Ukraine war live updates: Two killed, 10 wounded in Russian attack on museum; Russian diplomats expelled by Sweden, Moldova

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed the Biden administration for not issuing visas to Russian journalists traveling with his delegation to attend meetings with the United Nations in New York.

“We belive it is appaling what is transpiring here,” Lavrov said during a press briefing at the United Nations.

“Apparently the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution means nothing in practice,” he said, adding that Moscow will consider similar measures when issuing visas to American journalists.

Lavrov then followed up with a remark on the dismissal of Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

“Perhaps it would be useful to consider how freedom of speech is in the United States. I heard that Tucker Carlson has left Fox News,” Lavrov said. “It’s curious news. What is this related to? One can only guess. But clearly, the wealth of views in the American information space has suffered as a result,” he mused.

— Amanda Macias

Visitors eat their meal in the Russian version of a former KFC’s restaurant, now Rostic’s, during the opening ceremony in Moscow on April 25, 2023. The Russian incarnation of KFC opened its first restaurant in Moscow on April 25, 2023 after the American fast food chain exited the country over the Kremlin’s offensives in Ukraine.

— Kirill Kudryavtsev | AFP | Getty Images

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Guterres is also slated to meet with U.S. lawmakers, including House leadership, U.N. Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said during a daily press briefing. Dujarric declined to elaborate on what Guterres’ would discuss while in Washington but added that the meetings would be an opportunity to update U.S. officials on a host of matters.

The meetings in D.C. come on the heels of Guterres’ meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

— Amanda Macias

Russia has convicted a former police officer who had criticized the war in Ukraine to his friends over the phone, according to the Associated Press.

Semiel Vedel was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison for publicly spreading false information about the country’s military, according to the report. He was convicted under a law the Kremlin passed shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine that punishes dissenters for speaking out against the war.

The case prosecutor in Vedel’s trial said Vedel called Russia a “murderer country,” used “Glory to Ukraine” as a greeting and said Russia was suffering “huge losses” in Ukraine, according to the AP.

In a first, Russian officials determined that the phone conversations were public because Vedel’s phone was wiretapped and an investigator had been listening in on the calls. 

In his defense, Ukrainian-born Vedel said he was sharing information he got from trusted friends in the Kyiv police department, the report said.

Read the full report from the Associated Press here.

— Michele Luhn

A view of life on the frontlines as Ukrainian soldiers continue to battle Russian forces near Bakhmut.

— Getty Images

Three ships carrying 128,640 metric tons of wheat left Ukraine’s Chornomorsk and Odesa ports.

Two ships are destined for Spain and the third is headed to Ethiopia.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered last July between Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw three key Ukrainian ports reopen. Russia has previously said that it would not recognize an extension of the deal, which could expire in mid-May.

— Amanda Macias

The United Nations has confirmed more than 8,574 civilian deaths and 14,441 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor more than a year ago.

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said the death toll in Ukraine is likely higher because the armed conflict can delay fatality reports.

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

— Amanda Macias

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is slated to hold a press briefing at the United Nations while he is in town chairing meetings before the Security Council.

The press briefing is slated for 1 p.m. ET.

Lavrov faced blistering criticism for the Kremlin’s ongoing war in Ukraine during his first day presiding over the Security Council.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who sat next to Lavrov during the meeting, criticized Russia’s war, saying it was in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.

The conflict, he said, was “causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people and adding to the global economic dislocation triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has brought “unimaginable suffering to that country while trampling on the U.N. Charter.”

“Thousands of Ukrainians have been killed and millions have been displaced,” she said, adding that billions of people around the world are feeling the brunt of higher energy prices and food insecurity because of the Kremlin’s ongoing conflict.

Read the full story here.

— Amanda Macias

Ukraine’s emergency services confirmed the death of a second woman Tuesday afternoon following a Russian missile strike on a museum in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier Tuesday that Russian forces struck a history museum in Kupyansk, killing one person, wounding 10 others and burying some under rubble.

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff and the regional governor said the building was hit with a Russian S-300 missile.

Russia did not immediately comment on the attack.

Kupiansk, which lies in the Kharkiv region, was occupied for months by Russian forces following Moscow’s full-scale invasion, but they were driven out in September 2022 in a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

— Karen Gilchrist

Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it was expelling five Russian diplomats for activities it said were “incompatible” with their diplomatic status.

“Five people who are employed at the embassy have been asked to leave the country as a result of activities that are incompatible with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Earlier Tuesday, Russia expelled a Moldovan diplomat in what its foreign ministry dubbed retaliation for the expulsion last week of its Russian diplomat in Moldova.

It comes after Norway earlier this month said it was expelling 15 Russian embassy officials that its foreign ministry said were undercover intelligence officers.

— Karen Gilchrist

Russia’s Defense Minister held discussions with his counterparts from Iran, Syria and Turkey on Tuesday as part of efforts to improve ties between Ankara and Damascus.

The four countries reaffirmed their “desire to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and the need to intensify efforts for the speedy return of Syrian refugees to their homeland,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a readout following the talks.

— Karen Gilchrist

Russia expelled a Moldovan diplomat in what its Foreign Ministry dubbed retaliation for the expulsion last week of its Russian diplomat in Moldova.

The ministry said in a statement that the move was in protest against “unfriendly steps towards Russia” and “regular anti-Russian statements” from Chisinau.

Moldova’s Foreign Ministry described the move as “hostile” and said it was part of Moscow’s ongoing efforts to control the country.

Last week, Moldova expelled a Russian diplomat, noting that it was related to an incident between Russian embassy staff and Moldovan border guards.

Moldova has repeatedly accused Russia of trying to destabilize the country, accusations Moscow has denied.

— Karen Gilchrist

Hungary and other east European countries hope to uphold an import ban on Ukrainian grain until the end of this year, Farm Minister Istvan Nagy said Tuesday.

Nagy, who is currently attending a meeting with European Union counterparts in Luxembourg, said they want the ban, which was put in place last week, to run until late 2023.

“We would like the Commission to accept our measures as we aim to uphold them until the end of the year, to allow our farmers to harvest and store their crop,” Nagy wrote on Facebook.

Hungary and other countries including Poland said last week that the bans were necessary to protect their farming sectors from cheap imports.

— Karen Gilchrist

Proposals to improve and extend a deal on the Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain will only be successful if there is buy-in from the international community, a senior Ukrainian official said Tuesday.

Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak denied claims by Russia’s defense ministry that Ukraine was attempting to attack its ships.

The export deal, which allowed Ukraine to ship over 27 million tons of grain from several ports, was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July.

But Russia has signaled that it will not allow it to continue beyond May 18, as a number of demands to enable Russia’s own grain and fertilizer exports have not been met.

The Kremlin on Tuesday said that the crisis in Ukraine was not the primary reason for shortages in global food supplies, which have worsened supply gluts and driven up prices.

— Karen Gilchrist

Former KFC restaurants in Russia will begin reopening as Rostic’s on Tuesday, as the new owners revive a brand born soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union as Russia transitioned abruptly from communism to capitalism in the 1990s.

KFC’s U.S. parent company Yum! Brands Inc last week finalised its exit from Russia, transferring master franchise rights to Smart Service, a local franchisee led by Konstantin Kotov and Andrey Oskolkov. The deal included all its Russian KFC restaurants, operating system and the trademark for the Rostic’s brand. The price was not disclosed.

Rostic’s, originally launched in 1993 and became KFC’s vehicle for expansion in Russia, where it had over 1,000 restaurants before Yum! Brands announced plans to exit last year after Russia despatched troops to Ukraine.

— Reuters

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces struck a history museum in Kupyansk, killing one person, wounding 10 others and burying some under rubble.

“So far, it is known about the dead employee of the museum and 10 wounded. There are still people under the rubble. Elimination of the consequences of shelling continues. All necessary services are involved,” Zelenskiy said on Tuesday via Telegram messenger.

“Eternal memory to the deceased and condolences to the relatives. All those guilty of these war crimes will definitely be brought to justice and it will be merciless,” he added.

Ukrainian officials posted videos on Twitter purportedly showing the damage in the aftermath of the attack. Situated in eastern Ukraine, Kupyansk is a significant railroad junction for the Kharkhiv Oblast.

— Sam Meredith

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the world’s multilateral system is under greater strain than at any time since the formation of the United Nations in 1945 and the urgency of global challenges requires swift and bold action.

Sitting next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a U.N. meeting chaired by Russia, Guterres said, “Tensions between major powers are at an historic high, so are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation.”

He added, “It is time to deepen cooperation and to strengthen multilateral institutions, to find common solutions to common challenges.”

— Sam Meredith

Britain’s Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update that Russia’s average daily casualty rate was estimated to have fallen by around 30% through April.

CNBC has not been able to independently verify the figures. The estimate comes after what the ministry described as “exceptionally heavily” Russian casualties over the period from January to the March.

“Figures released by the Ukrainian General Staff suggest a reduction from a daily average of 776 Russian casualties in March, to an average of 568 so far in April. Defence Intelligence cannot verify Ukraine’s exact methodology, but the general trend is likely accurate,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a statement via Twitter.

“Russia’s losses have highly likely reduced as their attempted winter offensive has failed to achieve its objectives, and Russian forces are now focused on preparing for anticipated Ukrainian offensive operations,” it added.

— Sam Meredith

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declined to say if the U.N.-backed deal that created a humanitarian sea corridor for Ukrainian agricultural products would be extended past its expiry.

“Nice dress,” Lavrov said when asked by a reporter if the Black Sea Grain Initiative was dead.

Lavrov, who flew from Moscow to New York to preside over the Security Council, is expected to discuss Russia’s terms for renewing the deal, which has ushered the movement of more than 25 million metric tons of grain and foodstuff around the world.

Ukraine and the U.N. pushed for a 120-day extension of the deal in March. Russia said that it may only acknowledge the extension for 60 days, which puts the expiration date in mid-May.

— Amanda Macias

Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan in Russia, spoke to reporters outside the United Nations Security Council at the invitation of President Joe Biden’s representative.

“When on a visit to Moscow, Paul Whelan was set up by the Russian security services, the FSB, and arrested on false charges of espionage. He was held for a year and a half at Lefortovo Prison, where journalist Evan Gershkovich is currently being held on the same charges,” she told reporters at the United Nations.

“This Russian playbook is so lazy that even Evan has the same investigator, a man who harassed and interrogated my brother until Paul’s sham trial in June of 2020, when Paul was given a horrific sentence of 16 years for a crime he did not commit,” she added.

Whelan is currently being held in the Russian labor camp IK-17 in the remote province of Mordovia.

“I no longer know what my brother looks like. The images that we see on television and in the news? That’s Paul Whelan in the life he was living before he was taken captive. No one has been allowed to take a photo of him since his trial almost three years ago,” she said.

During the United Nations Security Council meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to look at Whelan sitting in the gallery.

“I want minister Lavrov to look into her eyes and see her suffering. I want you to see what it’s like to miss your brother for four years. To know he is locked up, in a Russian penal colony, simply because you want to use him for your own ends,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

“I am calling on you, right now, to release Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich immediately. To let Paul and Evan come home. And to cease this barbaric practice once and for all,” she added.

— Amanda Macias