The conflict has now displaced half of Ukraine’s children, a United Nations agency says. On the battlefield, Moscow’s advance has stalled around the capital, Kyiv. While pouring new energy into an offensive in eastern Ukraine, Russian forces appear to have switched to the defensive near Kyiv, according to U.S. and U.K. assessments — though Ukrainian officials have painted an overly rosy view of their success in some counterattacks.
UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT
At meeting of world leaders, China’s role looms large
BERLIN — Western leaders have spoken much in recent weeks about the unity in their ranks as they respond to Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine.
But at three back-to-back meetings in Brussels, one of the key subjects will be a country not represented in the discussions: China.
“I expect leaders will call on China to live up to its responsibilities as a member of the U.N. Security Council, refrain from supporting Russia’s war effort and join the rest of the world in calling for an immediate, peaceful end to this war,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters this week in Berlin, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutmann, had harsh words for Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“President Xi says he’s being neutral in this conflict,” Gutmann said. “There is no neutrality in this conflict. He is not being neutral in this conflict. This is a conflict where not to denounce Mr. Putin’s aggression as aggression, not to denounce it as a violation of the sovereignty of a country, not to join us in leveling sanctions against Mr. Putin is taking a side. China is taking Mr. Putin’s side in this conflict.”
That move, she added, should prompt Western countries to reevaluate their economic dealings with China, which could no longer be treated simply as a “trading partner, who is trading with us on fair and free grounds.”
One month into Ukraine war, a defiant nation is forever changed but adapting
ODESSA, Ukraine — A month has passed since blasts woke Ukrainians at 5:07 a.m. on Feb. 24. The sounds of explosions still scare but don’t surprise. Each day since has brought the wail of air raid sirens, the screech of breaking glass and numbingly frequent moments of silence for the dead.
A month of war with Russia has forced every fourth Ukrainian out of their home. It has shown that Moscow’s forces fire indiscriminately on civilians in their apartments, businesses, hospitals and schools. It has exposed weaknesses in Vladimir Putin’s military, which seems stunned and disoriented by the month-long fight. And it has focused the world’s attention on the unexpected ferocity and power of ordinary people uniting to defend their homes and nation.
Four weeks of explosions, fire and death have devastated Ukrainians and empowered them. Their “new normal” is always knowing where the nearest bomb shelter is while indulging in a cappuccino at a local coffee shop or a visit to the barber. It’s martial-law-imposed sobriety with a ban on alcohol sales. It’s asking the United States and NATO for a no-fly zone that could significantly damage Russia’s ability to attack from the sky — even as allies refuse, citing fears of touching off the world war that Moscow and the West have managed for so long to avoid.
It’s the population’s — and the world’s — growing belief that Ukraine’s military could actually win. It has already kept Russia’s massive and feared armed forces from the easy victory Putin seemed to expect.
“The aggressors planned three weeks ago to be in the capital, to be here because it is the heart of the country,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told journalists on Wednesday, as the now all-too-familiar sound of artillery shelling echoed in the background. “Everybody is surprised,” he said.
Bearak reported from Lviv, Ukraine, O’Grady and Raghavan from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Dixon from Riga, Latvia.
NATO summit opens without German chancellor following all-night coalition talks in Berlin
BERLIN — The “family photo” snapped Thursday morning of the leaders of NATO’s 30 members was taken with one conspicuous absence: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Scholz was delayed in his travel to Brussels for the meeting, following all-night talks in Berlin aimed at hammering out a relief deal addressing rapidly rising energy prices. Germany was represented in the photo by its ambassador to NATO, Rüdiger König.
Germany, Europe’s largest economy and its de facto leader, has been forced by Russia’s war in Ukraine to step into a more commanding role on the international stage, promising to increase its military spending. Already, it has supplied arms to Ukraine, reversing a long-standing policy against sending arms into conflict zones.
But the German leader’s absence from the opening of the emergency summit in Brussels magnified what German media have described as the country’s “massive image problem.” A column published Thursday morning in Süddeutsche Zeitung, a Munich-based daily, described Germany as a “helpless giant.” The country, despite its domestic prosperity, is “seen as weak in leadership, self-centered and helpless,” wrote the columnist.
Russia ‘deliberately targeting and destroying’ Ukraine’s food stocks, E.U. commission says
Russian forces are “deliberately targeting and destroying” Ukrainian food stocks and storage locations, Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s vice president, said Wednesday. The attacks are creating “a multitude of problems,” leading to soaring food prices and widespread insecurity, he said.
“When it comes to food, now is the time for Europe to show its solidarity: to help Ukraine, its people and farmers, as well as vulnerable food-importing countries around the world that face surging prices and potential shortages,” Dombrovskis said.
The commission called for European countries to work together to stabilize agriculture and food supply chains, helping them become “more resilient and sustainable” amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and in preparation for future crises.
Janusz Wojciechowski, the European Union’s commissioner for agriculture, said the commission would support farmers and help support Ukrainians in “the face of Russian aggression” by planting and growing resources and helping to facilitate exports.
The commission said its E.U. emergency program of 330 million euros ($362 million) would help keep Ukrainians safe amid Russia’s bombardment while also providing access to what it called “basic goods and services.”
Photo: Biden appears with NATO chief and all 29 other leaders of member countries
During the NATO “family photo” Thursday, President Biden shook hands and said a few words to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, French President Emmanuel Macron and Estonian Prime Minister Kallas.
Biden and other NATO summit leaders begin emergency talks on Ukraine
BRUSSELS — Biden and other NATO heads of state and government are meeting in Brussels for emergency talks on the alliance’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The NATO summit begins an extraordinary day of diplomacy in which the U.S. president will also meet with Group of Seven leaders and attend a meeting of the European Council.
At NATO headquarters Thursday morning, leaders are expected to announce the deployment of four new NATO battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.
“I expect leaders will agree to strengthen NATO’s posture in all domains,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference Wednesday. He said this would involve “major increases to our forces in the eastern part of the alliance.”
Stoltenberg said the leaders will also discuss longer-term shifts in the 30-member alliance’s posture, particularly in Eastern Europe. “There is a need to reset our deterrence and defense,” he said ahead of the meeting, “and I expect that to be a substantial increase in our presence for the long term.”
The G-7 and European Union meetings are expected to focus on additional sanctions as well as efforts to curb Europe’s reliance on Russian energy.
Britain on Thursday announced additional sanctions on “strategic industries, banks and business elites,” including six more banks and several companies, notably Russian Railways; Kronshtadt, a producer of Russian drones; and the Wagner Group, a notorious mercenary outfit. Individuals on the list include Herman Gref, CEO of Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and Polina Kovaleva, the stepdaughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“These oligarchs, businesses and hired thugs are complicit in the murder of innocent civilians and it is right that they pay the price,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.
Those added to the sanctions list Thursday will have their assets in the United Kingdom frozen. Individuals subject to travel bans will also prohibited from traveling to or from Britain.
NATO: 7,000 to 15,000 Russian troops dead in Ukraine
Roughly 7,000 to 15,000 Russian troops have been killed in four weeks of fighting in Ukraine, a senior NATO military official said Wednesday.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under NATO ground rules, said the estimate was based on several factors, including information from Ukrainian officials, what the Russian side has released and open sources.
NATO estimates that in total, 30,000 to 40,000 Russian troops have been killed, wounded or taken prisoner — a figure based on the assumption that for every soldier killed, three are wounded, the official said.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, said Wednesday that he had not seen casualty estimates for the Russians that were “as high as NATO’s.” But he declined to disclose current U.S. estimates, saying the Pentagon has low confidence in them.
U.S. military officials have thus far been hesitant to discuss Russian casualty figures. More than two weeks ago, on March 8, Lt. Gen. Scott D. Berrier, director the Defense Intelligence Agency, told House lawmakers that the best estimate is 2,000 to 4,000 Russian fatalities. He noted, however, that he had low confidence in the figure.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that Russia could struggle to fill its ranks and that Moscow has “almost certainly suffered thousands of casualties” during its invasion of Ukraine.
Seven humanitarian corridors agreed for Thursday, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister says
“Seven humanitarian corridors have been agreed on” between Russia and Ukraine on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a daily video update, among them areas near the capital, Kyiv, and in the eastern Donetsk region.
The corridors include one that would take people northwest from close to the besieged port city of Mariupol to the city of Zaporizhzhia. For people fleeing in their own vehicles, Vereshchuk said there would be gasoline supplies upon arrival in Berdyansk, a city about 50 miles southwest of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov. Food and medicine will also be handed out, she added.
In an update this week, Zelensky said at least 100,000 people were still living in Mariupol under worsening humanitarian conditions and fearing for their lives under “constant shelling.” Before the conflict, Mariupol had an estimated population of about 441,000.
Zelensky also said a humanitarian convoy on its way to the strategic city was “captured by the occupiers” on an agreed route near the region of Manhush, west of Mariupol. He said bus drivers and employees of the State Emergency Service “were taken prisoner.”
Vereshchuk said Thursday that little progress has been made. “We are waiting for the promised release of our drivers and rescuers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Manhush,” she said.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Kirill Timoshenko also confirmed in a Telegram post that the humanitarian exit routes, mainly in the Donetsk region, would continue to operate Thursday.
U.K. prepares to send Ukraine 6,000 missiles, says Russia has suffered huge losses
LONDON — Britain’s Defense Ministry says that Russia could struggle to fill its ranks and that Moscow has “almost certainly suffered thousands of casualties” during its invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia is likely now looking to mobilise its reservist and conscript manpower, as well as private military companies and foreign mercenaries, to replace these considerable losses,” the ministry said in an intelligence update Thursday morning.
The report comes as Britain is preparing to send another 6,000 missiles to Ukraine as part of an extended military aid package that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will formally announce at the NATO emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
The United Kingdom has already provided Ukraine with more than 4,000 missiles, meaning the new weaponry will bring the total to about 10,000, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported.
Johnson is also expected to announce approximately $5.4 million in funding to support the BBC’s Ukrainian- and Russian-language services following Russia’s crackdown on independent news coverage.
Russia partially reopens stock market with heavy restrictions; U.S. calls it a ‘charade’
Almost a month after closing its stock exchange when its invasion of Ukraine triggered market turmoil, Russia partially reopened the exchange Thursday, with limited trading and foreign shareholders prohibited from selling their shares.
Short selling is banned and heavy restrictions on trading are in place to prevent massive share sell-offs. Trading is permitted in only 33 of the 50 companies that are part of the country’s benchmark MOEX index, according to the country’s central bank — among them Russian national airline Aeroflot, state-owned gas producer Gazprom and oil company Rosneft.
Russian shares plunged almost 33 percent the day after the country’s leadership decided to invade Ukraine, making record losses. Since then, Russia’s economy has been bruised by sweeping economic sanctions and damaged by the withdrawal of hundreds of global companies.
The reopening was dismissed Thursday by Daleep Singh, the U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics.
“What we’re seeing is a charade: a Potemkin market opening,” Singh said in a statement. He accused Russia’s government of pouring resources into “artificially propping up the shares of companies” that trade.
“This is not a real market and not a sustainable model — which only underscores Russia’s isolation from the global financial system,” Singh said. “The United States and our allies and partners will continue taking action to further isolate Russia from the international economic order as long it continues its brutal war against Ukraine.”
On Wednesday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin retaliated against Western sanctions, announcing that “unfriendly countries” — including all European Union members and the United States — would have to pay for their natural gas supplies in rubles. The ruble has plummeted against major international currencies since the start of the invasion.
Tyler Pager contributed to this report.
Russia’s sales of oil and gas are blunting the impact of sanctions
Even as Western sanctions start to hit the Russian economy, the nation’s oil and gas exports are softening the blow, helping blunt the ruble’s fall and giving the Kremlin continued resources to wage its war in Ukraine.
The ruble lost half of its value against the dollar right after sanctions hit but has since partly rebounded, thanks to energy export revenue and currency controls adopted by Russia’s central bank.
The ruble is still down 30 percent from its prewar levels, and the economy is suffering in other ways. Russian banks are blocked from carrying out many transactions, global shipping companies have stopped delivering many goods to Russian ports, and a spate of Western corporate departures has threatened thousands of jobs. Some economists estimate Russia’s GDP will contract by 15% this year.
But Russia’s energy exports are clearly blunting some of the pain, sparking new calls for a full Western embargo of Russian oil and gas. President Biden, who has already announced that the United States will stop buying Russian energy, is set to discuss oil and gas with European allies in Brussels on Thursday.
Biden and Europeans to announce major plan to redirect gas to Europe
BRUSSELS — President Biden is expected to announce a major initiative with Europe to direct shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe during his visit to Brussels this week, part of a broader effort to help reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the plan.
The announcement, a dramatic effort to deprive Russia of leverage as it continues to batter Ukraine, would mark an unusual move to reorder the world’s energy flow — a shift that could have an impact long after the war is over. It comes as European officials have asked the United States to do more to help them cut their reliance on Russia for oil and natural gas.
Biden is also expected to use his stop in Brussels on Thursday and Friday — where he is meeting with NATO, the Group of Seven and the European Council — to announce additional sanctions against Moscow, including some targeting Russian lawmakers, as well as a crackdown on evasions of the current sanctions.
On Friday morning, President Biden will host European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a bilateral meeting at the U.S. Mission in Brussels, Belgium.
U.N. Security Council votes down Russian resolution on humanitarian crisis
A Russian resolution addressing the humanitarian situation in Ukraine failed to pass the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, with Russia and China voting in favor and the remainder of the council’s 15 members abstaining. The draft called for protection of noncombatants and for access to be given to humanitarian workers.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, criticized the abstentions and said the absence of a Security Council resolution related to conditions for civilians in Ukraine “significantly complicates” aid activities on the ground. He also repeated Russian accusations that Kyiv has positioned weapons near hospitals and schools. He did not provide evidence to support his claim.
China’s representative, Zhang Jun, called for restraint in Ukraine and for a “balanced, effective and sustainable global and regional security architecture.”
British U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said London abstained because the resolution did not acknowledge Russia’s role in starting the conflict.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield condemned Russia’s resolution. “Once again, Russia is attempting to use this council to provide cover for its brutal actions,” she said. “It really is unconscionable that Russia would have the audacity to put forward a resolution asking the international community to solve a humanitarian crisis that Russia alone created.”
Ashish Pradhan, senior U.N. analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Russia was attempting to distract from its actions in Ukraine. “It fits into their approach of flooding the zone at the U.N. with a lot of noise,” he said.
A parallel Ukrainian-led resolution — which pins blame on Russia — and another sponsored by South Africa are being debated in the U.N. General Assembly.
Zelensky marks one month of war and calls for a global protest of the Russian invasion
As Russia’s invasion of his country reached the one-month mark, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the world from outside a government building, a soldier keeping watch in the background.
Zelensky, who has become a venerated figure inside Ukraine and out, called for a global protest on Thursday, urging people everywhere to take to the streets and denounce Russian aggression.
“Make yourself visible and heard,” he said in English during the multilingual video address. “Say that people matter, freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.”
