Coming of age in a war, one Ukrainian teen finds her ‘mission’
LVIV, Ukraine — The adults who approach teenager Anna Melnyk sometimes cry, sometimes yell.
They see “information” on her green vest at the train station in the western city of Lviv and ask questions: How to get to Poland? Where is the bomb shelter? What to do next? Anna’s calm demeanor seems to reassure these new arrivals, displaced by war from besieged cities. They turn to her for a sign that everything is going to be all right.
“Some of them ask my age and when I say, ‘16,’ they’re shocked,” Anna said. “But I don’t feel a difference. I have one mission: to help.”
She looks impossibly small, not just in the cavernous train depot where she volunteers most days, but in all of this — the giant Russian war machine that has swallowed up a generation of young Ukrainians and turned them into grown-ups overnight.
Read the full story here.
LVIV, Ukraine — The adults who approach teenager Anna Melnyk sometimes cry, sometimes yell.
They see “information” on her green vest at the train station in the western city of Lviv and ask questions: How to get to Poland? Where is the bomb shelter? What to do next? Anna’s calm demeanor seems to reassure these new arrivals, displaced by war from besieged cities. They turn to her for a sign that everything is going to be all right.
“Some of them ask my age and when I say, ‘16,’ they’re shocked,” Anna said. “But I don’t feel a difference. I have one mission: to help.”
She looks impossibly small, not just in the cavernous train depot where she volunteers most days, but in all of this — the giant Russian war machine that has swallowed up a generation of young Ukrainians and turned them into grown-ups overnight.
Read the full story here.
German chancellor rejects Kyiv visit — but his main rival is set to go
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated Monday that he will not visit Kyiv because of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s rebuke of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, even as Scholz’s main political rival makes plans to visit the Ukrainian capital.
Steinmeier offered last month to meet with Zelensky in Kyiv as Germany seeks to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion. But Zelensky shut the door on Steinmeier, telling him not to come because the German president, who formerly served as foreign minister, had previously fostered close relations between Berlin and Moscow.
The cold shoulder was inappropriate, Scholz said during an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF, and meant he could not visit Kyiv and Zelensky.
Read the full story here.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated Monday that he will not visit Kyiv because of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s rebuke of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, even as Scholz’s main political rival makes plans to visit the Ukrainian capital.
Steinmeier offered last month to meet with Zelensky in Kyiv as Germany seeks to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion. But Zelensky shut the door on Steinmeier, telling him not to come because the German president, who formerly served as foreign minister, had previously fostered close relations between Berlin and Moscow.
The cold shoulder was inappropriate, Scholz said during an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF, and meant he could not visit Kyiv and Zelensky.
Read the full story here.
Britain to send armored vehicles to Ukraine for civilian evacuations
LONDON — The British government announced Tuesday that it will donate a fleet of 13 armored vehicles to Ukraine to support the evacuation of civilians from war-torn areas, and to facilitate the movement of Ukrainian officials and key workers to repair and rebuild the country’s infrastructure.
The vehicles will start to arrive in eastern Ukraine “in the coming days,” along with a logistics team tasked with dispatching them as quickly as possible, Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement.
The donation of armored vehicles comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the first head of state to address Ukraine’s parliament since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, telling lawmakers Tuesday that “Ukraine will win, Ukraine will be free.”
Read the full story here.
LONDON — The British government announced Tuesday that it will donate a fleet of 13 armored vehicles to Ukraine to support the evacuation of civilians from war-torn areas, and to facilitate the movement of Ukrainian officials and key workers to repair and rebuild the country’s infrastructure.
The vehicles will start to arrive in eastern Ukraine “in the coming days,” along with a logistics team tasked with dispatching them as quickly as possible, Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement.
The donation of armored vehicles comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the first head of state to address Ukraine’s parliament since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, telling lawmakers Tuesday that “Ukraine will win, Ukraine will be free.”
Read the full story here.
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Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- French President Emmanuel Macron told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is ready to help counter a Russian blockade on Ukrainian food exports; Ukraine is a major exporter of grain, and the war has raised concerns about ripple effects on global food supplies.
- Britain has promised to send armored vehicles to help Ukraine with civilian evacuations.
- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin left open the possibility that parts of the Ukrainian military might be hoarding U.S.-made weapons, adding that it is difficult for the Pentagon to assess because the U.S. military has no forces in Ukraine.
- Pope Francis, in an interview with Italian media, said Hungarian leader Viktor Orban told him that “everything will be over on May 9.” The Washington Post reported last month, however, that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use Russia’s Victory Day to accelerate the war effort.
More live updates here.
- French President Emmanuel Macron told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is ready to help counter a Russian blockade on Ukrainian food exports; Ukraine is a major exporter of grain, and the war has raised concerns about ripple effects on global food supplies.
- Britain has promised to send armored vehicles to help Ukraine with civilian evacuations.
- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin left open the possibility that parts of the Ukrainian military might be hoarding U.S.-made weapons, adding that it is difficult for the Pentagon to assess because the U.S. military has no forces in Ukraine.
- Pope Francis, in an interview with Italian media, said Hungarian leader Viktor Orban told him that “everything will be over on May 9.” The Washington Post reported last month, however, that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use Russia’s Victory Day to accelerate the war effort.
More live updates here.
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Russian TV shows simulation of Britain and Ireland wiped out by nuke
As one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates referred on Russian state media to Britain’s support of Ukraine’s defense against Russia, the rhetoric escalated when Dmitry Kiselyov spoke of a hypothetical nuclear attack on the “British Isles” that would result in Ireland and Britain getting wiped out.
“Another option is to plunge Britain to the depths of the sea using Russia’s unmanned underwater vehicle Poseidon,” Kiselyov, the Russian propagandist and “News of the Week” anchor, said on Rossiya-1. “Such a barrage alone carries extreme doses of radiation.”
Kiselyov, who falsely said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had threatened Russia with a nuclear attack over the war in Ukraine, explained that the drone’s warhead, with a yield up to 100 million tons, would create a gigantic tsunami along the coastline, despite there being no evidence to support these assertions.
Read the full story here.
As one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates referred on Russian state media to Britain’s support of Ukraine’s defense against Russia, the rhetoric escalated when Dmitry Kiselyov spoke of a hypothetical nuclear attack on the “British Isles” that would result in Ireland and Britain getting wiped out.
“Another option is to plunge Britain to the depths of the sea using Russia’s unmanned underwater vehicle Poseidon,” Kiselyov, the Russian propagandist and “News of the Week” anchor, said on Rossiya-1. “Such a barrage alone carries extreme doses of radiation.”
Kiselyov, who falsely said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had threatened Russia with a nuclear attack over the war in Ukraine, explained that the drone’s warhead, with a yield up to 100 million tons, would create a gigantic tsunami along the coastline, despite there being no evidence to support these assertions.
Read the full story here.
Here’s the latest on key battlegrounds in Ukraine.
Mariupol: Officials and aid workers remain gravely concerned about those left behind in Mariupol, saying Russian fighters resumed shelling and attempted to storm the Azovstal steel plant’s perimeter after a temporary cease-fire. Two civilians were killed in the attacks, a regional police chief said.
Lviv: Missile strikes damaged the electrical infrastructure and caused power outages in some areas here, local leaders said. Lviv has been a relative safe haven to date, becoming a hub for diplomats, aid agencies and journalists.
Donetsk: A Russian attack appeared to target a coke plant in Avdiivk on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 15 others, a local leader said. Metinvest — the country’s largest steel firm — confirmed the attack and said Russian troops fired on a busload of its workers just after their shift had ended. Metinvest also owns the embattled steel works in Mariupol.
More live updates here.
Mariupol: Officials and aid workers remain gravely concerned about those left behind in Mariupol, saying Russian fighters resumed shelling and attempted to storm the Azovstal steel plant’s perimeter after a temporary cease-fire. Two civilians were killed in the attacks, a regional police chief said.
Lviv: Missile strikes damaged the electrical infrastructure and caused power outages in some areas here, local leaders said. Lviv has been a relative safe haven to date, becoming a hub for diplomats, aid agencies and journalists.
Donetsk: A Russian attack appeared to target a coke plant in Avdiivk on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 15 others, a local leader said. Metinvest — the country’s largest steel firm — confirmed the attack and said Russian troops fired on a busload of its workers just after their shift had ended. Metinvest also owns the embattled steel works in Mariupol.
More live updates here.
Here’s the latest from Ukraine.
- Russia has stepped up missile attacks across Ukraine, striking railways and power stations, just as Western countries are boosting Ukraine’s arsenal. The attacks Tuesday hit at least six train stations in central and western Ukraine and three electrical substations in Lviv, officials said.
- The first evacuees from the Azovstal steel plant have reached Zaporizhzhia. Officials and aid workers have grave concerns about those who remain in the plant as Russian fighters resumed shelling. Ukrainian officials said there was an attempt to storm the plant’s perimeter after a cease-fire allowed more than 100 people to escape.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to meet with Moldovan President Maia Sandu on Wednesday, following recent reports of explosions in Transnistria that have stoked fears about the expanding scope of Russia’s war.
More live updates here.
- Russia has stepped up missile attacks across Ukraine, striking railways and power stations, just as Western countries are boosting Ukraine’s arsenal. The attacks Tuesday hit at least six train stations in central and western Ukraine and three electrical substations in Lviv, officials said.
- The first evacuees from the Azovstal steel plant have reached Zaporizhzhia. Officials and aid workers have grave concerns about those who remain in the plant as Russian fighters resumed shelling. Ukrainian officials said there was an attempt to storm the plant’s perimeter after a cease-fire allowed more than 100 people to escape.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to meet with Moldovan President Maia Sandu on Wednesday, following recent reports of explosions in Transnistria that have stoked fears about the expanding scope of Russia’s war.
More live updates here.
E.U. proposes phasing out Russian oil imports by end of year
BRUSSELS — The European Commission has proposed a plan to phase out Russian oil imports, stepping up its efforts to cut off a key source of funding for the Kremlin.
The proposal, which must still be approved by member states, reflects extended negotiations over how far the European Union should go to penalize and isolate Russia for its war in Ukraine. The phaseout is more gradual than the immediate embargo some countries had been pushing for. It would ban oil imports after six months and refined petroleum products by the end of the year.
But an oil phaseout would still represent a dramatic shift for the E.U., which in March told the United States it couldn’t join a Russian energy embargo.
The oil plan is the centerpiece of E.U.'s sixth round of sanctions, a package that would also remove Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, and two others from the SWIFT payment system.
Read the full story here.
BRUSSELS — The European Commission has proposed a plan to phase out Russian oil imports, stepping up its efforts to cut off a key source of funding for the Kremlin.
The proposal, which must still be approved by member states, reflects extended negotiations over how far the European Union should go to penalize and isolate Russia for its war in Ukraine. The phaseout is more gradual than the immediate embargo some countries had been pushing for. It would ban oil imports after six months and refined petroleum products by the end of the year.
But an oil phaseout would still represent a dramatic shift for the E.U., which in March told the United States it couldn’t join a Russian energy embargo.
The oil plan is the centerpiece of E.U.'s sixth round of sanctions, a package that would also remove Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, and two others from the SWIFT payment system.
Read the full story here.
CIA instructs Russians on how to share secrets with the spy agency
With the war in Ukraine in its third month, the CIA is taking a new approach to its core job of recruiting spies and soliciting secrets.
On Monday, the CIA published instructions for how Russians can covertly volunteer information using an encrypted conduit to the agency’s website. The hope is to attract intelligence — and potentially gain more access to official Russian secrets — from disaffected people who have been trying to contact the CIA since the war began.
To ensure the would-be informants are not caught by Russian state security, the CIA spelled out detailed Russian-language instructions in three social media posts on how to use the Tor Internet browser, which lets users move online anonymously, as well as virtual private networks, or VPNs.
The steps will open a dedicated channel to the CIA that is more secure than navigating to the agency using an ordinary Web browser or Internet connection.
Read the full story here.
With the war in Ukraine in its third month, the CIA is taking a new approach to its core job of recruiting spies and soliciting secrets.
On Monday, the CIA published instructions for how Russians can covertly volunteer information using an encrypted conduit to the agency’s website. The hope is to attract intelligence — and potentially gain more access to official Russian secrets — from disaffected people who have been trying to contact the CIA since the war began.
To ensure the would-be informants are not caught by Russian state security, the CIA spelled out detailed Russian-language instructions in three social media posts on how to use the Tor Internet browser, which lets users move online anonymously, as well as virtual private networks, or VPNs.
The steps will open a dedicated channel to the CIA that is more secure than navigating to the agency using an ordinary Web browser or Internet connection.
Read the full story here.
Three dozen tycoons met Putin on invasion day. Most had moved money abroad.
On the day he launched the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin called to the Kremlin a group of his nation’s top businessmen.
The invasion was a “necessary measure,” Putin told the group, according to news agencies.
Each of the invitees was a stalwart of the Russian economy. Fourteen have ranked as billionaires. Their companies represented the nation’s key industries — oil and gas, banking, chemicals.
Yet despite their ties to Putin and standing within Russia, many of them had been moving their wealth out of the country for years, documents show. Of the 37 attendees, more than half are linked directly or through a close relative to offshore companies that handled transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars, making financial investments, issuing loans and forming family trusts, according to a Washington Post tally based on secret documents known as the Pandora and Paradise Papers.
Read the full story here.
On the day he launched the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin called to the Kremlin a group of his nation’s top businessmen.
The invasion was a “necessary measure,” Putin told the group, according to news agencies.
Each of the invitees was a stalwart of the Russian economy. Fourteen have ranked as billionaires. Their companies represented the nation’s key industries — oil and gas, banking, chemicals.
Yet despite their ties to Putin and standing within Russia, many of them had been moving their wealth out of the country for years, documents show. Of the 37 attendees, more than half are linked directly or through a close relative to offshore companies that handled transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars, making financial investments, issuing loans and forming family trusts, according to a Washington Post tally based on secret documents known as the Pandora and Paradise Papers.
Read the full story here.
Evacuees from Mariupol steel plant describe brutality of long siege
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — From their cold and fetid bunker, deep underground, the survivors of Mariupol’s Azovstal Iron and Steel Works had feared the wreckage that would greet them if they made it out alive.
As they staggered upstairs and into the light this week, the scene of charred and twisted metal eclipsed their worst nightmares.
After a three-day-long evacuation from the steelworks under Russian siege, during which Ukrainian soldiers have been staging a dramatic last stand for weeks with hundreds of civilians also sheltering there, the first 100 civilians arrived 140 miles northwest in the relative safety of the town of Zaporizhzhia, and began to tell their stories.
Read the full story here.
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — From their cold and fetid bunker, deep underground, the survivors of Mariupol’s Azovstal Iron and Steel Works had feared the wreckage that would greet them if they made it out alive.
As they staggered upstairs and into the light this week, the scene of charred and twisted metal eclipsed their worst nightmares.
After a three-day-long evacuation from the steelworks under Russian siege, during which Ukrainian soldiers have been staging a dramatic last stand for weeks with hundreds of civilians also sheltering there, the first 100 civilians arrived 140 miles northwest in the relative safety of the town of Zaporizhzhia, and began to tell their stories.
Read the full story here.
Russian ally Belarus launches military quick-response drills
The Belarusian military has launched large-scale drills to test the readiness of its armed forces to respond quickly to “possible crises” and counter threats from the air and ground, the country’s Defense Ministry said early Wednesday.
The ministry said the training exercise would not “pose any threat to the European community as a whole or to neighboring countries in particular.” Belarus borders Ukraine to its south, Poland to its west, Lithuania and Latvia to its northwest and Russia to its east.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, allowed Russian troops to assemble and conduct military drills in the Eastern European country in the run-up to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. A large part of Russia’s invasion force crossed into Ukraine from Belarus.
Read the full story here.
The Belarusian military has launched large-scale drills to test the readiness of its armed forces to respond quickly to “possible crises” and counter threats from the air and ground, the country’s Defense Ministry said early Wednesday.
The ministry said the training exercise would not “pose any threat to the European community as a whole or to neighboring countries in particular.” Belarus borders Ukraine to its south, Poland to its west, Lithuania and Latvia to its northwest and Russia to its east.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, allowed Russian troops to assemble and conduct military drills in the Eastern European country in the run-up to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. A large part of Russia’s invasion force crossed into Ukraine from Belarus.
Read the full story here.
Don’t be ‘Putin’s altar boy,’ Pope warns Russian Orthodox leader
Pope Francis warned the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church not to be “Putin’s altar boy” and justify the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a Tuesday interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Francis said he spoke with Patriarch Kirill, a key supporter of Vladimir Putin and his war, for 40 minutes over Zoom. During the March 16 conversation, Francis said, Kirill was listing off all the justifications for the war from a sheet of paper he was holding.
“I listened and then told him: I don’t understand anything about this,” Francis said. “Brother, we are not state clerics, we cannot use the language of politics but that of Jesus. We are pastors of the same holy people of God. Because of this, we must seek avenues of peace, to put an end to the firing of weapons.”
Read the full story.
Pope Francis warned the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church not to be “Putin’s altar boy” and justify the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a Tuesday interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Francis said he spoke with Patriarch Kirill, a key supporter of Vladimir Putin and his war, for 40 minutes over Zoom. During the March 16 conversation, Francis said, Kirill was listing off all the justifications for the war from a sheet of paper he was holding.
“I listened and then told him: I don’t understand anything about this,” Francis said. “Brother, we are not state clerics, we cannot use the language of politics but that of Jesus. We are pastors of the same holy people of God. Because of this, we must seek avenues of peace, to put an end to the firing of weapons.”
Read the full story.
Russian forces, preparing for Mariupol parade, clear ruins of bombed theater
Russian forces in Mariupol are making preparations for a parade in the shattered port city — by clearing debris from the bombed theater that had been sheltering hundreds of civilians, Ukrainian officials say.
“The occupiers continue to dismantle the debris in the city center, including the Drama Theater, in preparation for the parade,” said Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor.
Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency said Wednesday that Russia was planning to turn Mariupol into a center of “celebrations” on May 9. That day, known as Victory Day, marks Russia’s role in defeating Nazi Germany. “To this end, the city is urgently cleaning the central streets of debris, the bodies of killed and unexploded ordnance,” the agency said.
Read the full story here.
Russian forces in Mariupol are making preparations for a parade in the shattered port city — by clearing debris from the bombed theater that had been sheltering hundreds of civilians, Ukrainian officials say.
“The occupiers continue to dismantle the debris in the city center, including the Drama Theater, in preparation for the parade,” said Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor.
Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency said Wednesday that Russia was planning to turn Mariupol into a center of “celebrations” on May 9. That day, known as Victory Day, marks Russia’s role in defeating Nazi Germany. “To this end, the city is urgently cleaning the central streets of debris, the bodies of killed and unexploded ordnance,” the agency said.
Read the full story here.
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Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- Only a couple thousand Russian troops remain in Mariupol, according to the Pentagon, as the Kremlin continues to try to press its assault on Ukraine through its eastern and southern regions.
- As Russia intensifies missile attacks across Ukraine, its forces appear to be targeting key infrastructure points — including transport hubs and power stations. The Pentagon said Wednesday that such strikes in western Ukraine appear to be aimed at disabling railroads.
- Belarus has launched large-scale drills that aim to test its armed forces’ ability to respond quickly to “possible crises” and counter threats from the air and ground, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
- The E.U. plans to boost military aid to Moldova, European Council President Charles Michel said Wednesday, amid fears of spillover from Russia’s unprovoked Ukrainian war after recent explosions in the breakaway region of Transnistria.
More live updates here.
- Only a couple thousand Russian troops remain in Mariupol, according to the Pentagon, as the Kremlin continues to try to press its assault on Ukraine through its eastern and southern regions.
- As Russia intensifies missile attacks across Ukraine, its forces appear to be targeting key infrastructure points — including transport hubs and power stations. The Pentagon said Wednesday that such strikes in western Ukraine appear to be aimed at disabling railroads.
- Belarus has launched large-scale drills that aim to test its armed forces’ ability to respond quickly to “possible crises” and counter threats from the air and ground, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
- The E.U. plans to boost military aid to Moldova, European Council President Charles Michel said Wednesday, amid fears of spillover from Russia’s unprovoked Ukrainian war after recent explosions in the breakaway region of Transnistria.
More live updates here.
Pentagon: Russia may be trying to disable Ukraine rail system
The Kremlin is carrying out strikes on infrastructure that is critical to Ukraine’s efforts to resupply its forces in their defense against Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian officials and the Pentagon said Wednesday.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, said Ukraine is still able to move weapons through the country.
Russia’s targets on Tuesday and Wednesday included electrical substations, a railroad facility and a bridge in two major cities in western and central Ukraine. Strikes on Tuesday night caused severe damage at three electrical substations in Lviv, a critical hub for assistance entering the country from Eastern Europe, delaying trains and wiping out power for about a quarter of a million people.
“It was a deliberate blow to supply chains,” Lviv’s regional governor, Maksym Kozytskyy, said in a statement.
Read the full story here.
The Kremlin is carrying out strikes on infrastructure that is critical to Ukraine’s efforts to resupply its forces in their defense against Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian officials and the Pentagon said Wednesday.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, said Ukraine is still able to move weapons through the country.
Russia’s targets on Tuesday and Wednesday included electrical substations, a railroad facility and a bridge in two major cities in western and central Ukraine. Strikes on Tuesday night caused severe damage at three electrical substations in Lviv, a critical hub for assistance entering the country from Eastern Europe, delaying trains and wiping out power for about a quarter of a million people.
“It was a deliberate blow to supply chains,” Lviv’s regional governor, Maksym Kozytskyy, said in a statement.
Read the full story here.