Today at 1:01 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 9:02 a.m. EDT
Today at 1:01 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 9:02 a.m. EDT
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is set to speak face-to-face with Vladimir Putin on Monday, in the Russian president’s first meeting with a Western leader since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February. Austria’s foreign minister defended the sit-down as a chance to send “a very clear political message” to Putin “that he is isolating Russia” and “has lost” already on moral terms.
Ukrainian officials reported attacks throughout the east of the country on Sunday, and civilians were urged to evacuate. Some casualties were reported, including a 7-year-old child in Kharkiv.
Russian troops are preparing an assault on the eastern Donbas region, a top European Union official warned Monday. The regional governor of Kharkhiv said Sunday that the town of Izyum “remains the hottest spot” of the war, as Russia moves more equipment and troops into place, in preparation for what Zelensky described as “even larger operations in the east of our state.”
Here’s what to know
- President Biden will meet virtually with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to push the country to abandon its neutral stance on the war. India has continued to buy Russian energy supplies, even as many countries around the globe have cut ties to punish Russia for its actions.
- Ukraine and Russia issued contradictory statements about an attack that reportedly took place Sunday outside Dnipro, in central Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that it destroyed parts of an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system given to Ukraine by a European country. A Ukrainian official denied that the S-300 was hit.
- Russia appointed a new commander to oversee the entirety of its invasion in Ukraine. Here’s what to know about Gen. Alexander Dvornikov.
- 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
Oil price sinks to lowest point since February, with Ukraine run-up mostly gone
Oil prices plunged Monday morning as global markets reacted to continued coronavirus lockdowns in China.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, fell 4.8 percent to roughly $93.50 per barrel, while the international Brent crude benchmark was down 4.5 percent to around $98 per barrel.
Oil prices have been trending downward for weeks, mostly erasing a speculative run-up that briefly pushed oil prices over $130 per barrel after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. The U.S. and other nations are planning to release additional oil supply into the market, partially offsetting the war’s effect on oil prices. Global markets have also been unsettled by the continued covid lockdown in China, and by the Federal Reserve’s push to increase interest rates as a way of controlling inflation.
Stocks lost ground in pre-market trading. Futures linked to the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.4 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.7 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index lost 180 points, or 1.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 3 percent Monday morning, while Germany’s Dax was down 0.9 percent.
Gasoline prices have leveled off somewhat but remain sharply elevated. The national average gas price reported by AAA stood at $4.11 per gallon Monday morning, down 7 cents from a week ago. A year ago the average price was $2.86 per gallon.
French officials arrive in Ukraine to assist with war crimes investigations
French law enforcement officials arrived in Lviv to assist with investigations into allegations of war crimes committed by Russian troops in Kyiv, the French ambassador to Ukraine said Monday.
The specialists, from the country’s gendarmerie, will begin working on the investigation Tuesday, Etienne de Poncins announced on Twitter.
Last week, French prosecutors opened three probes into potential war crimes committed by Russian soldiers against French nationals in Ukraine amid growing global outrage over atrocities in Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Russian leaders and soldiers to be “immediately” brought before a special tribunal.
Fier d’accueillir à #Lviv le détachement des gendarmes techniques et scientifiques venu assister leurs camarades 🇺🇦 dans les investigations des crimes de guerre commis autour de #Kiev. La 🇫🇷 première à apporter une telle aide. Ils seront à pied d’œuvre dès demain. Solidarité 🇫🇷🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/3pX9LkPzeq
— Etienne de Poncins (@EdePoncins) April 11, 2022
South Korea quiet after Ukraine’s request for military equipment
SEOUL — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked South Korean lawmakers for military equipment on Monday, hours after Seoul’s defense ministry cited “limitations” in providing weapons to Ukraine. “South Korea has multiple military equipments that can help protect (Ukraine) from Russian tanks, warships and missiles,” Zelensky said in a video address to the Seoul parliament. “South Korea can help us.”
“If Ukraine can receive the weapons (from South Korea), it will not only enable us to save civilian lives but also save Ukraine, and protect other countries from Russian attacks,” Zelensky said through an interpreter.
He did not specify what weapons he sought. South Korean military officials said Kyiv has asked for antiaircraft weapons among others; the defense ministry had not issued a response to Zelensky after the address late Monday.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook on Friday discussed military aid in a phone conversation requested by Kyiv. “Minister Suh Wook’s response was that South Korea’s has limitations in providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, given South Korea’s security circumstances and the impact on military readiness posture,” ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan said in a briefing early Monday.
South Korea has provided Ukraine with “nonlethal” supplies including helmets, tents and first-aid kits, according to South Korea’s defense ministry. In his address, Zelensky appealed to Seoul’s memories of the Korean War in the 1950s, noting that South Korea benefited then international support.
Ukraine pushes back on Russia’s claims it hit a S-300 missile system
Ukrainian and Russian officials traded seemingly contradictory claims on Monday about a reported Russian attack against a weapons system given to Ukraine by a European nation.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Monday in a briefing that it launched long-range Kalibr cruise missiles on Sunday from the waters near the city of Dnipro and hit an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system given to Ukraine by a European country — though it did not say which. The ministry said four S-300 launchers and up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen were hit.
The prime minister of Slovakia, Eduard Heger, said Friday that his country donated an S-300 air defense system to Ukraine. It was not immediately clear if the S-300 that Russia claimed was destroyed was the same as the one donated by Slovakia.
But in a tweet Sunday night, Heger denied that its S-300 in Ukraine was destroyed, citing Ukraine, and called the Russian claim a “hoax.”
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said Monday morning in a Telegram post that the S-300 transferred by Slovakia was not destroyed.
Citing the Slovakian leader, Yermak wrote: “Russia is launching a ‘fake operation’ on weapons handed over to us by the Allies. They understand that they are losing the war, they see their backwardness and they are trying to ‘bring down’ arms supplies by any means. For example, one of the latest fakes is the alleged destruction of the S-300 SAMs transferred by Slovakia. This information has already been refuted.”
Chechen leader says Russian offensive seeing ‘good results’
The strongman leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya vowed Monday in a rambling Telegram post that Moscow will “take Kyiv and all the remaining cities” — and said its war effort will continue to see “good results” on the battlefield.
Ramzan Kadyrov, whom Washington sanctioned for human rights abuses in Chechnya, has been leading Chechen fighters in Ukraine.
In the Telegram post Monday, he described himself as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “foot soldier” and promised he would not “take one step back” from the fight. His comments were aligned with the Kremlin, which said Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine is continuing on track.
Kadyrov said Russia will remain on the offensive, with eyes also on the besieged southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, and other villages and cities in between.
Kadyrov also urged Ukrainian soldiers to surrender. “It is better for you to stand with Russian army,” he said. “You see what happens after the war. Don’t let Kyiv be destroyed; Kharkiv and other cities. This is in your power; be men.”
Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since 2004, when he took over control from his father, who was assassinated. Russia waged two wars against separatists in Chechnya in the 1990s after the region declared independence several years after the Soviet Union collapsed. In the second Chechen war — led by Putin, then acting prime minister — Russia lay siege to the capital, Grozny, and flattened the city. The war officially ended in 2000, when Putin installed the pro-Moscow Kadyrov family in power in Chechnya.
Annabelle Chapman and Zina Pozen contributed to reporting.
New Zealand to send military transport plane with 50 onboard to Europe
New Zealand will send a C-130 Hercules aircraft carrying 50 military personnel to Europe for two months, following what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called Russia’s “violent breach of international law.”
Ardern said Monday that the goal is to help distribute donations and military aid across Europe — but not to enter the conflict in Ukraine. The team of 50 will be sent to Germany.
“At no point will they enter Ukraine, and nor have they been asked to,” Ardern said during a news conference, where she was joined by Defense Minister Peeni Henare.
Ardern said New Zealand would provide further financial aid, including millions of dollars on military, legal and human rights support.
“This is a conflict at great distance from New Zealand but still of significance to New Zealand,” she said.
Kharkiv governor sees Izyum as ‘hottest’ battle zone as Russia moves east
By Julian Duplain7:03 a.m.
The town of Izyum in Kharkiv region is set to be a key flash point as Russia moves more equipment and troops into place for the expected battles in eastern Ukraine. “Izyum remains the hottest spot,” said Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Synegubov on Sunday evening.
Earlier in the day, Synegubov said Ukrainian forces had destroyed a “column of enemy tanks,” a claim that has not been independently verified. Satellite photos showed an eight-mile column of Russian military vehicles Friday, moving south through the town of Velykyi Burluk, also in Kharkiv region, 60 miles to the north of Izyum.
Local officials, fighters and residents of Izyum detailed to The Washington Post the “scorched earth” tactics of Russian forces that destroyed their home. Izyum was seized by Russian forces Friday, and Ukraine’s military and local officials say it’s now the primary military staging and launching point for their assault on what remains of Ukrainian-held territory in the region.
Izyum lies in a strategic position north of Donetsk and Mariupol, and east of Dnipro. But, said Synegubov, around Izyum the Ukrainian army “holds positions, not allowing large [Russian] forces to be redirected to Luhansk and Donetsk regions.”
U.S. Department of Defense officials said last week that they had seen Russian troops “as they begin to want to move south and southeast towards Donbas … put some energy into that axis coming south out of Izyum.”
Dalton Bennett contributed to this report.
Austria to tell Putin he has ‘lost’ the war morally, foreign minister says
Ahead of a meeting in Moscow between the Austrian chancellor and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Austria’s foreign minister said it was an opportunity to send “a very clear political message” to Putin “that he is isolating Russia, that he will lose this war morally.”
“We cannot leave any stone unturned to end this humanitarian disaster and to make him [Putin] understand that he is isolating Russia,” Alexander Schallenberg told Bloomberg News about Austria’s effort. The foreign minister spoke on the sidelines of a meeting of the E.U. Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s meeting with Putin will be the first face-to-face meeting between the Russian president and a European leader since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the meeting will be closed, with no press and no statements. He described the meeting as initiated by Austria. Schallenberg the chancellor’s meeting was not on behalf of the European Union and had been coordinated only after Nehammer spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The meeting was a reality check to tell Putin “this war is a war that he cannot win morally: He has lost it already,” Schallenberg said. “Every voice that makes him understand how the world really looks like outside of the walls of the Kremlin is I believe an important voice.”
Nehammer has publicly spoken out against the war, although Austria remains militarily neutral and is not a NATO member. The Austrian chancellor called for “humanitarian corridors, a cease-fire & full investigation of war crimes” in a tweet announcing the meeting.
Zelensky says Ukraine has intercepts of Russian troops discussing abuses
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CBS’s “60 Minutes” that the country’s security services had intercepted communications and collected recordings of Russian soldiers admitting to abuses that would amount to war crimes in Ukraine.
“There are [Russian] soldiers talking with their parents [about] what they stole and who they abducted,” the Ukrainian president told CBS, speaking through an interpreter in an interview recorded Wednesday and aired Sunday. “There are recordings of prisoners of war who admitted to killing people. There are pilots in prison who had maps with civilian targets to bomb. There are also investigations being done based on the remains of the dead.”
The Washington Post could not independently verify Zelensky’s claims. Germany’s foreign intelligence service last week said it had intercepted communications of Russian soldiers discussing indiscriminate killings in Ukraine, The Post reported. Ukraine has opened 5,600 war crimes cases since Russia’s invasion, top prosecutor Iryna Venediktova said Sunday, but the country will face an uphill battle getting Russian officials to court.
When asked whether Vladimir Putin should be prosecuted for war crimes, Zelensky said the Russian president was one among the people he thought deserved to be tried. “I think everyone who made a decision, who issued an order, who fulfilled an order, everyone who is relevant to this, I believe they are all guilty,” he said.
Venediktova, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, told The Post last week that the country had about 50,000 investigators across five different law enforcement agencies working to collect and verify claims of war crimes carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine. The United States is helping to support a “multinational tea…f experts … set up by Ukraine’s prosecutor general, with a view toward eventually pursuing criminal accountability” for war crimes, Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently told a NATO meeting. The International Criminal Court also opened an investigation into war crimes allegations.
E.U.’s Borrell says Russia preparing to attack Ukraine’s Donbas region
A top European Union official warned Monday that Russian troops are preparing to attack Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, as Moscow adjusts its military strategy after failures near the capital of Kyiv.
“I’m afraid the Russian troops are massing on the east to launch an attack on the Donbas,” said E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, ahead of a meeting of E.U. foreign ministers to discuss the conflict in Ukraine as well as sanctions against Russia. “The Ukrainians are very much aware of that. So I’m afraid in the next days, the war will increase on the Donbas.”
Borrell, who recently returned from an official visit to Kyiv with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, said he “witnessed the brutal, brutal aggression of the Russian troops against the civilian population” on the ground in Ukraine. He said the E.U. would support the work of prosecutors from Ukraine and the International Criminal Court to collect evidence of possible war crimes committed by Russian forces.
Borrell said “sanctions are always on the table” in response to Russian actions in Ukraine. E.U. foreign ministers would discuss “next steps,” he said.
On Monday, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and a European leader since the invasion of Ukraine. In a tweet announcing the Moscow meeting, Nehammer noted: “We are militarily neutral, but have a clear stance on the Russian war of aggression against #Ukraine. He has to stop!” He added that the Ukraine situation needs “humanitarian corridors, a ceasefire & full investigation of war crimes.”
Borrell was noncommittal when asked about his expectations for Nehammer’s meeting, telling journalists, “Let’s see.”
Hundreds of tiny shoes: Protest spotlights child death toll in Ukraine’s Mariupol
Rows of small shoes were placed alongside candles in Helsinki during a protest Sunday to draw attention to the children killed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, specifically in the battered port city of Mariupol.
There were shiny black boots. Tiny, cozy slippers. Pink and purple sneakers. In total, there were 210 pairs. They symbolized the total number of young lives Ukrainian officials said were lost in southeastern city of Mariupol, including when the Drama Theater — where hundreds of civilians were sheltering — was hit on March 16.
The humanitarian crisis is growing in Mariupol, where at least 5,000 residents have died in the month since Russian forces laid siege to it, its mayor said last week on Telegram, citing preliminary estimates. Mayor Vadym Boychenko, who also cited a hospital that had been bombed, condemned the “deliberate destruction of the civilian population of Mariupol” and estimated that 90 percent of the city’s infrastructure had been wiped out. The Washington Post was unable to confirm those tallies.
Witnesses told The Washington Post at the time that a white flag had been tied to the top of the drama theater to let Russian troops know children were inside. The word “children” was also written in large white letters in Russian in front of and behind the theater, satellite images revealed. The building, when struck, was reduced to rubble.
At Sunday’s protest — organized by the Ukrainian Association in Finland, which was founded in 1997 to represent Ukrainians residing in the country — the shoes were laid outside the Finnish National Theater. The purpose was to draw attention to what the group called “Russian war crimes.” Organizers said they had written the world “children” on either side of the national theater — as those at the Mariupol Drama Theater had done
Russians could use phosphorous weapons in Mariupol, Britain says
By Julian Duplain5:21 a.m.
Russian forces may use phosphorous munitions as the fight for control of the port city of Mariupol intensifies, the British Defense Ministry said.
It pointed to the Russians’ earlier use of such weapons in the Donetsk region, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused invading forces of using phosphorous bombs. The Washington Post could not independently verify that claim. In response, Russia said it “has never violated international conventions.”
White phosphorous is highly flammable and ignites on contact with oxygen. It can burn through human flesh to the bone and is soluble in fat, making it very hard to treat the wounded because the substance can reignite when bandages are removed. As well as burn injuries, it can cause organ failure if it enters the bloodstream.
However, white phosphorous is not classified as a chemical weapon and has military uses that are not considered violations of the laws of war. Many countries, including the United States, have deployed phosphorous munitions to create a thick white cloud for battlefield camouflage, but it is illegal in international law to use white phosphorous against civilian targets.
Tens of thousands of people are likely to have already been killed in Russia’s assault on Mariupol, Zelensky said Monday in an address to South Korea’s parliament. There are still an estimated 100,000 people in the city.
Russia may engineer Transnistria provocation, Ukraine says
By Julian Duplain4:56 a.m.
Russia may be preparing to carry out a provocation in the enclave of Transnistria and use it as a false flag to accuse Ukraine, the Defense Ministry in Kyiv has warned.
Transnistria, a strip of territory running along Ukraine’s western flank north of Odessa, is an ethnically Russian part of Moldova that sought independence as the Soviet Union broke up three decades ago. Since then, Transnistria has maintained a largely unrecognized claim to be a separate country, helped by economic and military support from Moscow.
“It is possible that the armed forces of the Russian Federation will carry out provocative actions in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova in order to accuse Ukraine of aggression against a neighboring state,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Monday.
The British Defense Ministry warned Sunday that Russia is hoping recruit military personnel from Transnistria, as it seeks to boost its troop levels ahead of expected heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky compares Western inaction in Ukraine to Hitler’s rise
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview aired Sunday, compared NATO’s refusal to enact a no-fly zone over Ukraine with Western countries not stopping Adolf Hitler as he seized territory in Europe during World War II.
“Does the world carry responsibility for the genocide?” he said during an interview taped Wednesday for CBS’s “60 Minutes,” referring to the German Nazi-led killing campaigns targeting Jews, other minorities and political dissidents. “Yes. Yes, it does.”
Washington and other key members of the military alliance have repeatedly rejected Ukraine’s calls for a no-fly zone, saying it could lead to an all-out war with Russia, because NATO troops enforcing the closed skies would be at high risk of clashing with Russian air forces. One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands before he invaded Ukraine was that Kyiv drop its bid to join NATO. Under the NATO treaty, if one member country is attacked, then all members must join in to protect it.
“I cannot put pressure on these people because everyone is afraid of war,” Zelensky said. “But whether the world [is responsible] for this, I believe so, yes.”
As the war continues, Zelensky has shifted gears from emphasizing the need for a no-fly zone to doubling down on diplomatic efforts to receive more weapons from the West that can be used to stop Russian planes bombing Ukrainian cities and civilians.
Washington has set aside billions of dollars in aid to help Ukraine’s humanitarian and military efforts. Zelensky told CBS that although the weapons the United States has sent are helping, he “would have wanted more.” How quickly Ukraine can push back Russian troops “all depends” on the level of U.S. military support provided, he said.
“To be honest, whether we will be able to [survive] depends on this,” he said. “I have 100 percent confidence in our people and in our armed forces. But unfortunately, I don’t have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need.”
Natalia Titova, 62, had lived in the northern city of Chernihiv, Ukraine, for over 30 years. Her home was destroyed after weeks of shelling by Russian forces. (Video: Reuters, Photo: Reuters)Today at 1:01 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 9:02 a.m. EDTToday at 1:01 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 9:02 a.m. EDTAustrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is set to speak face-to-face with Vladimir Putin on Monday, in the Russian president’s first meeting with a Western leader since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February. Austria’s foreign minister defended the sit-down as a chance to send “a very clear political message” to Putin “that he is isolating Russia” and “has lost” already on moral terms.Ukrainian officials reported attacks throughout the east of the country on Sunday, and civilians were urged to evacuate. Some casualties were reported, including a 7-year-old child in Kharkiv.Russian troops are preparing an assault on the eastern Donbas region, a top European Union official warned Monday. The regional governor of Kharkhiv said Sunday that the town of Izyum “remains the hottest spot” of the war, as Russia moves more equipment and troops into place, in preparation for what Zelensky described as “even larger operations in the east of our state.”Here’s what to knowPresident Biden will meet virtually with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to push the country to abandon its neutral stance on the war. India has continued to buy Russian energy supplies, even as many countries around the globe have cut ties to punish Russia for its actions.Ukraine and Russia issued contradictory statements about an attack that reportedly took place Sunday outside Dnipro, in central Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that it destroyed parts of an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system given to Ukraine by a European country. A Ukrainian official denied that the S-300 was hit.Russia appointed a new commander to oversee the entirety of its invasion in Ukraine. Here’s what to know about Gen. Alexander Dvornikov.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 CONFLICTOil price sinks to lowest point since February, with Ukraine run-up mostly goneReturn to menuOil prices plunged Monday morning as global markets reacted to continued coronavirus lockdowns in China.West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, fell 4.8 percent to roughly $93.50 per barrel, while the international Brent crude benchmark was down 4.5 percent to around $98 per barrel.Oil prices have been trending downward for weeks, mostly erasing a speculative run-up that briefly pushed oil prices over $130 per barrel after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. The U.S. and other nations are planning to release additional oil supply into the market, partially offsetting the war’s effect on oil prices. Global markets have also been unsettled by the continued covid lockdown in China, and by the Federal Reserve’s push to increase interest rates as a way of controlling inflation.Stocks lost ground in pre-market trading. Futures linked to the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.4 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.7 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index lost 180 points, or 1.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 3 percent Monday morning, while Germany’s Dax was down 0.9 percent.Gasoline prices have leveled off somewhat but remain sharply elevated. The national average gas price reported by AAA stood at $4.11 per gallon Monday morning, down 7 cents from a week ago. A year ago the average price was $2.86 per gallon.French officials arrive in Ukraine to assist with war crimes investigations Return to menuFrench law enforcement officials arrived in Lviv to assist with investigations into allegations of war crimes committed by Russian troops in Kyiv, the French ambassador to Ukraine said Monday.The specialists, from the country’s gendarmerie, will begin working on the investigation Tuesday, Etienne de Poncins announced on Twitter.Last week, French prosecutors opened three probes into potential war crimes committed by Russian soldiers against French nationals in Ukraine amid growing global outrage over atrocities in Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Russian leaders and soldiers to be “immediately” brought before a special tribunal.Fier d’accueillir à #Lviv le détachement des gendarmes techniques et scientifiques venu assister leurs camarades 🇺🇦 dans les investigations des crimes de guerre commis autour de #Kiev. La 🇫🇷 première à apporter une telle aide. Ils seront à pied d’œuvre dès demain. Solidarité 🇫🇷🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/3pX9LkPzeq— Etienne de Poncins (@EdePoncins) April 11, 2022 South Korea quiet after Ukraine’s request for military equipmentReturn to menuSEOUL — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked South Korean lawmakers for military equipment on Monday, hours after Seoul’s defense ministry cited “limitations” in providing weapons to Ukraine. “South Korea has multiple military equipments that can help protect (Ukraine) from Russian tanks, warships and missiles,” Zelensky said in a video address to the Seoul parliament. “South Korea can help us.”“If Ukraine can receive the weapons (from South Korea), it will not only enable us to save civilian lives but also save Ukraine, and protect other countries from Russian attacks,” Zelensky said through an interpreter.He did not specify what weapons he sought. South Korean military officials said Kyiv has asked for antiaircraft weapons among others; the defense ministry had not issued a response to Zelensky after the address late Monday.Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook on Friday discussed military aid in a phone conversation requested by Kyiv. “Minister Suh Wook’s response was that South Korea’s has limitations in providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, given South Korea’s security circumstances and the impact on military readiness posture,” ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan said in a briefing early Monday.South Korea has provided Ukraine with “nonlethal” supplies including helmets, tents and first-aid kits, according to South Korea’s defense ministry. In his address, Zelensky appealed to Seoul’s memories of the Korean War in the 1950s, noting that South Korea benefited then international support.Ukraine pushes back on Russia’s claims it hit a S-300 missile systemReturn to menuUkrainian and Russian officials traded seemingly contradictory claims on Monday about a reported Russian attack against a weapons system given to Ukraine by a European nation.The Russian Ministry of Defense said Monday in a briefing that it launched long-range Kalibr cruise missiles on Sunday from the waters near the city of Dnipro and hit an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system given to Ukraine by a European country — though it did not say which. The ministry said four S-300 launchers and up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen were hit.The prime minister of Slovakia, Eduard Heger, said Friday that his country donated an S-300 air defense system to Ukraine. It was not immediately clear if the S-300 that Russia claimed was destroyed was the same as the one donated by Slovakia. But in a tweet Sunday night, Heger denied that its S-300 in Ukraine was destroyed, citing Ukraine, and called the Russian claim a “hoax.” Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said Monday morning in a Telegram post that the S-300 transferred by Slovakia was not destroyed.Citing the Slovakian leader, Yermak wrote: “Russia is launching a ‘fake operation’ on weapons handed over to us by the Allies. They understand that they are losing the war, they see their backwardness and they are trying to ‘bring down’ arms supplies by any means. For example, one of the latest fakes is the alleged destruction of the S-300 SAMs transferred by Slovakia. This information has already been refuted.” Chechen leader says Russian offensive seeing ‘good results’Return to menuThe strongman leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya vowed Monday in a rambling Telegram post that Moscow will “take Kyiv and all the remaining cities” — and said its war effort will continue to see “good results” on the battlefield.Ramzan Kadyrov, whom Washington sanctioned for human rights abuses in Chechnya, has been leading Chechen fighters in Ukraine.In the Telegram post Monday, he described himself as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “foot soldier” and promised he would not “take one step back” from the fight. His comments were aligned with the Kremlin, which said Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine is continuing on track.Kadyrov said Russia will remain on the offensive, with eyes also on the besieged southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, and other villages and cities in between.Kadyrov also urged Ukrainian soldiers to surrender. “It is better for you to stand with Russian army,” he said. “You see what happens after the war. Don’t let Kyiv be destroyed; Kharkiv and other cities. This is in your power; be men.”Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since 2004, when he took over control from his father, who was assassinated. Russia waged two wars against separatists in Chechnya in the 1990s after the region declared independence several years after the Soviet Union collapsed. In the second Chechen war — led by Putin, then acting prime minister — Russia lay siege to the capital, Grozny, and flattened the city. The war officially ended in 2000, when Putin installed the pro-Moscow Kadyrov family in power in Chechnya.Annabelle Chapman and Zina Pozen contributed to reporting.New Zealand to send military transport plane with 50 onboard to EuropeReturn to menuNew Zealand will send a C-130 Hercules aircraft carrying 50 military personnel to Europe for two months, following what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called Russia’s “violent breach of international law.”Ardern said Monday that the goal is to help distribute donations and military aid across Europe — but not to enter the conflict in Ukraine. The team of 50 will be sent to Germany.“At no point will they enter Ukraine, and nor have they been asked to,” Ardern said during a news conference, where she was joined by Defense Minister Peeni Henare.Ardern said New Zealand would provide further financial aid, including millions of dollars on military, legal and human rights support.“This is a conflict at great distance from New Zealand but still of significance to New Zealand,” she said.Kharkiv governor sees Izyum as ‘hottest’ battle zone as Russia moves eastReturn to menuBy Julian Duplain7:03 a.m.The town of Izyum in Kharkiv region is set to be a key flash point as Russia moves more equipment and troops into place for the expected battles in eastern Ukraine. “Izyum remains the hottest spot,” said Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Synegubov on Sunday evening.Earlier in the day, Synegubov said Ukrainian forces had destroyed a “column of enemy tanks,” a claim that has not been independently verified. Satellite photos showed an eight-mile column of Russian military vehicles Friday, moving south through the town of Velykyi Burluk, also in Kharkiv region, 60 miles to the north of Izyum.Local officials, fighters and residents of Izyum detailed to The Washington Post the “scorched earth” tactics of Russian forces that destroyed their home. Izyum was seized by Russian forces Friday, and Ukraine’s military and local officials say it’s now the primary military staging and launching point for their assault on what remains of Ukrainian-held territory in the region.Izyum lies in a strategic position north of Donetsk and Mariupol, and east of Dnipro. But, said Synegubov, around Izyum the Ukrainian army “holds positions, not allowing large [Russian] forces to be redirected to Luhansk and Donetsk regions.”U.S. Department of Defense officials said last week that they had seen Russian troops “as they begin to want to move south and southeast towards Donbas … put some energy into that axis coming south out of Izyum.”Dalton Bennett contributed to this report.Austria to tell Putin he has ‘lost’ the war morally, foreign minister saysReturn to menuAhead of a meeting in Moscow between the Austrian chancellor and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Austria’s foreign minister said it was an opportunity to send “a very clear political message” to Putin “that he is isolating Russia, that he will lose this war morally.”“We cannot leave any stone unturned to end this humanitarian disaster and to make him [Putin] understand that he is isolating Russia,” Alexander Schallenberg told Bloomberg News about Austria’s effort. The foreign minister spoke on the sidelines of a meeting of the E.U. Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s meeting with Putin will be the first face-to-face meeting between the Russian president and a European leader since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the meeting will be closed, with no press and no statements. He described the meeting as initiated by Austria. Schallenberg the chancellor’s meeting was not on behalf of the European Union and had been coordinated only after Nehammer spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.The meeting was a reality check to tell Putin “this war is a war that he cannot win morally: He has lost it already,” Schallenberg said. “Every voice that makes him understand how the world really looks like outside of the walls of the Kremlin is I believe an important voice.”Nehammer has publicly spoken out against the war, although Austria remains militarily neutral and is not a NATO member. The Austrian chancellor called for “humanitarian corridors, a cease-fire & full investigation of war crimes” in a tweet announcing the meeting.Zelensky says Ukraine has intercepts of Russian troops discussing abusesReturn to menuUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CBS’s “60 Minutes” that the country’s security services had intercepted communications and collected recordings of Russian soldiers admitting to abuses that would amount to war crimes in Ukraine.“There are [Russian] soldiers talking with their parents [about] what they stole and who they abducted,” the Ukrainian president told CBS, speaking through an interpreter in an interview recorded Wednesday and aired Sunday. “There are recordings of prisoners of war who admitted to killing people. There are pilots in prison who had maps with civilian targets to bomb. There are also investigations being done based on the remains of the dead.”The Washington Post could not independently verify Zelensky’s claims. Germany’s foreign intelligence service last week said it had intercepted communications of Russian soldiers discussing indiscriminate killings in Ukraine, The Post reported. Ukraine has opened 5,600 war crimes cases since Russia’s invasion, top prosecutor Iryna Venediktova said Sunday, but the country will face an uphill battle getting Russian officials to court.When asked whether Vladimir Putin should be prosecuted for war crimes, Zelensky said the Russian president was one among the people he thought deserved to be tried. “I think everyone who made a decision, who issued an order, who fulfilled an order, everyone who is relevant to this, I believe they are all guilty,” he said.Venediktova, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, told The Post last week that the country had about 50,000 investigators across five different law enforcement agencies working to collect and verify claims of war crimes carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine. The United States is helping to support a “multinational tea…f experts … set up by Ukraine’s prosecutor general, with a view toward eventually pursuing criminal accountability” for war crimes, Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently told a NATO meeting. The International Criminal Court also opened an investigation into war crimes allegations.E.U.’s Borrell says Russia preparing to attack Ukraine’s Donbas regionReturn to menuA top European Union official warned Monday that Russian troops are preparing to attack Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, as Moscow adjusts its military strategy after failures near the capital of Kyiv.“I’m afraid the Russian troops are massing on the east to launch an attack on the Donbas,” said E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, ahead of a meeting of E.U. foreign ministers to discuss the conflict in Ukraine as well as sanctions against Russia. “The Ukrainians are very much aware of that. So I’m afraid in the next days, the war will increase on the Donbas.”Borrell, who recently returned from an official visit to Kyiv with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, said he “witnessed the brutal, brutal aggression of the Russian troops against the civilian population” on the ground in Ukraine. He said the E.U. would support the work of prosecutors from Ukraine and the International Criminal Court to collect evidence of possible war crimes committed by Russian forces.Borrell said “sanctions are always on the table” in response to Russian actions in Ukraine. E.U. foreign ministers would discuss “next steps,” he said.On Monday, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and a European leader since the invasion of Ukraine. In a tweet announcing the Moscow meeting, Nehammer noted: “We are militarily neutral, but have a clear stance on the Russian war of aggression against #Ukraine. He has to stop!” He added that the Ukraine situation needs “humanitarian corridors, a ceasefire & full investigation of war crimes.”Borrell was noncommittal when asked about his expectations for Nehammer’s meeting, telling journalists, “Let’s see.”Hundreds of tiny shoes: Protest spotlights child death toll in Ukraine’s Mariupol Return to menuRows of small shoes were placed alongside candles in Helsinki during a protest Sunday to draw attention to the children killed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, specifically in the battered port city of Mariupol.There were shiny black boots. Tiny, cozy slippers. Pink and purple sneakers. In total, there were 210 pairs. They symbolized the total number of young lives Ukrainian officials said were lost in southeastern city of Mariupol, including when the Drama Theater — where hundreds of civilians were sheltering — was hit on March 16.The humanitarian crisis is growing in Mariupol, where at least 5,000 residents have died in the month since Russian forces laid siege to it, its mayor said last week on Telegram, citing preliminary estimates. Mayor Vadym Boychenko, who also cited a hospital that had been bombed, condemned the “deliberate destruction of the civilian population of Mariupol” and estimated that 90 percent of the city’s infrastructure had been wiped out. The Washington Post was unable to confirm those tallies.Witnesses told The Washington Post at the time that a white flag had been tied to the top of the drama theater to let Russian troops know children were inside. The word “children” was also written in large white letters in Russian in front of and behind the theater, satellite images revealed. The building, when struck, was reduced to rubble.At Sunday’s protest — organized by the Ukrainian Association in Finland, which was founded in 1997 to represent Ukrainians residing in the country — the shoes were laid outside the Finnish National Theater. The purpose was to draw attention to what the group called “Russian war crimes.” Organizers said they had written the world “children” on either side of the national theater — as those at the Mariupol Drama Theater had doneRussians could use phosphorous weapons in Mariupol, Britain saysReturn to menuBy Julian Duplain5:21 a.m.Russian forces may use phosphorous munitions as the fight for control of the port city of Mariupol intensifies, the British Defense Ministry said.It pointed to the Russians’ earlier use of such weapons in the Donetsk region, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused invading forces of using phosphorous bombs. The Washington Post could not independently verify that claim. In response, Russia said it “has never violated international conventions.”White phosphorous is highly flammable and ignites on contact with oxygen. It can burn through human flesh to the bone and is soluble in fat, making it very hard to treat the wounded because the substance can reignite when bandages are removed. As well as burn injuries, it can cause organ failure if it enters the bloodstream.However, white phosphorous is not classified as a chemical weapon and has military uses that are not considered violations of the laws of war. Many countries, including the United States, have deployed phosphorous munitions to create a thick white cloud for battlefield camouflage, but it is illegal in international law to use white phosphorous against civilian targets.Tens of thousands of people are likely to have already been killed in Russia’s assault on Mariupol, Zelensky said Monday in an address to South Korea’s parliament. There are still an estimated 100,000 people in the city.Russia may engineer Transnistria provocation, Ukraine saysReturn to menuBy Julian Duplain4:56 a.m.Russia may be preparing to carry out a provocation in the enclave of Transnistria and use it as a false flag to accuse Ukraine, the Defense Ministry in Kyiv has warned.Transnistria, a strip of territory running along Ukraine’s western flank north of Odessa, is an ethnically Russian part of Moldova that sought independence as the Soviet Union broke up three decades ago. Since then, Transnistria has maintained a largely unrecognized claim to be a separate country, helped by economic and military support from Moscow.“It is possible that the armed forces of the Russian Federation will carry out provocative actions in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova in order to accuse Ukraine of aggression against a neighboring state,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Monday.The British Defense Ministry warned Sunday that Russia is hoping recruit military personnel from Transnistria, as it seeks to boost its troop levels ahead of expected heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine.Zelensky compares Western inaction in Ukraine to Hitler’s rise Return to menuUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview aired Sunday, compared NATO’s refusal to enact a no-fly zone over Ukraine with Western countries not stopping Adolf Hitler as he seized territory in Europe during World War II.“Does the world carry responsibility for the genocide?” he said during an interview taped Wednesday for CBS’s “60 Minutes,” referring to the German Nazi-led killing campaigns targeting Jews, other minorities and political dissidents. “Yes. Yes, it does.”Washington and other key members of the military alliance have repeatedly rejected Ukraine’s calls for a no-fly zone, saying it could lead to an all-out war with Russia, because NATO troops enforcing the closed skies would be at high risk of clashing with Russian air forces. One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands before he invaded Ukraine was that Kyiv drop its bid to join NATO. Under the NATO treaty, if one member country is attacked, then all members must join in to protect it. “I cannot put pressure on these people because everyone is afraid of war,” Zelensky said. “But whether the world [is responsible] for this, I believe so, yes.”As the war continues, Zelensky has shifted gears from emphasizing the need for a no-fly zone to doubling down on diplomatic efforts to receive more weapons from the West that can be used to stop Russian planes bombing Ukrainian cities and civilians.Washington has set aside billions of dollars in aid to help Ukraine’s humanitarian and military efforts. Zelensky told CBS that although the weapons the United States has sent are helping, he “would have wanted more.” How quickly Ukraine can push back Russian troops “all depends” on the level of U.S. military support provided, he said.“To be honest, whether we will be able to [survive] depends on this,” he said. “I have 100 percent confidence in our people and in our armed forces. But unfortunately, I don’t have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need.”