As the battle for Donbas rages, Russians blast a Mariupol steel plant sheltering civilians

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that a new phase of the fighting in Ukraine has started, and it will be “a very important moment of this entire special operation.”

“This operation in the east of Ukraine is aimed as it was announced from the very beginning to fully liberate the Donetsk and Luhansk republics,” Lavrov said in an exclusive video interview to India Today. “Another stage of this operation is beginning and I’m sure this will be a very important moment of this entire special operation.”

When asked repeatedly if Russia plans to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Lavrov said those allegations are coming from the Ukrainian side and specifically Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and that Russia historically has been against the use of nuclear weapons. 

“We never mentioned about this,” Lavrov said, referencing comments made by Zelensky alleging Russia may use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. 

When asked the same question again, Lavrov said: “When the Soviet Union and the US in 1987, Gorbachev and Reagan decided that they have a special responsibility for peace on this planet, they signed a solemn declaration that there could be no winners in a nuclear war and therefore a nuclear war must never be launched.

Responding to a question about civilian deaths in Ukraine and holding Russian military forces accountable for possible violations, Lavrov said, “We have our law, which prohibits the military to do anything which is not allowed under international humanitarian law,” adding “Any violations are absolutely registered and investigated.” 

He also said reports about atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha are “staged and played.” 

When asked about what exactly happed to the Russian cruiser Moskva, Lavrov directed the answer to the Russian Ministry of Defense. 

Britain on Tuesday announced its intention to revoke the Moscow Stock Exchange’s status as a recognized stock exchange, according to a statement issued by British tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). 

The removal of status means that investors will no longer be able to access certain UK tax benefits in the future when trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange. 

However, existing investments will be protected.   

The move is the latest in a string of sanctions the British Government has imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

“As we continue to isolate Russia in response to their illegal war on Ukraine, revoking Moscow Stock Exchange’s recognized status sends a clear message – there is no case for new investments in Russia,” British Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Frazer, said in the statement. 

The recognized stock exchange status is a classification given by HMRC for tax purposes, enabling securities traded on a recognized exchange to be eligible for certain tax treatments and reliefs. 

The International Monetary Fund has slashed its expectations for global economic growth over the next two years because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, comparing the ripple effects from the conflict to an “earthquake.”

“The economic effects of the war are spreading far and wide,” the organization said in its latest outlook, published Tuesday.

The IMF now expects the world economy to expand by 3.6% in both 2022 and 2023, a sharp deceleration from growth of 6.1% in 2021. The new forecasts reflect downgrades of 0.8 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively, from its January forecast.

The outlook assumes that the war remains confined to Ukraine, that further sanctions on Russia don’t target its huge energy sector and the effects of the pandemic continue to fade.

IMF says the conflict will hit Ukraine and Russia the hardest. The IMF expects Ukraine’s economy to shrink 35% this year, while the West’s efforts to punish Russia are poised to cause its economy to contract by 8.5%. But because the war has caused a spike in the price of energy and other commodities, worsening supply chain problems and feeding expectations for more persistent inflation, its effects will be felt almost everywhere.

In Europe, which relies heavily on Russia to meet its energy needs, growth is now expected to slow to 2.8% in 2022, a downgrade of 1.1 percentage points versus January.

The United States is comparatively insulated. Yet weakness among its trading partners, as well as the Federal Reserve’s plans to quickly pull back pandemic-era support for the economy and raise interest rates, are weighing on the outlook. The IMF projects US growth of 3.7% in 2022 and 2.3% in 2023, down 0.3 percentage points since its last forecast.

While the report observes that “global economic prospects have worsened significantly” since the start of the year, it does not predict a recession, which the IMF typically calls when growth falls to 2.5% or lower.

But the IMF also notes uncertainty “well beyond the normal range” surrounding its projections because of the unprecedented nature of the shock. And the risks of an even greater slowdown, combined with persistently high inflation, are rising.

The Netherlands will send “heavier material” to Ukraine, “including armored vehicles,” Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday.

In a tweet, Rutte said that he and the Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren had expressed their support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone conversation, “as Russia begins a renewed offensive.”

Zelensky also tweeted after the phone call, saying that he had informed Rutte “about the aggravation of the situation in Donbas” and was “grateful” for the support.

“When peace is restored we’ll build Ukraine-Netherlands relations of a new quality together in the EU!” Zelensky said. 

A Russian father took to social media to seek information on sailors missing after the sinking of the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva, amid limited information on Russian state media about the extent of casualties from the loss of the ship.

The Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, went down last week after what Ukrainian officials said was a strike with anti-ship missiles.

Russian authorities acknowledged that the vessel sank, but said only that the vessel went down following a fire on board and the explosion of ammunition.

Dmitry Shkrebets, the father of a conscript aboard the ship, wrote a post on the Russian social network Vkontakte claiming his son, Yegor Shkrebets, had been on the ship and served as a ship’s cook.

“On the night of April 13 to April 14, a tragedy occurred, the truth about which we have yet to find out, the official report of the Ministry of Defense states that a fire broke out on the ship and the ammunition detonated,” the elder Shkrebets wrote.

“It was reported that the entire crew had been evacuated. It’s a lie! A blatant and cynical lie!”

He said he was informed that his son was not listed among the dead and wounded and was on a list of missing sailors.

“After my attempts to clarify the data on the incident, the cruiser commander and his deputy stopped communicating,” Shkrebets said. “I asked directly why you, the officers, are alive, and my son, a conscript soldier, died?”

Russian President Vladimir Putin initially stated that Russian draftees would not take part in what the Russian government euphemistically refers to as the “special military operation” in Ukraine, but the Kremlin has acknowledged that the participation of conscripts in combat operations is being investigated.

Asked about the post by Shkrebets on Vkontakte, a Kremlin spokesperson referred all questions on the matter to the Russian military. CNN was unable to reach Shkrebets directly.

Russia will “of course” try to go further west if it takes control of the eastern territory of Ukraine, Wladimir Klitschko, the brother of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, claimed Tuesday. However, he added that he doesn’t know how much further the forces would go, but that he expects the attack to return to Kyiv.

Help is “crucially” needed, he continued.

“We can only defend our country during the war with the weapons. There is no other way. Otherwise, this senseless killing of the civilian population and destruction of our infrastructure is going to continue,” Klitschko said. “I don’t think we need any military. We just need weapons to defend ourselves.”

He also emphasized the need to close the sky over Ukraine — something that Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenksy had earlier called on the international community to do. However, he has moved away from making that request more recently.

“[If] allies and partners cannot close the sky [over Ukraine,] we will constantly get bombarded with rockets and air strikes,” he said. “So if you don’t close the sky, just give us the weapons. We’re going to close the sky on our own. And we have enough of our will to defend our country. We just need the equipment to do it.”

Klitschko, who is also a member of the Kyiv Territorial Defense, called on the world to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine and increasing pressure on Russia with sanctions.

Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov has told CNN that there has been “non-stop bombardment of civilian districts” in the city since Sunday.

Before then, Terekhov said Russian shelling and bombardments had been focused on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city located in the east of the country near the Russian border.

Kharkiv has been targeted by Russian strikes since the invasion of Ukraine was launched nearly two months ago.

“In the last few days, [Russian shelling] has been in the center and it’s targeting peaceful civilians,” Terekhov told CNN “New Day” Tuesday.

“The enemy is targeting civilians, many people are wounded and some unfortunately dead. In the past day and a half, we’ve had 15 people killed and more than 50 wounded. Those 15 killed was just in one attack.”

Terekhov also said that Ukraine would fight for every bit of land and would not agree to territorial concessions while Russian attacks continue.

Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that Russian forces had begun bombing and shelling the Azovstal factory in the besieged city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian forces and civilians remain encircled.

Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said in a statement that Russian forces “are not only striking Azovstal with bombs but also with artillery and tanks, continuing their chaotic attacks on the residential area of the Left Bank (Livoberezhnyi) district along the line from the Meotidy Boulevard.”

Andriushchenko is not in Mariupol but maintains a network of contacts in the city. CNN cannot independently confirm the location of Russian strikes, but pro-Kremlin media embedded with separatists and Russian forces have released footage of the shelling of Azovstal. 

The Russian military gave Ukrainians defending Azovstal until 12 p.m. Moscow time Tuesday (5 a.m. ET) to surrender — a deadline that has now passed. 

Liudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament’s human-rights ombudsman, said that about 1,000 civilians, including children, remain in the basement of the plant, a figure consistent with estimates provided by Ukrainian units defending the plant. 

Denisova claimed that Russian forces had ordered residents to wear white armbands — similar to those worn as friend-or-foe identifiers by Russian and separatist forces — when moving around Mariupol, making them harder to distinguish from combatants. 

CNN could not verify that claim. 

Mariupol has been under relentless bombardment for weeks, with more than 90% of the city’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed, according to Ukrainian estimates.

Denmark will increase its natural gas production in the North Sea “for a limited time period,” to reduce its dependency on Russian energy, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday. 

Denmark is ultimately aiming to phase out its use natural gases to become independent of Russian supplies, Frederiksen added.

Despite the “temporary increase,” Frederiksen assured that Denmark remained committed to plans to end its North Sea oil and gas production by 2050.

Some background: Meanwhile on Tuesday, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said France supported extending sanctions on Russian oil.

France has been attempting to persuade European partners to stop imports of Russian oil, Le Maire said, alleging that some countries were “hesitant” to do so.