What’s happening in Ukraine today and how are countries around the world responding? Read live updates on Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
BERLIN — German authorities say they have seized a massive superyacht in Hamburg after determining that it belongs to the sister of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.
The Federal Criminal Police Office said Wednesday that, after “extensive investigations” and despite “offshore concealment,” it had been able to determine that the owner is Gulbakhor Ismailova, Usmanov’s sister.
Superyacht Dilbar is flagged in the Cayman Islands and registered to a holding company in Malta, two banking havens where the global ultra-rich often park their wealth. It was launched in 2016 at a reported cost of more than US$648 million.
The German police office said German authorities worked in Brussels to ensure that European Union sanctions applied to the owner. It says the yacht can no longer be sold, rented, or loaded.
The United States and EU last month announced economic sanctions against Usmanov, a metals magnate, over his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.
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PRAGUE — Three Czech lawmakers from Parliament’s upper house, the Senate, are visiting Kyiv together with their counterparts from Poland. Led by speaker Milos Vystrcil, they were invited by Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairman of Ukraine’s unicameral parliament Verkhovna Rada.
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UNITED NATIONS — A UN task force is warning in a new report that Russia’s war against Ukraine threatens to devastate the economies of many developing countries that are now facing even higher food and energy costs and increasingly difficult financial conditions.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the report Wednesday stressing that the war is “supercharging” a crisis in food, energy and finance in poorer countries that were already struggling to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and a lack of access to adequate funding for their economic recovery.
Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the UN agency promoting trade and development who coordinated the task force, said 107 countries have “severe exposure” to at least one dimension of the food, energy and finance crisis and 69 countries are severely exposed to all three and face “very difficult financial conditions with no fiscal space, and with no external financing to cushion the blow.”
The report urges countries to ensure a steady flow of food and energy through open markets, and it calls on international financial institutions to do everything possible to ensure more liquidity immediately.
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ODESSA, Ukraine — In the Odessa region of Ukraine, Gov. Maksym Marchenko says forces have struck the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva with two missiles and caused “serious damage.”
Moskva is the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the ship was damaged Wednesday, but not that it was hit by Ukraine.
The Ministry says ammunition on board detonated as a result of a fire whose causes “were being established,” and the Moskva’s entire crew was evacuated. The cruiser typically has about 500 on board.
Odessa is Ukraine’s biggest port.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s “sincerely thankful” to the U.S. foxjmtzywr the new round of US$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 tripwires that were left behind in northern Ukraine by the retreating Russians.
He urged people returning to their homes in those towns to be wary of any unfamiliar object and report it to the police.
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Danyk Rak, 12, holds a cat standing on the debris of his house destroyed by Russian forces’ shelling in the outskirts of Chernihiv, Ukraine, April 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
