Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to demand greater help from world powers at a U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday to battle Russia and hold its forces accountable over mounting evidence of civilian killings near Kyiv that have sparked global outrage.
Zelensky warned in a video early Tuesday that the death toll is expected to rise as Ukraine moves back into areas that Russian forces had occupied, revealing the scope of devastation left in their wake. The reports of corpses with their hands tied behind their backs and bodies lining the streets in Bucha, just northwest of the capital, prompted President Biden to accuse Russia of war crimes. The Kremlin has dismissed the gruesome scenes as “staged provocations” and has been eyeing the United Nations as a forum to blame Ukraine.
In southern Ukraine — where Moscow appears to be shifting its military focus, along with parts of the east — a Red Cross team seeking to evacuate people from the battered port city of Mariupol was released overnight. A Ukrainian official accused Russian forces of detaining the aid workers trying to reach trapped residents struggling to survive a brutal siege.
Here’s what to know
- In interviews with The Washington Post in recent days, residents near Kyiv and Mykolaiv in areas freed from Russian control recounted abuse and violence at the hands of Russian soldiers.
- A CNN television crew came under fire from Russian forces in southern Ukraine on Monday, surviving a close call that struck one of their cars. The crew was forced to cram into one vehicle to flee the area.
- The gruesome images out of Bucha are again raising questions about where the European Union draws its red lines on Russian energy.
- The 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
Seven humanitarian corridors reported to be in place for Tuesday
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Seven humanitarian corridors, agreed on by Russia and Ukraine, will operate Tuesday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a daily update on Telegram — including one nonstop route for people in private vehicles from the besieged southern city of Mariupol northwest to Zaporizhzhia.
Other routes are intended to take people from coastal Berdyansk and inland Tokmak in the southeast to Zaporizhzhia, which has been a main evacuation path for people in the Donetsk region. Vereshchuk and the International Committee of the Red Cross both said Tuesday that Red Cross humanitarian workers who were detained in Manhush, about 12 miles west of Mariupol, have been released after negotiations. Vereshchuk said the team was detained by Russian forces.
She said corridors would also operate from cities in the Luhansk region to the city of Bakhmut on Tuesday.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Kirill Timoshenko confirmed the humanitarian routes for Tuesday in a separate Telegram post. He said 3,376 people were evacuated Monday, 1,553 of them from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia.
Striking photo shows war’s toll on Zelensky, in emotional trip to Bucha
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Bucha on Monday to survey the damage after Russian troops retreated, leaving behind buildings reduced to rubble and bodies piled into two mass graves.
After more than 40 days of war, signs of strain were clearly visible on the 44-year-old president’s face. Zelensky told reporters at the scene that some civilians had been “strangled or simply tortured.”
One particular image of Ukraine’s leader, standing in a flak jacket as he appeared to be trying to find words to summarize the scenes he has called “genocide,” caught the attention of many on social media.
Some said the moment would forever change Zelensky. “His face says it all,” read one tweet. And British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore said Zelensky’s lined and unshaven face showed “the strain of leadership. The tragedy of war and crime. The stress of command.”
Flanked by heavy security as he walked through the battered suburb of Kyiv, Zelensky spoke about a string of alleged Russian war crimes. “It is very difficult to talk when you see what they have done here,” he said.
China’s foreign minister has rare call with Ukrainian counterpart
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a rare call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Monday. It was the first reported high-level conversation between the countries since March 1, according to Reuters, with pressure growing on Chinese leader Xi Jinping to reach out to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
“China welcomes peace talks between Russia and Ukraine,” Wang said, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. “China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in its own way.”
Since the war began, Beijing has tried to displease neither Russia nor the international coalition opposing President Vladimir Putin — a position that is increasingly untenable. Following a summit between China and the European Union on Friday, pressure is mounting on Xi to denounce the war and use his country’s economic ties with Russia to force a cease-fire.
Wang said Tuesday that China would not watch “from a safe distance while sitting idle, or add fuel to the fire,” according to Xinhua.
Kuleba tweeted that he had spoken to Wang and was “grateful to my Chinese counterpart for solidarity with civilian victims.”
“We both share the conviction that ending the war against Ukraine serves common interests of peace, global food security, and international trade,” he added.
Had a call with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Grateful to my Chinese counterpart for solidarity with civilian victims. We both share the conviction that ending the war against Ukraine serves common interests of peace, global food security, and international trade.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 4, 2022
Russia poised to begin Slovyansk campaign, U.S. think tank says
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Russian forces appear to be gearing up for an offensive through the eastern city of Slovyansk in coming days that would potentially allow them to link up with other Kremlin-backed troops in the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
In their latest assessment, the think tank’s military analysts said Russian forces captured the strategically important town of Izyum on April 1 and have been stockpiling supplies, refitting damaged units, repairing a damaged bridge and conducting reconnaissance missions ahead of a likely offensive on Slovyansk “in the coming days.”
The mayor of Izyum announced Friday that Russian forces took control of the town after three weeks of ferocious fighting, but he said the battle was not over yet.
Ukraine’s Donbas region has emerged as the most critical battlefield at this point in the war, after Russian President Vladimir Putin recently withdrew his forces from around Kyiv.
In Washington, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that U.S. intelligence indicates Russia is “revising its war aims” to focus offensive operations in eastern and southern Ukraine, and he warned that the next phase of the war would probably be measured in months or more.
“We should be under no illusions that Russia will adjust its tactics, which have included and will likely continue to include wanton and brazen attacks on civilian targets,” he told reporters.
Red Cross says its team is released after convoy was blocked near Mariupol
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The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has for days been struggling to enter the devastated southern city of Mariupol to help evacuate citizens, said Tuesday that members of its team who were detained had been released.
“The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team that was held by police in Manhush on Monday was released last night,” spokeswoman Caitlin Kelly told The Washington Post by email. “This is of great relief to us and to their families.”
Kelly said the incident shows “how volatile and complex the operation to facilitate safe passage around Mariupol has been for our team, who have been trying to reach the city since Friday.” The team is now focused on continuing the humanitarian evacuation operation, she added.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a Telegram post early Tuesday that Russian forces had blocked the Red Cross convoy in Manhush, about 12 miles west of Mariupol, but had released the humanitarian workers overnight after negotiations.
Mariupol, a major port city in southeastern Ukraine, has faced the brunt of Russian bombardment. As many as 100,000 people remain trapped with little food, water or electricity.
Vereshchuk said seven humanitarian corridors would operate Tuesday, including seven buses that were due to be sent from Manhush to the city of Berdyansk, accompanied by the Red Cross, which will gather people for evacuation to Zaporizhzhia.
Russia imposes visa restrictions on ‘unfriendly’ countries
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree that imposes visa restrictions on citizens from countries that were included in a list of nations deemed unfriendly to Russia last month.
The move was a response to the “unfriendly actions” of foreign states and their citizens, according to the decree. The European Union, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland were among those affected by the change, which will cancel simplified visa agreements between Russia and those countries.
The Kremlin last month named nations including the United States, Canada, E.U. member states, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland as unfriendly countries after they imposed sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Analysis: Pro-Putin European leaders reassert their power
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But over the weekend, Putin received other welcome news from the Western front. In Hungary and Serbia, illiberal nationalist leaders both cruised to reelection on Sunday. The Fidesz party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Europe’s illiberal demagogue de jour, won a comfortable two-thirds majority in parliament, giving Orban a fourth consecutive term in power. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic avoided the possibility of a runoff election by winning close to 60 percent of the vote, securing another five-year term after a decade already in power.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitored both elections, said that, though competitive, the votes were shaped by “an uneven playing field” that gave “undue” advantages to the ruling parties. But Putin was quick to congratulate both Orban and Vucic. In a message to the former, the Russian president expressed “confidence” that ties between Budapest and Moscow would only grow greater. And he said he hoped to build on the Kremlin’s “strategic partnership” with the latter.
Japan doubles humanitarian assistance, accepts more Ukrainian evacuees
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TOKYO — The Japanese government said Tuesday it would provide an additional $100 million in emergency humanitarian assistance, doubling its earlier commitment as the country ramps up its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In addition, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi returned to his country on Tuesday from Poland with 20 evacuees from Ukraine, including five who arrived with no family or acquaintances in Japan.
So far, Japan has accepted at least 404 people who have fled Ukraine, a remarkable move by a country that historically not welcomed refugees.
The humanitarian assistance is intended to help Ukraine and neighboring countries affected by the Russian invasion and can be used to pay for health care, food assistance and needs. The money will be distributed through nine nongovernmental organizations.
The 20 refugees who arrived on Hayashi’s plane were previously unable to find a way to Japan and will receive government support for at least six months.
“We will provide maximum support for the evacuees so that they can live peacefully even in faraway Japan. We would like to promote our efforts together with the local governments and companies,” Hayashi said Tuesday.
Bucha massacre tests Europe’s ‘red lines’ on Russian energy
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Every barrel of oil and ton of gas is “soaked in the blood” of those killed, the speaker of Ukraine’s parliament said. Lithuania’s foreign minister warned other E.U. countries not to become “accomplices.”
CNN TV crew narrowly avoids artillery shells outside Mykolaiv
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A CNN television crew came under fire from Russian forces in southern Ukraine on Monday, surviving a close call that struck one of their cars, forcing them to cram into one vehicle to flee the area.
Footage of the incident shot by a CNN cameraman showed the crew scrambling down an embankment for cover as artillery rounds landed nearby.
“We’ve had two incoming rounds responding to artillery that’s been firing in the Russian directions,” war correspondent Benjamin Wedeman said into the camera as he crouched in the long, scrubby grass. “Those shells came pretty close to us.”
As the shelling subsided, the crew retreated to their vehicles to find one was out of action — its tires and windows blown out.
“The shell comes slamming in very close to us. We took cover and then another two shells landed, one of them maybe 10 yards from one of our cars.” @bencnn reports on the escape his team made after incoming artillery fire near Mykolaiv, Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/2SyJBv5Pbr
— CNN (@CNN) April 4, 2022
At least six journalists — Ukrainian and foreign correspondents — have been killed while working to document Russia’s war on Ukraine, now in its second month. Their deaths highlight the risks journalists face as they seek to inform people around the world from the conflict zone.
The area where the CNN crew was filming Monday is on the outskirts of the city of Mykolaiv, which has been fiercely defended by Ukrainian forces blocking Russia’s attempts to advance toward the strategically key Black Sea port of Odessa, about 70 miles southwest.
Zelensky urges investigation into Bucha killings
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a nightly video address posted early Tuesday, doubled down on his call for a “complete” and “transparent” investigation into the massacres that have been unveiled after Russia’s withdrawal from Kyiv’s outskirts. He described scenes of devastation in Bucha, a town of 37,000 people northwest of the capital and claimed that more than 300 people were killed there.
“In many villages of the liberated districts of the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, the occupiers did things that the locals had not seen even during the Nazi occupation 80 years ago,” Zelensky said. “The occupiers will definitely bear responsibility for this.”
He said he has raised the issue with Western leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Polish President Andrezj Duda.
Zelensky on Tuesday will address the U.N. Security Council, where Russia is expected to deny accusations that it committed war crimes. Moscow has dismissed the evidence of slain civilians as “staged provocations,” although international observers and journalists have already documented atrocities.
Moscow recently pulled back some troops positioned around Ukraine’s northern cities, including Kyiv and Chernihiv, as it focuses military operations in the east and south. Echoing a warning from the United States that the war is likely to be protracted, Zelensky cautioned Tuesday that his country should brace for “more brutal activity.”
Kyiv mayor urges residents who fled not to return home yet
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Kyiv’s mayor on Monday urged residents of the city and its surrounding suburbs who left their homes to avoid Russian bombardment not to return home for at least another week, despite the departure of Russian forces in the area.
In a statement posted on his Telegram channel, Vitali Klitschko said there still could be explosives in Kyiv’s suburbs and Russian forces could still launch rocket attacks against the capital. “Anything can happen,” he said. “So I ask people to wait a bit and not come back.”
Ukrainian officials who have discovered bodies of civilians in the suburbs of Kyiv, including in Bucha, said Russian forces had committed genocide. U.S. officials condemned the killings as atrocities and war crimes but declined to characterize them as acts of genocide.
Biden says Bucha killings a ‘war crime,’ seeks new Russia sanctions
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President Biden on Monday joined the chorus of world leaders who have said reports of mass killings in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha constituted a “war crime,” vowing to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin “accountable” for the apparent atrocities in Ukraine.
The president’s remarks bolstered the global furor over gruesome images from Bucha that showed mass graves and bodies strewn in the streets — some with hands tied behind their backs, several with gunshot wounds in the head — following the withdrawal of Russian troops from the region.
The Kremlin dismissed the allegations as Ukrainian subterfuge, while Russia’s military continued bombarding Ukraine’s southern coastline — moves in line with U.S. intelligence assessments that Putin is focusing offensive operations on the south and east rather than the entire country, in a new phase of the war that is likely to play out over months or longer.
As Russia retreats from Kyiv, U.S. sees uglier fights to come
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Russia’s apparent retreat from Kyiv and retrenchment into Ukraine’s easternmost regions marks the latest sign that the war is at an inflection point — one that U.S. officials believe could portend even uglier fighting to come.
“The next stage of this conflict may very well be protracted,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday during a news conference, as he outlined new U.S. assessments indicating Russia is “revising its war aims” in the face of significant opposition.
The ferocious resistance has claimed Russian materiel, momentum and troops’ lives in quantities that far exceeded expectations — forcing Moscow to scramble so much that now its armed forces have largely sapped readily available reinforcements in Ukraine, according to military analysts. That leaves Russian commanders in the short term to fight with the resources at their disposal. U.S. officials believe that about two-thirds of the units that had been focused on Kyiv, the capital, are heading north, back to Belarus and Russia, for expected repositioning in Donbas.