Russia-Ukraine war live updates
Macron and Scholz visit Kyiv; Luhansk region under attack from ‘nine directions’
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Senior U.S. officials defend size and scope of arsenal sent to Ukraine
3:53 a.m.
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Update from key battlefields: U.S., NATO sending more military aid amid brutal artillery battle in east
3:17 a.m.
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French, German and Italian leaders visit Ukrainian capital
2:42 a.m.
As prices rise, Europeans divided over how Ukraine war should end
2:25 a.m.
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Ahead of Kyiv trip, Macron says E.U. expansion cannot be ‘only answer’ for stability
2:01 a.m.
U.S. to send $1 billion in military aid to bolster Ukrainian fight
2:00 a.m.
Key updates
Update from key battlefields: U.S., NATO sending more military aid amid brutal artillery battle in east
French, German and Italian leaders visit Ukrainian capital
Ahead of Kyiv trip, Macron says E.U. expansion cannot be ‘only answer’ for stability
U.S. pledges additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine
2:26
President Biden announced June 15 that the United States will send a new arms package worth $1 billion to Ukraine. (Video: Reuters)
By Bryan Pietsch, Rachel Pannett, Julian Duplain and Jennifer Hassan
Updated June 16, 2022 at 3:53 a.m. EDT|Published June 16, 2022 at 2:00 a.m. EDT
Ukraine’s Luhansk region is being attacked from “nine directions simultaneously,” the country’s top general said, in line with recent Western assessments that eastern Ukraine — the Kremlin’s top target — could soon fall into Russian hands if the current dynamic continues. As the West rushes weapons shipments, Kyiv has pledged to keep fighting in the hopes that battling on in the east will keep Russia away from the rest of the country.
In a diplomatic show of support, the leaders of France, Italy and Germany — all members of the European Union — arrived in Kyiv on Thursday morning. A Ukrainian rail official tweeted a photo of three of the leaders on board an overnight train heading to the country. Ukraine has pressed for E.U. membership, which is seen by some European leaders as a somewhat lofty goal and one that cannot be realized in the near term.
President Biden on Wednesday responded to calls from Ukraine for more weapons as he announced another $1 billion in security assistance to the country, which is struggling to hold back intense attacks. The package includes artillery, rocket systems, coastal defense weapons and ammunition. It is not clear when the weapons would be delivered.
Here’s what else to know
NATO defense ministers, including U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, will meet Thursday in Brussels. Requests from Sweden and Finland to join the alliance are still pending.
The United States said Chinese President Xi Jinping risked being “on the wrong side of history” after he declared his support for Moscow’s “sovereignty and security” during a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Two U.S. military veterans have gone missing in Ukraine, and it is feared they have been captured by Russia, family members of the missing Americans said.
Senior U.S. officials defend size and scope of arsenal sent to Ukraine
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By Dan Lamothe3:53 a.m.
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on June 15. (Olivier Matthys/AP)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on June 15. (Olivier Matthys/AP)
Senior U.S. officials on Wednesday defended the size and scope of the arsenal of weapons they are sending Ukraine to assist in its fight against Russia, saying that Ukrainian forces are using more effective tactics and receiving more accurate artillery.
The comments came as the Biden administration detailed what it is sending in a new $1 billion package of military aid. The latest weapons going to Ukraine include for the first time Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers and 18 more M777 howitzers, artillery that launch 155 mm explosive shells and have been “absolutely lethal” in the conflict so far, said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The United States previously sent 108 howitzers.
Austin, speaking at a news conference in Brussels, said the latest package also includes thousands of artillery rounds and will be joined by additional arms from other nations. They include Germany sending three multiple-launch rockets systems, Slovakia sending helicopters, and Canada, Poland and the Netherlands sending additional artillery.
“We have on a number of occasions gone down line by line what they need that is relevant in this fight,” Austin said of the Ukrainians. “So we feel pretty confident that we’re working hard to give them what they think is relevant.”
Austin, a retired Army general, added that he has been in combat, and “when you’re in a fight, you can never get enough” resources.
“You always want more,” he said. “You always believe that you need more. I can certainly understand where the Ukrainians are coming from, and we’re going to fight hard to get them everything that they need.”
Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems that the United States is providing Ukraine will give them the ability to take out a “significant” number of targets with precision. The United States just ran an exercise over the past two days to certify the first platoon of Ukrainian soldiers in how to use the system.
Key update
Update from key battlefields: U.S., NATO sending more military aid amid brutal artillery battle in east
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By Rachel Pannett3:17 a.m.
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As a brutal artillery battle for control of eastern Ukraine rages on, the United States has pledged an additional $1 billion in military aid. NATO members have promised more weapons, too, although Britain’s defense secretary argues the West should shift its focus to training “exhausted” and outgunned Ukrainian troops. Senior U.S. officials defended the size and scope of the arsenal, saying Kyiv’s forces are using more effective tactics and receiving more accurate artillery even as both sides sustain heavy losses.
Here are updates from across the country:
Severodonetsk: Russian forces are continuing their ground assaults in and around this strategic eastern city but have not yet taken control of it, according to U.S. military analysts. They have isolated Kyiv’s troops, though, making it difficult for them to resupply or to withdraw. In a potential repeat of the standoff in Mariupol — where Ukrainian fighters and civilians were holed up for weeks in a network of tunnels beneath an industrial site in the city — elements of Ukraine’s military and several hundred civilians are sheltering in underground bunkers in a chemical plant in the city’s industrial zone, Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update Wednesday.
Donetsk area: Russian forces “may be staging false flag attacks around Donetsk city to dissuade pro-Ukrainian sentiment,” analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a D.C.-based think tank, said in its latest battlefield assessment. Residents of Donetsk and Makiivka — an industrial city on the outskirts of the regional capital — reported heavy shelling of infrastructure. Kremlin-backed separatists accused Ukraine of carrying out the artillery attacks, an assertion challenged by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said: “Russian propagandists have become more active in producing fakes [attacks] to provoke despair in Ukraine.”
Kharkiv area: Russian forces are continuing to mount ground assaults northeast of Ukraine’s second-largest city to push Ukrainian troops away from occupied frontiers near the Russian border, ISW said.
Snake Island: Satellite imagery shows Russia continues to fortify Snake Island to secure its defenses in the Black Sea, where a Russian naval blockade is blocking Ukrainian grain exports. President Biden this week touted a plan to build silos in countries bordering Ukraine to get the grain out by rail instead and avert a global food crisis.
Key update
French, German and Italian leaders visit Ukrainian capital
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By Amy Cheng2:42 a.m.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi traveled to the Ukrainian capital on Thursday morning, according to the French president’s office.
Alexander Kamyshin, a top Ukrainian railway official, tweeted a photo of the three European leaders on board a train headed to Kyiv.
Macron said he would hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday.
Ukraine has continued to press for admission to the European Union. Scholz, Macron and Draghi are among the bloc’s most influential leaders, and their trip marks the first time each has visited Kyiv since the war.
Last month, Scholz rejected plans to visit Kyiv after Zelensky rebuked German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier for previously fostering close relations between Berlin and Moscow. Macron, who has sought to portray himself as a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow, has been criticized for muddled remarks that have led to questions about his commitment to Ukraine, even though France has sent heavy weaponry and pledged support for the country’s sovereignty.
Rick Noack in Paris contributed to this report.
As prices rise, Europeans divided over how Ukraine war should end
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By Ellen Francis and Annabelle Timsit2:25 a.m.
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Protesters form a chain around the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels on June 12 to support Ukraine’s application for E.U. candidacy status. (Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images)
Protesters form a chain around the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels on June 12 to support Ukraine’s application for E.U. candidacy status. (Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images)
As the war in Ukraine drags on through its fourth month, Europeans remain largely united in backing Kyiv, but they are divided over how long they’re willing to endure the conflict’s economic fallout, a poll published Wednesday shows.
The survey across 10 European countries suggests public attention may turn from the war to fears about its wider impact, particularly the rising cost of living on the continent. European governments will have to contend with those concerns as they seek to maintain pressure against Moscow, analysts say.
Slightly more than a third of those surveyed want the war to be over as soon as possible, even at the expense of Ukrainian territorial concessions, while 22 percent say it should last as long as it takes to punish Russia and restore all of Ukraine’s land.
Still, the participants were not divided over support for Ukraine — or about who’s responsible for the war. A large majority, 73 percent, mainly blame Moscow, and 64 percent believe that Russia, not the United States, the European Union or Ukraine, is the biggest obstacle to peace.
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Key update
Ahead of Kyiv trip, Macron says E.U. expansion cannot be ‘only answer’ for stability
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By Bryan Pietsch2:01 a.m.
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Members of the Ukrainian community in Portugal demonstrate in support of Ukraine joining the European Union.
Members of the Ukrainian community in Portugal demonstrate in support of Ukraine joining the European Union. (Armando Franca/AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron said an expansion of the European Union “cannot be the only answer” for regional stability, amid Ukraine’s pending application to join the bloc and ahead of his reported visit to Kyiv.
Macron and the leaders of E.U. member states Italy, Germany and Romania are set to visit the Ukrainian capital in a show of support, according to Reuters and other news organizations. Details of such visits are usually not announced ahead of time due to security concerns, but a Ukrainian rail official on Thursday tweeted a photo of three of the leaders on board a train heading to the country.
The French leader has been criticized in recent weeks for comments that muddled Paris’s support for Kyiv, but speaking with his Moldovan counterpart on Wednesday, he said Moldova’s application to join the E.U. was “perfectly legitimate” and should not be dissociated from Ukraine’s, according to French newspaper Ouest-France.
But Macron said Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan — which have expressed varying levels of interest in European integration — were in “other situations,” though he did not provide specifics.
Ukraine, which for years has sought to join the bloc, has pressed for membership with increased urgency amid the Russian invasion. Accession is normally a years-long process, and Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa said recently that the E.U. risks creating “false expectations that become bitter disappointment” if it strings Ukraine along.
Macron has previously suggested the formation of a “European political community” for some eastern European countries that have expressed interest in joining the E.U. France said the group — which has been described as both an alternative and a complement to the E.U. — would serve as a body to strengthen relations between the bloc’s member states and those that may join their ranks.
But, as one diplomat put it to Reuters, the “community” risks becoming a “glorified waiting room” for Ukraine.
U.S. to send $1 billion in military aid to bolster Ukrainian fight
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By Emily Rauhala, Missy Ryan, Dan Lamothe and John Hudson2:00 a.m.
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BRUSSELS — The United States will send an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, President Biden announced Wednesday, bolstering Ukrainian forces as they are pummeled by a Russian offensive in the country’s east.
The massive arms package, which will include ammunition, artillery systems and, for the first time from the United States, mobile Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers, underscores the high stakes of Ukraine’s attempt to repel a powerful Russian assault in the Donbas region and fears that the Kremlin could still target port cities such as Odessa.
“The United States, together with our allies and partners, will not waver in our commitment to the Ukrainian people as they fight for their freedom,” Biden said in a statement after a call with President Volodymyr Zelensky. The scale of the assistance, the United States’ single largest aid package for Ukraine to date, represents an acknowledgment that the war will probably continue for many months more, generating disastrous effects for the world economy and global hunger.
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War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The latest: Ukraine’s Luhansk region is being attacked from “nine directions simultaneously,” the country’s top general said. As Russia nears total control of a key eastern region, the leaders of France, Italy and Germany are headed for Kyiv on Thursday, the first such visit during wartime.
The fight: A slowly regenerating Russian army is making incremental gains in eastern Ukraine against valiant but underequipped Ukrainian forces. The United States and its allies are racing to deliver the enormous quantities of weaponry the Ukrainians urgently need if they are to hold the Russians at bay.
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.
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.
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By Bryan Pietsch, Rachel Pannett, Julian Duplain and Jennifer Hassan
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