Russia Targets Ukraine For Damaging Its “Black Sea Flagship”

US President Biden to send military aid to Ukraine.

Odesa: Amidst the Russia-Ukrainian crisis, Russia's Black Sea flagship leading the naval assault on Ukraine has been "seriously damaged" by an explosion, state media reported on Thursday, as Moscow threatened to strike Kyiv's command centers.

Looking into the situation, the war continues for the seventh week, US President Joe Biden announced an $800-million military aid package for Ukraine that included helicopters and armored personnel carriers.

And international prosecutors said the conflict has turned Ukraine into a "crime scene", suggesting that those responsible could one-day face prosecution.

According to the officials, the damage to the Moskva missile cruiser was caused by ammunition detonating "as a result of a fire", the Russian defense ministry was quoted as saying, adding that the cause of the blaze was being investigated.

The Governor of Odesa said Ukrainian forces had hit the vessel with missile strikes, while presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said, "we don't understand what happened".

Moscow's Black Sea fleet is blockading Mariupol and off the coast of Odesa, and its ships have been used to bombard coastal cities.

The ship was previously deployed in the Syria conflict where it served as naval protection for the Russian forces' Hmeimim airbase.

The crew had been evacuated, the Russian defense ministry told state media, but "the ship was seriously damaged".

Having initially expected to swiftly overcome its neighbor, Russia has faced fierce resistance and now even reprisals in its territory -- leading Moscow Wednesday to threaten to strike command centers in Kyiv if Ukraine continues to launch attacks on Russian soil.

The warning sparked alarm in Kyiv, which had been experiencing some respite after Russian forces withdrew from the region after failing to secure the capital.

Believed that Moscow was refocusing its war aims to the south and east of the country, with Ukrainian authorities warning of bloody new clashes to come in the eastern Donbas region.