Today at 12:20 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 4:06 a.m. EDT
Today at 12:20 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 4:06 a.m. EDT
Ukraine appealed to NATO Thursday to give its forces more firepower to fight Russia as the alliance’s foreign ministers meet for a second day and European diplomats weighed a ban on Russian coal. The call for “weapons, weapons, weapons,” is the reason Ukraine’s foreign minister said he flew to the Brussels meeting.
The gruesome killings in Bucha could further isolate Moscow, with the United Nations General Assembly taking a vote Thursday on expelling Russia from its Human Rights Council. Outrage over the atrocities near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv — where The Washington Post saw signs of beheading and mutilation — has spurred the Biden administration to impose more sanctions on Russia, including against two of its biggest banks, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters, Mariya Putina and Katerina Tikhonova.
Still, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pushed the West to go further to put more pressure on the Kremlin, particularly by banning imports of Russian oil — which the United States has done, though the E.U. remains divided — and warned of “a new bloody wave” in the east. Russia has fully withdrawn its troops from Kyiv and further north in the city of Chernihiv, according to the Pentagon.
Here’s what to know
- Ukrainian officials called on people to evacuate three provinces near the Russian border as the eastern region braces where Russian forces have shifted their focus braces for an assault.
- The U.S. Justice Department has indicted Konstantin Malofeyev, the first criminal charges against an oligarch since the invasion of Ukraine began.
- The House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday evening urging a U.S. investigation of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Moscow has dismissed the accusations.
- The 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
Ukrainian refugees vow to return home — even if it’s never the same
Under an Irpin bridge moments before she fled, Olga Gdulia stood in silence.
Gdulia and others were waiting for Ukrainian soldiers to signal that it was safe to head toward buses that would take them away from her besieged hometown. Failure to heed the commands could mean death at the hands of Russian forces.
She had hugged her mother and stepfather tightly and forced herself to memorize their faces in case it would be the last time her eyes would take them in.
She could only focus on getting from one place to the next.
Gdulia is among the more than 10 million Ukrainians who have fled their homes because of Russia’s invasion, leaving behind their communities and crossing hundreds of miles — some on foot — to find refuge with few vestiges of the lives they left. Many yearn to return home, even if it’s not the same.
Right-wing Azov Battalion emerges as a controversial defender of Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Inside a warehouse, in a bustling section of this capital, the incessant cracking sound of gunfire echoed off walls. Men in olive-colored camouflage were training for war. Most wore helmets and bulletproof jackets. Some wore high-top sneakers. All clutched AK-47 rifles and waited for their turn to shoot at a round target 50 yards away.
It was centered with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s face — and peppered with bullet holes.
Invisible, yet palpable, was the shadow cast over this new regiment, like every unit of the Azov Battalion.
Of all the Ukrainian forces fighting the invading Russian military, the most controversial is the Azov Battalion. It is among Ukraine’s most adept military units and has battled Russian forces in key sites, including the besieged city of Mariupol and near the capital, Kyiv.
But the battalion’s far-right nationalist ideology has raised concerns that it is attracting extremists, including white supremacist neo-Nazis, who could pose a future threat.
Senate moves to streamline military assistance with lend-lease bill
The Senate on Wednesday moved unanimously to streamline President Biden’s ability to provide military assistance to Ukraine, mirroring the World War II-era Lend-Lease Act.
The Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act “temporarily waives certain requirements” that were restricting Biden’s ability to quickly send military equipment to Ukraine. It stipulates that such equipment must be intended for Ukraine and “necessary to protect civilians in Ukraine from Russian military invasion.”
Some experts, including Seth Jones, director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, had called for the United States to implement a “Twenty-First Century Lend-Lease Act to provide Ukraine with war materiel at no cost.”
The United States implemented the same policy during World War II, allowing it to supply arms to its allies by lending or leasing equipment rather than selling it, while keeping — at least officially — neutrality in the war.
The measure now moves to the House, which on Wednesday evening moved overwhelmingly to push for a U.S. investigation of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Russia has fully withdrawn from Kyiv and Chernihiv, Pentagon says
Russian forces have withdrawn from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the city of Chernihiv to its north, the Pentagon said Wednesday, as Moscow concentrates its invading forces in the eastern part of the country.
“We are assessing that all of the Russians have left,” said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under terms set by the Pentagon. The Defense Department had confirmed the full departure in the past day, this person said Wednesday afternoon, cautioning that Russian forces may have left mines that would need to be cleared.
U.S. and European intelligence officials have been tracking for days Russia’s reorientation after encountering fierce resistance — and suffering thousands of casualties — in northern Ukraine. Moscow has greater support in the east, where Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists have been locked in a grinding conflict for many years.
But while Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine’s capital region appears to be complete, with many units retreating through Belarus, the Pentagon has yet to see those personnel reenter eastern Ukraine, the senior defense official said Wednesday.
U.K. foreign secretary says age of Western engagement with Russia is over
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told her fellow NATO foreign ministers Wednesday that the age of engagement with Russia is over, according to a copy of her statement shared with the media by the Foreign Office.
She also declared that an agreement between NATO and Russia inked after the Cold War is dead. The NATO-Russia Founding Act states that the transatlantic alliance and Russia do not consider each other adversaries.
Her remarks came as London unveiled additional sanctions against Moscow on Wednesday, after global outrage stemming from the discovery of hundreds of bodies in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. The new measures include a ban on new British investments in Russia and a plan to end all British imports of Russian coal and oil by the end of this year.
“We will not rest until Ukraine prevails,” Truss said in a statement.
Taiwan tightens tech sanctions on Russia
NANJING, China — Taiwan is further restricting exports of high-tech equipment to Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Asian island, a major global supplier of crucial high-tech components, said Wednesday it is blocking the export of 57 types of technology products that can be used for both civil and military purposes, according to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency.
Technologies on the list include some telecommunications equipment, integrated circuit parts, and variable-frequency drives, which all can be used to manufacture weapons, according to the CNA.
Taiwan had announced Feb. 25 it was joining the international sanctions against Russia without providing specifics.
A crucial node in global tech supply chains, Taiwan is home to the world’s largest semiconductor production company, TSMC, which supplies many leading global electronics brands. It also hosts major electronics device manufacturers such as Foxconn, and makers of specialized tech components.
Eastern Ukraine braces for renewed assault as Russia regroups
MUKACHEVO, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials called Wednesday for evacuations in three provinces near the Russian border amid new signs that President Vladimir Putin’s troops are escalating their assault on eastern and southern cities following a failed attempt to take the country’s capital.
Local officials reported renewed Russian shelling in the eastern Donetsk region, killing at least five people, and as many as 10 high-rise apartment buildings on fire in Severodonetsk, in the neighboring Luhansk district. U.S. analysts said Moscow has begun gradually shifting the focus of its military operations to the eastern border provinces after withdrawing thousands of troops that previously encircled the capital, Kyiv.
The continued violence came amid fresh reports of human-rights atrocities in Ukrainian cities and towns that had been under Russian control. Accounts of rape and summary executions of civilians by Russian occupiers prompted the United States and several allies to announce new economic sanctions, including measures targeting two of Russia’s largest banks and Putin’s adult children.
U.S. has trained Ukrainians to use Switchblade drones, defense official says
Washington has trained a small group of Ukrainians in the United States to use Switchblade “kamikaze” killer drones, a senior defense official told reporters Wednesday.
The “rudimentary” training helped Ukrainian troops handle the weapons, which aren’t organic to their military, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon. The United States has said it will supply the unmanned aerial devices to help Ukraine fight off the Russian invasion.
Fewer than a dozen Ukrainians who were already in the United States for “professional military education” have been trained, the official said. They are expected to return to Ukraine soon.
The Switchblade drones come in two versions. The Switchblade 300 can destroy lightly armored vehicles, while the Switchblade 600 can hit main battle tanks, said Collin Koh, a defense expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
“It’ll enhance Ukrainian defenders’ ability to hold off new Russian armored onslaught and also help deal with Russian long-range artillery,” he said.
House passes bill urging U.S. investigation of war crimes
The House of Representatives on Wednesday evening passed legislation that directs the Biden administration to submit to Congress a report on the United States’ “efforts to collect, analyze, and preserve evidence and information related to war crimes and any other atrocities” committed by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.
President Biden and other world leaders have in recent days described the brutal killings in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha as a war crime. On Monday, Biden repeated his assertion that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal and called for further evidence-gathering to prepare for a war-crimes trial. “This guy is brutal, and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous, and everyone’s seen it,” Biden told reporters then.
Six members of Congress — all Republicans — voted against the measure. They include Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.), Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.).
Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) was among those who voted “no,” but she later submitted an official note saying she had intended to vote for the measure.
Zelensky: New sanctions have ‘spectacular look’ but aren’t enough
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video released overnight Wednesday that the latest round of Western sanctions against Moscow does not go far enough, and he renewed his calls for “a complete blockade” of Russian banks and oil.
“This package has a spectacular look, but this is not enough,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.
The sanctions, issued by the United States and European countries, came in response to images of the massacre in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where hundreds were killed, some with their hands tied behind their backs, and buried in mass graves or left on streets.
But the new measures, Zelensky said, “can hardly be called commensurate with the evil that the world saw in Bucha, with the evil that continues in Mariupol, in the shelling of Kharkiv, in Russia’s attempt to launch a new global bloody offensive in Donbas.”
The White House on Wednesday announced sanctions targeting two of Russia’s biggest banks and the adult children of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The United Kingdom also announced sanctions against Russian banks and oligarchs, and the European Union appeared poised to ban imported Russian coal.
Zelensky said the U.S. move to block Russia from using money held in American banks to pay debts was a “tangible” step.
“I’m grateful for that,” he said. “But much more needs to be done to stop the war.”
He called on other leaders to provide Ukraine with more weapons and criticized those who have been reluctant to impose a complete ban on Russian energy exports, a stance he said was costing more Ukrainian lives each day.
“It is the export of oil that is one of the foundations of Russia’s aggression,” Zelensky said.
The latest on Ukraine’s key battlegrounds and retaken cities
Russian-held areas and troop movement
BELARUS
RUSSIA
POL.
Chernihiv
Separatist-
controlled
area
Kyiv
Lviv
Kharkiv
UKRAINE
Mariupol
Odessa
ROMANIA
200 MILES
Control areas as of April 6
Sources: Institute for the Study of War,
AEI’s Critical Threats Project, Post reporting
THE WASHINGTON POST
Russian-held areas
and troop movement
BELARUS
RUSSIA
Chernihiv
POLAND
Chernobyl
Kyiv
Sumy
Lviv
Kharkiv
UKRAINE
Separatist-
controlled
area
Odessa
Mariupol
Berdyansk
ROMANIA
Kherson
Crimea
Annexed by Russia
in 2014
100 MILES
Active nuclear power plants with power-generating capabilities
Black Sea
Control areas as of April 6
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project, Post reporting
Russian-held areas
and troop movement
BELARUS
RUSSIA
Chernihiv
POLAND
Chernobyl
Kyiv
Sumy
Lviv
Kharkiv
Separatist-
controlled
area
UKRAINE
Mykolaiv
Mariupol
Berdyansk
Kherson
ROMANIA
Odessa
Kherson
Crimea
Annexed by Russia
in 2014
Active nuclear power plants with power-generating capabilities
Control areas as of April 6
100 MILES
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project, Post reporting
- Mariupol: At least 5,000 residents of the port city have died in the war, including 210 children, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said Wednesday on Telegram. More than 100,000 people are trapped there, according to Boychenko. The International Committee of the Red Cross suspended its efforts in the area after days of unsuccessful attempts to evacuate residents because of security conditions, the agency said Wednesday.
- Kharkiv region: Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk and local officials said Wednesday that residents are in danger and should consider evacuating as Ukrainian leaders brace for new assaults in the country’s east.
- Borodyanka: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the death toll in this settlement outside Kyiv may be even higher than that of Bucha, the suburb where Ukrainian officials say Russian troops killed more than 300 civilians. Ukraine’s forces have retaken the city, and photos from local media show widespread destruction.
- Bucha: Ukrainian citizens and soldiers are surveying the damage and possible war crimes in this town 15 miles northwest of Kyiv.
- Chernihiv: The largest city besieged by Russian troops and retaken by Ukrainians, more than half of Chernihiv’s 300,000 residents have fled and hundreds more have been killed, the mayor said. The total toll remains unclear, but survivors describe atrocities echoing those that have emerged from other cities Russia has occupied.
Justice Dept. charges Russian oligarch with sanctions violations
Federal prosecutors have charged a Russian oligarch who supported separatists in Ukraine with sanctions violations for trying to secretly acquire and run media outlets across Europe, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday.
At a news conference, Garland said the United States had unsealed an indictment against Konstantin Malofeyev. He said the Treasury Department had identified Malofeyev as “one of the main sources of financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea,” a Ukrainian territory that Russia took over in 2014.
Separately, Garland said the United States had disrupted a global botnet — a network of hacked computers — that was controlled by the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU. He said the botnet had been disrupted before it could be used but said the Russian government had used similar infrastructure to attack Ukrainian targets.
The U.S. actions, Garland said, should send a message to Russia.
“It does not matter how far you sail your yacht. It does not matter how well you conceal your assets. It does not matter how cleverly you write your malware or hide your online activity. The Justice Department will use every available tool to find you, disrupt your plots, and hold you accountable,” Garland said.
