International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan and Ukraine Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova visit the site of a mass grave in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, April 13, 2022 (Volodymyr Petrov)

Wednesday’s Coverage: Putin’s “Genocide”

UPDATE 2048 GMT:

Moody’s Investors Service says Russia “may be considered in default” if it fails to pay bonds in US dollars by May 4.

S&P Ratings declared Russian “selective default” last week when Moscow paid two bonds in roubles, after the US Treasury barred debt payments with dollars held in American banks.

Moody’s said the use of rubles “represents a change in payment terms” and may be considered a default.

UPDATE 2025 GMT:

The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that the flagship of its Black Sea navy, the Moskva, has sunk.

Ukrainian officials said early Thursday that the missile cruiser was struck with two missiles (see 0635 GMT).

Russian authorities would not confirm a strike, saying only that an “explosion” had detonated ammunition. They also claimed during the afternoon that the fire on the Moskva had been extinguished and the ship was being towed to Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The Defense Ministry said this evening, “The cruiser ship Moskva lost its stability when it was towed to the port because of the damage to the ship’s hull that it received during the fire from the detonation of ammunition. In stormy sea conditions, the ship sank.”

UPDATE 1655 GMT:

The UK has announced sanctions against Russian oligarchs Eugene Tenenbaum and David Davidovich.

Tenenbaum is a director at Chelsea Football Club, and Davidovich is an associate of former Chelsea owner and sanctioned oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Both men face assets freezes, travel bans, and transport sanctions over ownership of any ship or aircraft.

On Wednesday, the UK sanctioned 178 individuals who are “propping up [Russian-supported] illegal breakaway regions” in eastern Ukraine, six Russian oligarchs, their close associates and employees, and another 22 people.

UPDATE 1650 GMT:

Germany has seized the world’s largest superyacht after establishing its ownership by the sister of the sanctioned Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

The $600m Dilbar after weeks of financial investigation established the yacht’s true ownership, breaking through “offshore concealment”. The yacht is flagged in the Cayman Islands and registered to a holding company in Malta.

German authorities finally determined that Usmanov’s sister Gulbakhor Ismailova is the owner.

UPDATE 1420 GMT:

Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says 30 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been freed in an exchange with Russia.

Vereshchuk said five officers, 17 servicemen, and eight civilians, including one woman, were released.

The Ukraine Defense Ministry said earlier that two military pilots, Ivan Pepelyashko and Oleksiy Chyzh, were released after they were captured in the Chernihiv region and taken to Russia.

UPDATE 1415 GMT:

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has met Ukraine counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in Kyiv.

At a press conference alongside Kuleba, Coveney said:

We don’t know yet how many citizens have lost their lives due to this Russian aggression but we know it is many, and the brutality and violence, not only against soldiers, but against Ukrainian civilians is something that is likely to be determined as war crimes in the future.

I am also conscious at this time that Ukraine does not want sympathy, it needs action and strong practical support in defending yourselves, and even though Ireland is militarily neutral, let me be clear we are not neutral on this war and conflict and the future of your country.

We know Ukrainians dream of a different type of future, one that is based on democracy, stability and economic opportunity, and we believe those things can be achieved through full EU membership and Ireland will advocate that it happens as rapidly as possible.

We believe that the most powerful countries in the world are accountable to international law and the atrocities against Ukraine citizens need to be part of a process to ensure full accountability.

Ireland currently holds one of the 15 seats on the UN Security Council.

UPDATE 1230 GMT:

Luke Harding of The Guardian reports from sites of mass killings and devastation near Kyiv: Bucha, Hostomel and Borodyanka.

Natasha tells Harding about the Russian murder of her nephew, shot in the head by soldiers.

Asked if he feels sorry for Russian troops who were killed as they were cut off during their withdrawal from Bucha, Viktor simply spreads his arms wide in a gesture towards the destruction of the town: “No words. How do you say no words?”

UPDATE 1040 GMT:

Four civilians have been killed and 10 wounded by Russian shelling of Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, according to regional governor Oleh Synyegubov.

UPDATE 0930 GMT:

Lithuania Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte has dismissed the Kremlin’s threat against Finland and Sweden joining NATO.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now Deputy Chairman of the Security Council said, “There can be no more talk of any nuclear-free status for the Baltic — the balance must be restored.”

Simonyte responded, “That Russia threatens, it is nothing new. Kaliningrad [a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Poland] is a very militarized zone, has been for many years, and it is in the Baltic region.”

She said of Finnish and Swedish access to NATO:

I believe that the presence of these countries as members of the Alliance would, in fact, greatly strengthen both the Alliance and these countries and our security. As soon as such a decision is announced, I hope it will be, I think that the Baltic countries will have a very serious reason to welcome it.

Lithuania Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas added:

The current Russian threats look quite strange….We know that, even without the present security situation, they keep the weapon 100 km from Lithuania’s border. Nuclear weapons have always been kept in Kaliningrad. The international community, the countries in the region, are perfectly aware of this. They use it as a threat.

On Thursday, the Finnish Government presented Parliament with a report recommending accession to NATO and its Article 5 for collective defense: “The threshold for using military force in the Baltic Sea region would rise…[enhancing] the stability of the region in the long term.”

UPDATE 0738 GMT:

The Ukraine military says a UAV drone destroyed a Russian column when it blew up a bridge near Izyum in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian news service 5 Kanal offers a different version of events, saying Ukrainian forces wired the bridge with explosives and then blocked the advancing Russian column when it reached the point for explosions.

The Russians have been moving forces in the Izyum area, including an 8-mile convoy, in preparation for a possible ground offensive.

UPDATE 0732 GMT:

Up to 300 people were held hostage by Russian forces for four weeks in the basement of a school in northern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

The hostages were seized in Yahidne, north of Chernihiv. They kept track on the wall of the number of days in captivity, and wrote the names of 18 people who were killed or died in the conditions.

Residents of Yahidne have said that 20 people were slain or perished during the Russian occupation.

UPDATE 0715 GMT:

A St. Petersburg court has ordered the pre-trial detention until May 31 of artist Alexandra Skochilenko, after she replaced supermarket price labels with messages of protests against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Investigators have accused Skochilenko of “political hatred for Russia”, with possible sentences such as a fine of 3m roubles ($35,500) and between 5 and 10 years in prison.

UPDATE 0705 GMT:

Australia has announced targeted financial sanctions on 14 Russian state-owned enterprises, including defense-related firms such as truck manufacturer Kamaz; shipping companies SEVMASH and United Shipbuilding; electronics company Ruselectronics, which produces about 80% of Russia’s electronics components; and Russian Railways over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Australia has sanctioned about 600 Russian individuals and entities, including most of the banking sector, and has banned exports of alumina and aluminum ores, including bauxite.

UPDATE 0655 GMT:

The European Space Agency has ended cooperation with Russia on three missions to the Moon, after similar action over a Mars mission.

The ESA will “discontinue cooperative activities”, testing new equipment and technology on the Russian lunar missions Luna-25, 26, and 27.

Collaboration on ExoMars, a mission to land a rover on Mars to drill into the soil and search for signs of life, was suspended in late March.

The ESA said in a statement, “As with ExoMars, the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the resulting sanctions put in place represent a fundamental change of circumstances and make it impossible for ESA to implement the planned lunar cooperation.”

UPDATE 0635 GMT:

The Russian Defense Ministry says the 500 crew of the warship Moskva, reportedly struck by Ukrainian fire in the Black Sea late Wednesday, has been evacuated.

The Ministry said, “The cruiser Moskva of the Black Sea Fleet was seriously damaged as a result of the detonation of ammunition that occurred as a result of a fire.”

A Ukrainian official said two missiles struck the 12,500-ton cruiser.

The Moskva achieved notoriety on the first day of Russia’s invasion, February 24, when it demanded the surrender of the defenders of Snake Island. The Ukrainian border guards responded, “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.”

Odesa Governor Maksym Marchenko wrote:

Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship. Glory to Ukraine!

It has been confirmed that the missile cruiser Moskva today went exactly where it was sent by our border guards on Snake Island!

In late March, Ukrainian forces sank a Russian landing ship in the port of Berdyansk in southern Ukraine.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: As formal investigations begin of Russian mass killings of Ukrainian civilians, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan has visited Ukraine and summarized, “This is a crime scene.”

Khan visited Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, where occupying Russian forces killed hundreds of civilians, as bodies were being exhumed from a 40-foot mass grave behind the town’s Church of St. Andrew the First. He said the ICC has “reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed”. A forensic team is at work “so that we can really make sure we separate truth from fiction”.

The ICC official was accompanied Ukraine Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, with the two agreeing that “deepening engagement and further strengthening partnerships” was “crucial to delivering accountability” for possible international crimes.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said of the investigation, “Responsibility for the Russian military for war crimes is inevitable. We will drag them all to the tribunal. And not only for what was done in Bucha.”

The Kyiv district police chief said the bodies of 765 civilians, including 30 children, have been found in the area around the capital.

The US State Department reinforced President Joe Biden’s declaration on Tuesday of genocide, with Vladimir Putin “trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a Ukrainian”.

Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland told CNN, “I am going to predict that what President Biden called it is what we will ultimately likely find when we are able to gather all of this evidence. Because what is happening on the ground is not an accident.”

After a phone call with Zelenskiy, Biden announced an additional $800m in military assistance to Ukraine, including 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 18 155mm howitzers, 40,000 artillery rounds, counter-artillery radars, 200 armored personnel carriers, and 300 additional Switchblade drones.

The US has now provided more than $2.5bn in aid, including artillery systems, artillery rounds, armored personnel carriers, and unmanned coastal defense boats.

Biden said, “We cannot rest now. As I assured President Zelenskiy, the American people will continue to stand with the brave Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom.”

French President Emmanuel Macron balked at endorsing Biden’s description of “genocide”, but emphasized Russia’s commission of war crimes.

I would be careful with such terms today because these two peoples [Russians and Ukrainians] are brothers. I want to continue to try, as much as I can, to stop this war and rebuild peace. I am not sure that an escalation of rhetoric serves that cause.

What we can say for sure is that the situation is unacceptable and that these are war crimes. We are living through war crimes that are unprecedented on our soil — our European soil.

Zelenskiy responded, “Such things are very painful for us, so I will definitely do my best to discuss this issue with him.”

A 110-page report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, published on Wednesday, concluded that Russian forces broke international law and committed “crimes against humanity” during the invasion.

The assessment covers events from February 24 to April 1, so does not include Russia’s mass killings in Bucha and other areas near Kyiv.