Today at 1:26 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 6:40 a.m. EDT
Today at 1:26 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 6:40 a.m. EDT
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, for talks Tuesday about Ukraine and ways to “counter” pressure from sanctions by the West, Russian news agencies reported. Putin flew to Russia’s far-east Amur region for the talks — as his military sends reinforcements and supplies to troops positioned in Ukraine’s east.
The Pentagon press secretary warned that the “same brutal tactics, that same disregard for civilian life and civilian infrastructure, will probably continue” as Russia pivots east and appoints a new commander for its war. A sprawling, eight-mile-long Russian military convoy — believed to include a command element, a support battalion, helicopter support and other forces — has maneuvered north of Izyum, which is likely to become a staging point for further attacks on southern cities, the Pentagon said.
The Defense Department is monitoring unconfirmed reports that Russia has used chemical weapons during its siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Britain’s armed forces minister said that “all options” would be on the table for the international community to respond if such reports were confirmed. Britain and Australia — which called the allegation “deeply concerning” — said they were working with partners to verify the details.
Here’s what to know
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky charged that Russia’s forces retreating from the north have left behind mines “everywhere.” Zelensky said Russian troops “deliberately did everything to kill or maim as many of our people as possible, even when they were forced to withdraw from our land.”
- Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer pressed Putin for an immediate cease-fire and humanitarian corridors during their meeting on Monday, which Nehammer characterized as “direct” and “tough.”
- 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
U.S., allies seek to verify reports that Russia is using chemical weapons
Officials in the United States, Britain and Australia said they would work to verify unconfirmed reports that Russia may have used chemical weapons against civilians in the battered port city of Mariupol.
Britain’s armed forces minister, James Heappey, told the BBC on Tuesday that neither its intelligence services nor Ukraine’s has confirmed the reports. But “all options” would be “on the table” for the international community to respond if they are true, he said.
Mariupol Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov told the BBC on Tuesday, without elaborating, that the city council has confirmed a “chemical poisoning” delivered via Russian drone. “We cannot provide more detailed information,” he said. “But we have confirmation from the military that this has happened.”
The Azov Battalion — a Ukrainian paramilitary unit with a history of far-right nationalism — accused Russian troops Monday of using “a poisonous substance of unknown origin against Ukrainian military and civilians” in Mariupol. The Mariupol City Council reposted information from Azov on Tuesday that claimed people who were exposed to the substance “are in a relatively satisfactory condition” because they were mostly only minimally exposed.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Tuesday that Ukraine is “verifying” these reports and that official statements would come later. Malyar cited “a theory” that the weapons could have been phosphorous munitions. White phosphorous is a chemical substance that can severely and indiscriminately harm civilians but is not considered a chemical weapon and is not explicitly banned by international humanitarian law.
The British Defense Ministry said Monday that Russian forces have used phosphorous munitions in the region of Donetsk and could use them again in Mariupol. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed in March that Russia used phosphorous bombs against civilians.
The Pentagon said it is monitoring the latest reports but has not verified them. “These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday in a statement.
When asked whether he thought it would be possible to verify the claims that chemical weapons were used in Mariupol, Heappey said he was “as confident as you can reasonably be in any war zone,” citing “intelligence capabilities” and Britain’s “trusted relationship with the Ukrainian government,” which he said would “want to be certain about their use just as much as we do.”
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said late Monday that the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine “would be a callous escalation in this conflict,” and she pledged to “hold [President Vladimir] Putin and his regime to account.”
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said early Tuesday that her country is “working with partners” to verify the reports and warned that the use of chemical weapons violates international law.
Reports Russian forces may have deployed a chemical agent in Mariupol are deeply concerning. 🇦🇺 is working with partners to verify these reports. Any use of chemical weapons would be a further wholesale breach of international law.@AUinUA @AusArmsControl
— Marise Payne (@MarisePayne) April 12, 2022
Reis Thebault, Adam Taylor and Julian Duplain contributed to this report.
War in Ukraine is contributing to global food insecurity, extreme poverty
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “violently disrupting” the international trade of food and agricultural products, as well as contributing to a global extreme poverty crisis, according to aid groups.
Oxfam warned in a report released Tuesday that 263 million more people around the world could be pushed into extreme poverty this year because of factors such as the Russian invasion — which has driven up food and energy prices — and the coronavirus pandemic. The international aid group called on organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to formulate a global rescue plan as millions of people across regions such as East Africa and the Sahel face the possibility of mass starvation.
Similarly, the World Food Program said in a news release Friday that the number of people in West and Central Africa hit by a food and nutrition crisis will reach 41 million this year, quadrupling since 2019. The region faces the highest prices in a decade for agricultural products including grains, oil and fertilizer. The war in Ukraine has added to the escalating crisis, given Russia’s status as a top global supplier of fertilizer and Ukraine’s position as the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and wheat.
Ukraine braces for new offensive as Russia reinforces military in east
Ukraine and its international partners are bracing for Russia to launch a new offensive, with the Pentagon saying Monday there are signs that the Kremlin has begun reinforcing and resupplying its forces in the eastern Donbas region and a top official in Moscow vowing no letup in hostilities before the next round of peace talks.
U.S. intelligence has observed a massive Russian military convoy making its way south toward Izyum, a strategically important town in northeast Ukraine that Russia seized earlier this month and may use now as a staging point to carry out assaults on larger cities to the south, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. The expectation, Kirby added, is that the “same brutal tactics, that same disregard for civilian life and civilian infrastructure, will probably continue” as Russian military commanders concentrate on the Donbas region.
Biden to unveil plan to ease gas prices as inflationary pressures persist
The White House plans to roll out new policies Tuesday aimed at curbing gas prices as it braces for a crushing new report that will show inflationary pressures on millions of Americans have intensified this year.
President Biden will announce plans for the Environmental Protection Agency to allow a blended form of gasoline that uses ethanol, known as E15, to be sold this summer — a measure long resisted by some energy and environmental groups that could help deliver short-term relief at the pump.
The administration will do this by having the EPA issue an emergency waiver for the summer sale of E15. Typically, E15 cannot be sold in most of the country between June 1 and Sept. 15 because of air pollution rules. The White House has argued that the use of E15 can shave 10 cents off each gallon of gasoline. E15 is currently sold in 30 states at more than 2,300 gas stations, the Energy Department has said, but that is just a fraction of the more than 150,000 gas stations in the United States.
The news will come during a day the president is set to visit the Poet ethanol plant near Des Moines as the administration pushes Congress to approve new energy subsidies aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on foreign fossil fuels.
Putin meets Belarusian President Lukashenko to discuss Ukraine
Vladimir Putin traveled to Russia’s far east Tuesday to meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally who has been a staunch supporter of the Russian president and his war in Ukraine. The two leaders are expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine and their response to Western sanctions, the Russian news agency Tass reported.
They met in the Amur region of Russia and visited the Vostochny Cosmodrome to mark Russia’s annual Cosmonautics Day, which commemorates the world’s first manned space flight, by a Soviet cosmonaut in 1961. Putin presented state awards to pilot-cosmonauts and met with workers. In televised remarks, one of the workers asked Putin whether the “goals and objectives” of Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine will be fulfilled.
“It will be so. There is no doubt,” Putin responded.
Later Tuesday, the two leaders were scheduled to hold talks on the situation in Ukraine, sanctions and bilateral cooperation and speak to reporters, according to Tass.
While Belarus’s military has not joined the fight in Ukraine, Russian soldiers have been based in Belarus since before the war began and launched their main ground offensive on Kyiv and northern Ukraine from there.
However, hundreds of pro-democracy activists from Belarus have also joined the fight in Ukraine against Russia — inspired by Ukraine’s battlefield successes and determined to carry that momentum back into Belarus to end Lukashenko’s 28-year rule. Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has been a vocal opponent of the invasion and has labeled Lukashenko’s regime a “co-aggressor” in Russia’s war.
Ukraine’s finance minister calls for Russian reparations after war
Russia must pay for the impact of its war on Ukraine, the country’s finance minister said Tuesday, seeking financial reparations.
The war has caused damage to Ukraine’s “critical infrastructure” costing up to $120 billion, Sergii Marchenko told Sky News. He said damage to social and military infrastructure would cause costs to rise to “more than $500 billion,” as he called on Russia to pay reparations once the war is over.
“Doing war in Ukraine is their decision, so that’s why they should pay for the decision after the war,” he said.
Earlier this week, the World Bank forecast that Ukraine’s economy would shrink by 45 percent this year. “The magnitude of the humanitarian crisis unleashed by the war is staggering,” said Anna Bjerde, World Bank vice president for Europe. “Ukraine needs massive financial support immediately as it struggles to keep its economy going.”
With people fleeing, businesses shuttering and much trade ceasing, Marchenko told the Financial Times that Ukraine is fighting for its economic “survival.”
“We are under great stress, in the very worst [financial] condition,” Marchenko said. “Now it is a question of the survival of our country.”
The French castles being used to house Ukrainian refugees
Families fleeing Ukraine have found an unlikely form of temporary accommodation in France — what one refugee called “fairy tale” castles.
At the Château de Saint-Fargeau in the Burgundy region, a Ukrainian flag hangs at the front of the centuries-old structure that is being used to house refugees arriving on French soil. According to its official website, the chateau — which was built in 1453 — has a chapel, stables, private apartments and a guard room. Over the centuries, it has housed an array of different people — from bishops to members of French royalty.
Ukrainians recently housed there told Insider that the owners of the castle stocked the refrigerator with food and wine upon their arrival. The children, they said, were entertained by the farm animals on the property. Nestled in woodland, the castle resembles a scene from a “fairy tale,” Kristi Viniar, who fled Kyiv, said. The actions of the French people have restored their faith in humanity, Ukrainians said.
At Guédelon Castle, about 15 minutes away in northern Burgundy, Ukrainians are also being given a warm welcome at the medieval-style building — which is a reproduction of a traditional 13th-century castle that is under construction, according to its website.
France, along with many other European nations, does not require Ukrainians to have a visa for entry, and those who enter the country can stay visa-free for at least a year. According to Reuters, about 30,000 Ukrainian refugees had arrived in France as of March 27.
The two castles have opened their gates to 30 people so far, Insider reported. France estimates it will receive up to 100,000 refugees.
In the French port city of Marseille, a Corsica Linea ferry has been outfitted to welcome about 1,600 Ukrainian refugees onboard and will serve as a “floating hotel.”
Izyum a hot spot, as Pentagon says Russian convoy focusing on Donbas
A Ukrainian official warned that Izyum is set to be a key flash point in the fighting to come in eastern Ukraine, as Russia begins to resupply and reinforce its forces in the northeastern Donbas region.
Russia’s effort includes a sprawling convoy of vehicles that has maneuvered north of the city of Izyum from the Russian border. The eight-mile convoy is believed to include a command element, a support battalion, helicopter support and other forces, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.
“We believe that this is an effort to reinforce and resupply their forces in the Donbas,” the official said, adding that Russia also has begun to reinforce its posture southwest of the city of Donetsk with artillery units.
Izyum lies in a strategic position north of Donetsk and Mariupol, and east of Dnipro. The city was seized by Russian forces on 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 remains the hottest spot,” said Oleh Synegubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, where Izyum is located.
It is unclear how quickly the convoy will move or what its ultimate destination is, the U.S. defense official said. But it is “clear evidence,” he added, that Russia is already starting to follow through on its stated goal of emphasizing the Donbas region, after failing to seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv earlier in its invasion.
Annabelle Timsit contributed to this report.
Hubris and isolation led Vladimir Putin to misjudge Ukraine
More than six weeks into his war against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is feeling the sting of failure.
Thousands of Russian battlefield deaths. Three front-line retreats by the Russian military. Millions of Ukrainians who will never forgive Moscow. More isolation than ever — and perilously few goals achieved.
How could Russia — a country with such deep familial, cultural and historic ties to its western neighbor — get Ukraine so wrong?
Officials in the United States and Europe are piecing together the answer to that question. What emerges, those officials say, is a picture of a hubristic and isolated leader, beset by biases and skewed information, pressing forward with a calamitous decision without consulting his full cohort of advisers. Putin rushed headlong into Ukraine, confident in his ability to secure a quick victory and weather any blowback within the authoritarian system he erected at home, they said. Underpinning his assumptions: misconceptions about Ukraine fundamentally rooted in Moscow’s colonial past.
Russia is jamming GPS signals in Ukraine, U.S. defense official says
Russia is jamming Ukrainian troops’ access to GPS signals provided by the United States, Gen. David Thompson of the U.S. Space Force told NBC on Monday.
European officials have blamed Russia for recent disruptions to satellite navigation systems used by commercial aircraft in Finland and the Black Sea. HawkEye 360, a U.S. radio frequency analytics company, last month said Russia had jammed GPS signals in Ukraine in the months leading up to the Feb. 24 invasion.
In November, Russia’s GPS jamming disrupted Ukrainian drones in Luhansk and Donetsk, HawkEye 360 said. The Switchblade and Puma drones that the United States has supplied to Ukraine use GPS coordinates to hit targets and navigate.
The Russian military has tested weapons designed to hit U.S. satellites providing GPS coordinates to American and allied troops, according to NBC. Russian forces were “making a very clear statement to us about their intention to threaten our capabilities,” Thompson said of the test.
Pentagon monitoring unconfirmed reports of chemical weapons use in Mariupol
The U.S. Defense Department is monitoring unconfirmed reports that Russia has used chemical weapons during its siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, a senior official said Monday evening.
American intelligence has not been able to verify the accounts, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said, but Western leaders have for weeks warned that Moscow could employ such tactics.
“We are aware of social media reports which claim Russian forces deployed a potential chemical munition in Mariupol, Ukraine,” Kirby said in a statement. “We cannot confirm at this time and will continue to monitor the situation closely. These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that the threat of chemical weapons was part of Russia’s “new stage of terror against Ukraine.”
“We take this as seriously as possible,” Zelensky said during his nightly address.
Zelensky was responding to comments from the spokesperson of Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, who advocated for the use of “chemical troops” in Mariupol to “smoke these moles out of their holes.”
The Washington Post has not been able to independently confirm the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. On Monday, the Azov Battalion — a Ukrainian paramilitary unit with a history of far-right nationalism — accused Russian troops of using “a poisonous substance of unknown origin against Ukrainian military and civilians” in Mariupol.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
The British Defense Ministry warned that Russia could use phosphorus munitions in Mariupol, as it has in the Donetsk region. Zelensky has already claimed that Russia used phosphorus bombs against civilians.
In late March, President Biden said the NATO military alliance “would respond” if Moscow deployed chemical weapons.
“It would trigger a response in kind,” Biden said, without describing the potential responses.
David L. Stern contributed to this report.
Warsaw recovered a decrepit building. Moscow calls it an improper seizure of its property.
The mayor of Warsaw, the Polish capital, said the city has recovered a decrepit building “illegally occupied” by Russia, but Moscow said the move was an improper seizure of its property.
The complex will be used to house Ukrainian refugees, Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski said, adding that “it is extremely symbolic that we are closing this long process now, in the age of Russian aggression.”
The property, known to locals as “Szpiegowo” — or “Spyville” — was used to house Russian diplomats, but it has fallen into disrepair. Trzaskowski posted photos on Twitter of dirty mattresses strewn about run-down rooms with haphazard floorboards, and hallways with peeling walls and ceilings.
Każde z pomieszczeń jest zdemolowane i ogołocone. Wygląda na to, że do „uratowania” nadają się tylko ściany nośne. Pocięte było nawet okablowanie wind. Na miejscu zastaliśmy dwie kasy pancerne – obie puste. pic.twitter.com/tlW58EmtFG
— Rafał Trzaskowski (@trzaskowski_) April 11, 2022
“It seems that only load-bearing walls are suitable for saving,” the mayor wrote.
But Russia said the tattered building was “diplomatic property,” with Russia’s ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, saying Moscow would “find a worthy answer” for the seizure, according to Russian state media.
Poland has taken in more than 2.6 million Ukrainian refugees since the start of the invasion, the highest total of any nation and more than half of the 4.5 million people who have fled the war-torn country, according to U.N. figures.
Video: China’s Xi walks a fine line between Russia’s Putin and U.S.
Zelensky says retreating Russian forces ‘left mines everywhere’
Retreating Russian forces left “tens if not hundreds of thousands” of unexploded shells and mines in the northern parts of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday in his nightly address.
“The occupiers left mines everywhere. In the houses they seized. Just in the streets, in the fields. They mined people’s property, mined cars, doors,” Zelensky said. “They consciously did everything to make the return to these areas after de-occupation as dangerous as possible.”
Human Rights Watch has accused Russia of using antipersonnel mines in the Kharkiv region, and others have spoken out against the use of the devices in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky said this weekend that more than 6,500 explosive devices were found within a 24-hour period. He said Russians had left mines in doorways, washing machines and under helmets, and specifically targeted the homes of soldiers, police and rescuers.
Zelensky said Ukraine is removing thousands of the shells and mines each day, and called their use a war crime.
“Due to the actions of the Russian army, our territory is currently one of the most contaminated by mines in the world,” he alleged.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said April 11 more than 10,000 civilians have been killed in the Russian siege of his city. (Video: Reuters, Photo: Reuters)Today at 1:26 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 6:40 a.m. EDTToday at 1:26 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 6:40 a.m. EDTRussian President Vladimir Putin will meet his ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, for talks Tuesday about Ukraine and ways to “counter” pressure from sanctions by the West, Russian news agencies reported. Putin flew to Russia’s far-east Amur region for the talks — as his military sends reinforcements and supplies to troops positioned in Ukraine’s east.The Pentagon press secretary warned that the “same brutal tactics, that same disregard for civilian life and civilian infrastructure, will probably continue” as Russia pivots east and appoints a new commander for its war. A sprawling, eight-mile-long Russian military convoy — believed to include a command element, a support battalion, helicopter support and other forces — has maneuvered north of Izyum, which is likely to become a staging point for further attacks on southern cities, the Pentagon said.The Defense Department is monitoring unconfirmed reports that Russia has used chemical weapons during its siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Britain’s armed forces minister said that “all options” would be on the table for the international community to respond if such reports were confirmed. Britain and Australia — which called the allegation “deeply concerning” — said they were working with partners to verify the details.Here’s what to knowUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky charged that Russia’s forces retreating from the north have left behind mines “everywhere.” Zelensky said Russian troops “deliberately did everything to kill or maim as many of our people as possible, even when they were forced to withdraw from our land.”Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer pressed Putin for an immediate cease-fire and humanitarian corridors during their meeting on Monday, which Nehammer characterized as “direct” and “tough.”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 CONFLICTU.S., allies seek to verify reports that Russia is using chemical weaponsReturn to menuOfficials in the United States, Britain and Australia said they would work to verify unconfirmed reports that Russia may have used chemical weapons against civilians in the battered port city of Mariupol.Britain’s armed forces minister, James Heappey, told the BBC on Tuesday that neither its intelligence services nor Ukraine’s has confirmed the reports. But “all options” would be “on the table” for the international community to respond if they are true, he said.Mariupol Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov told the BBC on Tuesday, without elaborating, that the city council has confirmed a “chemical poisoning” delivered via Russian drone. “We cannot provide more detailed information,” he said. “But we have confirmation from the military that this has happened.”The Azov Battalion — a Ukrainian paramilitary unit with a history of far-right nationalism — accused Russian troops Monday of using “a poisonous substance of unknown origin against Ukrainian military and civilians” in Mariupol. The Mariupol City Council reposted information from Azov on Tuesday that claimed people who were exposed to the substance “are in a relatively satisfactory condition” because they were mostly only minimally exposed.Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Tuesday that Ukraine is “verifying” these reports and that official statements would come later. Malyar cited “a theory” that the weapons could have been phosphorous munitions. White phosphorous is a chemical substance that can severely and indiscriminately harm civilians but is not considered a chemical weapon and is not explicitly banned by international humanitarian law.The British Defense Ministry said Monday that Russian forces have used phosphorous munitions in the region of Donetsk and could use them again in Mariupol. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed in March that Russia used phosphorous bombs against civilians.The Pentagon said it is monitoring the latest reports but has not verified them. “These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday in a statement.When asked whether he thought it would be possible to verify the claims that chemical weapons were used in Mariupol, Heappey said he was “as confident as you can reasonably be in any war zone,” citing “intelligence capabilities” and Britain’s “trusted relationship with the Ukrainian government,” which he said would “want to be certain about their use just as much as we do.”British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said late Monday that the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine “would be a callous escalation in this conflict,” and she pledged to “hold [President Vladimir] Putin and his regime to account.”Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said early Tuesday that her country is “working with partners” to verify the reports and warned that the use of chemical weapons violates international law.Reports Russian forces may have deployed a chemical agent in Mariupol are deeply concerning. 🇦🇺 is working with partners to verify these reports. Any use of chemical weapons would be a further wholesale breach of international law.@AUinUA @AusArmsControl— Marise Payne (@MarisePayne) April 12, 2022 Reis Thebault, Adam Taylor and Julian Duplain contributed to this report.War in Ukraine is contributing to global food insecurity, extreme poverty Return to menuRussia’s invasion of Ukraine is “violently disrupting” the international trade of food and agricultural products, as well as contributing to a global extreme poverty crisis, according to aid groups.Oxfam warned in a report released Tuesday that 263 million more people around the world could be pushed into extreme poverty this year because of factors such as the Russian invasion — which has driven up food and energy prices — and the coronavirus pandemic. The international aid group called on organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to formulate a global rescue plan as millions of people across regions such as East Africa and the Sahel face the possibility of mass starvation.Similarly, the World Food Program said in a news release Friday that the number of people in West and Central Africa hit by a food and nutrition crisis will reach 41 million this year, quadrupling since 2019. The region faces the highest prices in a decade for agricultural products including grains, oil and fertilizer. The war in Ukraine has added to the escalating crisis, given Russia’s status as a top global supplier of fertilizer and Ukraine’s position as the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and wheat.Ukraine braces for new offensive as Russia reinforces military in eastReturn to menuUkraine and its international partners are bracing for Russia to launch a new offensive, with the Pentagon saying Monday there are signs that the Kremlin has begun reinforcing and resupplying its forces in the eastern Donbas region and a top official in Moscow vowing no letup in hostilities before the next round of peace talks.U.S. intelligence has observed a massive Russian military convoy making its way south toward Izyum, a strategically important town in northeast Ukraine that Russia seized earlier this month and may use now as a staging point to carry out assaults on larger cities to the south, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. The expectation, Kirby added, is that the “same brutal tactics, that same disregard for civilian life and civilian infrastructure, will probably continue” as Russian military commanders concentrate on the Donbas region.Biden to unveil plan to ease gas prices as inflationary pressures persistReturn to menuThe White House plans to roll out new policies Tuesday aimed at curbing gas prices as it braces for a crushing new report that will show inflationary pressures on millions of Americans have intensified this year.President Biden will announce plans for the Environmental Protection Agency to allow a blended form of gasoline that uses ethanol, known as E15, to be sold this summer — a measure long resisted by some energy and environmental groups that could help deliver short-term relief at the pump.The administration will do this by having the EPA issue an emergency waiver for the summer sale of E15. Typically, E15 cannot be sold in most of the country between June 1 and Sept. 15 because of air pollution rules. The White House has argued that the use of E15 can shave 10 cents off each gallon of gasoline. E15 is currently sold in 30 states at more than 2,300 gas stations, the Energy Department has said, but that is just a fraction of the more than 150,000 gas stations in the United States.The news will come during a day the president is set to visit the Poet ethanol plant near Des Moines as the administration pushes Congress to approve new energy subsidies aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on foreign fossil fuels.Putin meets Belarusian President Lukashenko to discuss UkraineReturn to menuVladimir Putin traveled to Russia’s far east Tuesday to meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally who has been a staunch supporter of the Russian president and his war in Ukraine. The two leaders are expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine and their response to Western sanctions, the Russian news agency Tass reported.They met in the Amur region of Russia and visited the Vostochny Cosmodrome to mark Russia’s annual Cosmonautics Day, which commemorates the world’s first manned space flight, by a Soviet cosmonaut in 1961. Putin presented state awards to pilot-cosmonauts and met with workers. In televised remarks, one of the workers asked Putin whether the “goals and objectives” of Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine will be fulfilled.“It will be so. There is no doubt,” Putin responded.Later Tuesday, the two leaders were scheduled to hold talks on the situation in Ukraine, sanctions and bilateral cooperation and speak to reporters, according to Tass.While Belarus’s military has not joined the fight in Ukraine, Russian soldiers have been based in Belarus since before the war began and launched their main ground offensive on Kyiv and northern Ukraine from there.However, hundreds of pro-democracy activists from Belarus have also joined the fight in Ukraine against Russia — inspired by Ukraine’s battlefield successes and determined to carry that momentum back into Belarus to end Lukashenko’s 28-year rule. Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has been a vocal opponent of the invasion and has labeled Lukashenko’s regime a “co-aggressor” in Russia’s war.Ukraine’s finance minister calls for Russian reparations after war Return to menuRussia must pay for the impact of its war on Ukraine, the country’s finance minister said Tuesday, seeking financial reparations.The war has caused damage to Ukraine’s “critical infrastructure” costing up to $120 billion, Sergii Marchenko told Sky News. He said damage to social and military infrastructure would cause costs to rise to “more than $500 billion,” as he called on Russia to pay reparations once the war is over.“Doing war in Ukraine is their decision, so that’s why they should pay for the decision after the war,” he said.Earlier this week, the World Bank forecast that Ukraine’s economy would shrink by 45 percent this year. “The magnitude of the humanitarian crisis unleashed by the war is staggering,” said Anna Bjerde, World Bank vice president for Europe. “Ukraine needs massive financial support immediately as it struggles to keep its economy going.”With people fleeing, businesses shuttering and much trade ceasing, Marchenko told the Financial Times that Ukraine is fighting for its economic “survival.”“We are under great stress, in the very worst [financial] condition,” Marchenko said. “Now it is a question of the survival of our country.”The French castles being used to house Ukrainian refugees Return to menuFamilies fleeing Ukraine have found an unlikely form of temporary accommodation in France — what one refugee called “fairy tale” castles.At the Château de Saint-Fargeau in the Burgundy region, a Ukrainian flag hangs at the front of the centuries-old structure that is being used to house refugees arriving on French soil. According to its official website, the chateau — which was built in 1453 — has a chapel, stables, private apartments and a guard room. Over the centuries, it has housed an array of different people — from bishops to members of French royalty.Ukrainians recently housed there told Insider that the owners of the castle stocked the refrigerator with food and wine upon their arrival. The children, they said, were entertained by the farm animals on the property. Nestled in woodland, the castle resembles a scene from a “fairy tale,” Kristi Viniar, who fled Kyiv, said. The actions of the French people have restored their faith in humanity, Ukrainians said.At Guédelon Castle, about 15 minutes away in northern Burgundy, Ukrainians are also being given a warm welcome at the medieval-style building — which is a reproduction of a traditional 13th-century castle that is under construction, according to its website.France, along with many other European nations, does not require Ukrainians to have a visa for entry, and those who enter the country can stay visa-free for at least a year. According to Reuters, about 30,000 Ukrainian refugees had arrived in France as of March 27.The two castles have opened their gates to 30 people so far, Insider reported. France estimates it will receive up to 100,000 refugees.In the French port city of Marseille, a Corsica Linea ferry has been outfitted to welcome about 1,600 Ukrainian refugees onboard and will serve as a “floating hotel.”Izyum a hot spot, as Pentagon says Russian convoy focusing on DonbasReturn to menuA Ukrainian official warned that Izyum is set to be a key flash point in the fighting to come in eastern Ukraine, as Russia begins to resupply and reinforce its forces in the northeastern Donbas region.Russia’s effort includes a sprawling convoy of vehicles that has maneuvered north of the city of Izyum from the Russian border. The eight-mile convoy is believed to include a command element, a support battalion, helicopter support and other forces, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.“We believe that this is an effort to reinforce and resupply their forces in the Donbas,” the official said, adding that Russia also has begun to reinforce its posture southwest of the city of Donetsk with artillery units.Izyum lies in a strategic position north of Donetsk and Mariupol, and east of Dnipro. The city was seized by Russian forces on 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 remains the hottest spot,” said Oleh Synegubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, where Izyum is located.It is unclear how quickly the convoy will move or what its ultimate destination is, the U.S. defense official said. But it is “clear evidence,” he added, that Russia is already starting to follow through on its stated goal of emphasizing the Donbas region, after failing to seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv earlier in its invasion.Annabelle Timsit contributed to this report.Hubris and isolation led Vladimir Putin to misjudge UkraineReturn to menuMore than six weeks into his war against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is feeling the sting of failure.Thousands of Russian battlefield deaths. Three front-line retreats by the Russian military. Millions of Ukrainians who will never forgive Moscow. More isolation than ever — and perilously few goals achieved.How could Russia — a country with such deep familial, cultural and historic ties to its western neighbor — get Ukraine so wrong?Officials in the United States and Europe are piecing together the answer to that question. What emerges, those officials say, is a picture of a hubristic and isolated leader, beset by biases and skewed information, pressing forward with a calamitous decision without consulting his full cohort of advisers. Putin rushed headlong into Ukraine, confident in his ability to secure a quick victory and weather any blowback within the authoritarian system he erected at home, they said. Underpinning his assumptions: misconceptions about Ukraine fundamentally rooted in Moscow’s colonial past.Russia is jamming GPS signals in Ukraine, U.S. defense official saysReturn to menuRussia is jamming Ukrainian troops’ access to GPS signals provided by the United States, Gen. David Thompson of the U.S. Space Force told NBC on Monday.European officials have blamed Russia for recent disruptions to satellite navigation systems used by commercial aircraft in Finland and the Black Sea. HawkEye 360, a U.S. radio frequency analytics company, last month said Russia had jammed GPS signals in Ukraine in the months leading up to the Feb. 24 invasion.In November, Russia’s GPS jamming disrupted Ukrainian drones in Luhansk and Donetsk, HawkEye 360 said. The Switchblade and Puma drones that the United States has supplied to Ukraine use GPS coordinates to hit targets and navigate.The Russian military has tested weapons designed to hit U.S. satellites providing GPS coordinates to American and allied troops, according to NBC. Russian forces were “making a very clear statement to us about their intention to threaten our capabilities,” Thompson said of the test.Pentagon monitoring unconfirmed reports of chemical weapons use in MariupolReturn to menuThe U.S. Defense Department is monitoring unconfirmed reports that Russia has used chemical weapons during its siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, a senior official said Monday evening.American intelligence has not been able to verify the accounts, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said, but Western leaders have for weeks warned that Moscow could employ such tactics.“We are aware of social media reports which claim Russian forces deployed a potential chemical munition in Mariupol, Ukraine,” Kirby said in a statement. “We cannot confirm at this time and will continue to monitor the situation closely. These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that the threat of chemical weapons was part of Russia’s “new stage of terror against Ukraine.”“We take this as seriously as possible,” Zelensky said during his nightly address.Zelensky was responding to comments from the spokesperson of Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, who advocated for the use of “chemical troops” in Mariupol to “smoke these moles out of their holes.”The Washington Post has not been able to independently confirm the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. On Monday, the Azov Battalion — a Ukrainian paramilitary unit with a history of far-right nationalism — accused Russian troops of using “a poisonous substance of unknown origin against Ukrainian military and civilians” in Mariupol.The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.The British Defense Ministry warned that Russia could use phosphorus munitions in Mariupol, as it has in the Donetsk region. Zelensky has already claimed that Russia used phosphorus bombs against civilians.In late March, President Biden said the NATO military alliance “would respond” if Moscow deployed chemical weapons.“It would trigger a response in kind,” Biden said, without describing the potential responses.David L. Stern contributed to this report.Warsaw recovered a decrepit building. Moscow calls it an improper seizure of its property.Return to menuThe mayor of Warsaw, the Polish capital, said the city has recovered a decrepit building “illegally occupied” by Russia, but Moscow said the move was an improper seizure of its property.The complex will be used to house Ukrainian refugees, Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski said, adding that “it is extremely symbolic that we are closing this long process now, in the age of Russian aggression.”The property, known to locals as “Szpiegowo” — or “Spyville” — was used to house Russian diplomats, but it has fallen into disrepair. Trzaskowski posted photos on Twitter of dirty mattresses strewn about run-down rooms with haphazard floorboards, and hallways with peeling walls and ceilings.Każde z pomieszczeń jest zdemolowane i ogołocone. Wygląda na to, że do „uratowania” nadają się tylko ściany nośne. Pocięte było nawet okablowanie wind. Na miejscu zastaliśmy dwie kasy pancerne – obie puste. pic.twitter.com/tlW58EmtFG— Rafał Trzaskowski (@trzaskowski_) April 11, 2022 “It seems that only load-bearing walls are suitable for saving,” the mayor wrote.But Russia said the tattered building was “diplomatic property,” with Russia’s ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, saying Moscow would “find a worthy answer” for the seizure, according to Russian state media.Poland has taken in more than 2.6 million Ukrainian refugees since the start of the invasion, the highest total of any nation and more than half of the 4.5 million people who have fled the war-torn country, according to U.N. figures.Video: China’s Xi walks a fine line between Russia’s Putin and U.S.Return to menuPresidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia said their countries’ friendship had “no limits,” but war with Ukraine is testing their ties. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: The Washington Post)Zelensky says retreating Russian forces ‘left mines everywhere’Return to menuUkrainian military forces performed controlled detonations of mines in the eastern city of Kharkiv on April 11. (Video: Julie Yoon/The Washington Post, Photo: The Washington Post)Retreating Russian forces left “tens if not hundreds of thousands” of unexploded shells and mines in the northern parts of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday in his nightly address.“The occupiers left mines everywhere. In the houses they seized. Just in the streets, in the fields. They mined people’s property, mined cars, doors,” Zelensky said. “They consciously did everything to make the return to these areas after de-occupation as dangerous as possible.”Human Rights Watch has accused Russia of using antipersonnel mines in the Kharkiv region, and others have spoken out against the use of the devices in Ukraine.Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky said this weekend that more than 6,500 explosive devices were found within a 24-hour period. He said Russians had left mines in doorways, washing machines and under helmets, and specifically targeted the homes of soldiers, police and rescuers.Zelensky said Ukraine is removing thousands of the shells and mines each day, and called their use a war crime.“Due to the actions of the Russian army, our territory is currently one of the most contaminated by mines in the world,” he alleged.