What has happened to intelligent opponents?
Russia has enough serious problems, without going
out to create more enemies.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/14/russia-ukraine-live-updates.html

Moscow says Finland, Sweden will be ‘new opponents’ if they join NATO;
Russian warship seriously damaged
Natasha Turak
This is CNBC’s live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine.
See below for the latest updates.

Finland and Sweden will become enemies of Russia if they join NATO,
Russia’s Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has said.
“There can be no more talk of any nuclear-free status for the Baltic -
the balance must be restored,” he wrote on Telegram.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Moskva, a flagship missile cruiser from the Black
Sea fleet, was set aflame and evacuated after being hit in a Ukrainian
missile attack, according to Ukrainian authorities. The Russian Ministry
of Defense confirmed the ship caught fire and was “seriously damaged.”

20 MIN AGO
White House now focused on enforcing Russia sanctions, national security
adviser says

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan participates in a conversation
with David Rubenstein, Chairman of the Economic Club, at the JW Marriott
Hotel in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2022.
Stefani Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the Biden administration is
focused on ensuring global sanctions for its war in Ukraine.

“What we have done is unprecedented in terms of a major economy to take
this set of steps across financial sanctions, investment bans, the
export controls,” Sullivan said during a discussion with The Economic
Club of Washington, D.C., adding “our focus will be in the course of the
coming days is on evasion.”

In the weeks since Russia’s invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbor,
Washington and its allies have imposed rounds of coordinated sanctions
vaulting Russia past Iran and North Korea as the world’s most-sanctioned
country.

— Amanda Macias and Thomas Franck

44 MIN AGO
U.S. reportedly weighing high level official visit to Ukraine
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifies before the Senate Armed
Services Committee during a hearing on "Department of Defense's Budget
Requests for FY2023", on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 7, 2022.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifies before the Senate Armed
Services Committee during a hearing on “Department of Defense’s Budget
Requests for FY2023”, on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 7, 2022.
Sarah Silbiger | Reuters
Senior U.S. officials are weighing whether to send a top Cabinet level
official to Kyiv as a high profile representative in a show of
solidarity with Ukraine, a source familiar with the situation said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken or Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd
are potential candidates to pay a surprise visit to Kyiv, the source said.

President Joe Biden is unlikely to make the trip, the source said. No
final decision has been made on sending an official, the source said.
The discussions were first reported by Politico.

Other Western leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, have made trips
to Ukraine in show of support following Russia’s invasion in February.

— Reuters

1 HOUR AGO
U.S. cannot confirm if Russian warship was damaged by missile strike
The Russian missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea
Fleet is seen anchored in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, on Sept. 11,
2008.

AP
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the U.S. cannot
independently confirm Ukrainian claims that the Russian warship, the
Moskva, stationed in the Black Sea was damaged by a missile strike.

Sullivan said that the U.S. and its allies were monitoring reports out
of Ukraine but were unable to provide an assessment at this time.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC on “Morning Joe” that the
vessel was operating about 60 miles south of Odesa when it suffered an
explosion.

“We don’t know what caused that explosion,” Kirby said. “We’ve seen the
social media reports that this one, maybe a Ukrainian coastal defense
missile hit it. We can’t rule that out, we just don’t have enough
information right now,” Kirby added.

— Amanda Macias

2 HOURS AGO
IMF says Russia’s war in Ukraine contributing to downgrades of 143
economies, 86% of GDP
Russia’s war in Ukraine is leading the International Monetary Fund to
downgrade its growth outlooks for 143 economies comprising 86% of global
economic output, managing director Kristalina Georgieva said. Global
growth estimates for both 2022 and 2023 are being cut as higher food and
energy prices hit economies around the world.

“To put it simply, we are facing a crisis on top of a crisis,” Georgieva
said in a speech in Washington ahead of the IMF and World Bank meetings
next week, describing the Russian invasion as “sending shockwaves
throughout the globe” and hampering countries’ recoveries following the
Covid-19 pandemic.

Smallholders use pitch forks to collect hay during a summer wheat
harvest in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017. Ukraine's
wheat harvest reached 19.1m tons as of Aug. 1, local Agriculture
Ministry said in an emailed statement. Photographer: Vincent
Mundy/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Global prices for some grains have spiked since the Russia-Ukraine war
started, with both countries contributing a significant percentage of
the world’s supply for some of those commodities such as wheat.
Vincent Mundy | Bloomberg | Getty Images
“The outlook has deteriorated substantially, largely because of the war
and its repercussions,” Georgieva said, adding that food insecurity is a
“grave concern” given the hit to grain and fertilizer exports from
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, which are the top suppliers to much of the
developing world.

— Natasha Turak

2 HOURS AGO
More than 31,500 Ukrainian refugees registered in Switzerland since war
began
People fleeing from Ukraine due to ongoing Russian attacks, take a free
bus to the Swiss city Sorula offering humanitarian aid, in Krakow,
Poland on April 01, 2022.

Stringer | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, 31,553 Ukrainian refugees
have been registered in Switzerland, the country’s Secretariat for
Migration said in a Twitter post. Of those, 27,093 have been granted
protective S status, which means they will receive a one-year temporary
residence permit that is renewable for as long as the war continues.

In the space of one day, 1,114 additional people coming from Ukraine
were registered as refugees in Switzerland. In the last 24 hours, close
to 60,000 people have fled Ukraine, according to data from UNHCR, the
UN’s refugee agency.

Nearly 4.7 million people have left Ukraine as refugees as of April 12,
according to the UN.

— Natasha Turak

3 HOURS AGO
UN says 1,964 civilians killed and 2,613 injured in Ukraine
Graves of civilians killed during Ukraine-Russia conflict are seen next
to apartment buildings in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine
April 10, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
The United Nations has confirmed 1,964 civilian deaths and 2,613
injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor on Feb. 24.

Of those killed, the U.N. has identified at least 34 girls and 55 boys
as well as 72 children whose sex is unknown.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights adds that the
death toll in Ukraine is likely higher, citing delayed reporting due to
the armed conflict.

The international body said most of the civilian casualties recorded
were caused by the use of explosive weapons, including shelling from
heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missiles
and airstrikes.

— Amanda Macias

4 HOURS AGO
Kharkiv governor says civilians killed and wounded during Russian shelling
Firefighters try to contain a fire at a plant following Russian
shelling, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv, Ukraine,
April 11, 2022.
Firefighters try to contain a fire at a plant following Russian
shelling, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv, Ukraine,
April 11, 2022.
Alkis Konstantinidis | Reuters
Oleh Synyegubov, regional governor of Kharkiv, said four civilians had
been killed and 10 wounded during Russian shelling Kharkiv, Ukraine’s
second largest city. NBC could not immediately verify the numbers.

Synyegubov in a statement also urged residents of some of the region’s
towns to evacuate ahead of expected fighting, as Russian bombardments
intensify in the country’s east.

Kharkiv, in the northeast of Ukraine, has already sustained heavy
attacks, with Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov saying there has not been a
single day without strikes since the invasion began on Feb. 24.

— Natasha Turak

5 HOURS AGO
Ukraine is investigating almost 6,500 alleged war crimes by Russia

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova visits a mass grave in
Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on April 13, 2022.
Fadel Senna | AFP | Getty Images
Ukraine is investigating almost 6,500 alleged war crimes committed by
Russia since its full-scale invasion of the country.