Russia-Ukraine war news: Ukraine strikes Russia’s Black Sea Fleet HQ; Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Toronto on Friday, where he met with business leaders to discuss private sector investment in Ukraine and greeted people gathered at an Armed Forces facility to show their support, Canadian media reported. The surprise trip to Canada, his first to the country since Russia’s full-scale invasion, follows a whirlwind week of travel for Zelensky, which also included stops in New York and Washington.

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

The United States plans to supply Ukraine with a version of ATACMS long-range missiles armed with cluster bomblets rather than a single warhead, The Post reported. Ukraine has been asking since last year for ATACMS, which stands for Army Tactical Missile System. Cluster-armed ATACMS can have a range of up to 190 miles, depending on the version, and would allow Ukraine to strike targets far behind Russian front lines and dug-in defenses.

Russian media reported that six people were injured in the strike on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters, but officials have not confirmed the number. Initially, Russia’s Defense Ministry said one service member was killed but later issued a statement saying he was missing. Ukraine’s armed forces described it as it a “successful attack.”

Russia has maintained the headquarters since the fall of the Soviet Union, and it is believed that Russian military personnel stationed there participated in the 2014 invasion of Crimea. The head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, wrote on social media that the Black Sea Fleet has two options: “voluntary or forced self-neutralization.” “Otherwise, the Russian Black Sea fleet will be sliced up like a salami,” he said.

In his address to Canadian Parliament on Friday, Zelensky praised Canada for being on the “bright side of history.” He noted that the world’s first monument to commemorate the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide was erected in Edmonton in 1993, and said he hoped to see a monument to Ukraine’s victory over Russia “maybe in Edmonton.” “Stay with us to our victory,” he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau framed the war in Ukraine as a defense of global democracy. “You are on the front lines, not just of the fight for Ukraine, but in the fight for the kind of future we are all going to be living in,” he said. Canada has provided more than 8.9 billion Canadian dollars ($6.6 billion) since January 2022, in direct financial aid and military equipment, according to Trudeau’s office.

A Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk killed one and injured 31, including three children, Dmytro Lunin, a regional official, wrote on Telegram. Sixteen people had to be hospitalized, Lunin said, and civilian infrastructure was damaged.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu will visit Kyiv to finalize discussions on Ukrainian grain imports, local media reported. A surge of Ukrainian grain in neighboring countries, as a result of war blockages in Black Sea ports, has driven down prices, angering local farmers and prompting the European Commission to temporarily ban Ukrainian grain imports in its five E.U. neighbors. The ban expired this month, causing Poland, Hungary and Slovakia to impose their own restrictions.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he wanted “to tell President Zelensky to never insult Poles again,” in an interview with Polish media, referring to Zelensky’s speech at the U.N. headquarters, in which he called out countries blocking Ukrainian grain imports. Poland threatened to stop sending more arms to Ukraine as a result of the spat, though Polish President Andrzej Duda appeared to backtrack the threat.

During Zelensky’s visit, Canada announced it would impose sanctions on an additional 63 Russian individuals and entities, including a number of…