Today at 12: 20 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 8: 17 a.m. EDT
Today at 12: 20 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 8: 17 a.m. EDT
Russia demanded the surrender Tuesday of Ukraine’s remaining holdouts in the devastated southern port city of Mariupol, as local leaders said the steel plant where fighters and civilians are holing up was under attack. Russian Defense Ministry stated that all who surrender their arms will be protected. The Kremlin would have control of Mariupol, a crucial land route linking Russian-annexed Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
Hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russian troops “have begun the battle for Donbas” as part of its long-planned offensive in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced Tuesday the “next phase” of its military operation was underway and would seek the “complete liberation” of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The regional governor of Luhansk said Tuesday that Kreminna, in eastern Ukraine, is “under the control” of Russian forces, and that the Ukrainian forces who were fighting to defend it have taken up new positions. Russia is also advancing towards the Kharkiv region. The Pentagon warned that Russia appears to be learning from its failure to take Kyiv, attempting to improve its command and control as well as logistics.
Zelensky said in his nightly video address that tough Western sanctions have made it daunting for Russia to replenish its weapons supplies, and the White House said it has not ruled out additional sanctions on Russia. Biden will host Tuesday’s call with allies from the United States to talk about the current war. His administration said it has stepped up equipment deliveries to Ukraine, which are taking place at “unprecedented speed.”
Here’s what to know
- The State Department called deadly Russian airstrikes that hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday part of Moscow’s “campaign of terror.” Ukrainian officials said seven people were killed and 11 injured.
- French President Emmanuel Macron said his efforts to mediate with Russian President Vladimir Putin have stalled since the discovery of hundreds of civilian bodies in Bucha.
- U.S. immigration officials detained more than 5,000 migrants from Ukraine at the nation’s land, sea and air borders in March, with a significant increase in those seeking refuge at the U.S.-Mexico boundary.
- The Washington Post has lifted its paywall for readers in Russia and Ukraine. Telegram users can subscribe to our channel for updates.
Analysis: A warning by Estonia’s ex-president of Russian cyber danger
Toomas Hendrik Ilves knows what it’s like to face a grueling Russian cyberattack.
As president of Estonia in 2007, he led his nation through a blistering digital attack that shut down government and financial websites for days.
The digital strike was an apparent Kremlin response to the removal of a Soviet-era statue in Estonia’s capital of Tallinn and the first known example of a major nation-on-nation cyberattack. As well as attacks on the United States, European countries, and Georgia, that were later claimed by the Kremlin, they denied any responsibility.
Now, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in its second month, Ilves is warning that Russia could turn to disruptive or even destructive cyberattacks to alter the course of the conflict.
Kreminna now ‘under control’ of Russian forces, Ukrainian official says
The regional governor of Luhansk said Tuesday that Kreminna, in eastern Ukraine, is now “under the control” of Russian forces, and that the Ukrainians who were fighting to defend it have taken up new positions — a day after conflicting reports emerged about the status of the strategic town.
“Kreminna today unfortunately is already under the control of the orcs; they entered the city,” Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Tuesday during a news briefing, using a derogatory term to refer to Russian troops. “It was necessary for our defenders to leave, because they held the defense for almost two months, and there the enemy shelled every meter of our line of defense.”
Haidai said the costs of remaining in Kreminna were too great, with little upside. Everyone understood that there wasn’t much to hold onto and there wasn’t any shelter. Our soldiers were losing their lives and inflicting no damage to the enemy. He said that the Russian troops were withdrawing, had fortified new posts and continued to fight them — though more effectively.”
Haidai said in a Telegram post Tuesday that attempts to evacuate residents of Luhansk would continue, and he estimated that about 70,000 civilians remain in the region. He said those who remain in Kreminna are now “hostages.”
Control of Kreminna could allow Russian forces to move forward toward Kramatorsk, capital of the Donbas region, where an attack on a train station earlier this month killed at least 50 people, according to officials.
Haidai said that Russian forces heavily shelled Kreminna Monday, wounding at least one person. He said Tuesday that Russian forces damaged a high-voltage wire, leaving 215 towns in Donetsk and Luhansk in “critical” condition without access to electricity.
The head of Kreminna’s military administration, Oleksandr Dunets, said fighting was ongoing on the outskirts of the town, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency.
Putin honors brigade accused of war crimes in Bucha
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday awarded honors to an army brigade that Ukraine has accused of committing war crimes in Bucha, the Kyiv suburb where the discovery of beheadings, mass graves and killings under torture sent shock waves around the globe.
In a presidential decree, Putin praised the 64th Motorized Brigade for “mass heroism and bravery, steadfastness and fortitude” and for “distinguishing itself in military action for the protection of the Fatherland and state interests.”
The 64th Motorized Brigade was awarded the “esteemed honor” of becoming “guards,” upgrading its name to the “64th Guard Motorized Brigade.”
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry this month accused the brigade of being “war criminals directly involved in committing war crimes against the people of Ukraine in Bucha.”
When Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv capital region this month, they left behind gruesome remnants of what Ukraine and many world leaders have labeled as war crimes.
Russia says ‘next phase’ of invasion has begun
By Mary Ilyushina7: 25 a.m.
Russia has begun the “next phase” of its invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the India Today television channel, acknowledging reports of a renewed attack.
“The operation in eastern Ukraine is aimed at — as it was previously announced — the complete liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics,” Lavrov said, referring to pro-Moscow separatist regions bordering Russia. This operation will go on. “The next stage of this special operations begins immediately. And, it seems to me, this will be an important moment during this special operation.”
Late Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the country’s military officials said that Russia had launched its anticipated ground offensive in the eastern part of the country, stepping up missile and artillery strikes.
‘I’m done talking’: Ex-MSNBC analyst joins foreign legion in Ukraine
Malcolm Nance, a counterterrorism expert and former MSNBC analyst, said Monday that he has joined Ukraine’s legion of foreign fighters and is on the ground to help the country resist the Russian advance.
Clad in military fatigues and holding a rifle, the former U.S. naval officer told MSNBC’s Joy Reid that he joined the International Legion of Territorial Defense about a month ago.
When asked why he was in Ukraine, Nance said friends in the Ukrainian army had told him they were overwhelmed by Russia’s assault. Nance said that he was in Ukraine because he saw the conflict unfolding and thought that it was time to stop talking. He said, “It’s time for us to act.” “I am here to help this country fight … what essentially is a war of extermination.”
Nance is one of thousands of foreign nationals who volunteered to join the International Legion of Territorial Defense, responding to an appeal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Though some, like Nance, have military experience, others are novices in need of heavy training.
“The international legion is one of the best-kept secrets in the country,” Nance told the Daily Beast. “I was very touched when I met the first platoon and saw they were here for the right reasons.”
MSNBC told the Daily Beast in a statement that Nance is no longer employed with the network as an analyst. The State Department has warned Americans that citizens traveling to Ukraine, “especially to take up arms,” face “profound risks … to their health, to their safety, their security.”
No humanitarian corridors for third straight day, Ukraine says
A Ukrainian official said there would be no civilian evacuations from embattled cities on Tuesday for the third consecutive day, after Ukraine and Russia failed to reach an agreement on humanitarian corridors.
“Today, April 19, there are unfortunately no humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a Telegram post. She previously announced there would be no humanitarian corridors on Sunday or Monday — although the governor of the eastern region of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, said Sunday that more than 30 local residents were evacuated, with some going west to Dnipro.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces in the past of continuing to shell evacuation routes, making them unusable, despite cease-fire agreements.
Vereshchuk also claimed Tuesday that Russian forces refused to allow civilians in Mariupol to evacuate to nearby Berdyansk, and she said “difficult negotiations on the opening of humanitarian corridors in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions” are ongoing.
Vereshchuk said “intense shelling continues” in the eastern Donbas region, where Ukraine said Monday that Russian forces had launched a renewed offensive.
Russia is concentrating the bulk of its fighting in the east and south of Ukraine, though it launched deadly attacks in the west in recent days.
Marisa Iati contributed to this report.
Russia learns from failure to take Kyiv as new offensive begins, U.S. says
Russian forces are learning from their frustrated assault on Kyiv as they shift to the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and try to avoid repeating earlier mistakes, the Pentagon and defense strategists say.
“They are moving in heavy artillery. They move in command and control enablers. “They are moving in command-and-control enablers,” said a top defense official, who spoke under condition of anonymity because the Pentagon had set the terms. “It appears they are trying to learn from the lessons of the north, where they didn’t have proper sustainment capabilities.”
Supply problems plagued the initial stages of the invasion, with videos emerging of Russian fighters stranded on roadsides next to their vehicles because they had no fuel. Hungered soldiers looted food stores. The commanders of the troops rushed in, ignoring the fact that the Ukrainian resistance was not strong enough to withstand the attack.
World Bank lowers growth forecast for 2022
The World Bank has lowered its 2022 global growth forecast from 4.1 percent to 3.2 percent, its president told reporters Monday, reflecting the impact on economic output from Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the coronavirus pandemic and inflation.
The World Bank has provided $1 billion in emergency financing to Ukraine and another $1.5 billion to support essential government services in the country, David Malpass said. To counter the adverse economic effects of the pandemic — exacerbated by China’s recent lockdowns — the bank’s board will discuss a $170 billion “crisis response envelope” to cover a 15-month period beginning this month.
Global inflation is causing “immense stress,” Malpass said. Malpass urged the governments and private sector to increase supply in order to reduce market inflation expectations.
Lviv attacks are part of Russia’s ‘campaign of terror,’ U.S. says
The State Department called deadly Russian airstrikes that hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday part of Moscow’s “campaign of terror.”
“Russia, more than just launching an invasion, more than just launching a war … is undertaking a campaign of terror, a campaign of brutality, a campaign of despicable aggression against the people of Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a news conference. He was responding to a question about the strikes that Ukrainian officials said killed seven people and injured at least 11, including one child.
Lviv, in Ukraine’s far west, had been relatively untouched by the fighting. Families went on evening walks with bouquets of flowers and to the church over Easter weekend. The first recorded wartime death in the city was Monday’s strike. Afterward, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on social media that the entire country is vulnerable to Russian assault: “Today in Ukraine there are no safe and unsafe cities.”
Price included Russian strikes on the outskirts of Kyiv, the battle for control of Kharkiv and Russia’s weeks-long siege of Mariupol — where the mayor recently said at least 10,000 civilians have died — as examples of Russia’s “campaign of terror.”
“These are clear indications, they are a clear testament to the campaign of brutality, the campaign of terror, that the Russians are waging against the people of Ukraine,” he said.
Hannah Allam contributed to this report.
How a Mariupol steel plant became a holdout for the city’s resistance
Long before Mariupol’s Azovstal Iron and Steel Works became a key battleground in Ukraine, it played a dominant role in the port city’s economy. It was one of Europe’s largest metallurgical plants and produced more than 4,000,000 tons annually. This provided employment for thousands.
But now, amid a devastating war and a weeks-long siege by Russian forces, the sprawling industrial park is no longer producing steel. Instead, the plant and its network of underground tunnels are serving as a shelter and final holdout for thousands of Ukrainian fighters, including many from the Azov Battalion, one of Ukraine’s most skilled — and controversial — military units.
As many as 1,000 civilians are also hiding in the subterranean network, Mariupol’s city council said in a Telegram message Monday.
“Under the city, there is basically another city,” Yan Gagin, an adviser with the pro-Moscow separatist group Donetsk People’s Republic, told Russian state news network Ria Novosti over the weekend.
Mariupol steel plant under fire as Russia demands Ukrainian surrender
A Ukrainian official said Russian forces bombarded the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol as Moscow demanded the surrender of fighters holed up in their final redoubt in the southern port.
The sprawling industrial facility’s tunnels are providing cover for Ukrainian forces in the coastal city, including from the Azov Battalion. As many as 1,000 civilians are also hiding in the underground network, Mariupol’s city council has said.
“As well as bombing Azovstal, the Russians are chaotically striking the Levoberezhny district’s residential sector,” Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the Mariupol mayor’s office, said Tuesday on Telegram.
In a bid to expand control along the coast of the Sea of Azov, Russian troops encircled and advanced into the seaside hub with a crippling siege over weeks. The capture of the city, which was in ruins, would create a land bridge that connects the region east of Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
The Russian Defense Ministry repeated calls for Ukrainian fighters in the Mariupol steel facility to lay down their arms on Tuesday, giving them a new deadline.
Eduard Basurin, a separatist military leader in eastern Ukraine, said earlier Tuesday that forces have launched an assault and were trying to storm the Azovstal industrial plant in Mariupol, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Annabelle Chapman and Amar Nadhir contributed to this report.
Ukrainian pilots have a new online campaign: ‘Buy me a fighter jet’
Ukrainian pilots are asking the world’s wealthiest people for help defending their country from invading Russian troops — and they’re doing so with a five-word campaign: “Buy me a fighter jet.”
Those behind the initiative say that governments around the world are “afraid of escalation and the conflict spreading beyond Ukraine” and therefore will not send jets or impose a no-fly zone — a measure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked of NATO since the war began in late February.
In the campaign video, which has been widely shared online, an unidentified pilot calls on people from all backgrounds — including singers, actors and business owners — to help the defenders of Ukraine.
“We ask you, Philanthropist, to use your financial, organizational and political capabilities to buy and hand over a fighter jet to us,” reads a statement on buymeafighterjet.com. “One plane can save thousands of innocent lives.”
Ukrainian officials have been digitally savvy since the war began, launching various crowdfunding and information campaigns using social media and messaging platforms.
On Twitter, those who can’t afford a $25 million jet called on the world’s richest for help buying the aircraft, with many tweeting at billionaires Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for help. The Washington Post is owned by Bezos.
Organizers of the campaign say those interested in helping to provide warplanes, specifically models such as the Su-25, Su-27, Su-24 and MiG-29, will be offered legal and technical advice.
It is not clear whether any philanthropists will respond to the campaign — a move that Russia would view as extremely provocative.
Video shows aftermath of Lviv missile attack
Macron says he hasn’t spoken to Putin since bodies were found in Bucha
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday he hasn’t spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since the discovery of hundreds of dead civilians this month in areas near Kyiv that Russian troops had occupied, French media outlets reported.
Macron was the only Western leader in regular public contact with Putin at the beginning of the war, with the two leaders speaking by phone several times in what the French side described as a way to keep negotiations open.
However, speaking to France 5 television on Monday, Macron said the war had taken a turn since bodies were found in towns like Bucha. He stated that “the war crimes were clear” and needed to be proven politically as well as judicially. French President Francois Hollande said that he would not rule out talking to Putin once again. France must help to bring about peace in Ukraine, he stated. This cannot be done without speaking to Moscow.
Macron said he would visit Kyiv when he can “bring something useful,” rather than to merely show support. Several European leaders have traveled to the capital and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in recent weeks.
