Russian Troops Suffer ‘Acute Radiation Sickness’ After Digging Chernobyl Trenches
Barbie Latza Nadeau – March 31, 2022
Several hundred Russian soldiers were forced to hastily withdraw from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine after suffering “acute radiation sickness” from contaminated soil, according to Ukrainian officials.
The troops, who dug trenches in a contaminated Red Forest near the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history, are now reportedly being treated in a special medical facility in Gomel, Belarus. The forest is so named because thousands of pine trees turned red during the 1986 nuclear disaster. The area is considered so highly toxic that not even highly specialized Chernobyl workers are allowed to enter the zone.
Energoatom, the Ukrainian agency in charge of the country’s nuclear power stations, said the Russian soldiers had panicked and fled.
“It has been confirmed that the occupiers who seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and other facilities in the Exclusion Zone set off in two columns towards Ukraine’s border with Belarus. The occupiers announced their intentions to leave the Chernobyl nuclear power plant this morning to the Ukrainian personnel of the station,” the agency said in a statement on Telegram, adding that a small number of Russians still remained at the facility.
The agency said it had also confirmed reports of Russian forces digging trenches in the Red Forest, “the most polluted in the entire exclusion zone.”
“Not surprisingly, the occupiers received significant doses of radiation and panicked at the first sign of illness. And it showed up very quickly.”
Local reports suggest that seven buses with the zapped troops arrived in Gomel early Thursday. Journalists on the ground have also reported “ghost buses” of dead soldiers being transported from Belarus to Russia under the cover of dark.
U.S. intelligence reported Wednesday that Russian forces began withdrawing from the defunct site. Russia said the withdrawal from Chernobyl was part of a pledge to scale back the invasion. But Ukrainian media says it is actually because the troops were “irradiated” from the contaminated soil.
“Another batch of Russian irradiated terrorists who seized the Chernobyl zone was brought to the Belarusian Radiation Medicine Center in Gomel today,” Yaroslav Yemelianenko, who works for the Public Council at the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management, posted on Facebook. “There are rules for dealing with this territory.”
The Chernobyl facility fell to Russian control on Feb. 24, the first day of the invasion. Workers were on duty for more than 600 hours before being allowed a shift change. International concern grew immediately when Russian troops moved heavy military hardware through the area, kicking up radioactive dust without any protective equipment. Forest fires in the area also raised concern about environmental contamination.
Digging trenches in the forest—considered the most contaminated area of the site—drew widespread ridicule from Ukrainians who work at the site.
Ukraine says most Russian forces have left Chernobyl nuclear plant, cites radiation concerns
March 31, 2022
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows a New Safe Confinement structure over the old sarcophagus covering the damaged fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Chernobyl
LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -The Ukrainian state nuclear company said on Thursday most of the Russian forces that occupied the Chernobyl nuclear power station after invading Ukraine have left the defunct plant, and suggested radiation concerns had driven them away.
Though Russian troops seized control of Chernobyl soon after the Feb. 24 invasion, the plant’s Ukrainian staff continued to oversee the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel and supervise the concrete-encased remains of the reactor that exploded in 1986, causing the world’s worst nuclear accident.
State-owned Energoatom said these workers had flagged earlier on Thursday that Russian forces were planning to leave the territory.
“The information is confirmed that the occupiers, who seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and other facilities in the exclusion zone, have set off in two columns towards the Ukrainian border with the Republic of Belarus,” it said in a statement.
It said a small number of Russian troops remained at Chernobyl, but did not specify how many. Russian forces have also retreated from the nearby town of Slavutych, where workers at Chernobyl live, it said.
In a separate online post, Energoatom said the Russian side had formally agreed to hand back to Ukraine the responsibility for protecting Chernobyl. It shared the scan of a document setting out such an arrangement and signed by individuals it identified as a senior staff member at Chernobyl, the Russian military official tasked with guarding Chernobyl, and others.
Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the document. There was no immediate comment from the Russian authorities, who have denied that its forces have put nuclear facilities in Ukraine at risk.
‘ALMOST A RIOT’
Energoatom said it had also confirmed information that Russian troops had built fortifications including trenches in the so-called Red Forest – the most radioactively contaminated part of the zone around Chernobyl.
As a result of concerns about radiation, “almost a riot began to brew among the soldiers,” it said in the statement, suggesting this was the reason for their unexpected departure.
Ukraine has repeatedly expressed safety concerns about Chernobyl and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops, whose presence prevented the rotation of the plant’s personnel for a time.
Earlier this week, workers at the site told Reuters that Russian soldiers had driven without radiation protection through the Red Forest, kicking up clouds of radioactive dust.
Asked to comment on the accounts from Chernobyl staff, Russia’s defence ministry did not respond.
Earlier on Thursday, the head of Energoatom urged the U.N. nuclear watchdog to help ensure Russian nuclear officials do not interfere in the operation of Chernobyl and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which is also occupied by Russian soldiers.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; editing by Timothy Heritage and Jonathan Oatis)
Workers at Chernobyl site say Russian soldiers drove through the highly-radioactive ‘Red Forest’ with no protective gear
Marianne Guenot –March 31, 2022
A sign warns of radiation at the “red forest” near the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant on September 29, 2015.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Russian soldiers drove armored vehicles through the ‘Red Forest’ as they invaded Chernobyl, per Reuters.
Reuters spoke to two unnamed Ukrainian staff at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The soldier didn’t wear protective gear and exposed themselves to radioactive dust, they said.
Russian soldiers drove armored vehicles through the most contaminated area of Chernobyl’s exclusion zone with protection, two sources told Reuters.
The trip kicked up clouds of radioactive dust that could be damaging to the troops’ health, the outlet said.
One source told the outlet that the soldiers appeared to have no idea about Chernobyl’s history as a nuclear disaster site.
Reuters spoke to two Ukrainian workers who were on duty in the decommissioned power plant when Russian soldiers invaded the site on February 25 in the first days of the invasion of Ukraine.
The workers, who asked not to be named for fears about their safety, spoke to Reuters in late March.
By that time they had just been allowed home after being confined to the decommissioned power plant by Russian soldiers for almost a month.
The sign marks the territory of the Red Forest, Kyiv Region, northern Ukraine on April 21, 2021.Volodymyr Tarasov/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
The workers said that Russian soldiers drove armored vehicles through the Red Forest, 1.5 square miles of pine forest that died as a result of exposure shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. The Red Forest remains the most contaminated area of the zone around Chernobyl, per Reuters.
“The convoy kicked up a big column of dust,” one source said, per Reuters.
One worker told Reuters that some of the soldiers he had spoken to in the plant “did not have a clue” about the 1986 catastrophe at Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
“They had no idea what kind of facility they were at,” the worker said.
The plant has been under the control of Russian troops since February 24. The power plant was fully decommissioned after the 1986 nuclear accident and the remaining work at the site is mostly directed toward decontamination.
An active nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia in the south of Ukraine has also been captured and has been operating under the control of Russian troops since March 4.
The invasion of nuclear sites by the military caused outrage among nuclear experts.
Several told Insider that the risk of a catastrophic nuclear accident at either of the nuclear sites remains low, but is more likely because of the nearby fighting.
The occupation of the Chernobyl site might soon be coming to an end, according to an unnamed US defense official.
The official told France 24 on Wednesday that the Russian troops looked like they were being removed from Chernobyl and repositioned in Belarus, which has a border with Ukraine around 10 miles from the Chernobyl site.
Odd Roger Enoksen, Norway’s defence minister, has now aired concerns that any accident at a Ukrainian power plant that cause a radiation leak could impact his own country if the wind travels in its direction.
According to The Times, defence sources have told civilians in Norway to start “dusting off” their bunkers at home “in case of nuclear alert”.
A view shows the abandoned city of Pripyat near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine. (Reuters)Service members take part in tactical exercises in the abandoned city of Pripyat near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine. (Reuters)
The source told the paper: “Everyone has been warned so if they are using them for storage now they need to make a plan for taking things out.”
A 72-hour warning would be given in advance to get bunkers ready for use.
Enoksen calmed fears that the warning was due to the threat of a nuclear war, rather than fallout from an accident.
He said: “Ukraine has the most production of nuclear power in Europe and if an accident happens, as with Chernobyl, we will all in western Europe be affected by that if the wind goes in this direction.”
Watch: Ukraine warns of Chernobyl radiation leak after power cut
Ukraine warns of Chernobyl radiation leak after power cut
Ukraine has warned that radiation could be released from Chernobyl. The nuclear power plant, which is currently under the control of Russian troops, has been knocked off the power grid and cannot cool spent nuclear fuel.
He said Norway was still able to see the effects of Chernobyl adding: “In summer time we can actually see ashes from burning grass in Ukraine.”
The warning comes as US defense officials said Russian forces may have begun to pull out of Chernobyl.
According to the AFP news agency, US defense officials said troops had begun walking away from Chernobyl and moving to Belarus. “We think that they are leaving. I can’t tell you that they’re all gone,” they said.
Norway, which shares a 12-mile land border with Russia, made it compulsory for bunkers to be built in civilian infrastructure like hotels during the Cold War-era.
Norwegians have also been told to stock up on medicines for children in case of radioactive fallout.
Norway’s defence minister Odd Roger Enoksen said Norway was still able to see the effects of the Chernobyl disaster. (Reuters)
The warnings come as the head of Ukraine’s state nuclear company urged the UN nuclear watchdog to help ensure Russian nuclear officials do not interfere in the operation of nuclear power plants occupied by Russian forces.
Energoatom CEO Petro Kotin said earlier this month that Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom had sent officials to the Zaporizhzhia plant to try to take control of it.
Representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday to inspect the country’s nuclear facilities after Kyiv claimed that munitions stored near Chernobyl could explode.
A New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure over the old sarcophagus covering the damaged fourth reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine. (Reuters)
IAEA chief Rafael Grosso, along with various experts and equipment aimed at keeping nuclear facilities there safe, are on hand for assistance.
Since Russia’s invasion, Grossi has called on both countries to urgently agree a framework to ensure nuclear facilities are safe and secure.
Ukraine has repeatedly expressed safety concerns about Chernobyl and demanded Russian forces occupying the plant pull out of the area.
The Russian military said after capturing the plant that radiation was within normal levels and their actions prevented possible “nuclear provocations” by Ukrainian nationalists.
Russia has denied that its forces have put nuclear facilities inside Ukraine at risk.
Russia pulling back to resupply, US says; expect ‘even more suffering’ in Ukraine, NATO chief warns: Live updates
John Bacon, Tom Vanden Brook, Jorge L. Ortiz, Celina Tebor, USA Today March 31, 2022
Russian troops have continued to retreat from Kyiv in the last 24 hours, although the withdrawal remains at about 20% of the force Russian President Vladimir Putin sent to seize the Ukrainian capital, a senior Defense official said Thursday.
The Pentagon believes the Russians are pulling back to get resupplied, not to wind down the war, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal intelligence assessments. As evidence, the official pointed to continued airstrikes and shelling of Kyiv by Russian troops.
President Joe Biden supported that contention later in the day, saying there have been no clear signs the Russians are relenting in their assault around the capital.
The official spoke to reporters hours after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg provided the same assessment in a briefing in Brussels. Stoltenberg also pledged that NATO will supply Ukraine with weapons for its struggle against Russia’s invasion for as long as necessary.
The alliance remains unconvinced that Russia is negotiating in good faith in the peace talks taking place in Istanbul. Russia must be judged on actions, not words, “and it’s obvious that we have seen little willingness from the Russian side to find a political solution,” he said.
“Russia maintains pressure on Kyiv and other cities,” Stoltenberg said. “So we can expect additional offensive actions, bringing even more suffering.”
►President Joe Biden will order the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day for the next six months from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to a spike in gas prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
►U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield will travel to Moldova and Romania on Saturday to focus on efforts to assist refugees and the overwhelming humanitarian needs created by the war.
►Russia backed off a requirement that European countries pay for natural gas in rubles, allowing payments through a Russian bank that would convert the payments from euros to rubles, Russian state media said. The rubles mandate had been set to begin Friday.
►Nineteen people were found dead under rubble after a rocket attack on a regional administration building in the southern city of Mykolaiv, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported.
►Talks between Ukraine and Russia will resume Friday by video, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia, said. Ukraine will not sign a peace treaty until Moscow withdraws its troops, he said.
No easing of bombardment in Kyiv
President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday there’s “no clear evidence” that Vladimir Putin is pulling all Russian forces out of Kyiv and that the Russian leader’s next military steps in Ukraine remain unclear.
“There is also evidence that he is beefing up his troops down in the Donbas area,” Biden said, referring to a contested region in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. “Depending on your view of Putin, I’m a little skeptical. It’s an open question whether he’s actually pulling back or going to say I’m just going to focus on the Donbas and I’m not worried about the rest of the country.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that rather than pulling back their assault on the capital city and its surroundings as announced, Russian forces have intensified bombardment of homes, stores, libraries and other civilian sites on the city’s outskirts.
U.S. and British intelligence officials say Russian forces are repositioning and regrouping, not scaling back in and around Kyiv as the Kremlin said.
“It’s not true,” Klitschko said in a video address to European Union regional officials translated by Reuters. “The whole night we listened to sirens, to rocket attacks, and we listened to huge explosions east of Kyiv and north of Kyiv. There are immense battles there, people died, still die.”
As Putin clashes with advisers, Russian soldiers rebelling
The impact of a war that’s not going according to plan appears to be taking an increasing toll on Russian forces and their leader. There are growing reports of friction between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his advisers, as well as discontent among the troops.
“He seems to be self-isolated, and there’s some indication that he has fired or put under house arrest some of his advisers,” President Joe Biden said of Putin. “But I don’t want to put too much stock in that at this time because we don’t have that much hard evidence.”
The head of the U.K.’s spy service said it “increasingly looks like Putin has massively misjudged the situation” in Ukraine and that Russian soldiers, short on weapons and morale, are refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their own equipment.
“And even though we believe Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what’s going on and the extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime,” spy chief Jeremy Fleming said.
A U.S. official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity said Putin has felt misled by the Russian military, leading to tension between the sides.
Russian troops sickened after being exposed to radiation at Chernobyl site
Russian troops were exposed to “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches around the Chernobyl nuclear plant and have left the highly contaminated site, Ukraine’s state power company said Thursday.
Energoatom said the Russians had dug in the forest inside the exclusion zone around the now-closed plant, site in 1986 of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. The company did not provide information on the soldiers’ condition.
The troops “panicked at the first sign of illness,” which “showed up very quickly,” and began to prepare to leave, Energoatom said.
Russian forces seized the Chernobyl site early in the invasion that began Feb. 24, raising fears that they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation.
Germany: More sanctions needed
Germany’s economy minister says Europe should impose additional sanctions on Russia to encourage an end to what he described as a “barbaric” war in Ukraine. Robert Habeck said he discussed additional measures with French officials Thursday in Berlin.
“The last package doesn’t need to be the final one, it should not be the final one,” he said. Habeck said French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire had identified additional sanctions but did not detail them.
Habeck declined to elaborate on what those points might be. Current sanctions include the freezing of assets held by the Russian central bank in the EU, the exclusion of Russian banks from the SWIFT banking system and a ban on EU companies exporting high-tech products to Russia.
Zelenskyy asks Australia for armored vehicles
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Australia to increase sanctions against Russia and send him some armored vehicles in a video speech Thursday to the Australian Parliament.
“Most of all we have to keep those who are fighting against this evil armed,” he said. Finance Minister Simon Birmingham did not directly respond to the request in a briefing, saying the government was considering what was practical. He said Australia has already provided missiles and protective gear to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said the war might not have happened if Russia had been punished after Russian-backed separatists shot down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. Thirty-eight Australians were among the 298 aboard, all of whom perished.
“The unpunished evil comes back,” Zelenskyy said.
A woman with a child returns to Ukraine from the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, on March 31, 2022.
Russia calls up 134,500 military conscripts
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Thursday ordering 134,500 new conscripts into the army as part of Russia’s annual spring draft, but the defense ministry said the call-up was unrelated to the war. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the conscripts, ages 18-27, would be dispatched to bases in late May for 3-5 months of training. None will be sent to combat “hot spots,” he said.
The defense ministry acknowledged earlier this month that some conscripts had been taking part in the war, despite Putin saying only professional soldiers and officers had been sent to Ukraine. The Kremlin said Putin ordered military prosecutors to investigate and punish the officials responsible for disobeying his instructions to exclude conscripts.
Red Cross ready for Mariupol evacuation Friday
The International Committee of the Red Cross says its teams are ready to help evacuate civilians from of the besieged city of Mariupol.
“Our team in #Ukraine is on the road right now to be ready to: Facilitate the safe passage of civilians out of #Mariupol tomorrow. And bring aid,” the Red Cross tweeted Thursday. “All parties must agree to the exact terms. This operation is critical. Tens of thousands of lives depend on it.”
The evacuation could begin Friday provided all the parties agree to the terms, route, start time and the duration, the Red Cross said. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Ukraine is sending out several dozen buses to collect civilians from Mariupol after Russia’s military agreed to a local cease-fire from the city to Ukraine-held Zaporizhzhia.
Tech industry impacted by Russian invasion of Ukraine
Sensing the worst two weeks before Russia began invading his homeland, tech entrepreneur Volodymir “Vlad” Panchenko wanted to charter a plane for a month to get as many of his employees and their families out of Kyiv as quickly as possible.
But the co-founder of video game and metaverse marketplace DMarket said his board was giving him heavy pushback because his plan to shuttle workers to the Balkan country of Montenegro would lead to a 20% budget increase.
“None of them supported me. They said I was overreacting,” said Panchenko, who trusted his gut and told them he was executing his contingency plan anyway – regardless of the cost. “I told them that I felt a war was coming and we should leave. And if there isn’t, we’ll spend time in a warm place and still get our work done.”
DMarket and many other tech companies rely on colleagues who live and work in Ukraine, a fast-growing tech hotbed. While known companies such as Google and Microsoft have workers based in Ukraine, many far lesser-known, early- and mid-stage startups globally count on the embattled country’s talent-rich pool of engineers and developers and could be in jeopardy because of the conflict. Read more here.
– Terry Collins
Contributing: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Could the Russian invasion spark a Ukrainian insurgence?
Niamh Cavanagh and Sam Matthews – March 31, 2022
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds into its sixth week, experts and Western intelligence agencies are continuing to sketch out potential endgames for the conflict.
It’s possible that a ceasefire could emerge, and the Russian military, facing surprisingly fierce Ukrainian resistance, would simply back off its initial war aim of regime change in Kyiv and control over the country’s future. But recent history suggests the solution won’t be that simple.
Russia could also exploit its far larger military might and continue its advance into Ukraine, particularly in the east, where it now appears to be focused. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin may continue to face heavy losses, the sheer size of his army sets up the possibility of the Kremlin occupying swaths of Ukrainian territory and facing a protracted and bloody insurgence.
“Insurgency is different from regular warfare in that it’s usually troops that are not in a formalized military structure,” Emily Harding, the deputy director and senior fellow of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explained to Yahoo News.
An insurgence is most likely to happen, Harding believes, if Russian soldiers occupy a significant number of Ukrainian territories in the coming months or even years. But if the Ukrainian population maintains its defiance, supporting a militia effort and harassing Russian troops, Putin may not have enough forces to fully establish control there.
Ukrainian soldiers ride tanks through the town of Trostsyanets, east of Kyiv, on Monday. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
“To me, that would be a really critical moment for the way this conflict goes, there’s a numbers game to be played,” Harding said. “If you look at the required ratio [of troops] for occupying territory, it’s a lot higher than you would think. And so the Russians, they just don’t physically have enough Russian soldiers to try to hold much territory in Ukraine.”
But in order to be successful, insurgent militias require both financial and military assistance — likely coming from both the local population and foreign governments opposed to the Russian invasion. (Similar, in fact, to how Moscow has supported an insurgence in Ukraine’s eastern region, furnishing the local armies with weapons and other support.) “In fact, that’s critical to the success of most insurgencies that you have foreign assistance pouring in, both militarily and with people and money,” Harding said.
A Ukrainian soldier stands on a destroyed Russian vehicle in Kharkiv. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
For now, Russia is not facing a significant Ukrainian insurgence because its large military has failed to conquer significant Ukrainian territory since launching the invasion last month. Ukraine’s largest cities have thus far repelled Russian troops, whose most significant territorial gains have been in the country’s coastal south.
“We saw the Russians not only meet heavy resistance from the Ukrainians, but we also saw the Russians have real trouble with their logistical tail,” Harding said. “They couldn’t move as quickly as they wanted to through the roadways and through the railways of Ukraine. We joked a lot about how when we were studying the Russian cyber capabilities, we really should have been studying eastern Ukrainian mud.”
But the war is far from over.
“I think people underestimate the extent to which the Russian government is willing to just throw people at the problem,” she said. “They don’t care so much about the health and well-being of their troops. I think people who are assuming that there is a big win to happen here in the near term are probably assuming too much.”
A Ukrainian soldier in the village of Malaya Rohan, in the Kharkiv region, which was recently liberated from Russian forces. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)
Exclusive-Photos show Russian attacks on Ukraine grain storage -U.S. official
Steve Hollandand Michelle Nichols – March 31, 2022
WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. government images seen by Reuters showed what a U.S. official said was damage to grain storage facilities in eastern Ukraine and was indicative of the severity of Russian attacks that are impacting the global food supply.
The two black-and-white images showed long rectangular buildings in eastern Ukraine, first seen intact in January and then with damaged roofs and what a key calls “impact craters” in March.
The U.S. official, commenting on the unclassified images, said the United States has information that Russian forces are repeatedly damaging grain storage facilities in eastern Ukraine.
“As of late March, at least six grain storage facilities had been damaged as a result of these attacks,” the official said.
The development comes as officials around the world worry about the fallout to the global food supply from the invasion of Ukraine, the world’s fourth largest grain exporter in the 2020/21 season.
“Russia’s reckless damaging of these grain silos is a clear-cut example of how Putin’s war directly affects civilians in Ukraine and threatens food security around the world,” the official said.
“With countries across Africa and the Middle East reliant on Ukrainian wheat exports, the destruction of these food stocks and storage facilities could result in shortages and drive up prices in already vulnerable economies,” the official said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin describes his country’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation” that aims to destroy Ukraine’s military infrastructure.
The Biden administration has repeatedly shared its intelligence publicly to put pressure on Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Tuesday, said Russia has bombed at least three civilian ships carrying goods from Black Sea ports to the rest of the world, including one chartered by an agribusiness company.
Sherman said Ukraine had told counterparts that “Russia is actively targeting grain silos and food storage facilities.”
The Black Sea is a major shipping route for grain, oil and oil products. Its waters are shared by Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Russia.
Sherman said the Russian navy is blocking access to Ukraine’s ports, essentially cutting off exports of grain and reportedly preventing approximately 94 ships carrying food for the world market from reaching the Mediterranean.
“It’s no wonder many shippers are now hesitant to send vessels into the Black Sea, even to Russian ports, given the danger posed by Russian forces,” she said.
Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, refuted Sherman’s statement. He accused Ukrainian troops and “nationalists” of shooting at fleeing civilians, then added: “And yet today, we’re being told that we’re allegedly bombing vessels with grain as well as grain storage warehouses.”
Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of planting mines in the Black Sea and said some of those munitions had to be defused off Turkey and Romania as risks to vital merchant shipping in the region grow.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Heather Timmons and Leslie Adler)
Ukrainians hunting Russians as they leave Kyiv area: Pentagon update Day 36
Matt Seyler – March 31, 2022
The Pentagon has been providing daily updates on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s efforts to resist.
Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Wednesday on Day 36:
Russians being hunted as they withdraw from Kyiv area
The U.S. continues to see roughly 20% of the Russian forces that were arrayed against Kyiv repositioning away from the capital, the official said. And Ukrainian forces are attacking these troops as they withdraw from the area.
“As these forces begin to reposition, the Ukrainians are moving against them,” the official said.
Most of the Russian forces that are repositioning were located to the north and northwest of Kyiv. Most notably, they seem to have abandoned Hostomel airport, which has been a site of intense fighting at various points since the beginning of the invasion.
“We believe that they have very likely abandoned Hostomel airfield,” the official said.
PHOTO: A local resident rides a bicycle past an apartment building damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 31, 2022. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)
Although some troops are repositioning, long-range strikes on Kyiv continue.
“Despite the rhetoric of de-escalation, we’re still observing artillery fire and airstrikes in and around Kyiv,” the official said.
Shifting focus to Donbas
“This repositioning that they’re doing around Kyiv and other places in the north, and this reprioritization on the Donbas, clearly indicates that they know they have failed to take the capital city, that they know they have been under increased pressure elsewhere around the country,” the official said.
While Russia might be dedicating more forces to taking control of the Donbas region, the Ukrainians are primed to make it a tough fight.
“The Ukrainians know the territory very, very well. They have a lot of forces still there, and they’re absolutely fighting very hard for that area, as they have over the last eight years,” the official said. “So just because they’re going to prioritize it and put more force there or more energy there doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for them.”
Russian ships can hit Donbas
While there are still no signs of any imminent amphibious landings, Russia has several ships in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov that could be used to threaten the Donbas region with cruise missiles, the official said.
Putin not getting full picture from advisers
PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the development of air transportation and aircraft manufacturing, via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, on March 31, 2022. (Kremlin via Reuters)
“Our assessment is that the planning for this war was done with a very small circle of people, and that Mr. Putin’s advisers do not count many. And, you know, our assessment is that they have not been completely honest with him about how it’s going,” the official said.
The official said Russian President Vladimir Putin has kept to a “very, very close circle,” a leadership style that inherently limits access to information.
“I can’t account for the fact that the people advising him have chosen to obstruct certain information or omit certain information. All we can say is we don’t believe that he has been getting the full picture,” the official said.
Odesa under blockade
“We know that the Russians have continued to blockade Odesa,” the official said. “So obviously it’s having it’s having an economic impact there.”
PHOTO: Ukrainian soldiers pass on top of armored vehicles next to a destroyed Russian tank in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 31, 2022. (Rodrigo Abd/AP)
Kherson contested
“We assess that they’re still fighting over Kherson. We know that the Russians are in the city, but we aren’t prepared to call it for one side or the other at this point. I mean, it had been in Russian control, but the Ukrainians are attempting to retake Kherson, so it’s still being fought over,” the official said.
Bombardment of Mariupol continues
“I don’t have an update on the degree to which a cease-fire is being applied in Mariupol. What I try to give you is what we’ve seen, you know, in the last 24 hours since we last talked, and we have continued to see Mariupol will come under airstrikes,” the official said.
UK will send long-range weapons to keep Russian troops on the run in Ukraine
Danielle Sheridan – March 31, 2022
A Ukrainian serviceman fires a mortar towards Russian positions near Kyiv – Shutterstock
Longer range artillery and armoured vehicles will be sent to Ukraine in a significant ramping up of Western support, Ben Wallace announced on Thursday.
The Defence Secretary confirmed that Britain and its allies would send more lethal aid after he convened an international donor conference.
The aid will include the provision of air and coastal defence systems, longer-range artillery and counter battery weapons, armoured vehicles as well as more training and logistical support.
“First of all Ukraine needs longer-range artillery and that’s because of what the Russian army has been doing – it has been now digging in and starting to pound these cities with artilleries,” Mr Wallace said.
“The best counter to that is other long-range artillery, so they will be looking for and getting more long-range artillery, ammunition predominantly.”
Boris Johnson was said to have personally pushed for armoured vehicles to be sent. Britain has been leading the way in calls for more lethal aid to Ukraine.
Whitehall sources have expressed concern that allies including the US, France and Germany are “over-eager” to secure an early peace deal and are pushing Ukraine to “settle”.
It came as a Ministry of Defence chief suggested Britain needs a national effort to boost its nuclear weapons programme.
While more than 30 international partners will pitch in with the latest donations, The Telegraph understands that the UK will send so-called loitering munitions such as drones, and will “lift and shift” other donations.
Prof Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general at the Royal United Services Institute, told The Telegraph such kit would be “especially useful for Ukrainian counter offensive operations” against already retreating Russians.
“This is a significant step up in both quantitative and qualitative terms,” he added. “The provision of longer range artillery and armoured vehicles could be of significant benefit to Ukrainian forces.”
Prof Chalmers cautioned that the Ukraine war is “increasingly turning into one of attrition, where both sides risk running out of supplies of weapons and ammunition”.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence would not speculate on what types of armoured vehicles the UK could supply to Ukraine, but said it would consist of various types of protective vehicles used to transport equipment.
It comes as Russian forces were said to have retreated from a Ukrainian airfield that was key to their original plan of overthrowing the government of Volodymyr Zelensky.
Hostomel airport, just outside Kyiv, was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war as Vladimir Putin sought to establish an air bridge to the Ukrainian capital.
Control of the airport, 20km from Kyiv, changed hands several times as Ukrainians at first defended fiercely, and then attacked the Russian occupiers.
However, according to a senior US defence official the Russians have now moved out, having failed in their mission.
Meanwhile the Pentagon said that it was not clear Russia’s convoy of military vehicles to Kyiv, which once stretched some 40 miles, even existed anymore after failing to accomplish its mission.
John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman said: “I don’t even know if it still exists at this point… They never really accomplished their mission.”
The stalled convoy became a symbol of Russia’s battlefield difficulties and had been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces during the first weeks of the more than month-long invasion.
The Ukrainian state nuclear company said that most of the Russian forces that occupied the Chernobyl nuclear power station after invading Ukraine have also left, having been driven away over radiation concerns.
Speaking from the White House on Thursday, Joe Biden, the US president, said Vladimir Putin may have fired some of his advisers or put them under house arrest, and that it’s an “open question” as to whether Mr Putin is fully informed on his military’s performance in Ukraine.
He added that “there’s a lot of speculation” about how informed Mr Putin is on Russian military progress in Ukraine, where his army has suffered staggering casualties while failing to capture major cities including the capital, Kyiv.
Russia keeps pounding Ukraine, fueling skepticism over Putin’s intentions
CBS News – March 30, 2022
Kyiv — Russia’s unrelenting bombing campaign in Ukraine is fueling skepticism about Moscow’s claim that it will “drastically reduce” its military operations in two areas of the country to “increase mutual trust” and encourage peace talks. Despite the ongoing negotiations, the war continues.
As of Wednesday, the United Nations said it had driven more than 4 million people to flee Ukraine, upending their lives and making them refugees. At least 6 million more Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes to seek safety elsewhere inside the country.
As CBS News correspondent Debora Patta reports from the capital city of Kyiv — one of the areas where Russia said it would scale back its assault — U.S. military officials see President Vladimir Putin’s latest move more as a repositioning of forces than a retreat, and in Kyiv and elsewhere, the threat remained high on Wednesday.
Boardroom discussions like Tuesday’s peace talks in Turkey mean little on the battlefield. Patta says Ukrainians are not letting their guard down, with soldiers continuing to patrol checkpoints around Kyiv, on high alert as they search for Russian saboteurs.
With shelling still heard north of the capital on Wednesday morning ,it was clear that the danger still lurks on the ground, and in the sky.
“The enemy is still here,” President Volodomyr Zelenskyy told his country on Wednesday night, after Russia’s announcement. “Missile and air attacks have not stopped… that’s the reality.”
Few places have felt that more than the southeastern port city of Mariupol, which has all but collapsed. Even if peace is given a chance, all that’s left of Mariupol is rubble and ruin.
Children from the besieged city, and many others like it in Ukraine’s south and east, want their childhoods back.
“I’m so tired,” said one little girl. “And my toys have no batteries in them.”
Older Ukrainians just want to forget. “What else can I do,” asked Genaidy as he gathered what he could from his damaged apartment to flee Mariupol. “There’s nothing left for me here.”
He’s walking away after nearly 40 years working as a shoemaker in the city.
Russian-backed separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine — where the war now raging had simmered quietly since Putin’s last invasion in 2014 — are in no mood for peace. Video emerged showing rebels forcing Ukrainians to strip down, claiming they were searching for Nazi tattoos.
In nearby Mykolaiv, a Russian rocket ripped through a government building on Tuesday, leaving a gaping hole, and fresh trauma. One woman watched helplessly as her colleague died in her arms — one of 12 people killed in the strike according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
Rescuers work at the regional administration building, which was hit by cruise missiles, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, in a handout picture released March 30, 2022 by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. / Credit: STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE//Handout/REUTERS
Even if the Russian military does make good on its promise to pull back from Kyiv, in the towns around the capital, where fierce battles have been raging, there’s not much left to fight for.
While Ukraine claims to have retaken nearby towns like Irpin, those areas have been decimated, and many people did not make it out alive.
The U.K. said Wednesday that its latest intelligence did show some Russian troops pulling back from the outskirts of Kyiv into Belarus and Russia, “to reorganize and resupply” after suffering heavy losses. The Ukrainian government said it expected Russia to retain some troops near the capital, to keep the pressure on and prevent Ukraine’s forces from heading to the eastern front, where the war is still raging.
Zelenskyy, along with the U.S. and his other Western partners, have made it clear they’ll believe Russia’s claim to be easing the assault on Kyiv and the northeastern city of Chernihiv when they see it happen, and not before. Thirty-five days into an invasion that Putin insisted for months he had no intention of launching, the skepticism was unsurprising.
On Wednesday morning, the governor of Chernihiv said his region was “shelled all night” by Russian artillery: “Civil infrastructure has been destroyed again, libraries, shopping malls and other facilities have been destroyed, and many houses have been destroyed.”
