(Reuters) – Russia said its Black Sea fleet flagship, the Moskva missile cruiser, was seriously damaged and its crew evacuated after a fire caused ammunition to blow up. A Ukrainian official said the ship was hit by two anti-ship cruise missiles.
FIGHTING
* Russian television broadcast clips of what it said was the surrender in the besieged port of Mariupol showing unarmed men in military fatigues walking with their hands up towards masked soldiers.
* Russia beefs up forces for a new assault in eastern Donbas region, setting the stage for a protracted battle certain to inflict heavy losses on both sides.
* The mayor of the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest, said bombings had increased significantly.
* Russia says it will view U.S. and NATO vehicles transporting weapons on Ukrainian territory as legitimate military targets.
DIPLOMACY
* U.S. President Biden said for the first time that Russia’s invasion amounts to genocide.
* A mission of experts set up by Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe nations has found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Russia in Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.
* Senior U.S. officials are weighing whether to send a top cabinet member such as Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd to Kyiv in a show of solidarity, a source familiar with the situation said.
* Australia imposed targeted financial sanctions on 14 Russian state-owned enterprises.
* Fiji police investigated the arrival of a superyacht suspected of being owned by Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, who is subject to Western sanctions.
ECONOMY AND BUSINESS
* Russia can easily redirect energy exports away from the West to countries that really need them while increasing domestic consumption of oil, gas and coal, President Vladimir Putin said.
* Britain said it had imposed new sanctions on 206 individuals in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
QUOTES
“We did not want this … forgive us,” said a message written on a wall of a house in the village of Lubianka northwest of Kyiv that had been occupied by Russian forces.
(Compiled by Stephen Coates; Editing by Kim Coghill)
