This live blog session has ended. Stay tuned to MoneyControl formore updates.
Russia Ukraine News Highlights | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s “sincerely thankful” to the U.S. for the new round of $800 million in military assistance.
In his daily late-night address to the nation, Zelenskyy also said he was thankful for Wednesday’s visit by the presidents of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
He said those leaders “have helped us from the first day, those who did not hesitate to give us weapons, those who did not doubt whether to impose sanctions.”
In his telephone conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden, Zelenskyy said they discussed the new weapons shipment, even tougher sanctions against Russia and efforts to bring to justice those Russian soldiers who committed war crimes in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy also said work was continuing to clear tens of thousands of unexploded shells, mines and trip wires that were left behind in northern Ukraine by the retreating Russians.
He urged those returning to their homes in those towns to be wary of any unfamiliar object and report it to the police.
This live blog session has ended. Stay tuned to MoneyControl formore updates.
UK freezes £10 bn in assets of two Russian oligarchs: AFP
The UK on Thursday announced it was freezing assets worth around £10 billion ($13 billion, 12 billion euros) of two more Russian oligarchs, both longstanding business associates of Chelsea Football club owner Roman Abramovich.
The sanctions against Eugene Tenenbaum, a director of Chelsea, and David Davidovich bring the total number of oligarchs, family members and associates sanctioned by London to 106 since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
London said the asset freeze -- the largest in UK history -- would cut key revenue sources for Russian President Vladimir Putin's "war machine".
"We are tightening the ratchet on Putin's war machine and targeting the circle of people closest to the Kremlin," said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Canada to send troops to Poland to help Ukraine refugees: AFP
Canada will send up to 150 troops on a humanitarian mission to Poland to support its massive influx of Ukrainians who fled Russia's invasion of their country, defense minister Anita Anand announced Thursday.
With more than half of Ukraine's over 4.7 million asylum seekers having gone to neighboring Poland, the NATO ally is facing a refugee crisis and has asked for assistance.
Only 100 of the total number of troops assigned to the mission will be deployed immediately, Anand told a news conference at Trenton Air Force Base in Ontario, adding that they would "assist Poland's efforts to support and care for Ukrainians fleeing violence."
Ukrainian parliament calls Russian army's actions 'genocide': AFP
Ukraine's parliament on Thursday backed a resolution recognising the actions of the Russian military in the country as "genocide".
"The actions committed by the armed forces of Russia are not just a crime of aggression, but pursue the goal of the systematic and consistent destruction of the Ukrainian people, their identity and the deprivation of their right to self-determination and independent development," the text approved by a majority of 363 lawmakers said.
Ukraine's 2022 World Cup play-off with Scotland rearranged following the Russian invasion will take place on June 1, world governing body FIFA announced on Thursday.The winners of the match at Hampden Park in Glasgow will play Wales on June 5 in Cardiff for a spot at this year's finals in Qatar.
The governor of a region in southern Russia bordering Ukraine said Thursday that two villages had been evacuated after one was shelled by Ukrainian forces.The governor of Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, wrote on Telegram that the village of Spodaryushino close to the border "came under shelling from the Ukrainian side".No one was injured but the authorities had "temporarily removed residents" from the village and another nearby "to ensure security".
Russian officials on Thursday accused Ukraine of sending helicopters to bomb a town in the southern Bryansk region about 10kilometres(six miles) from the border, after reporting several injured in shelling."Two military helicopters... carried out at least six air strikes on residential buildings in the settlement ofKlimovo," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement, without giving a reason why the small town was targeted.
The war in Ukraine has undercut the global recovery, slowing expected economic growth in most countries in the world, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday.And beyond the humanitarian tragedy and economic crises, the war has exposed fractures in the international system at a time when global cooperation is the only solution, she said. The war hit as the world was struggling to recover from the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused an acceleration of inflation that endangers the gains of the past two years."To put it simply: we are facing a crisis on top of a crisis," Georgieva said in a speech ahead of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank."The economic consequences from the war spread fast and far, to neighbors and beyond, hitting hardest the world's most vulnerable people," she said.Families already were struggling with higher energy and food prices and "the war has made this much worse."The IMF is due to release its updated economic forecasts on Tuesday, which Georgieva said will further downgrade the estimate for global growth that was cut to 4.4 percent in January."Since then, the outlook has deteriorated substantially, largely because of the war and its repercussions," she said, and 143 countries will suffer downgrades.While most will still have positive growth, the future is "extraordinarily uncertain" and she warned of a steep divide between rich and poor countries.
Citigroup said Thursday it set aside $1.9 billion in reserves due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which was one factor driving a drop in the bank's quarterly earnings. The reserve build was "related to Citi's exposures in Russia and the broader impact of the conflict in Ukraine on the macroeconomic environment," Citigroupsaid. The bank reported a 46 percent drop in first-quarter profits to $4.3 billion.
Ukraine claimed Thursday to have hit Russia's flagship in the Black Sea with missiles, igniting a fire that Moscow said had "seriously damaged" the key warship, as Kyiv pushed to restart civilian evacuations from the war zone ahead of a feared major offensive.The guided missile cruiser Moskva, previously deployed in the Syria conflict, has been leading Moscow's naval effort to pummel Ukraine's southern coasts and interior in the nearly seven-week conflict that has sparked accusations of genocide by US President Joe Biden.Evacuations of civilians were to resume Thursday from nine routes in Ukraine's east and south, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said after a day-long pause that Kyiv blamed on Russian shelling. "Humanitarian corridors in the Lugansk region will be run under the condition of cessation of shelling by the occupying forces," she said.
Ukraine said Thursday that 30 prisoners of war were being returned to the country as part of the most recent exchange of captives with Russia, following an order from PresidentVolodymyrZelensky."Five officers and 17 servicemen were exchanged. Also eight civilians, including one woman, were released. In total, 30 of our citizens are going home today," Deputy Prime MinisterIrynaVereshchuksaid in a statement on social media.
The war in Ukraine has "multiplied risks" for the Middle East and North Africa's poorer countries by raising food and energy prices, the World Bank said Thursday, warning of potential social unrest.In its latest update to its MENA growth forecast, the development lender said inflationary pressures set off by Covid-19 "are likely to be exacerbated" by Russia's invasion."The threat of Covid-19 variants remains and the war in Ukraine has multiplied risks, particularly for the poor," the World Bank's MENA vice president,FeridBelhaj, said in the report, titled "Reality Check".World Bank president DavidMalpasssaid this week that the Russian war on Ukraine has started a chain reaction in the global economy, pushing energy and food prices higher, exacerbating debt concerns and potentially worsening poverty and hunger."Rising food prices may have far-reaching effects beyond increasing food insecurity," said the report, adding: "Historically in MENA, increases in bread prices have... contributed to increased social unrest and conflict."This link between food prices, conflict and low growth poses a serious concern for the humanitarian crisis in fragile, conflict and violence-affected states in MENA," it said.
Russia said the crew of its Black Sea fleet flagship were evacuated on Thursday and measures were being taken to tow the ship back to port after an explosion of ammunition on board that Ukraine said was caused by a missile strike. Russia's defence ministry said the fire on the Soviet-era missile cruiser Moskva had been contained, but left the ship badly damaged. It did not acknowledge the ship had been attacked and said the cause of the fire was under investigation. Ukraine's southern military command said that it hit the warship with a Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship missile and that it had started to sink. Reuters was unable to verify either side's statements. The loss or disabling of the Moskva would be another blow for Russia - on the 50th day of its war in Ukraine - as it readies for a new assault in the eastern Donbas region that is likely to define the outcome of the conflict. Russia's navy has launched cruise missiles into Ukraine and its activities in the Black Sea are crucial to supporting land operations in the south of the country, where it is battling to seize full control of the port of Mariupol.
