US believes Ukraine’s actions lead to sinking of Russia’s Moskva warship, official says

A US official told Fox News on Friday that the latest assessment by the US is that Russia’s Moskva warship was struck by two Ukrainian missiles before it sank.

The US believes the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea navy was roughly 60 nautical miles south of Odessa at the time of the explosion.

Moscow has claimed the ship sank after a fire on board caused an explosion.

“During the towing of the cruiser Moskva to the port of destination, the ship lost its stability due to hull damage received during a fire from the detonation of ammunition. In the conditions of stormy seas, the ship sank,” Russia’s Ministry of Defense earlier told state media.

US officials also said Friday it is unclear how many Russian sailors may have been killed in the attack due to lack of satellite imagery.

Fox News’ Mark Meredith and Liz Friden contributed to this report.

Fox News contributor provides insight on the Russia-Ukraine war as Russia warns against Finland and Sweden joining NATO on ‘America Reports.’

Former NATO supreme allied commander reacts to a Russian warship sinking on ‘The Story.’

Fox News’ Trey Yingst reports from Kyiv on the needs of Ukrainian civilians and the additional atrocities being uncovered in areas Russian forces have left.

Retired Army Gen. David Perkins reacts to Russia’s top warship sinking in the Black Sea on ‘America Reports.’

Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg (Ret.) joins ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss Russia’s strategy and suggests ways for Ukraine to fight back.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that the world should “be ready” for the possibility that Vladimir Putin could use nuclear weapons in the ongoing war.

Zelenskyy, speaking to CNN, made the remark a day after CIA Director William Burns said “given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons.”

“Not only me — all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried because it can be not real information, but it can be truth,” Zelenskyy told CNN when asked for his reaction to Burns’ comments.

For more on this story: Zelenskyy says world should ‘be ready’ for possibility Putin uses nuclear weapons

Fox News’ Douglas Kennedy with an exclusive report on the efforts to manufacture weapons for Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry revealed Friday that, for the first time, Russia has started using long-range bombers in the ongoing war.

Spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said the long-range aircraft are being used to attack Mariupol, according to Reuters.

“The situation in Mariupol is difficult and hard. Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city,” Motuzyanyk reportedly said. “But as of now the Russians haven’t managed to completely capture it.”

For more on this story: Russia uses long-range bombers for first time in Ukraine war, official says

Mariupol’s City Council is warning Friday that Russia’s military is carrying out a “new level of cleansing” in the besieged Ukrainian city by not allowing residents to bury deceased civilians.

In a Telegram post citing locals still trapped there, the officials also said “Russian troops have begun the process of exhuming bodies that were previously buried in the yards of residential buildings.”

“A new level of ‘cleansing’ of the occupiers,” the post said. “The occupiers forbid the burial of people killed by them. In each yard they put their own overseer.”

For more on this story: Mariupol officials: Russia preventing civilian burials in ‘new level of cleansing’

China said that its military staged exercises on Friday in response to US lawmakers’ official visit to Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that the drills conducted by the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command in areas opposite Taiwan were “a countermeasure to the recent negative actions of the US, including the visit of a delegation of lawmakers to Taiwan.”

He pledged that China would “continue to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The trip – previously condemned by the Chinese government in a statement – ​​comes amid continued fears that China may move to invade Taiwan, stoked due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Following China’s increasing aggression in the region, some say Russia’s actions may embolden China to take some of its own.

For more on this story: China stages military exercises as bipartisan group of US lawmakers visit Taiwan

White House press secretary Jen Psaki put a stop to questions Friday about whether President Biden would travel to Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia.

“No. no,” Psaki said in answer to questions by “Pod Save America” ​​podcast hosts on whether the administration was even considering sending the president to Kyiv.

When asked by reporters Thursday on whether he was personally ready to travel to Kyiv Biden said, “Yeah.”

“He’s ready for anything,” Psaki said Friday. “The man likes the fast cars and aviators. He’s ready to go to Ukraine. It’s true he does.

For more on this story: Psaki: ‘Not sending’ Biden to Ukraine, ‘we should all be maybe relieved about that’

Russia warned the US and NATO this week that there could be “unpredictable consequences” if they continue to send Ukraine “sensitive” weapons as it prepares to launch a massive ground offensive in eastern Ukraine, a report said Friday.

The Biden administration announced that another $800 million in security assistance would be sent to Ukraine Wednesday, including artillery, coastal defense drones, anti-aircraft and anti-tank armored vehicles, and Mi-17 helicopters.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the defense systems approved by the US are “reflective of the kind of fighting that the Ukrainians are expecting to be faced with” as Russia focuses on eastern Ukraine.

For more on this story: Russia warns US of ‘unpredictable consequences’ amid latest arms shipment to Ukraine: report

Russia on Friday is claiming to have destroyed a factory in Kyiv that makes anti-ship missiles after confirming that the flagship vessel of its Black Sea navy has sunk.

The Moskva cruiser rose to prominence at the beginning of the war when a group of Ukrainian soldiers defending Snake Island told its operators to “go f— yourself” instead of surrendering, according to Reuters. Moscow is now saying the warship went down after a fire on board caused an explosion, but Ukrainian officials say their forces struck it Thursday with two cruise missiles.

“During the towing of the cruiser Moskva to the port of destination, the ship lost its stability due to hull damage received during a fire from the detonation of ammunition. In the conditions of stormy seas, the ship sank,” Russia’s Ministry of Defense told state media.

For more on this story: Russia reportedly strikes Kyiv missile factory after Black Sea warship sinks

Fox News’ Tyler O’Neil contributed to this report.

“House of Cards” showrunner Beau Willimon has traveled to Bucha, Ukraine, to document the atrocities of the Russian invasion and capture the “heroic resistance” of the Ukrainian people, the Bucha City Council announced Friday.

“The playwright wants to tell the whole world the truth about the genocide of Ukrainians and the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people,” the city council announced on Facebook.

Read more here: ‘House of Cards’ showrunner is filming in Bucha to document ‘genocide’ and ‘heroic resistance’ in Ukraine

Russia may have defaulted on foreign bonds for the first time since the years following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

That’s the word from credit agency Moody’s after Moscow tried to service its debt in rubles.

Read more here: Russia may have defaulted on its debt for the first time in 100 years: Moody’s

Russian advances in the south and east of Ukraine floundered on Thursday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed.

“In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, the Russian enemy’s main efforts were focused on attempts to capture the settlements of Popasna and Rubizhne. It is not successful,” the Ukrainian military said.

“Thus, in the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, eight enemy attacks were repulsed in the past 24 hours, four tanks, six armored personnel carriers, four infantry fighting vehicles, and one enemy artillery system were destroyed,” Kyiv added.

Two Republicans in Congress, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., became the first US elected officials to set foot in Ukraine on Thursday. Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the administration is “not sending the president to Ukraine.”

“While meeting with leaders in NATO countries bordering Ukraine, I was invited to meet Ukrainian officials in Kyiv and Bucha and see firsthand the butchery and war crimes committed by Putin,” Daines said in a statement. “There is indisputable evidence of Putin’s war crimes everywhere—the images of shallow mass graves filled with civilians, women and children are heart wrenching.”

For more on this story: Steve Daines becomes first US senator to visit Ukraine, see mass graves in Bucha

The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea navy sank, according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“During the towing of the cruiser Moskva to the port of destination, the ship lost its stability due to hull damage received during a fire from the detonation of ammunition. In the conditions of stormy seas, the ship sank,” the ministry said, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.

Russia confirmed Wednesday that the Moskva had been evacuated after it was “severely damaged,” claiming that a fire on board had caused an explosion. Yet Ukrainian officials said their military hit the ship with two cruise missiles.

Read Thursday’s live coverage here.