Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukraine's deputy prime minister rejected the Kremlin's calls to surrender Mariupol by Monday morning amid a bloody onslaught that has descended into intense street fighting.
- The Russian military is approaching a stalemate in many other parts of the country, including outside Kyiv, where munitions struck a shopping center and an apartment complex Sunday. Military experts have expressed concern that the Kremlin will turn to increasingly deadlier missile strikes on Ukrainian cities to compensate for its lack of battlefield progress.
- U.S. President Biden will travel to Europe this week for a summit with other NATO leaders to discuss the war, as well as to Poland to meet with President Andrzej Duda. Poland has floated the idea of creating a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, stemming from NATO or some other organization. A senior Biden administration official on Sunday ruled out any U.S. military participation in a peacekeeping mission.
More live updates here
- Ukraine's deputy prime minister rejected the Kremlin's calls to surrender Mariupol by Monday morning amid a bloody onslaught that has descended into intense street fighting.
- The Russian military is approaching a stalemate in many other parts of the country, including outside Kyiv, where munitions struck a shopping center and an apartment complex Sunday. Military experts have expressed concern that the Kremlin will turn to increasingly deadlier missile strikes on Ukrainian cities to compensate for its lack of battlefield progress.
- U.S. President Biden will travel to Europe this week for a summit with other NATO leaders to discuss the war, as well as to Poland to meet with President Andrzej Duda. Poland has floated the idea of creating a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, stemming from NATO or some other organization. A senior Biden administration official on Sunday ruled out any U.S. military participation in a peacekeeping mission.
More live updates here
Slovenia will ‘soon’ send diplomats back to Kyiv, prime minister says
The prime minister of Slovenia said his country would send diplomats back to Ukraine’s capital “soon,” even as Russian forces close in.
“They are volunteers,” tweeted Prime Minister Janez Jansa. “We are working to make [the European Union] do the same.” He said Ukraine “needs direct diplomatic support.”
Jansa was one of three European heads of government who traveled to Kyiv last week to meet with President Zelensky. Observers called the trip risky, even as approaching Russian forces seemed to have stalled outside the capital.
Late Sunday, explosions rocked Kyiv's Podilskyi district after Russian forces bombed a mall, burying several people in rubble.
Some countries, including the United States, pulled embassy staffers from Kyiv before Russia launched its full-scale invasion, worried about diplomats’ safety as the situation escalated.
More live updates here
The prime minister of Slovenia said his country would send diplomats back to Ukraine’s capital “soon,” even as Russian forces close in.
“They are volunteers,” tweeted Prime Minister Janez Jansa. “We are working to make [the European Union] do the same.” He said Ukraine “needs direct diplomatic support.”
Jansa was one of three European heads of government who traveled to Kyiv last week to meet with President Zelensky. Observers called the trip risky, even as approaching Russian forces seemed to have stalled outside the capital.
Late Sunday, explosions rocked Kyiv's Podilskyi district after Russian forces bombed a mall, burying several people in rubble.
Some countries, including the United States, pulled embassy staffers from Kyiv before Russia launched its full-scale invasion, worried about diplomats’ safety as the situation escalated.
More live updates here
White House believes Russia is seeing a big drop in oil sales, imperiling key source of funding
Senior Biden aides believe that Russia is suffering a dramatic decline in oil sales that stands to deprive the Kremlin of a key source of government revenue, according to a senior administration official and one person briefed by a senior administration official, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to share an assessment not yet made public.
The Biden administration is examining private industry data showing that sales of Russian crude oil by vessel went from roughly 2 million barrels a day to close to zero between March 15 and March 20, the people said.
The official said that more than 2 million barrels of Russian oil sold per day have been taken out of the market and that Asian buyers are not stepping in to fully fill the gap.
Read the full story here
Senior Biden aides believe that Russia is suffering a dramatic decline in oil sales that stands to deprive the Kremlin of a key source of government revenue, according to a senior administration official and one person briefed by a senior administration official, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to share an assessment not yet made public.
The Biden administration is examining private industry data showing that sales of Russian crude oil by vessel went from roughly 2 million barrels a day to close to zero between March 15 and March 20, the people said.
The official said that more than 2 million barrels of Russian oil sold per day have been taken out of the market and that Asian buyers are not stepping in to fully fill the gap.
Read the full story here
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Our video highlights and what we know at the end of day 25 of the war in Ukraine
- President Zelensky remained defiant Monday, saying he would never agree to an ultimatum from Russia or surrender Ukraine’s cities, even as the Kremlin continued its bombardment of the capital, the coast and elsewhere.
- In Kyiv, an attack on a shopping mall late Sunday reduced much of the area to rubble, killing at least eight people and leaving civilians on edge. The capital remains one of Moscow’s primary targets.
- Ukrainian officials said seven of the eight humanitarian corridors for Ukrainians fleeing violence operated successfully Monday, allowing just over 8,000 people to evacuate, most from Mariupol and the Kyiv region.
- Ukrainians have grown more confident in their country’s ability to repel Russia’s invasion, according to a new poll that found 91 percent of Ukrainian respondents believe Ukraine will emerge victorious from the war.
More live updates here
- President Zelensky remained defiant Monday, saying he would never agree to an ultimatum from Russia or surrender Ukraine’s cities, even as the Kremlin continued its bombardment of the capital, the coast and elsewhere.
- In Kyiv, an attack on a shopping mall late Sunday reduced much of the area to rubble, killing at least eight people and leaving civilians on edge. The capital remains one of Moscow’s primary targets.
- Ukrainian officials said seven of the eight humanitarian corridors for Ukrainians fleeing violence operated successfully Monday, allowing just over 8,000 people to evacuate, most from Mariupol and the Kyiv region.
- Ukrainians have grown more confident in their country’s ability to repel Russia’s invasion, according to a new poll that found 91 percent of Ukrainian respondents believe Ukraine will emerge victorious from the war.
More live updates here
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- Russia has used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, President Biden confirmed Monday, a move he suggested was in response to Moscow’s stalled ground campaign. Russia said last week that it had twice launched the missiles, which travel faster than five times the speed of sound and haven’t previously been used in combat.
- Satellite images released Monday offer a bird’s-eye view of the destruction in Mariupol, showing large swaths of bombed-out neighborhoods, with gray and black smoke marking smoldering ruins. The port city has refused to surrender despite weeks of bombardment.
- Biden warned Putin could seek to escalate the war by using biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine, though he did not provide evidence. The Pentagon also said it has detected “increased naval activity” in the northern Black Sea, where the port city of Odessa is bracing for a potential assault.
More live updates here.
- Russia has used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, President Biden confirmed Monday, a move he suggested was in response to Moscow’s stalled ground campaign. Russia said last week that it had twice launched the missiles, which travel faster than five times the speed of sound and haven’t previously been used in combat.
- Satellite images released Monday offer a bird’s-eye view of the destruction in Mariupol, showing large swaths of bombed-out neighborhoods, with gray and black smoke marking smoldering ruins. The port city has refused to surrender despite weeks of bombardment.
- Biden warned Putin could seek to escalate the war by using biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine, though he did not provide evidence. The Pentagon also said it has detected “increased naval activity” in the northern Black Sea, where the port city of Odessa is bracing for a potential assault.
More live updates here.
U.N. agencies setting up border refugee centers to help separated families
United Nations agencies are setting up support centers for children and women fleeing the war in Ukraine that are designed to protect them and serve as information hubs for traveling families, a spokesman for the U.N. secretary general said.
Workers at the "Blue Dot" centers, at border entry points and other strategic locations in neighboring countries, will identify unaccompanied or separated children and help them reconnect with their families.
A UNICEF news release said the hubs will also offer psychosocial support and referrals to social workers and health services.
According to UNICEF, 26 Blue Dots — which can each serve up to 5,000 people a day — will be opened in Moldova, Romania, Belarus, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Read the full story here.
United Nations agencies are setting up support centers for children and women fleeing the war in Ukraine that are designed to protect them and serve as information hubs for traveling families, a spokesman for the U.N. secretary general said.
Workers at the "Blue Dot" centers, at border entry points and other strategic locations in neighboring countries, will identify unaccompanied or separated children and help them reconnect with their families.
A UNICEF news release said the hubs will also offer psychosocial support and referrals to social workers and health services.
According to UNICEF, 26 Blue Dots — which can each serve up to 5,000 people a day — will be opened in Moldova, Romania, Belarus, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Read the full story here.
Biden heads to Europe in an effort to bolster the Western alliance
President Biden will travel to Belgium and Poland this week, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches the one-month mark with no sign of letting up.
Biden will land in Brussels Wednesday night, where he will attend a NATO summit, a Group of 7 meeting and a session of European Union heads of state. He will then travel to Poland, where he will meet President Duda on Saturday and is expected to promise significant U.S. help with the refugee crisis.
As divisions emerge between allies who want to supply offensive weapons such as fighter jets and others who are wary of escalating the confrontation with Moscow, Biden will seek to hold together a Western alliance that is beginning to show potential cracks.
Read the full story here.
President Biden will travel to Belgium and Poland this week, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches the one-month mark with no sign of letting up.
Biden will land in Brussels Wednesday night, where he will attend a NATO summit, a Group of 7 meeting and a session of European Union heads of state. He will then travel to Poland, where he will meet President Duda on Saturday and is expected to promise significant U.S. help with the refugee crisis.
As divisions emerge between allies who want to supply offensive weapons such as fighter jets and others who are wary of escalating the confrontation with Moscow, Biden will seek to hold together a Western alliance that is beginning to show potential cracks.
Read the full story here.
U.N. chief says the ‘war is going nowhere, fast’
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres described the war in Ukraine as “unwinnable” Tuesday, calling for an end to the fighting and for serious negotiations at the “peace table.”
In the nearly one month since Russian began its invasion, Guterres told reporters that the fighting has only become more “destructive and more unpredictable.”
He spoke of Mariupol, the Ukrainian port city on the Sea of Azov that has been the site of continued destruction, with strikes hitting a maternity ward and a theater that served as a shelter, and where the conflict has devolved into house-to-house warfare.
Read the full story here.
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres described the war in Ukraine as “unwinnable” Tuesday, calling for an end to the fighting and for serious negotiations at the “peace table.”
In the nearly one month since Russian began its invasion, Guterres told reporters that the fighting has only become more “destructive and more unpredictable.”
He spoke of Mariupol, the Ukrainian port city on the Sea of Azov that has been the site of continued destruction, with strikes hitting a maternity ward and a theater that served as a shelter, and where the conflict has devolved into house-to-house warfare.
Read the full story here.
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Our video highlights and what we know at the end of day 26 of the war in Ukraine
- Biden, in his trip to Europe, is seeking to hold together a Western alliance that is beginning to show potential cracks. He will make a symbolic appearance in Poland, a country whose leaders fear it could be a future target of Russian aggression.
- Forest fires have broken out around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine’s parliament said, raising fears they could spread radiation.
- At least 82,525 square kilometers (31,863 square miles) of land in Ukraine could be laced with dangerous explosive devices, according to the Ukrainian Sappers’ Association, a national demining nonprofit.
More live updates here.
- Biden, in his trip to Europe, is seeking to hold together a Western alliance that is beginning to show potential cracks. He will make a symbolic appearance in Poland, a country whose leaders fear it could be a future target of Russian aggression.
- Forest fires have broken out around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine’s parliament said, raising fears they could spread radiation.
- At least 82,525 square kilometers (31,863 square miles) of land in Ukraine could be laced with dangerous explosive devices, according to the Ukrainian Sappers’ Association, a national demining nonprofit.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- President Biden will announce a new package of sanctions against Russia this week when he travels to Brussels to meet with European leaders, the White House said.
- Moscow’s siege of the strategic port city of Mariupol has entered a bloody new phase. Russian forces are shelling from the sea and vivid new satellite images show widespread destruction. Approximately 6,000 were evacuated Tuesday, but about 100,000 people are still trapped — many without food or water — in conditions President Zelensky has described as “inhumane.”
- Zelensky said talks are underway for two potential high-level visits from dignitaries: Pope Francis and the foreign minister of Greece, who offered to lead a humanitarian mission to Mariupol.
- The Pentagon said it had seen indications of Kyiv’s forces going on the offensive, with Ukraine saying Tuesday that it had retaken the town of Makariv, near the capital.
More live updates here.
- President Biden will announce a new package of sanctions against Russia this week when he travels to Brussels to meet with European leaders, the White House said.
- Moscow’s siege of the strategic port city of Mariupol has entered a bloody new phase. Russian forces are shelling from the sea and vivid new satellite images show widespread destruction. Approximately 6,000 were evacuated Tuesday, but about 100,000 people are still trapped — many without food or water — in conditions President Zelensky has described as “inhumane.”
- Zelensky said talks are underway for two potential high-level visits from dignitaries: Pope Francis and the foreign minister of Greece, who offered to lead a humanitarian mission to Mariupol.
- The Pentagon said it had seen indications of Kyiv’s forces going on the offensive, with Ukraine saying Tuesday that it had retaken the town of Makariv, near the capital.
More live updates here.
Russian air force action increases despite flood of antiaircraft missiles into Ukraine
The air war over Ukraine appears to have entered a new phase, with the Russian air force boosting the number of flights it makes per day by 50 percent and deploying an increasing array of Russian drones and munitions over the battlefield, according to U.S. defense officials and military analysts.
The expansion comes after Ukraine shot down numerous aircraft early in the war and despite the United States and its allies sending thousands of man-portable air-defense systems to Ukraine.
The missiles have forced Russia to adjust its aviation operations, but have not stopped them, analysts said. On Monday, a senior U.S. defense official said Russia had flown about 300 sorties in the previous 24 hours, up from an average of about 200 per day earlier in the war.
Read the full story here.
The air war over Ukraine appears to have entered a new phase, with the Russian air force boosting the number of flights it makes per day by 50 percent and deploying an increasing array of Russian drones and munitions over the battlefield, according to U.S. defense officials and military analysts.
The expansion comes after Ukraine shot down numerous aircraft early in the war and despite the United States and its allies sending thousands of man-portable air-defense systems to Ukraine.
The missiles have forced Russia to adjust its aviation operations, but have not stopped them, analysts said. On Monday, a senior U.S. defense official said Russia had flown about 300 sorties in the previous 24 hours, up from an average of about 200 per day earlier in the war.
Read the full story here.
Life underground: Ukrainian families make new homes in the Kharkiv subway
A bunch of tulips sits in the window of the subway car that Vladlena Igorivna, her mother and two young sons have slept in for more than three weeks. It’s a small reminder of the outside world in an otherwise nearly entirely subterranean life.
Trips up the escalators for fresh air are rare, and brief. Their eyes, so used to their new dim surroundings, hurt in the sunlight. Her sons Nazar, 6, and Makar, 3, are scared of being outside.
“The kids hear the bombs go off and they want to come down again,” Igorivna, 31, explained. “Every day I want to go out for a walk, but I can’t. I just want to go home.”
For nearly a month, thousands of Kharkiv residents have lived deep underground in the city’s metro system to shelter from a daily rain of artillery fire, rockets and cluster bombs. Moscow’s assault on its neighbor has uprooted 10 million people — a quarter of Ukraine’s population — in a matter of weeks.
Read the full story here.
A bunch of tulips sits in the window of the subway car that Vladlena Igorivna, her mother and two young sons have slept in for more than three weeks. It’s a small reminder of the outside world in an otherwise nearly entirely subterranean life.
Trips up the escalators for fresh air are rare, and brief. Their eyes, so used to their new dim surroundings, hurt in the sunlight. Her sons Nazar, 6, and Makar, 3, are scared of being outside.
“The kids hear the bombs go off and they want to come down again,” Igorivna, 31, explained. “Every day I want to go out for a walk, but I can’t. I just want to go home.”
For nearly a month, thousands of Kharkiv residents have lived deep underground in the city’s metro system to shelter from a daily rain of artillery fire, rockets and cluster bombs. Moscow’s assault on its neighbor has uprooted 10 million people — a quarter of Ukraine’s population — in a matter of weeks.
Read the full story here.
Israel blocked Ukraine from getting potent Pegasus spyware
A Ukrainian effort to acquire the powerful Pegasus spyware system was blocked by Israeli defense officials out of fear that such a move would upset Russia, which in 2014 had seized Crimea and fomented separatist fighting in Ukraine’s eastern region.
Ukraine’s efforts to bolster its surveillance capabilities, like its efforts to strengthen its military, had support from the U.S., Israel’s closest ally.
But Israeli officials balked at any move that might provoke a confrontation with Russia, whose military at the time was aggressively helping Syria combat a rebellion beyond Israel’s northeastern border.
The country’s Defense Exports Controls Agency rejected a possible license that would have allowed the NSO Group to offer Pegasus to Ukraine, said the people familiar with the decision, including Western intelligence officials. These people believed this action happened as far back as 2019, but the exact timing was unclear.
Read the full story here.
A Ukrainian effort to acquire the powerful Pegasus spyware system was blocked by Israeli defense officials out of fear that such a move would upset Russia, which in 2014 had seized Crimea and fomented separatist fighting in Ukraine’s eastern region.
Ukraine’s efforts to bolster its surveillance capabilities, like its efforts to strengthen its military, had support from the U.S., Israel’s closest ally.
But Israeli officials balked at any move that might provoke a confrontation with Russia, whose military at the time was aggressively helping Syria combat a rebellion beyond Israel’s northeastern border.
The country’s Defense Exports Controls Agency rejected a possible license that would have allowed the NSO Group to offer Pegasus to Ukraine, said the people familiar with the decision, including Western intelligence officials. These people believed this action happened as far back as 2019, but the exact timing was unclear.
Read the full story here.
U.S. concludes Russian military has committed war crimes in Ukraine, State Dept. says
The U.S. government has concluded that members of Russia’s military have committed war crimes in Ukraine, the State Department said Wednesday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new assessment is based in part on U.S. intelligence. He referred to the suffering of civilians in the city of Mariupol, where he said more than 2,400 noncombatants had been killed. He pointed to Russian strikes that have hit hospitals, schools, residential buildings and ambulances across Ukraine, including targets identified as civilian.
“Putin’s forces used these same tactics in Grozny, Chechnya, and Aleppo, Syria, where they intensified their bombardment of cities to break the will of the people,” Blinken said in a statement. “Their attempt to do so in Ukraine has again shocked the world.”
Read the full story here.
The U.S. government has concluded that members of Russia’s military have committed war crimes in Ukraine, the State Department said Wednesday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new assessment is based in part on U.S. intelligence. He referred to the suffering of civilians in the city of Mariupol, where he said more than 2,400 noncombatants had been killed. He pointed to Russian strikes that have hit hospitals, schools, residential buildings and ambulances across Ukraine, including targets identified as civilian.
“Putin’s forces used these same tactics in Grozny, Chechnya, and Aleppo, Syria, where they intensified their bombardment of cities to break the will of the people,” Blinken said in a statement. “Their attempt to do so in Ukraine has again shocked the world.”
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- The Kremlin’s spokesman did not rule out the possibility that Russia could resort to nuclear weapons if it faces an “existential threat,” which he did not specify. The United States described the remarks as “dangerous” but said it saw no need to change its deterrent posture.
- Anatoly Chubais, one of the few Russian reformers of the 1990s era who managed to stay on through Vladimir Putin’s presidency, has left his post as climate envoy, the Kremlin said Wednesday.
- The World Health Organization said it has verified 64 attacks on health-care infrastructure, patients and workers in Ukraine since Russia invaded nearly a month ago.
- Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia said Putin plans to attend the Group of 20 summit that the Southeast Asian country is hosting in October. Western nations are reportedly trying to exclude Moscow from the G-20 organization of large global economies.
More live updates here.
- The Kremlin’s spokesman did not rule out the possibility that Russia could resort to nuclear weapons if it faces an “existential threat,” which he did not specify. The United States described the remarks as “dangerous” but said it saw no need to change its deterrent posture.
- Anatoly Chubais, one of the few Russian reformers of the 1990s era who managed to stay on through Vladimir Putin’s presidency, has left his post as climate envoy, the Kremlin said Wednesday.
- The World Health Organization said it has verified 64 attacks on health-care infrastructure, patients and workers in Ukraine since Russia invaded nearly a month ago.
- Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia said Putin plans to attend the Group of 20 summit that the Southeast Asian country is hosting in October. Western nations are reportedly trying to exclude Moscow from the G-20 organization of large global economies.
More live updates here.