April 14, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Dutch government has instructed energy companies in the Netherlands not to pay for Russian gas in rubles in accordance with European Union sanctions, spokesperson for the economics ministry Pieter ten Bruggencate told CNN Thursday.

The Dutch government had previously made clear that payments in rubles would violate sanctions but reiterated its instructions to firms after ongoing Russian calls for payment in rubles, ten Bruggencate added.

Some background: Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country would seek payment in rubles for natural gas sold to "unfriendly" countries, and British and Dutch wholesale gas prices jumped after the announcement.

At the time, a spokesperson for Dutch gas supplier Eneco, which buys 15% of its gas from Russian gas giant Gazprom's German subsidiary Wingas GmbH, said it had a long-term contract denominated in euros and could not "imagine" agreeing to change the terms.

The United Nations Secretary-General has warned that the world is on the brink of a "perfect storm" as the war in Ukraine exacerbates an already struggling global economy.

In a press release Wednesday, the UN said the war could lead to a "three-dimensional crisis" of food, energy and finance -- areas that have already been hit hard by Covid-19 and climate change.

"We are now facing a perfect storm that threatens to devastate the economies of developing countries," António Guterres said.

"The people of Ukraine cannot bear the violence being inflicted on them.

The report says Russia and Ukraine provide around 30% of the wheat and barley consumed globally, with Russia also the world's top natural gas exporter, second-largest oil exporter and a significant producer of fertilizers.

The UN says up to 1.7 billion people in 107 economies are likely to feel the impact of at least one of the three crises, with those in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean particularly at risk.

A UN brief proposes numerous short to long term recommendations to help avert global crises, including moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, G20 countries and banks providing funding to the least developed nations, and limiting export restrictions on food.

"We need to pull developing countries back from the financial brink," Guterres added. "The international financial system has deep pockets.

"For the people of Ukraine. For the people of the region. And for the people of the world."

Russia has said its warship "remains afloat" after a fire detonated ammunition on board, provoking conflicting reports from Russian and Ukrainian authorities.

The Moskva guided-missile cruiser's "main missile armament was not damaged," the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Thursday, adding that "there is no open fire. Explosion of ammunition has been stopped."

The ministry said "the source of the ignition on the cruiser Moskva has been localized," and the cause of the fire was still being established on the flagship of its Black Sea fleet.

On Wednesday, Ukraine's regional administrator from Odesa state, Maxim Marchenko, claimed in a Telegram post that Ukrainian forces hit the ship with "Neptune" missiles, causing serious damage to it.

Ukraine's Operational Command South also said in a statement Thursday that the Moskva was hit by Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. 

"In the Black Sea operational zone, Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles hit the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet -- it received significant damage," the statement said. "A fire broke out. Other units of the ship's group tried to help, but a storm and a powerful explosion of ammunition overturned the cruiser and it began to sink."

However, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that the warship Moskva was evacuated after a fire onboard detonated ammunition, seriously damaging the vessel, according to Russian state media.

Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said "we can't figure out what happened," suggesting confusion over what occurred.

In Thursday's statement, the Russian ministry said the "crew of the cruiser was evacuated to ships of the Black Sea Fleet in the area," and measures were being take to tow the cruiser to port.

The Russian statement gave no information about casualties. 

Due to large storms over the Black Sea obscuring satellite imagery and sensory satellite data, CNN has not been able to visually confirm the ship has been hit.

But analysts who spoke to CNN noted that a fire on board such a ship can lead to a catastrophic explosion that could sink it, and said it strikes hard at the heart of the Russian navy as well as national pride -- comparable to the US Navy losing a battleship during World War II or an aircraft carrier today.

According to the Defense Ministry, the Moskva is a missile cruiser that was built and commissioned in 1982.

CNN's Olga Voitovych in Lviv contributed reporting to this post.

Today marks 50 days since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and there has been a marked shift in Moscow's approach. Ukrainian officials have warned for days they expect a major offensive by Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region.

French military spokesperson Col. Pascal Lanni said Wednesday Russia is potentially preparing for a "large-scale offensive" in the east in the coming days.

Here are the latest developments:

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in televised remarks that consultations were "ongoing" on a potential roadmap to peace, but added that a sticking point remains the number of countries that would act as security guarantors for Ukraine.

"Consultations on what legal obligations need to be made, how it will be in terms of a multilateral treaty are ongoing now," he said in televised remarks.

Podolyak added: "We have to understand that the Russians categorically do not want to increase the number of countries that can be guarantors of security. It is important for us to have as many of those countries as possible."

Some background: At a recent meeting in Istanbul between Ukrainian and Russian teams, negotiators hammered out very preliminary agreements about the possibility of neutral status for Ukraine, but protected by international security guarantees.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week described that negotiating process as being at a "dead end," but Podolyak said work has continued.

Some 197 children have died and 351 have been injured during the war in Ukraine, the country's prosecutor general said Thursday, citing figures from juvenile prosecutors.

Bodies of children aged four and 10 were found along with the burnt body of a 17-year-old boy in Hostomel and Bucha, in the Kyiv region, the statement said.

The statement added that a father and his minor son were killed in the Chernobyl zone near the village Dytiatky in the Kyiv region when Russian servicemen fired at a car stopped at a roadside.

Seven children died as a result of a Russian strike on the Kramatorsk train station, the statement said.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said that the burnt bodies of a 16-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy had been found in the villages of Borodianka, northwest of Kyiv, and Korolivka, in western Ukraine.

A Ukraine special-operations unit destroyed a bridge as a Russian convoy crossed it while it headed toward Izium in southeastern Kharkiv region, the Command of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed in a statement Thursday.

Ukrainian officials have reported heavy fighting in the vicinity of Izium in recent days, saying that Russian forces are trying to reach the eastern Donbas region from the direction of the town.

The statement claimed that the Ukrainian unit destroyed the bridge with an explosive charge as a convoy of a Tiger armored vehicle and several trucks crossed it.

CNN could not independently verify the claim. Ukrainian forces destroyed a key bridge in the Kyiv region to slow the advance of Russian forces in the opening days of the war.

Some background: On Wednesday, a CNN team witnessed intense shelling of the residential district of Saltivka, in northeastern Kharkiv, with a local official saying they believed Russia was stepping up attacks amid a new phase of military operations in the region.

Ukrainian officials have warned for days that they expect a major offensive push by Russian forces in the neighboring eastern Donbas region, as Russia repositions troops and equipment following a failed push to take Kyiv, the capital.

Australia has sanctioned another 14 Russian state-owned enterprises of "strategic and economic importance" to Russia, according to a statement from Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Thursday.

The latest round of sanctions targets defense-related transportation firm Kamaz, as well as shipping companies Sevmash and United Shipbuilding Corporation.

It also targets electronic component manufacturer Ruselectronics, which produces approximately 80% of all Russian electronics components, and Russian Railways, one of the largest single contributors to Russia’s economy.

"Our targeting of Russia’s state-owned enterprises in coordination with key partners undermines their capacity to boost the Russian economy," Payne's statement said. 

"By preventing dealings with these important sources of revenue for the Russian Government, we are increasing the pressure on Russia and undercutting its ability to continue funding [Vladimir] Putin’s war."

Some background: Australia is one of a number of countries, including the US, that have been continually imposing fresh sanctions on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began.

In retaliation against Washington blacklisting hundreds of Russian lawmakers last month, Moscow said Wednesday it had imposed sanctions on 398 members of the US Congress.

Nine evacuation routes for civilians to leave besieged Ukrainian cities have been agreed for Thursday, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a Telegram post.

She said four routes have been established to Zaporizhzhia by private transport.

 In the Luhansk region, five routes will be operational:

Vereshchuk said there were no evacuation routes on Wednesday. "In Zaporizhzhia region, the occupiers blocked evacuation buses, and in Luhansk region, they are violating the ceasefire," she said.