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Police suspect that a fire that broke out at a hotel housing Ukrainian refugees in northeastern Germany is a case of politically motivated arson.

Fourteen guests, most of them Ukrainians, and three staff were in the half-timbered thatch-roofed Hotel Schaefereck when the fire began on Wednesday evening, police in Rostock said on Thursday, adding that none of them was hurt.

"As things stand, arson is suspected and a political motivation is assumed," the police said in a statement.

The blaze erupted at 9:20 p.m. in the hotel near the Baltic seashore in the village of Gross Stroemkendorf, which since April served as accommodation for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country.

"People who sought refuge from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war had to be rescued from the flames," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

"If arson is confirmed, then this is a hate crime that will be prosecuted with all vigour."

Prosecutors have ordered specialist fire investigator to look into the cause of the blaze, police said, adding that they were now assessing the damage to the building.

"I was deeply shocked by what happened here," said lead police inspector Michael Peters. "Any attack on refugees or their accommodation is an attack on our values. Such an attack is shocking and unacceptable."

The blaze, in the sparsely populated, poor eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, took place near where, in August 1992, hundreds of far-right radicals rioted against asylum seekers for two days, throwing petrol bombs at their encampments, in post-war Germany's worst anti-immigrant mob attacks.

The events triggered copycat attacks all over Germany, including the burning down by neo-Nazis the following year of a Turkish family's house in Solingen. Five family members were killed and 14 injured. (Reuters)

Insurance for humanitarian workers, journalists, engineers and others heading to Ukraine is now more expensive and harder to organise than during the Iraq war.

While initially nervous about providing cover in the immediate aftermath of Russia's February invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow refers to a "special military operation", a few more insurers have become willing to do so in recent months, industry sources say, although it is costly.

"The rates in Ukraine are currently higher than previously experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan...Principally, it's a more active war zone rather than an insurgency situation," said Alexis Fehler, accident and health underwriter at Lloyd's of London-backed insurer OneAdvent.

"Instability caused by Ukrainian gains and the subsequent retaliatory actions of the Russian forces will have a further dramatic impact on costs," he added.

Another Lloyd's of London-backed insurer, Battleface, charges an average of 3,500 euros ($3,429) a week for a combination of 250,000 euros personal accident cover and 250,000 euros medical cover for Ukraine, said senior underwriter Roger Perry, although accident cover alone can cost up to 4,375 euros a week for higher-risk parts of the country.

"Our underwriters charge in 7-day tranches...because everything changes so quickly," he said, adding that "the further east you go, it does get higher".

Nonetheless, Battleface excludes the Donbas - two eastern Ukrainian provinces that Russia has unilaterally declared part of its territory - and the Odesa region in the south, although it can make exceptions, particularly for short periods such as one day.

During the 2003 Iraq war, Lloyd's of London and other insurers carried out daily reviews of the premiums charged to cover journalists operating in the Gulf given fears reporters could be used as human shields or executed, according to media reports at the time.

A third insurance source who declined to be named said the daily insurance cost of sending a journalist to the riskiest parts of Ukraine could be 5-10% of the amount covered, meaning an organisation could bust through the total value of an individual's cover after 10 days, an untenable situation for most.

A typical policy covers accidental death and dismemberment, emergency evacuation, repatriation and out of country medical benefits.

Organisations have been sending more media and medical workers and reconstruction experts to Ukraine, sources said, but insurers and security experts are particularly concerned about the risks to civilians after missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, following an attack on the bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula on Oct. 8.

"As resources on the Russian side have changed...they've started using things like ballistic missiles, old anti-shipping missiles and then adapting them for land attack, these are a lot less accurate," said James Dennis, regional security coordinator at consultants Healix.

The United Nations and other aid organisations in Ukraine said last week that the missile attacks had disrupted their humanitarian work.

"As Ukrainian counteroffensives ramp up ahead of anticipated further Russian mobilisation, the situation outside of areas directly affected by conflict will remain volatile," said Sally Llewellyn, regional security director at consultants International SOS.

A shortage of providers is also adding to insurance costs, sources said, pointing in particular to reluctance among some U.S. insurers to offer Ukraine cover.

AIG (AIG.N), which declined to comment, was drawing up broad exclusion clauses for Russia and Ukraine, Reuters reported earlier this year.

"We do see some willingness by select insurers to consider writing coverage in Ukraine," said Steven Capace, government contracting practice leader at broker Marsh, though he added:

"The recent Russian missile attacks in population centres like Kyiv and Lviv...will likely create new apprehension among insurers." (Reuters)

The National Bank of Ukraine kept its key rate unchanged at 25% on Thursday, a level it said was forecast to be maintained until the second quarter of 2024 as it grapples with high inflation fuelled by Russia's invasion.

The central bank said it expected a 32% GDP contraction this year, a slight improvement in its forecast, and said the economy was "livening up" after falling sharply at the beginning of the war launched by Moscow in Feb. 24.

It said a gradual recovery was set to continue into 2023-24 and that a key assumption of its forecast was that security risks in Ukraine would start to decline significantly from mid-2023.

The rate meeting was the first under the central bank's new governor, Andriy Pyshnyi, who was head of Ukraine's state savings bank from 2014 to 2020 who was appointed head of the central bank on Oct. 7.

His predecessor, Kyrylo Shevchenko, resigned initially citing health problems, but later saying he faced political pressure after an old embezzlement case against him was reawakened immediately after his departure. (Reuters)

A luxury yacht belonging to sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexey Mordashov departed Hong Kong waters on Thursday heading for the South African port of Cape Town, according to private tracking site MarineTraffic.

The prominent sight of the 465 foot (141-metre) multi-deck Nord in the city's Victoria harbour in recent weeks had sparked criticism from the United States' State Department, which questioned the "transparency" of the financial hub and warned of reputational risks.

Valued at over $500 million, it arrived via a seven day voyage from Vladivostok in Russian Far East, down through the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

The Hong Kong government did not immediately respond to Reuters' questions on Thursday night.

The MarineTraffic site put the vessel southeast of Hong Kong waters early on Thursday evening, heading into the South China Sea.

A Reuters witness saw a fuel barge alongside the vessel inside the harbour at noon.

Hong Kong's leader John Lee said on Oct. 11 that the city's authorities would not act on unilateral sanctions imposed on Mordashov by individual jurisdictions.

"We cannot do anything that has no legal basis," said Lee, who himself has been sanctioned by the U.S. for his role on a crackdown on local freedoms.

Lee, who is due to host an international investment summit in November with global business leaders, said the Chinese-ruled city would only abide by United Nations sanctions. (Reuters)