Russia-Ukraine war live updates
U.S. general says ‘time is not on Ukraine’s side’; Putin to meet U.N. chief
LATEST UPDATES
Putin’s alleged mistress is possible U.S. sanctions target
9:13 a.m.
Video: Russia’s foreign minister says there are ‘serious’ risks of nuclear war
9:06 a.m.
U.S. launches plan to resettle Ukrainian refugees
a.m.
Metropolitan Opera, Polish National Opera to host tour for Ukrainian artists
8:22 a.m.
After hesitancy, Germany greenlights some heavy arms for Ukraine
8:20 a.m.
Ukrainian forces bracing for possible attack on Zaporizhzhia, U.K. says
7:59 a.m.
Russia ‘closely watching’ as Transnistria region raises threat level
7:36 a.m.
U.N. estimates more than 8 million Ukrainian refugees will need help
7:02 a.m.
Key update
Austin tells Ukraine: ‘All of us have your back’
6:31 a.m.
U.S. looks to assist war crimes prosecutions targeting Russian leaders
6:01 a.m.
Poland sends tanks to Ukraine, prime minister says
5:33 a.m.
Key update
Moldova security council to meet over blasts in breakaway Transnistria
5:20 a.m.
Key update
Germany greenlights delivery of antiaircraft weapons to Ukraine
5:07 a.m.
E.U. tells India response to Russian aggression will shape world order
5:06 a.m.
Satellite images show third mass gravesite near Mariupol
4:41 a.m.
Key updates
Austin tells Ukraine: ‘All of us have your back’
Moldova security council to meet over blasts in breakaway Transnistria
Germany greenlights delivery of antiaircraft weapons to Ukraine
Defense Secretary believes Ukraine can win
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with NATO military leaders on April 26 at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Video: Reuters)
By Karen DeYoung, Amy Cheng, Annabelle Timsit, Ellen Francis, Bryan Pietsch and Rachel Pannett
Today at 12:15 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 9:13 a.m. EDT
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a gathering of military leaders from 40 NATO and non-NATO countries that Russian President Vladimir Putin “never imagined that the world would rally behind Ukraine so swiftly and surely” — as the United States pledged military aid, Poland announced it would send tanks, and Germany planned to send armored antiaircraft vehicles.
In separate remarks to the group, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a stark picture of the next phase of the war, as Russia attempts to take full control of southeastern and southern Ukraine. “Time is not on Ukraine’s side,” Milley said in closed-door comments provided to reporters traveling with him. “The outcome of this battle, right here, today, is dependent on the people in this room.”
World leaders are seeking to pressure Putin to stop the war now grinding into its third month. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres — who is in Moscow to meet with Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov — called for a cease-fire on Tuesday and said everything must be done “to end the war as soon as possible.” Lavrov, meanwhile, set off alarm bells when he told state television that the risk of the conflict escalating into nuclear war “is serious, it is real” — but he added that Moscow’s position is that nuclear war is unacceptable. Lavrov accused NATO of fighting a proxy war by donating weapons to Kyiv and said weapons flowing from allies into Ukraine will be considered “a legitimate target” for Russia’s military.
Here’s what else to know
Experts from the U.N. nuclear watchdog will visit the Chernobyl nuclear power plant site on Tuesday, in the first full international inspection since Russian forces occupied the area.
The U.N. refugee agency said up that to 8.3 million people could flee Ukraine into neighboring countries — nearly double its initial projections from the first weeks of the war.
Moldova’s president convened a meeting of the country’s security council Tuesday after multiple explosions were reported in the breakaway republic of Transnistria, which is backed by Moscow and borders Ukraine. No one has claimed responsibility. A Russian military commander suggested last week that Moscow aims to establish a corridor through southern Ukraine to Transnistria, but it’s unclear whether this reflects the official Kremlin line.
The Washington Post has lifted its paywall for readers in Russia and Ukraine. Telegram users can subscribe to our channel for updates.
UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT
Why Mariupol matters to Russia in three maps
News•
April 21, 2022
How far will Biden go in helping Ukraine?
News•
April 13, 2022
What is happening in Mariupol, the Ukrainian city under Russian siege?
News•
April 21, 2022
Putin’s alleged mistress is possible U.S. sanctions target
Return to menu
By Bryan Pietsch9:13 a.m.
Link copied
Alina Kabaeva at the 2008 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Turin, Italy.
Alina Kabaeva at the 2008 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Turin, Italy. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images)
Alina Kabaeva, a famed Russian gymnast turned apparent romantic partner of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a potential target for sanctions, the Biden administration said, after questions were raised this week about the lack of penalties against her.
“No one is safe from our sanctions,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States had made an “11th-hour decision” to remove Kabaeva from a set of new sanctions.
“There’s more we will likely do,” Psaki said.
Since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the United States has sanctioned Putin, his associates and even two of his daughters. President Biden also said last month — before the White House backtracked on his remark — that Putin “cannot remain in power.”
Read the full story
Video: Russia’s foreign minister says there are ‘serious’ risks of nuclear war
Return to menu
By Jason Aldag9:06 a.m.
Link copied
Russia's foreign minister says there are 'serious' risks of nuclear war
Sergei Lavrov said April 25 not to underestimate the risks of nuclear conflict over Ukraine, but Kyiv and its allies were quick to play down his remarks. (Video: Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview Monday that there is a “serious” risk of nuclear war over Ukraine. “The danger is serious, it’s real. It shouldn’t be underestimated,” Lavrov said on Russian state television. He went on to say that he viewed NATO’s support of Ukraine, including supplying arms, as a proxy war with Russia. “War means war,” he said. On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, during an interview with CNN, criticized Lavrov’s comments on nuclear war and said the United States had not changed its nuclear-deterrence posture.
U.S. launches plan to resettle Ukrainian refugees
Return to menu
By Amy Cheng8:45 a.m.
Link copied
Many Ukrainian migrant families are staying at a refugee camp in Tijuana, Mexico, as they figure out how to resettle in the United States.
Many Ukrainian migrant families are staying at a refugee camp in Tijuana, Mexico, as they figure out how to resettle in the United States. (Joebeth Terriquez/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
A Biden administration program to welcome Ukrainian refugees in the United States went live Monday, an initiative the White House says will streamline the process to resettle up to 100,000 displaced Ukrainians.
The Uniting for Ukraine plan allows U.S.-based individuals and organizations to sponsor Ukrainian refugees for up to a two-year stay in America. The Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency tasked with overseeing the resettlement program, will vet potential sponsors to ensure they demonstrate financial capability and pose no threat to the refugees. Ukrainians who are approved by DHS will be allowed to work while living in the United States.
Under the program, Ukrainians must present valid visas to pass through ports of entry. Ukrainian refugees are discouraged from entering the United States via land crossings with Mexico — a channel that has shuttled some 15,000 people.
Russia’s invasion, which began more than two months ago, has resulted in the displacement of over 5 million Ukrainians, leading to one of the fastest-growing refugee crises in modern European history.
Metropolitan Opera, Polish National Opera to host tour for Ukrainian artists
Return to menu
By Amy Cheng8:22 a.m.
Link copied
Ukraine's national flag is draped outside the Metropolitan Opera House in New York before a benefit concert for Ukraine last month.
Ukraine's national flag is draped outside the Metropolitan Opera House in New York before a benefit concert for Ukraine last month. (Ron Blum/AP)
New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Polish National Opera will organize an orchestra tour this summer that will include Ukrainian musicians to raise funds for the nation’s artists. After its opening performance in Warsaw on July 28, the group is expected to travel across Europe to cities including Munich and Amsterdam before concluding its tour at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The tour is being organized as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters a new protracted stage. Fierce Russian bombardments are devastating southern and eastern Ukrainian cities, and more than 5 million civilians have fled the country. Amid the destruction, Ukrainian artists have sought to lift people’s spirits with music.
“Music can be a powerful weapon against oppression,” said a joint statement from Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and Waldemar Dabrowski, director of the Teatr Wielki. “This tour is meant to defend Ukrainian art and its brave artists as they fight for the freedom of their country.”
Read the full story
After hesitancy, Germany greenlights some heavy arms for Ukraine
Return to menu
By Loveday Morris8:20 a.m.
Link copied
A Gepard armored antiaircraft vehicle takes part in an army exercise in Munster, Germany.
A Gepard armored antiaircraft vehicle takes part in an army exercise in Munster, Germany. (JOERG SARBACH/AP)
BERLIN — First, Germany said it couldn’t spare any of its Marder infantry fighting vehicles for Ukraine.
Then it was accused of scrubbing such items from a German arms industry list of what was available for Kyiv. Berlin has since proposed sending some Marders after all, but to Slovenia, so that country can in turn send its old Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine. Now Germany says it is aiming to send antiaircraft weaponry to Ukraine.
“It’s a complete contradiction,” Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker with the conservative Christian Democrats, said of the government’s various statements on sending heavy arms.
As defense leaders from more than 40 countries meet at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Tuesday to synchronize efforts to provide military aid to Ukraine, Berlin has been still struggling to synchronize the position of its own government.
Read the full story
Ukrainian forces bracing for possible attack on Zaporizhzhia, U.K. says
Return to menu
By Helier Cheung7:59 a.m.
Link copied
Ukrainian forces in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia are preparing for a “potential Russian attack from the south,” according to an intelligence update from the British Defense Ministry.
The industrial hub has been a safe haven for thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the besieged port city of Mariupol and other parts of the country.
However, Russia controls areas to its south, including the city of Kherson and large parts of the wider Zaporizhzhia region, where there has been “widespread Ukrainian resistance” to Russia’s occupation, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
Trenches are being dug around the city, and teachers are being trained to use guns and administer first aid, the Guardian newspaper reported.
Russia ‘closely watching’ as Transnistria region raises threat level
Return to menu
By Ellen Francis and Mary Ilyushina7:36 a.m.
Link copied
Moscow said Tuesday it was “very closely watching” developments in Transnistria as the breakaway republic in eastern Moldova reported several explosions and raised its security threat level.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no plans for contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Moldovan counterpart, Maia Sandu, but he described the reports of blasts as worrying. “At the moment, no contacts are planned,” he said. “The only thing I can say is that we are very closely watching how the situation is developing there. Of course, news from there causes concern.”
Moldova’s president convened a meeting of the country’s security council Tuesday after the Internal Affairs Ministry in Transnistria said explosions hit a radio center and a security agency building in the breakaway region that borders Ukraine.
The security council in Transnistria, which is backed by Moscow, also met and declared “a red terrorism alert level,” according to the Interfax news agency. The council made plans to tighten security measures and reported another attack on a military unit near the village of Parcani, Russian news agency RIA Novosti said, although details on the third incident remained unclear.
A Russian military commander said Sunday that one goal of the war in Ukraine was to establish a corridor through the south to Transnistria. Moldova rebuked Russia over the comments. The Transnistria region, which has a population of nearly 500,000, is not recognized as independent but operates separately from Moldova.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosions in Transnistria, but the Ukrainian Defense Ministry called Monday’s blasts a “planned provocation by the Russian special services.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said America was watching events in Moldova but that it was too soon to comment on the explosions, according to quotes carried by Reuters.
U.N. estimates more than 8 million Ukrainian refugees will need help
Return to menu
By Ellen Francis7:02 a.m.
Link copied
A Ukrainian woman holds her baby while at a center for internally displaced people in Ukraine on April 25.
A Ukrainian woman holds her baby while at a center for internally displaced people in Ukraine on April 25. (Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)
The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that, based on its estimates, a total of 8.3 million Ukrainians could flee into neighboring countries, nearly double initial projections from the first weeks of the war.
At least 12.7 million people have fled their homes in two months of Russia’s war on Ukraine, including 7.7 million who were displaced inside the country and more than 5 million who have poured over the borders, UNHCR said in a briefing. “The human impact and the suffering already caused by this war are staggering,” it said, adding that women and children represented 90 percent of those forced to flee.
Refugee arrivals from Ukraine since Feb. 24. Updated April 19
The United Nations had previously estimated that as many as 4 million people could leave Ukraine, or roughly 10 percent of the population, The Washington Post has reported.
A majority of the refugees have gone to Poland. As Russian forces retreated from around the capital Kyiv, refocusing their fire on the south and east of the country, some Ukrainians are also returning to parts of the country. On Friday, almost 24,000 people returned to Ukraine from Poland, the Polish Border Guard said earlier.
Key update
Austin tells Ukraine: ‘All of us have your back’
Return to menu
By Karen DeYoung6:31 a.m.
Link copied
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, right, listens to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a meeting in Germany on Tuesday.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, right, listens to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a meeting in Germany on Tuesday. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — “All of us have your back,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Ukraine as he opened a U.S.-organized gathering of more than 40 countries to discuss Ukrainian defense needs for the fight against Russia.
In separate remarks, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a stark picture of the next phase of the war, as Russia attempts to take full control of southeastern and southern Ukraine.
“Time is not on Ukraine’s side,” Milley said in closed-door comments to the group provided to reporters traveling with him. “The outcome of this battle, right here, today, is dependent on the people in this room.”
Senior defense officials from NATO and non-NATO countries attended the one-day meeting of the new Ukraine Defense Consultative Group. Some nations, such as Israel and Qatar, had representatives at the table, although they were not included on the official list of attendees.
The inclusion of non-NATO countries such as Kenya, Tunisia and Japan was part of an effort to extend substantive and symbolic support for Ukraine beyond Europe and the alliance.
U.S. objectives for the gathering were to share what Pentagon spokesman John Kirby called a “common understanding” of the current battlefield and Ukrainian defense capabilities and requirements, as well as the capacity of national industrial bases.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov headed a delegation from Kyiv, where Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled Sunday.
“That visit only underscored my sense of urgency, an urgency that I know that we all share,” Austin said at the meeting. He emphasized that he would “like this whole group today to leave with a common and transparent understanding of Ukraine’s near-term security requirements because we’re going to keep moving heaven and earth so that we can meet them.”
President Biden announced last week an additional $800 million in weapons aid for Ukraine, including heavy artillery and high-tech attack drones that are targeted for the new battle in the south and southeast. U.S. military officials have assessed that the Russians, who have retreated to those areas following their failure to take Kyiv, will try to encircle Ukrainian forces there in a major ground battle.
“My trip to Kyiv reinforced my admiration for the way that the Ukrainian armed forces are deploying” the help they are getting, Austin said in his opening statement. “Ukraine clearly believes that it can win. And so does everyone here.”
Milley was less definitive after reporters had left the room. “The next two, three, four weeks will shape the overall outcome of this fight,” he said.
U.S. looks to assist war crimes prosecutions targeting Russian leaders
Return to menu
By Missy Ryan6:01 a.m.
Link copied
A grave digger pauses while preparing the ground for a funeral at a cemetery in Irpin, Ukraine, this month. (John Moore/Getty Images)
A grave digger pauses while preparing the ground for a funeral at a cemetery in Irpin, Ukraine, this month. (John Moore/Getty Images)
The Biden administration is compiling information about alleged war crimes in Ukraine that may be used to hold Russian leaders accountable, as federal prosecutors lay the groundwork for trials in European courts or what could be the first trial for the senior officials of a major global power at the world criminal court.
While it is unlikely that President Vladimir Putin would end up at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, even an indictment of the Russian leader or his aides would represent a landmark moment for efforts to hold senior officials accountable for atrocities committed under their watch, officials and analysts said.
“It would be an enormous development in the field, harking back to the World War II Nuremberg era,” Beth Van Schaack, the American ambassador at large for global criminal justice, said in an interview. She likened the impact of a trial to the shock waves caused by the 1998 arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet on the orders of a Spanish judge.
Read the full story
Poland sends tanks to Ukraine, prime minister says
Return to menu
By Ellen Francis5:33 a.m.
Link copied
Poland is sending tanks to Ukraine, according to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, as Kyiv appeals to allies for heavy weaponry to fend off Russian forces.
Morawiecki confirmed the move after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that his country could help “backfill” as Warsaw supplies Ukraine with tanks. In an interview Monday with Polish channel Polsat News, Morawiecki declined to elaborate, including on the number of tanks Poland could send across the border.
Western governments including the United States have said they are delivering heavy weaponry such as howitzers to strengthen Ukraine’s military as Russia intensifies its assault in the east. “We’re looking at sending tanks to Poland to help them as they send some of their T-72s to Ukraine,” Johnson told a news conference last week, referring to Soviet-era tanks.
Poland had proposed in March to supply Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine through an American air base in Germany and receive U.S.-manufactured replacement planes, but Washington rejected the offer. Morawiecki said there was now “no such necessity” when asked about the plan.
Key update
Moldova security council to meet over blasts in breakaway Transnistria
Return to menu
By Ellen Francis5:20 a.m.
Link copied
A view of radio center antennae after blasts in the village of Mayak in Moldova's self-proclaimed separatist Transnistria region, in a photo released on April 26, 2022. (Transnistrian Interior Ministry/Reuters)
A view of radio center antennae after blasts in the village of Mayak in Moldova's self-proclaimed separatist Transnistria region, in a photo released on April 26, 2022. (Transnistrian Interior Ministry/Reuters)
Moldova’s president convened a meeting of the country’s security council Tuesday after explosions hit a radio center and a security headquarters in the breakaway republic of Transnistria that borders Ukraine.
The Internal Affairs Ministry in Transnistria said there were no injuries in either incident. The statement said two explosions in the village of Mayak on Tuesday morning damaged two Soviet-era radio antennae that reportedly broadcast Russian radio.
It said earlier that several explosions hit the Ministry of State Security building on Monday and that preliminary information suggested rounds were fired from a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. It said police cordoned off the building, where windows on the upper floors were broken.
No one immediately claimed responsibility. The Moldovan Office for Reintegration Policy said Monday’s blasts at the security agency were intended to “create pretexts for straining the security situation in the Transnistrian region, which is not controlled by the constitutional authorities.”
Concerns have arisen about whether Russia’s war in Ukraine could widen, days after a Russian military commander said one goal was to establish a corridor through the south to Transnistria. The region, a strip of land along Moldova’s border with Ukraine that has a population of about 500,000, is backed by Moscow and not recognized by any country although it largely operates separately from Moldova.
It was unclear whether the Russian commander’s comments reflected official policy, although Ukraine depicted them as proof of the Kremlin’s ambitions beyond its borders. Moldova’s government later summoned the Russian ambassador to express “deep concern.”
Claire Parker contributed to this report.
Key update
Germany greenlights delivery of antiaircraft weapons to Ukraine
Return to menu
By Loveday Morris5:07 a.m.
Link copied
BERLIN — Germany said Tuesday it would enable the delivery of an unspecified number of armored antiaircraft vehicles to Ukraine amid mounting domestic pressure to send heavy weaponry to the embattled country.
The move was announced by Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht during a meeting of defense leaders from dozens of NATO and non-NATO countries at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
The Flakpanzer Gepard, made by German arms manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegman (KMW), is based on a tank chassis and equipped with a mobile air defense system. KMW offered to deliver 50 to Ukraine in February, according to press reports.
“Germany, together with its allies, stands firmly at the side of its Ukrainian friends who are in dire need,” she said, according to a copy of her prepared remarks. Questions over whether to send arms to Ukraine have fractured Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government in recent weeks, with support mounting for an equipment delivery.
Scholz had said he could not spare supplies from the German army’s stock, but the government was also accused of scrubbing heavy armaments from a German arms industry list of what was available for Kyiv.
Lambrecht acknowledged that there has been “criticism of Germany in recent weeks.”
“But the numbers speak a different language,” the defense minister said. “It is important to me that we continue to stand together here and not allow ourselves to be driven apart.”
Germany is also working with the United States and the Netherlands to provide artillery system training for Ukrainians on German soil, she said.
E.U. tells India response to Russian aggression will shape world order
Return to menu
By Rachel Pannett5:06 a.m.
Link copied
E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday.
E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday. (AP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned Monday that Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is a threat to European security and global order.
Speaking in India — which for years has juggled its close relations with Russia, a legacy of the Cold War, and its growing ties with the United States — von der Leyen called on all members of the international community to support peace efforts.
She cautioned of the “seemingly unrestrained pact” forged between Russia and China, and its implications for Asia as well as for Europe.
India, a rising power that relies on Moscow for much of its advanced weaponry, has previously rebuffed calls for it to condemn Russia’s actions. Another of India’s balancing acts — providing humanitarian aid to Kyiv while maintaining ties with Moscow — is proving increasingly difficult as reports of Russian atrocities grow.
Von der Leyen recounted her recent visit to Bucha, a town on Kyiv’s outskirts that has come to symbolize Ukraine’s suffering. “I saw with my own eyes the bodies lined up on the ground. I saw the mass graves,” she said Monday.
The E.U. leader’s visit is seen as the latest opportunity to pressure India to reduce its reliance on Russia. It follows British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visit last week, which resulted in India and Britain jointly calling for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine.
“Our response to Russia’s aggression today will decide the future of both the international system and the global economy,” von der Leyen said. “The outcome of the war will not only determine the future of Europe but also deeply affect the Indo-Pacific region and the rest of the world.”
Satellite images show third mass gravesite near Mariupol
Return to menu
By Reis Thebault4:41 a.m.
Link copied
In this satellite image, a mass gravesite can be seen outside a village near Mariupol, which Russia has been bombarding for weeks. It is the third mass gravesite discovered near the port city.
In this satellite image, a mass gravesite can be seen outside a village near Mariupol, which Russia has been bombarding for weeks. It is the third mass gravesite discovered near the port city. (Planet Labs)
Satellite imagery has turned up more mass graves near Mariupol, the third such site discovered around the devastated port city, which Russia has besieged and shelled for weeks.
The images, captured by the American firm Planet, shows a plot of land roughly five miles outside Mariupol, in a Russian-occupied village. In it, trenches can be seen expanding over the period of a month, from March 24 to April 24. The gravesite, according to the photos, is roughly 200 feet long at the beginning of that span and tops 650 feet by the end, on Sunday.
The images, which were first reported by Radio Free Europe, add to the growing evidence of atrocities committed in the southeastern city, which Moscow has been desperate to capture since the earliest days of its invasion. The two previously discovered mass graves could together hold as many as 10,000 Mariupol residents, officials have estimated.
Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, told Radio Free Europe that the photographs align with Ukrainian government information indicating that Russia has used mass graves to bury civilians killed in its bombardment of the city, sometimes enlisting residents in the digging work in exchange for food.
“We know about these mass graves because these fascists — I have no other words — engage local people in the burials for food,” Boichenko said. “And the locals told us that one must have enough ‘work hours’ to get food and water. … The amount of humanitarian cargo the Russians bring here is not enough, so people have to do this”
Archie Dolina and Paulina Firozi contributed to this report.
Russia investigating fire at oil depot near border
Return to menu
By Hannah Knowles4:22 a.m.
Link copied
Large fire tears through Russian oil depot
Large plumes of smoke were seen on April 25 after fire broke out at an oil storage in Bryansk, a Russian city less than 100 miles from the border with Ukraine. (Video: The Washington Post)
Russian officials said Monday that they are investigating a fire that broke out at an oil depot in Bryansk, a Russian city not far from the Ukrainian border.
It is not clear what caused flames to erupt at the fuel storage site. Video verified by the Associated Press and Reuters showed large plumes of smoke rising from the city.
The Ukrainian Parliament relayed news of the fire on its official Telegram channel but did not take credit for it.
Separately, Russia’s defense ministry said Monday that Russian forces had destroyed “fuel production facilities” near the Ukrainian industrial hub of Kremenchuk, as well as storage sites for fuel going to Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian officials said a slew of missiles hit Kremenchuk Sunday.
Early this month, Ukrainian officials said, Russian rockets destroyed Ukraine’s only fully functioning oil refinery — also in Kremenchuk.
María Paúl contributed to this report.
Top Russian diplomat: War to end in treaty, but ‘stage of hostilities’ will determine terms
Return to menu
By Reis Thebault and Rachel Pannett4:03 a.m.
Link copied
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on April 22.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on April 22. (Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry/Handout/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Russia’s top diplomat said Monday that the war in Ukraine would probably end in a treaty, but acknowledged the terms would depend on the military situation in the country at the time — a potentially ominous, if vague, preview of Moscow’s negotiation stance as peace talks remain stalled and fighting continues.
“As in any situation where armed forces are used, everything will end with a treaty,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with state television. “But its parameters will be determined by the stage of hostilities at which this treaty becomes a reality.”
The chief of the United Nations is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to urge him to commit to a cease-fire. But such an agreement does not appear imminent, with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine accusing Putin of mass atrocities and the sinking of a Russian warship exacerbating an already delicate diplomatic process.
Lavrov criticized Ukraine and accused its Western allies of limiting the talks and slowing their progress. In the wide-ranging interview, he also said the risk of the conflict in Ukraine escalating into nuclear war “is serious, it is real,” but said Russia’s position remains that nuclear war is unacceptable.
Lavrov also accused NATO of fighting a proxy war with Russia and reiterated that the weapons flowing from allies into Ukraine will be considered “a legitimate target” for Russia’s military, a proclamation that has stoked concerns of a widening war.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter that talk of “World War III” is a sign “Moscow senses defeat in Ukraine” and is attempting to “scare the world off supporting Ukraine.”
Instead, Kuleba urged the world to “double down” on its support for Ukraine to “safeguard European and global security.”
U.S. wants Russian military ‘weakened’ from Ukraine invasion, Austin says
Return to menu
By Missy Ryan and Annabelle Timsit3:13 a.m.
Link copied
Austin says U.S. wants Russia to be ‘weakened’ so it can't invade again
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said April 25 that the U.S. wants Russia's military capability weakened so that it cannot carry out another invasion. (Video: The Washington Post)
POLAND, NEAR THE BORDER WITH UKRAINE — The United States hopes the war in Ukraine will result in a “weakened” Russia that no longer has the capacity to invade its neighbors, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday — a sharpening of rhetoric toward Moscow as the conflict stretches into its third month.
“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” Austin said.
Austin was in Poland, answering questions from reporters after a brief trip Sunday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Kyiv, where the pair met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials.
The defense secretary was asked how he defined “America’s goals for success” in Ukraine. He first said Washington wants to see “Ukraine remain a sovereign country, a democratic country, able to protect its sovereign territory.”
Read the full story
Ukraine war protesters in kayaks chain themselves to Russian oil tanker
Return to menu
By Annabelle Timsit2:48 a.m.
Link copied
Members of Greenpeace take up positions next to the tanker Ust Luga near Asgardstrand, Norway, on April 25. (NTB/Reuters)
Members of Greenpeace take up positions next to the tanker Ust Luga near Asgardstrand, Norway, on April 25. (Ntb/Reuters)
Ukraine war protesters in kayaks and a rubber dinghy chained themselves to a Russian oil tanker in Norway to prevent what they say is the delivery of nearly 100,000 metric tons of oil, Greenpeace said Monday.
“Oil is not only at the root of the climate crisis, but also of wars and conflicts,” Frode Pleym, program manager for Greenpeace Norway, said in a statement.
“I am shocked that Norway operates as a free port for Russian oil, which we know finances [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s warfare,” Pleym said.
Greenpeace said the activists want a ban on Russian oil imports in Norway and for Esso to “cancel its contracts to buy fossil fuel from Russia in this time of war.” The group also included members of Extinction Rebellion, a global network of climate change activists, Reuters reported.
Read the full story
International nuclear watchdog to inspect Chernobyl site
Return to menu
By Rachel Pannett2:22 a.m.
Link copied
Trenches and firing positions sit in the highly radioactive soil adjacent to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 16.
Trenches and firing positions sit in the highly radioactive soil adjacent to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 16. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) will visit the Chernobyl nuclear power plant site Tuesday, in the first full international inspection since Russian tanks and troops rumbled into an exclusion zone around the complex in February, churning up contaminated soil from a 1986 nuclear disaster there.
A team from the international nuclear watchdog will deliver equipment, conduct radiological assessments and restore safeguards monitoring systems, the IAEA said in a statement. Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the situation in Ukraine underscored the importance of having an international framework of “norms and procedures” for nuclear safety and security.
Russian forces took control of the nuclear facility Feb. 24, effectively trapping about 300 people — including technicians, guards and others — who were unable to rotate work shifts as usual. The plant, where radioactive waste management facilities are located, was disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid, alarming those who feared it would disrupt the cooling of on-site nuclear material and potentially lead to radiation leaks.
Power was restored after five days, and workers were eventually rotated out, following weeks of pressure from the IAEA — which had warned of the safety concerns posed by exhausted personnel.
Tuesday’s visit coincides with the 36th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
Britain estimates 15,000 Russian troops killed in Ukraine
Return to menu
By Rachel Pannett1:57 a.m.
Link copied
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace speaks to the news media in Romania earlier this month.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace speaks to the news media in Romania earlier this month. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images)
The British government estimates that about 15,000 Russian troops have been killed since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace released the estimate in a speech to lawmakers on Monday. He said about a quarter of the 120 battalion tactical groups committed by Moscow at the start of the war “have been rendered not combat effective.”
As well as thousands of troop casualties, some 2,000 Russian armored vehicles have been destroyed or captured — including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, he said. Russia has also lost more than 60 helicopters and fighter jets, he added.
Death tolls have been hard for independent observers to verify during the conflict, with the fog of war making solid information difficult to obtain and fierce fighting impeding efforts to count the dead. NATO last month estimated that Russia had lost between 7,000 and 15,000 troops during the first four weeks of fighting, while Ukraine has put the toll at 18,600. Moscow has conceded only 1,351 casualties, the Associated Press reported.
“Russia has so far failed in nearly every one of its objectives,” Wallace told Britain’s House of Commons on Monday.
Wallace said the “next three weeks are key” — as Moscow attempts to further occupy the Donbas region in the east and create a land bridge with Crimea via the besieged port city of Mariupol — noting that Kyiv needs more long-range artillery and ammunition, along with anti-ship missiles to counter Russian ships’ ability to bombard Ukrainian cities. “If possible, the U.K. will seek to enable or supply such weapons,” he said.
Britain has so far provided more than 5,000 antitank missiles, as well as air defense systems and 4.5 tons of plastic explosives to Ukraine’s military, he said.
Looming ground battle is crucial phase in Ukraine, U.S. officials say
Return to menu
By Karen DeYoung1:31 a.m.
Link copied
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — U.S. military officials assess that a crucial, and perhaps decisive, phase of the Ukraine war is shaping up in the eastern part of the country, where Russian troops may surround Ukrainian forces in hopes of pummeling them in an epic, long-distance ground battle reminiscent of the last century.
New U.S. shipments of heavy artillery and counter-artillery radar, tactical drones, armored vehicles and other equipment are being rushed to Ukraine before tens of thousands of troops, amounting to up to half of the Ukrainian army, are caught in what is known as a “double envelopment” maneuver that would bring them under simultaneous attack from two sides.
The Ukrainians are located in a north-south crescent between deep Russian lines in the southeastern Donbas region, and a potential pincer movement to their west.
Read the full story
Russian forces seize Kherson council building as ‘sham’ referendum looms
Return to menu
By Bryan Pietsch1:06 a.m.
Link copied
The mayor of Kherson, a port city in Ukraine just north of annexed Crimea, said Russian forces stormed the city council building on Monday evening.
They “took the keys” and “changed our security to their own,” said Mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev. He said that when he left shortly before 8 p.m., “the flag of Ukraine was still above the city hall.”
Kherson was one of the first cities to be occupied by Russian forces after they invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Moscow is now focusing its military attention on Ukraine’s south and east.
Russia is set to hold a referendum this week in Kherson in what the British Defense Ministry described as a staged effort “aimed at justifying its occupation.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday evening decried the “sham” referendum “somewhere on our land.”
“Even if they try, it will be as shameful as everything else that was ‘created’ in Moscow for the occupation of Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
Moscow held a referendum after occupying Crimea in 2014 that Britain — along with other Western governments — said was illegitimate.
U.N. chief warned of ‘trap’ ahead of Putin meeting
Return to menu
By Rachel Pannett12:38 a.m.
Link copied
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres speaks to the news media in New York last month about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres speaks to the news media in New York last month about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, before traveling to Kyiv, Ukraine, later this week.
The U.N. chief is expected to urge the Kremlin to commit to a cease-fire, although such an agreement appears to be some way off. Ukraine and the West have accused Putin of orchestrating wartime atrocities, and the sinking of a Russian warship has complicated an already delicate diplomatic process.
In a phone call Sunday with Guterres ahead of the visit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described Putin’s actions in Ukraine as “nauseating and blatant aggression.” The two leaders discussed attacks on Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol and Kherson, and the “need to secure a ceasefire, facilitate humanitarian efforts and allow civilians to leave,” according to a Downing Street readout.
Johnson reportedly warned Guterres that Putin may attempt to spin the visit into a propaganda victory for the Kremlin. The U.N. chief was criticized over the weekend by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for stopping in Moscow ahead of Kyiv.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on Guterres to focus on humanitarian evacuations and avoid falling into a Kremlin “trap.” He was referring to Moscow using visits from foreign dignitaries to show off its diplomatic supremacy.
Guterres “should focus primarily on one issue: evacuation of Mariupol,” Kuleba told the Associated Press.
Key update
The latest on key battlegrounds: Kyiv curfew, train stations under fire
Return to menu
By Hannah Knowles, Julian Duplain, Laris Karklis and Hannah Faith Dormido12:16 a.m.
Link copied
Donbas: Ukrainian leaders continue to report some of the fiercest fighting in this eastern region that is home to pro-Russian separatists, where Russian troops have spent weeks refocusing their invasion. The entire Luhansk area suffered a power outage Monday morning, according to regional Gov. Serhiy Haidai. Haidai said battles continue around the cities of Rubizhne and Popasna, where residents are hiding from incessant shelling in basements. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces made small gains Sunday near the city of Severodonetsk, “seizing several small towns.”
Kyiv: A nighttime curfew in Ukraine’s capital will be enforced this week, according to Oleksandr Pavliuk, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration. He said the restrictions from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. would “help protect the population from the provocative actions of the enemy.” Russian forces withdrew from the capital area early this month, but officials are still reporting bombing in central Ukraine.
Central Ukraine: Shelling killed five people and wounded 18 in the central Vinnytsia region, according to the Ukrainian government’s Monday summary of news. In the Poltava area to the east, another person was killed and seven wounded, officials said. Rail officials also reported Monday that stations in western and central Ukraine came under fire, delaying train services.
Kherson: Both Ukrainian and Western officials have recently warned that Russian forces may stage a referendum in the southern city of Kherson — the first major city Moscow occupied — to help justify their invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that residents should be wary of Russian attempts to gather personal information and potentially “falsify” such a sham vote. Britain’s Defense Ministry also claimed Sunday that Russia is planning a staged vote in Kherson, using a tactic from its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Mariupol: Russia’s armed forces said Monday that they were halting operations near the steel plant where Ukrainian forces are holed up, with the aim of letting civilians evacuate. But Ukraine’s deputy prime minister criticized the unilateral announcement, saying the Russians have undercut promises of safe passage before. She said no agreements were reached on “humanitarian corridors” out of the Azovstal plant Monday.
María Paúl contributed to this report.
U.S. restarts diplomatic activity inside Ukraine and pledges more aid
Return to menu
By Missy Ryan, John Hudson and Annabelle Timsit12:15 a.m.
Link copied
Inna, 53, cries inside her ruined house in Ozera, Ukraine, on April 25. (Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
President Biden named a new ambassador to Ukraine on Monday after his top diplomat and defense official embarked on a risky visit to the war-torn country, pledging increased military assistance and a return of America’s diplomatic presence after a hasty evacuation in February.
The cloak-and-dagger visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was meant to hail Ukraine’s success in defending the capital, Kyiv, even as the Kremlin’s brutal, two-month-old military offensive continued.
Only hours after the two Cabinet secretaries departed for Poland by train, Russian forces bombed five Ukrainian railroad stations, including a rail line in Lviv near the Polish border. Ukrainian officials said Russia had continued to shell the ravaged port city of Mariupol over the Orthodox Easter holiday weekend, and they questioned Moscow’s announcement Monday that it would stop attacks so civilians could escape.
Despite the precarious situation, Blinken and Austin — the first senior U.S. officials to visit Ukraine since the fighting began — exuded confidence in the West’s ability to damage Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Russia is failing, Ukraine is succeeding,” Blinken said after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday.
Read the full story
War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The latest: Under intensifying pressure from world leaders, President Putin is slated to meet on Tuesday with U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, who will lobby for an immediate cease-fire. Top U.S. officials who visited Kyiv on Monday praised Ukrainian resistance and expressed cautious optimism about the country’s prospects.
The fight: Russian forces continue to mount sporadic attacks on civilian targets in a number of Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian prosecutors have been taking detailed testimony from victims to investigate Russian war crimes.
The weapons: Ukraine is making use of weapons such as Javelin antitank missiles and Switchblade “kamikaze” drones, provided by the United States and other allies. Russia has used an array of weapons against Ukraine, some of which have drawn the attention and concern of analysts.
In Russia: Putin has locked down the flow of information within Russia, where the war isn’t even being called a war.
Photos: Post photographers have been on the ground from the very beginning of the war — here’s some of their most powerful work.
How you can help: Here are ways those in the U.S. can help support the Ukrainian people as well as what people around the world have been donating.
Read our full coverage of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and exclusive video.
Show less
Gift Article The Washington Post
No comments:
Post a Comment