Photos: Putin’s troops, tanks, missile launchers at Victory Day parade
Russia held its yearly military parade on Monday — Victory Day — to commemorate the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany during World War II.
Some Ukrainian officials had feared that Russian President Vladimir Putin would formally declare war on Ukraine or announce new commitments to the battlefield. But while the parade was rife with military pageantry and symbolism, and although Putin again argued that Russia’s invasion was justified, he did not make any declarations about an escalation.
Instead, the parade was a relatively toned-down affair. Some 131 pieces of military equipment were displayed — fewer than last year’s 190. Russian authorities also eschewed the flyover that typically accompanies the parade, blaming the weather even though the sky above Moscow appeared only partly cloudy.
Read the full story here.
Russia held its yearly military parade on Monday — Victory Day — to commemorate the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany during World War II.
Some Ukrainian officials had feared that Russian President Vladimir Putin would formally declare war on Ukraine or announce new commitments to the battlefield. But while the parade was rife with military pageantry and symbolism, and although Putin again argued that Russia’s invasion was justified, he did not make any declarations about an escalation.
Instead, the parade was a relatively toned-down affair. Some 131 pieces of military equipment were displayed — fewer than last year’s 190. Russian authorities also eschewed the flyover that typically accompanies the parade, blaming the weather even though the sky above Moscow appeared only partly cloudy.
Read the full story here.
Zelensky awards medal to Patron, a Ukrainian bomb-sniffing dog
Patron wagged his tail excitedly and barked as he was awarded a medal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday for his bomb-detection services.
The pint-size Jack Russell terrier has won hearts at home and abroad since the start of Russia’s invasion for his role sniffing out land mines and educating children about the dangers posed by the explosives, which Russian troops scattered along their path of retreat from northern Ukraine.
Describing him as a “small but very famous sapper,” Zelensky said in a statement after the ceremony that teaching children to avoid land mines “is now one of the most urgent tasks.”
Dogs have been used for demining since World War II because of their ability to detect ordnance faster than humans. Experts say they’re especially effective in conflict zones, where large amounts of debris impede standard metal detectors.
Read the full story here.
Patron wagged his tail excitedly and barked as he was awarded a medal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday for his bomb-detection services.
The pint-size Jack Russell terrier has won hearts at home and abroad since the start of Russia’s invasion for his role sniffing out land mines and educating children about the dangers posed by the explosives, which Russian troops scattered along their path of retreat from northern Ukraine.
Describing him as a “small but very famous sapper,” Zelensky said in a statement after the ceremony that teaching children to avoid land mines “is now one of the most urgent tasks.”
Dogs have been used for demining since World War II because of their ability to detect ordnance faster than humans. Experts say they’re especially effective in conflict zones, where large amounts of debris impede standard metal detectors.
Read the full story here.
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Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a speech from Moscow’s Red Square on Victory Day, cast the invasion of Ukraine as a battle against fascism and Nazism, calling the military action “necessary, timely and the only right solution.”
- Rescue efforts at a school in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine that was hit by a Russian airstrike Sunday have been halted after further strikes in the area, a local official said. Dozens are feared dead or buried under the rubble.
- Russian users of smart TV systems reported that the services were hacked Monday with a message: “The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of murdered children is on your hands. TV and the authorities are lying. No to war.”
- Russia has resumed attacks on Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant after 300 women, children and elderly people were evacuated from the site last week, an aide to the city’s mayor said Monday.
More live updates here.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a speech from Moscow’s Red Square on Victory Day, cast the invasion of Ukraine as a battle against fascism and Nazism, calling the military action “necessary, timely and the only right solution.”
- Rescue efforts at a school in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine that was hit by a Russian airstrike Sunday have been halted after further strikes in the area, a local official said. Dozens are feared dead or buried under the rubble.
- Russian users of smart TV systems reported that the services were hacked Monday with a message: “The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of murdered children is on your hands. TV and the authorities are lying. No to war.”
- Russia has resumed attacks on Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant after 300 women, children and elderly people were evacuated from the site last week, an aide to the city’s mayor said Monday.
More live updates here.
Here’s the latest on key battlegrounds in Ukraine.
Luhansk region: Rescue efforts remained on hold in Bilohorivka, after a weekend airstrike on a school buried dozens of civilians, including children, under rubble, where they were feared injured or killed.
Donetsk region: In the town of Lyman, civilians used the relative calm to make frantic dashes to evacuation buses arranged by the regional government. Fighting flared again later in the day.
Mariupol: Russian forces continued with “storming operations” at the Azovstal steel plant, a Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman said Monday. Col. Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said that he could not rule out future attacks. The fighters have vowed to continue their resistance “as long as we are alive.”
Odessa: At least four high-precision Onyx missiles struck Odessa, Ukraine’s military said Monday. The missiles were believed to have been launched from Russian-held Crimea, officials said.
More live updates here.
Luhansk region: Rescue efforts remained on hold in Bilohorivka, after a weekend airstrike on a school buried dozens of civilians, including children, under rubble, where they were feared injured or killed.
Donetsk region: In the town of Lyman, civilians used the relative calm to make frantic dashes to evacuation buses arranged by the regional government. Fighting flared again later in the day.
Mariupol: Russian forces continued with “storming operations” at the Azovstal steel plant, a Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman said Monday. Col. Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said that he could not rule out future attacks. The fighters have vowed to continue their resistance “as long as we are alive.”
Odessa: At least four high-precision Onyx missiles struck Odessa, Ukraine’s military said Monday. The missiles were believed to have been launched from Russian-held Crimea, officials said.
More live updates here.
Here’s the latest from Ukraine.
- Odessa was struck by a volley of Russian missiles on Monday evening, including three Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, a regional Ukrainian military official alleged. Attacks earlier in the day forced European Council President Charles Michel to seek shelter during an official visit. But the Pentagon assessed that Russian forces do not have the capability to launch a ground or maritime offensive against the Black Sea port.
- President Biden on Monday signed into law a bill that will expedite the process of sending military aid to Ukraine and urged Congress to approve a separate multibillion-dollar aid package for Ukraine.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a surprise visit to Budapest on Monday to try to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to drop his objection to a proposed European Union embargo on Russian oil. However, their talks ended without a deal.
More live updates here.
- Odessa was struck by a volley of Russian missiles on Monday evening, including three Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, a regional Ukrainian military official alleged. Attacks earlier in the day forced European Council President Charles Michel to seek shelter during an official visit. But the Pentagon assessed that Russian forces do not have the capability to launch a ground or maritime offensive against the Black Sea port.
- President Biden on Monday signed into law a bill that will expedite the process of sending military aid to Ukraine and urged Congress to approve a separate multibillion-dollar aid package for Ukraine.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a surprise visit to Budapest on Monday to try to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to drop his objection to a proposed European Union embargo on Russian oil. However, their talks ended without a deal.
More live updates here.
On an unexpectedly subdued Victory Day, Ukrainians see cause for hope
KYIV, Ukraine — The day on which many here feared that Russia would escalate its assault on Ukraine turned out to be very different.
Instead of formally declaring war, annexing occupied areas or increasing bombardments, as many had expected, Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t even mention Ukraine by name in his speech Monday commemorating the Allied triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Victory Day — when Russians and Ukrainians alike remember the millions of Soviet soldiers who lost their lives in that fight — was observed in a more somber and subdued way both in Moscow’s Red Square and across much of Ukraine, where it was the quietest day of the war so far.
Monday morning saw the least shelling in Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-most-populous city — since the conflict began 75 days ago, according to the regional governor, Oleh Synyehubov.
Read the full story here.
KYIV, Ukraine — The day on which many here feared that Russia would escalate its assault on Ukraine turned out to be very different.
Instead of formally declaring war, annexing occupied areas or increasing bombardments, as many had expected, Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t even mention Ukraine by name in his speech Monday commemorating the Allied triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Victory Day — when Russians and Ukrainians alike remember the millions of Soviet soldiers who lost their lives in that fight — was observed in a more somber and subdued way both in Moscow’s Red Square and across much of Ukraine, where it was the quietest day of the war so far.
Monday morning saw the least shelling in Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-most-populous city — since the conflict began 75 days ago, according to the regional governor, Oleh Synyehubov.
Read the full story here.
In Ukraine, gas shortages further complicate daily life
LVIV, Ukraine — As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds through its third month, gas shortages are spreading across the country, adding to people’s misery and testing their resilience in new ways.
Lines are forming at service stations in major cities, small villages and roadside stops along the highways that stretch over the countryside. Some stations have gone dark because they have no fuel to sell. With supplies tight and limits imposed on how much people can buy, motorists are relying on apps, gas cans and persistence to fill up.
Irina Yusuchuk, 35, waited two hours in line to fill her Mercedes near her work in a suburb of Lviv. “It was really hard to find this gas station,” she said. “I’m just shocked.”
The shortages have spread in recent weeks as heavy fighting has shifted mostly to the east and life has started returning to something like normal in central and western Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
LVIV, Ukraine — As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds through its third month, gas shortages are spreading across the country, adding to people’s misery and testing their resilience in new ways.
Lines are forming at service stations in major cities, small villages and roadside stops along the highways that stretch over the countryside. Some stations have gone dark because they have no fuel to sell. With supplies tight and limits imposed on how much people can buy, motorists are relying on apps, gas cans and persistence to fill up.
Irina Yusuchuk, 35, waited two hours in line to fill her Mercedes near her work in a suburb of Lviv. “It was really hard to find this gas station,” she said. “I’m just shocked.”
The shortages have spread in recent weeks as heavy fighting has shifted mostly to the east and life has started returning to something like normal in central and western Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
Ukrainian song takes center stage at Eurovision — and new meaning amid war
“I’ll always come to you, by broken roads.” Ukrainian singer Oleh Psiuk once rapped these words as a tribute to his mother, but when his band, Kalush Orchestra, performs at Eurovision this week, the lyrics will resonate differently.
“And my willpower can’t be taken from me, because she gave it,” he sings after his melodic chanting in “Stefania,” rehearsing for Tuesday’s semifinals of Europe’s most popular televised music contest, as bombs rain down across his country.
With more than 5 million views, the Ukrainian song has become the most-watched music video on YouTube among the entries from 40 countries.
“Some stuff in here was written long before the war, and it was dedicated to my mother,” Psiuk told the Associated Press. “After it all started with the war, it took on additional meaning, and many people started seeing it as their mother, Ukraine, in the meaning of the country.”
Read the full story here.
“I’ll always come to you, by broken roads.” Ukrainian singer Oleh Psiuk once rapped these words as a tribute to his mother, but when his band, Kalush Orchestra, performs at Eurovision this week, the lyrics will resonate differently.
“And my willpower can’t be taken from me, because she gave it,” he sings after his melodic chanting in “Stefania,” rehearsing for Tuesday’s semifinals of Europe’s most popular televised music contest, as bombs rain down across his country.
With more than 5 million views, the Ukrainian song has become the most-watched music video on YouTube among the entries from 40 countries.
“Some stuff in here was written long before the war, and it was dedicated to my mother,” Psiuk told the Associated Press. “After it all started with the war, it took on additional meaning, and many people started seeing it as their mother, Ukraine, in the meaning of the country.”
Read the full story here.
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Database of 231 videos exposes the horrors of war in Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is one of the most documented wars ever. Citizens, public officials and soldiers have posted videos every day that show the dead bodies in neighborhoods, the trails of missiles streaking through the skies and the smoldering ruins of entire towns.
The Washington Post’s visual forensics team has been verifying and cataloging videos from the war from the day Russia’s invasion began. This work is now searchable in a database that will be updated. The videos have been uploaded in raw format and graphic content is clearly marked.
The Post will continue to verify videos of the Russian invasion, so if you are in Ukraine and have footage you recorded of what is going on, please send it to us here on Telegram at +1 202-580-1002.
Click here to see the full database.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is one of the most documented wars ever. Citizens, public officials and soldiers have posted videos every day that show the dead bodies in neighborhoods, the trails of missiles streaking through the skies and the smoldering ruins of entire towns.
The Washington Post’s visual forensics team has been verifying and cataloging videos from the war from the day Russia’s invasion began. This work is now searchable in a database that will be updated. The videos have been uploaded in raw format and graphic content is clearly marked.
The Post will continue to verify videos of the Russian invasion, so if you are in Ukraine and have footage you recorded of what is going on, please send it to us here on Telegram at +1 202-580-1002.
Click here to see the full database.
Russia’s ultimate political survivor faces a wartime reckoning
Sergei Shoigu, the consummate survivor of Russian politics, has always had a knack for PR.
The 66-year-old Russian defense minister for years presided over theatrical exercises, rattled off statistics about personnel, and boasted of fearsome new weaponry — all to project the image of a Russian military on the rise under his guidance.
But in the 2½ months since the Kremlin launched a war against Ukraine, the facade that Shoigu meticulously presented over the past decade has disintegrated into an ugly reality, laying bare the incompetence and barbarity of one of the world’s biggest militaries.
Shoigu’s future is now on the line. Having retreated from its attack on Kyiv, the Russian military is facing immense pressure to save face and capture a larger swath of Ukraine’s east.
Read the full story here.
Sergei Shoigu, the consummate survivor of Russian politics, has always had a knack for PR.
The 66-year-old Russian defense minister for years presided over theatrical exercises, rattled off statistics about personnel, and boasted of fearsome new weaponry — all to project the image of a Russian military on the rise under his guidance.
But in the 2½ months since the Kremlin launched a war against Ukraine, the facade that Shoigu meticulously presented over the past decade has disintegrated into an ugly reality, laying bare the incompetence and barbarity of one of the world’s biggest militaries.
Shoigu’s future is now on the line. Having retreated from its attack on Kyiv, the Russian military is facing immense pressure to save face and capture a larger swath of Ukraine’s east.
Read the full story here.
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Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- Russia struck key Ukrainian cities in the south and east overnight, including the strategic port of Odessa, as Congress is set to begin debating a nearly $40 billion aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday.
- More than 8 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced by the war, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration.
- A U.N. official said Tuesday that thousands more civilians have been killed in the conflict than confirmed figures suggest. A regional official in Kharkiv said 44 bodies were pulled from the rubble of a building in Izyum that Russia destroyed in March.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a surprise visit to Budapest on Monday to try to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to drop his objection to a proposed European Union embargo on Russian oil. However, their talks ended without a deal.
More live updates here.
- Russia struck key Ukrainian cities in the south and east overnight, including the strategic port of Odessa, as Congress is set to begin debating a nearly $40 billion aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday.
- More than 8 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced by the war, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration.
- A U.N. official said Tuesday that thousands more civilians have been killed in the conflict than confirmed figures suggest. A regional official in Kharkiv said 44 bodies were pulled from the rubble of a building in Izyum that Russia destroyed in March.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a surprise visit to Budapest on Monday to try to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to drop his objection to a proposed European Union embargo on Russian oil. However, their talks ended without a deal.
More live updates here.
Here’s the latest on key battlegrounds in Ukraine.
Izyum: 44 bodies were found under the debris of a building destroyed by Russian forces here, a Ukrainian official said Tuesday.
Kherson: Russian authorities are likely preparing to integrate occupied Ukrainian territories, such as Kherson, directly into Russia — rather than creating proxy “People’s Republics,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
Mariupol: Ukrainian fighters holed up at a steel plant here made a plea Tuesday for help evacuating their wounded, as the Russians hit a field hospital at the complex. The Pentagon said Monday that the equivalent of two Russian battalion tactical groups are still in the city — with 700 to 900 in each group — down from about a dozen last month.
Odessa: Photos showed firefighters combing through debris and searching for civilians after at least four high-precision Onyx missiles struck this city Monday.
More live updates here.
Izyum: 44 bodies were found under the debris of a building destroyed by Russian forces here, a Ukrainian official said Tuesday.
Kherson: Russian authorities are likely preparing to integrate occupied Ukrainian territories, such as Kherson, directly into Russia — rather than creating proxy “People’s Republics,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
Mariupol: Ukrainian fighters holed up at a steel plant here made a plea Tuesday for help evacuating their wounded, as the Russians hit a field hospital at the complex. The Pentagon said Monday that the equivalent of two Russian battalion tactical groups are still in the city — with 700 to 900 in each group — down from about a dozen last month.
Odessa: Photos showed firefighters combing through debris and searching for civilians after at least four high-precision Onyx missiles struck this city Monday.
More live updates here.
Here’s the latest from Ukraine.
- A package of nearly $40 billion in additional aid for Ukraine was overwhelmingly approved by the House on Tuesday as the country battles Russia’s brutal invasion. The Senate is expected to follow suit this week, taking total U.S. military, economic and humanitarian support provided during the conflict to more than $50 billion.
- A top U.S. intelligence official is warning of a “prolonged” and “potentially escalatory” conflict as President Putin readjusts his goals to go beyond capturing the Donbas region and consolidate control of a land bridge between Russia, Donbas and Russian-held Crimea to the south.
- The Finnish Parliament’s defense committee recommended NATO membership. The country’s official decision on whether to join the alliance could come as soon as this week.
- A U.N. official said Tuesday that thousands more civilians have been killed in the conflict than confirmed figures suggest.
More live updates here.
- A package of nearly $40 billion in additional aid for Ukraine was overwhelmingly approved by the House on Tuesday as the country battles Russia’s brutal invasion. The Senate is expected to follow suit this week, taking total U.S. military, economic and humanitarian support provided during the conflict to more than $50 billion.
- A top U.S. intelligence official is warning of a “prolonged” and “potentially escalatory” conflict as President Putin readjusts his goals to go beyond capturing the Donbas region and consolidate control of a land bridge between Russia, Donbas and Russian-held Crimea to the south.
- The Finnish Parliament’s defense committee recommended NATO membership. The country’s official decision on whether to join the alliance could come as soon as this week.
- A U.N. official said Tuesday that thousands more civilians have been killed in the conflict than confirmed figures suggest.
More live updates here.
Putin prepared for ‘prolonged’ conflict, U.S. intelligence chief says
Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine, betting that Russia is more willing and able to endure the longer-term effects of the war than Moscow’s adversaries, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators on Tuesday.
But the war may grow more volatile in the next few months, she said. Both Ukraine and Russia appear confident in achieving battlefield progress, making a diplomatic path unviable. That, combined with the mismatch between Putin’s ambitions and the Russian military’s capabilities, means the war could become more “unpredictable and escalatory,” she said.
“The [intelligence community], as you know, provided warnings of President Putin’s plans” to attack Ukraine before the Kremlin’s Feb. 24 invasion, Haines told senators in her opening statement. “But this is a case where I think all of us wish we had been wrong.”
Read the full story here.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine, betting that Russia is more willing and able to endure the longer-term effects of the war than Moscow’s adversaries, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators on Tuesday.
But the war may grow more volatile in the next few months, she said. Both Ukraine and Russia appear confident in achieving battlefield progress, making a diplomatic path unviable. That, combined with the mismatch between Putin’s ambitions and the Russian military’s capabilities, means the war could become more “unpredictable and escalatory,” she said.
“The [intelligence community], as you know, provided warnings of President Putin’s plans” to attack Ukraine before the Kremlin’s Feb. 24 invasion, Haines told senators in her opening statement. “But this is a case where I think all of us wish we had been wrong.”
Read the full story here.
Russian soldier in Ukrainian custody will stand trial for alleged war crime, Ukraine’s prosecutor general announces
The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said it would try a 21-year-old Russian soldier who is in Ukrainian custody, the first Russian service member to stand trial in the country on a war crimes charge since the war began.
The prosecutor’s announcement accused Vadim Shishimarin of firing several shots with a Kalashnikov rifle that killed an unarmed 62-year-old resident by the side of the road in a village in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine on Feb. 28. It said investigators have collected “enough evidence of his involvement in violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder."
“Shishimarin is actually physically in Ukraine,” Iryna Venediktova, the prosecutor general, told Ukraine’s public broadcaster. “We are starting a trial not in absentia, but rather directly with the person who killed a civilian, and this is a war crime.”
More live updates here.
The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said it would try a 21-year-old Russian soldier who is in Ukrainian custody, the first Russian service member to stand trial in the country on a war crimes charge since the war began.
The prosecutor’s announcement accused Vadim Shishimarin of firing several shots with a Kalashnikov rifle that killed an unarmed 62-year-old resident by the side of the road in a village in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine on Feb. 28. It said investigators have collected “enough evidence of his involvement in violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder."
“Shishimarin is actually physically in Ukraine,” Iryna Venediktova, the prosecutor general, told Ukraine’s public broadcaster. “We are starting a trial not in absentia, but rather directly with the person who killed a civilian, and this is a war crime.”
More live updates here.