Ukraine Reels Under Attacks as Moscow, Kiev Tussle Over Truce; Putin Pouts

Just don’t call it a rebuttal. Only hours after Ukraine’s president delivered a rousing speech via livestream to the U.S. Congress — a presentation that, in a revolutionary twist, included unvarnished video footage of the violence Russia has been inflicting on the European nation since its forces invaded on February 24 — the Russian president delivered remarks of his own. Vladimir Putin’s rant recalled some of the best/worst invective of the Khrushchev era of the Soviet Union. While President Zelensky greeted American lawmakers from Kiev, a city he said “is under missile and air strikes by Russian troops,” and appealed for more robust military assistance to repel them, a widely reviled, increasingly isolated Mr. Putin, during a meeting about the economic situation, railed against his putative enemies.“The West doesn’t even bother to hide the fact that its aim is to damage the entire Russian economy, every Russian,” Mr. Putin said, adding that the West wants to “cancel” Russia. His remarks appeared to indicate that any Russian retreat from Ukraine is, for now at least, out of the question. A truce between the combatants may be less elusive, however. Reuters and the Washington Post reported that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have seen progress, as the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, suggested there is hope for a compromise.London’s Guardian ran a more nuanced headline stating that Mr. Lavrov said Russia and Ukraine are “close to agreeing” on neutral status, hastening to add that Mr. Lavrov’s claim was undermined by aggressive comments from Vladimir Putin (see above). An advisor to President Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, refuted the accuracy of a report in the Financial Times regarding a 15-point peace plan, calling it one-sided. In a tweet in Ukrainian Wednesday evening, Mr. Podolyak said that the newspaper “published a draft showing the request of the Russian side. And no more. The Ukrainian side has its positions. The only thing we confirm at this stage is the ceasefire; withdrawal of Russian troops and security guarantees from a number of countries.” What seems to be at issue is the question of military neutrality for an independent Ukraine free of Russian forces. As if developments on the diplomatic front weren’t ambiguous enough, Mr. Putin in his testy remarks curiously said that “the presence of our troops near Kiev does not mean that we want to occupy Ukraine.” While that assertion may seem dubious to some, what is clear is that his troops are presently terrorizing much of Ukraine.This despite counter-offensives from a tough Ukrainian military that, beyond broad sympathy for Ukraine’s plight, have generated admiration for its efforts from around the world. That sentiment was witnessed today as Mr. Zelensky’s poignant words and testimony brought American lawmakers across all political lines to their feet in a round of sustained applause. While the Sun has reprinted the text of that speech in full, this reporter was struck by one section in particular: “Remember September 11th. A terrible day in 2001, when evil tried to turn your cities into a battlefield. When innocent people were attacked. Attacked from the air…“In a way you could not stop it. Our state experiences this every day. Every night. For three weeks now. Different Ukrainian cities… Odessa and Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy, Zhytomyr and Lviv, Mariupol and Dnipro. Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death. For thousands of people.“Russian troops have already fired nearly a thousand missiles at Ukraine. Countless bombs…. And we ask for a response. For the response from the world. For the response to terror. Is this too much of a request?”Below follows a brief, nonexhaustive summary of developments in some of the cities Mr. Zelesnky mentioned his speech today, as reported in the international press.Chernihiv: The American Embassy in Kyiv tweeted, “Today, Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing in line for bread in Chernihiv. Such horrific attacks must stop. We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine.”Sumy: The Guadian reported that at least 21 people including two children were killed by Russian bombing in this northeastern Ukrainian city in a single night last week, according to the regional prosecutor’s office. Al Jazeera reported that thousands of civilians evacuated Sumy yesterday aboard 100 buses in an operation coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Kherson: Reporting from Odessa, the BBC’s Andrew Harding wrote, “More than a fortnight after falling under Russian occupation, the residents of Kherson are wrestling with acute shortages of medicine and holding daily protests against the Kremlin’s forces. They are also worried that increased shelling on the outskirts might signal the start of a Ukrainian push to recapture their southern city, which is a key port.” Odessa: “‘Fortress Odessa’: city falls silent as fearful residents await Russian advance,” the Guardian reports. There have been unconfirmed reports of Russian warships approaching the coast near the strategic Black Sea port city. If Mr. Putin could seize Odessa, Sky News’s Nick Martin has reported, then he could cut off Ukraine from the sea, which is why it is one of the main targets for the Russian offensive.Zhytomr: Four people were injured in a Russian missile strike on administrative buildings in the village of Stavyshche in the Zhytomyr region, in western Ukraine, on March 14. Seven buildings were damaged in that attack, according to Ukrinform.Izum: There have been reports of heavy fighting in this city in the Kharkiv Oblast, though details are scarce, as Russian forces attempt to capture the city.Dnipro: Yesterday, the website Ukrinform reported, Russian forces lobbed two missile strikes at an airport, damaging a terminal building and destroying a runway. Known as Dnipropetrovsk between 1926 and May 2016, today Dnipo is Ukraine’s fourth-largest city.Mariupol: The besieged Black Port city has borne the brunt of Russian bombardment since the war started and today, citing Ukraine’s foreign ministry, Reuters reported that Russian forces dropped a powerful bomb on a theater where hundreds of civilians were sheltering. As of Wednesday evening in Europe, Russia was denying the attack.Separately, The Times of London reported today that a Russian general, Major General Oleg Mityaev died yesterday “during the storming of the southern port city of Mariupol.” If true, he would be the fourth general to have been killed in the fighting, according to Ukrainian authorities. Kiev: From the Wall Street Journal today: “The thump of distant shelling echoed through the center of Kyiv overnight, while Ukrainian forces appeared to counterattack in the outlying towns of Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel, which have been severely damaged in weeks of street fighting and artillery exchanges. The city and the surrounding region were under an all-day curfew Wednesday.”Melitopol: Although Mr. Zelensky did not mention this city — currently under Russian control — in his address to Congress today, it was certainly on his mind. He found time to speak its rightful mayor, who Russia forces literally snatched from his office last Friday and held captive until, apparently, today. A Ukraine diplomat, Olexander Scherba, tweeted that Ukraine conducted a “special operation” to rescue the mayor. “We do not abandon our own,” Mr. Zelensky said to the mayor by phone, reportedly adding, “You can have one day off.”

Ukraine Reels Under Attacks as Moscow, Kiev Tussle Over Truce; Putin Pouts

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