As Russia gears up for bloodier phase of war, reports indicate a chemical weapon was used in Mariupol: Live Ukraine updates
A new sign of what’s to come might have emerged Monday, when the Pentagon said it’s aware of social media reports indicating the Russians have detonated a chemical weapon in the besieged port city of Mariupol, though it did not confirm their accuracy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of an impending Russian offensive in his country’s east and has urged civilians to flee the region.
“The occupiers have sent dozens of thousands of soldiers and colossal numbers of equipment to prepare new attacks,” he warned in a speech to South Korean lawmakers translated by NBC News. Josep Borrell, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, issued a similar warning Monday.
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Latest developments:
►France’s Societe Generale became the first big Western bank to announce an end to its business activities in Russia. SocGen is also selling its entire stake in Rosbank — a Russian banking sector heavyweight — to a company linked to an oligarch, costing the French bank some 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion).
►President Joe Biden asked India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday not to accelerate the country’s purchases of Russian oil as the U.S. and other nations try to cut off Moscow’s energy income following the invasion of Ukraine. India has maintained a neutral stance in the war and Modi made no public commitment.
►The United Nation’s children’s agency says nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia’s invasion, and the organization has verified that 142 children have been killed and 229 injured, though the numbers are likely much higher.
►Russia has lost 19,500 troops, 725 tanks,1,923 armored vehicles, 347 artillery systems, 154 aircraft; 137 helicopters and an overwhelming amount of other equipment since the war began, the Ukraine military estimated Monday. Russia has not provided numbers but says its troop losses have been “significant.”
►Moscow has appointed a new war chief after a largely unsuccessful six weeks of battle in Ukraine. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, known as the “Butcher of Syria” because of his brutal tactics in that country’s civil war, had been in command in southern Ukraine, where the Russians had initial success in the invasion. Russian forces, however, continue to have problems with morale, leadership and supply, according to British and U.S. assessments.
Pentagon aware of reports a chemical weapon was deployed in Mariupol, can’t confirm them
The Pentagon on Monday evening acknowledged social media reports of Russian forces detonating a chemical weapon in Mariupol but could not confirm whether they’re accurate, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.
“These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine,” Kirby said.
Use of chemical weapons, banned by international treaty, would represent a serious escalation in the brutal siege of Mariupol. The southern port city has been in the Russians’ crosshairs since early in the war and remains under a relentless assault, but has not yet been claimed by the invading forces.
A Pentagon official said the Russians have positioned 60 battalion tactical groups in eastern and southern Ukraine – 48,000 to 60,000 troops – as they focus their efforts on that region. Some of them include troops involved in the failed attempt to seize the capital of Kyiv.
— Tom Vanden Brook
Mariupol mayor says death toll could exceed 20,000 in his city
Vadym Boychenko, mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol, says more than 10,000 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion in February. Boychenko said corpses were “carpeted through the streets of our city” and the death toll could actually exceed 20,000. Russian forces bisected Mariupol from the city center to the coast on Sunday, isolating the city’s remaining Ukrainian defenders in two locations, according to the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War.
The city is crucial to Russia’s effort to link Crimea with the Donbas region, where Moscow-backed separatists have established de facto republics that even Russia only recognized days before the war broke out in February.
“I’m afraid the Russian troops are massing on the east to launch an attack on the Donbas,” said Josep Borrell, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. “I am afraid … the war will increase on the Donbas.”
Austrian leader has ‘direct, open and tough’ in-person talks with Putin, yielding few results
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer did not come away optimistic that the war in Ukraine would end soon after what he described as “very direct, open and tough” talks Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Nehammer called for the hostilities to stop.
“It might be necessary to do it 100 times,” Nehammer said of the meeting. “But I think it’s necessary to do it, so that peace reigns again and the people of Ukraine can live safely.”
Nehammer said he brought up the topic of war crimes committed by Russian troops during the first meeting between Putin and a European leader in Moscow since Russia invaded its neighbor Feb. 24. On Saturday, Nehammer had traveled to Kyiv for a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Nehammer said face-to-face talks to look “each other in the eye, discussing the horrors of war” could have an impact over the long term.
Russia’s claim of destroying missile launchers US helped provide is refuted
The Russian military says it used sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles to destroy four S-300 air defense missile launchers near the city of Dnipro, just days after Slovakia sent Ukraine an S-300 air-defense system in a deal worked out by the U.S.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement Monday that Ukraine had received the technology from an unnamed European country and that about two dozen Ukrainian troops were also hit by the strike.
“Our S-300 system has not been destroyed,” said Lubica Janikova, spokeswoman for Slovakia’s Prime Minister Eduard Heger. It was unclear whether both sides are referring to the same airstrike as the Russians have targeted missile defense systems in three locations in recent days.
Slovakia was able to provide a system to Ukraine because the U.S. was willing to give Slovakia a Patriot battery to replace it, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.
Russia could use phosphorus bombs in Mariupol, Brits warn
Russian forces have used phosphorous “munitions” in the Donetsk region in the past, raising the possibility they could be used in Mariupol as fighting for the city intensifies, the British Defense Ministry warned Monday. Phosphorus can ignite on contact with oxygen and severely burn human flesh, but it is not classified as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Russian shelling has continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukrainian forces have repelled several assaults and destroyed Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery equipment, the ministry said in its latest assessment.
“Russia’s continued reliance on unguided bombs decreases their ability to discriminate when targeting and conducting strikes while greatly increasing the risk of further civilian casualties,” the assessment warned.
Russian dissenters who fled at start of war unsure on return
A growing numbers of artists have fled Russia to neighboring Finland in recent weeks. Many faced the threat of persecution in Russia for not supporting official stances, and their criticism of the war put them in danger of imprisonment. That compelled them to give up their work and make a new home several hours from the Russian border.
Now, amid a harsh crackdown on opposing views, many are unsure if or when it will ever be possible to return. Many artists said they were also worried about the integrity of their work in Russia, which has increasingly suppressed free speech and expression.
“Theater is meant to talk to people and communicate with them, to explain things about the world,” Alena Starostina told USA TODAY. “But it looks like we failed. We couldn’t stop this war, and so I think we are also responsible for it.”
– Tami Abdollah