Dujarric said. 3 hours ago (22:10 GMT) Sinking of warship delivers ‘big blow’ to Russia: Pentagon The sinking of the warship Moskva is a “big blow” to Russia’s naval strength in the Black Sea, the Pentagon has said. “This is a big blow to the Black Sea fleet, this is … a key part of their efforts to execute some sort of naval dominance in the Black Sea,” Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby told CNN. “This is going to have an effect on their capabilities.” 3 hours ago (22:08 GMT) ‘Horror story,’ WFP director says on visit to Bucha David Beasley, executive director for the UN World Food Programme, has tweeted a video from the wreckage of what he said was an orphanage that previously housed 40 children in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, near Kyiv. “What happened to this community is a horror story,” he wrote. #Ukraine: This was an orphanage with 40 children in #Bucha; now it’s a pile of rubble. What happened to this community is a horror story—and families here need support. We’re doing as much as we can with residents, churches and local government to help as many people as possible. pic.twitter.com/VcwR5qrBVW — David Beasley (@WFPChief) April 14, 2022 3 hours ago (22:04 GMT) US readies to crack down on Russian sanctions evasion The United States is preparing new efforts to crack down on sanctions evasion by Russia, Biden’s national security adviser has said. “Where our focus will be over the course of the coming days is on evasion,” Jake Sullivan said in an interview at the Economic Club of Washington. “I think we’ll have some announcements in the next week or two that identify targets that are trying to facilitate that evasion both inside Russia and beyond,” he said, without giving details on the coming plans. 3 hours ago (21:52 GMT) Air raids alerts in all of Ukraine: The Kyiv Independent The Kyiv Independent media outlet has tweeted that air raids alerts have been declared in all Ukraine’s regions at the same time. ⚡️Air raid alert declared in all of Ukraine’s regions at once. — The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 14, 2022 4 hours ago (21:26 GMT) Zelenskyy tweets after meeting with Macron In a tweet, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he held talks with France’s President Emmanuel Macron, during which they discussed the investigation into Russian crimes as well as the negotiations process. “We appreciate the strong support of France. The negotiation process was also discussed. We strive for peace in Ukraine, in Europe!” Held negotiations with 🇫🇷 President @EmmanuelMacron. Discussed the investigation of Russian crimes, the resistance of 🇺🇦 people to the invader. We appreciate the strong support of 🇫🇷. The negotiation process was also discussed. We strive for peace in Ukraine, in Europe! — Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 14, 2022 4 hours ago (21:16 GMT) ICC says war crimes probe should be conducted ‘with some urgency’ International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan said that an investigation into allegations of war crimes will study all the evidence, and must be done “with some urgency”. “We should do so with the realisation that already, for whatever reason, by whatever means people have died, buildings have been destroyed,” he said. “I won’t accept from any NGO or even from the Ukrainian government or authorities, even from the prosecutor general, any evidence uncritically. We will review everything to make sure that we have it right and any evidence we review is reliable and is authentic,” he said. 4 hours ago (21:11 GMT) Ukraine’s prosecutor demands swift war crimes investigation Ukraine’s chief prosecutor has said the country wanted to pursue legal action into alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces. In a briefing alongside International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan, Iryna Venediktova said achieving justice in Ukraine is urgent, even as the war remains ongoing. “Ukrainians want justice now,” Venediktova said, “but we all understand that the process of criminal procedure for starting the collection of all evidence when we are still in the war actually, when we have a huge number of cases, it’s not so fast and it’s not so simple.” 5 hours ago (20:26 GMT) Russia says flagship missile cruise ship has sunk after fire Russia’s defence ministry has said the missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the country’s Black Sea fleet, sank as it was towed back to port in stormy weather following an explosion and fire, Russian news agencies reported. The defence ministry said the vessel sank while being towed towards the destined port “given the choppy seas”. “The vessel lost its balance due to damage sustained in the hull as fire broke out after ammunition exploded,” the state-owned TASS news agency quoted the ministry as saying. 5 hours ago (20:04 GMT) Russian legislator and two aides criminally charged in US A Russian legislator and two aides have been charged with conspiring to violate US sanctions, according to an unsealed indictment that accuses them of pushing a covert Russian propaganda campaign in the US to win support for moves against Ukraine and other countries. Three conspiracy charges were brought in the indictment in Manhattan federal court against the legislator, Aleksandr Babakov, 59, and two of his staff members — Aleksandr Nikolayevich Vorobev, 52, and Mikhail Alekseyevich Plisyuk, 58. All three men are based in Russia and remain at large, authorities said. Babakov currently serves as deputy chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature, federal authorities said in a statement. Women waiting at a bus station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine [Petros Giannakouris/AP] 5 hours ago (20:00 GMT) NATO expansion promotes European stability: US official When asked how Washington views the potential addition of Sweden and Finland to NATO, the US State Department said there was no change in Washington’s position and repeated that “NATO’s open door is an open door”. “Without speaking to any countries in particular, we would not be concerned that the expansion of a defensive alliance would do anything other than promote stability on the European continent,” Spokesperson Ned Price said during a briefing. Russia had earlier warned the two countries against joining the US-led alliance. 5 hours ago (19:55 GMT) 503 civilians killed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, governor says At least 503 civilians have been killed in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region since Russia launched its invasion on February 24, the local governor has said. Oleg Synegubov wrote on Telegram that the dead included 24 children. Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine. Read all the updates from Thursday, April 14 here.