Russian warship destroyed at Sea of Azov port, Ukrainian naval forces say
Ship was reportedly transporting armoured vehicles to occupied Ukrainian city
The latest:
- Ukraine says it has destroyed a Russian ship in Sea of Azov.
- NATO lays out plan for more Ukraine support, stronger alliance.
- Allianceapproves more battle groupsin eastern Europe.
- U.S. to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing war, sources say.
Ukraine's navy reported on Thursday that it had destroyed aRussian warshipin the Sea of Azov,docked atthe occupied Ukrainian port city of Berdyansk.
The Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukrainereleased photos and video on Facebook of fire and thick smoke coming from the port area.Russia did not immediately comment on the claim.
Russia has been in possession of the port in southern Ukraine since Feb. 27 a few days after Russia's invasion of the country began and the shiphad disembarkedarmoured vehicles there on Monday for use in Moscow's offensive, the Zvezda TV channel of the Russian Defence Ministry said earlier this week.
According to the report, the shipwas the first Russian ship to enter Berdyansk, which is about 80 kilometreswest along the coast from the besieged city of Mariupol. The vessel was initially identified in the report as the Orsk. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukrainelater named the destroyed ship as the Saratov.
Ukraine also claimed two more ships were damaged and a 2,721-tonne fuel tank was destroyed when the Saratovwas sunk, causing a fire that spread to nearby ammunition supplies.
When Russia unleashed its invasion Feb. 24 in Europe's biggest offensive since the Second World War, a swift toppling of Ukraine's government seemed likely. But a month into the fighting, Moscow is bogged down in a grinding military campaign of attrition after meeting fierce Ukrainian resistance.
Zelensky calls for global protest
In Kyiv,UkrainianPresident Volodymr Zelenskycalled on people worldwide to gather in public on Thursday to show support for his embattled country as he prepared to address U.S. President Joe Biden and other NATO leaders gathered in Brussels on the one-month anniversary of the Russian invasion.
"Come to your squares, your streets. Make yourselves visible and heard," Zelensky said in English during an emotional video address late Wednesday that was recorded in the dark near the presidential offices in Kyiv. "Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters."
In response, thousands of people took to the streets of Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, on Thursday.
Some of the 60,000 refugees from Ukraine joined the demonstration, which was organized on social media following Zelensky's call. Waving Ukrainian and European flags, protesters chanted "Stop the war," "Stop Putin" and "Freedom for democratic Ukraine."
The organizers of the event said that it was time for Bulgaria to come out in large numbers in support of a sovereign Ukraine.
To keep up the pressure on Russia, Zelenskyspoke to NATO members in a video address on Thursday, asking the alliance to provide "effective and unrestricted" support to Ukraine, including weapons, tanks, planes, rockets andair defence systems.
Citing a long list of weaponry he said is vital for his country's survival, the Ukrainian leader askedNATO leadersfor "military assistance without limitations," telling them that Ukrainian forces are "in a grey area, between the West and Russia, defending our common values."
"This is the scariest thing during a war not to have clear answers to requests for help," Zelensky said.
NATO continuing to impose 'costs'on Russia
Around the capital, Kyiv, and other areas, Ukrainian defenders have fought Moscow's ground troops to a near-stalemate, raising fears that a frustrated Russian President Vladimir Putin will resort to chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
Opening the NATO summit in Brussels, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is "determined to continue to impose unprecedentedcosts on Russia,and we will reinforceallied deterrence and defence."
"Leaders approved our four new battle groups, inBulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. These are in addition to the four already in the Baltic countries and Poland. So we have eight multinational NATO battle groups now, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea," he said.
Such groups usually number from 1,000 to 1,500 troops each.
"Allies are also equipping Ukraine with significant military supplies, including anti-tank and air defence systems and drones, which are provinghighly effective."
Stoltenberg saidNATO leaders agreed to send equipment to Ukraine to help protect it against a chemical weapons attack.
"This could include detection equipment, protectionand medical support, as well as training for decontamination and crisis management," he told reporters.
Canada imposes more sanctions
Canada was among the countries gatheredthat also announced newsanctions. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would continue to increase its defence spendingas he announced the new sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
"Canada will be increasing pressure by sanctioning 160 members of the Russian Federation Council who facilitated and enabled this unjustified invasion," Trudeau told reporters after a NATO summit in Brussels.
The Biden administration announced more sanctions targeting 48 state-owned defence companies, 328 members of the Duma, Russia's lower parliament, and dozens of Russian elites. The Duma as an entity was also named in the new sanctions.
Biden, who was attending all three summits, said more aid was on its way. But Western leaders also suggested they were treading carefully so as not to further escalate the conflict beyond the borders of Ukraine.
"NATO has made a choice to support Ukraine in this war without going to war with Russia," said French President Emmanuel Macron. "Therefore we have decided to intensify our ongoing work to prevent any escalation and to get organized in case there is an escalation."
Biden said his top priority at Thursday's meetings was to make certain that the West stayed on the same page in its response to Russian aggression against Ukraine.
"The single most important thing is for us to stay unified," Biden said.
Separately, the White House announced the U.S. would welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and provide an additional $1 billion US in food, medicine, water and other supplies.
More than 3.6million people have fled since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations.
In Przemysl, aPolish town where tens of thousands of refugees have been arriving daily,66-year-old Nelya Kot from Chernihiv said that one month after the war started, people in the city in northern Ukraine are drinkingwater from the Desna river to survive.
"Today, there is no water, no gas, no electricity [in Chernihiv]," Kotsaid. "People are in total isolation."
At the central station in the western city of Lviv, a teenage girl stood in the doorway of a waiting train, a white pet rabbit shivering in her arms. She was on her way to join her mother and then go on to Poland or Germany. She had been travelling alone, leaving other family members behind in Dnipro.
"At the beginning I didn't want to leave," she said. "Now I'm scared for my life."
Ukraine and Russia exchanged a total of 50 military and civilian prisoners, the largest swap reported yet, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Thursday.
Russia claimed to have taken the eastern town of Izyum after fierce fighting.
In Chernihiv, where an airstrike this week destroyed a crucial bridge, a city official, Olexander Lomako, said a "humanitarian catastrophe" is unfolding as Russian forces target food storage places. He said about 130,000 people are left in the besieged city, about half its pre-war population.
- What questions do you have about Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Send an email toask@cbc.ca
Front line 'practically frozen'
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Thursday that in many areas Russian troops did not have enough resources to push ahead with their offensive in Ukraine, leading to a slowdown in hostilities.
"The front line is practically frozen," he said in a televised address. "The enemy in very many areas does not have the resources to continue the offensive."
Sending a signal that Western sanctions have not brought it to its knees, Russia reopened its stock market but allowed only limited trading to prevent mass sell-offs. Foreigners were barred from selling, and traders were prohibited from short selling, or betting prices would fall.
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story said the warship destroyed in Berdyansk was named the Orsk. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukrainelater identified the ship as the Saratov.Mar 25, 2022 11:18 AM ET
With files from Reuters
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