NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880/AP) -- After a trio of emergency war summits in Brussels, President Biden arrived in Poland Friday for a two-day visit as he continues to rally European allies with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now in its second month. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on his people to keep up their resistance to Russia’s forces, saying “every minute determines our fate, our future, whether we will live.” Russia confirmed more than 1,300 of its soldiers have died in the war so far. And Kyiv and Moscow gave conflicting accounts of whether hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens are being moved to Russia willingly or whether they’re being forcibly funneled there through “filtration camps” in Ukraine's separatist-controlled east.
Friday, March 25, 2022
7:41 p.m.- Russian troops seemingly reorganize to target Donbas, a Ukrainian region that borders Russia, rather than the Ukrainian capital Kyiv
Russian forces in Ukraine appear to have shifted their focus from a ground offensive aimed at Kyiv to instead prioritizing what Moscow calls the liberation of the contested Donbas region, suggesting a new phase of the war.
It appears too early to know whether this means President Vladimir Putin has scaled back his ambitions in Ukraine, but Russian military moves this week indicate a recognition of the surprisingly stout Ukrainian resistance. Russian-backed separatists have controlled part of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine since 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday again appealed to Russia to negotiate an end to the war, but he said Ukraine would not agree to give up any of its territory for the sake of peace.
Putin’s forces are under great strain in many parts of the country, and the United States and other countries are accelerating their transfer of arms and supplies to Ukraine. In recent days, U.S. officials have said they see evidence of Ukrainian defenders going on the offensive in a limited way in some areas.
5:45 p.m. - Fox News correspondent back in US after suffering serious injuries in Ukraine
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall is back in the United States after he was injured while reporting in Ukraine earlier this month, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement.
"He remains in good spirits despite everything he has endured," Scott said. "His strength and resiliency in the face of this crisis has been nothing short of extraordinary."
Hall was severely injured in Ukraine on March 14 when his vehicle was hit by incoming fire. Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer and fixer Oleksandra "Sasha" Kuvshynova were killed.
4:30 p.m. - Spotify halts service in Russia over new censorship law
Spotify is halting its services in Russia in light of the country’s strict new censorship law, which it says puts its employees and possibly even listeners at risk.
The Swedish music streaming company’s move comes on the heels of other companies pulling out of Russia due to its censorship law. The statute imposes prison sentences of up to 15 years for those spreading information that goes against the Russian government’s narrative on the war.
"Unfortunately, recently enacted legislation further restricting access to information, eliminating free expression and criminalizing certain types of news puts the safety of Spotify’s employees and possibly even our listeners at risk," a Spotify spokesperson said.
Netflix and TikTok suspended most of their services in the country earlier this month. U.S. credit card companies Visa, Mastercard and American Express all said over the weekend they would cut service in Russia.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, a leading supplier of both smartphones and computer chips, said it would halt product shipments to the country, joining other big tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Dell.
4 p.m. - Russia no longer fully in control of Kherson
A senior U.S. Defense Department official told reporters on Friday that Russia is no longer fully in control of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson after a counter-attack by Ukrainian forces.
“We can’t corroborate exactly who is in control of Kherson, but the point is it doesn’t appear to be as solidly in Russian control as it was before. The Ukrainians are trying to take Kherson back,” the official said. “We would argue that Kherson is actually contested territory again.”
Kherson was the first major city captured by Russian forces in the first week of its invasion.
The alleged defeat comes as the Russian military begins to move reinforcements to Ukraine from Georgia.
3:35 p.m. - First lady Jill Biden to meet Ukrainian children at St. Jude
First lady Jill Biden made a trip to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee, meeting with doctors and patients, including Ukrainian children fleeing the war with their families.
The White House said earlier that Biden's afternoon visit to the Memphis hospital is the first leg of a trip Friday that also includes travel to Colorado for a Democratic National Committee finance event in Denver.
Her visit to St. Jude was part of President Joe Biden's so-called Cancer Moonshot effort, which aims to reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years.
Biden mentioned St. Jude's cancer research and their efforts to aid Ukrainians who fled for treatment.
"When I learned that St. Jude was working with hospitals in Europe to bring some of the Ukrainian children with cancer and their families here—I felt so proud and I wanted join you in welcoming them. We stand with Ukraine and we’re praying for their families," she said.
2:15 p.m. Putin says Russia victim of ‘cancel culture,’ J.K. Rowling responds
Russian President Vladimir Putin ranted against Western efforts to “cancel’’ Russian culture, eliciting a response from "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling.
Putin compared recent Western criticism of Russia with efforts to “cancel” Rowling over her views on transgender issues. Rowling has been criticized after saying she supported transgender rights but did not believe in “erasing” the concept of biological sex.
“The notorious cancel culture has become a cancellation of culture,” Putin said during a videoconference with cultural figures. “Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Rachmaninov are excluded from concert posters, and Russian writers and their books are also banned.”
Rowling then pushed back against Putin’s comments, tweeting, “Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics.”
Rowling’s tweet included a link to an article about jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny.
1 p.m. - Biden gives pep talk to US troops in Poland: ‘finest fighting force in the world’
President Biden has given a pep talk to U.S. troops stationed in Poland near the border with Ukraine.
Biden said he wanted to visit Friday to thank members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division for their service. He added that it’s “not hyperbole” when he says they are the “finest fighting force in the world.”
The president told the fatigue-clad men and women that they are an “amazing group” and he reminisced about his late son, Beau, who served in the Delaware Army National Guard.
Biden visited some troops at lunch at their temporary headquarters in Rzeszow and chowed down on a slice of pepperoni and jalapeno pepper pizza. He also visited others who were getting haircuts at the barbershop.
Poland is the second stop on Biden’s four-day trip to Europe. He spent Thursday in Brussels meeting with world leaders on the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden is scheduled Saturday to meet separately with Poland’s president and Ukrainian refugees before he heads back to Washington.
10:20 a.m. - Biden arrives in Poland for 2-day visit, eats pizza with US soldiers
President Joe Biden arrived in Poland on Friday with a stop in the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow.
The president touched down at Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport after 2 p.m. local time.
Polish President Andrzej Duda was unable to welcome Biden on his arrival in Rzeszow due a technical problem with the Polish presidential plane taking him from Warsaw.
Jakub Kumoch, a top adviser to Duda, said Friday that the Polish presidential plane had to make an emergency landing in Warsaw. The plane landed safely and Duda was waiting for a replacement plane.
Biden's first stop was with members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, visiting a barber shop and dining facility set up for the troops, where he invited himself to sit down and share some pizza. The Americans are serving alongside Polish troops.
"Well, if you're starting to eat, I'm gonna sit down and have something to eat," Biden said before eating pizza with soldiers.
With the troops, Biden shared an anecdote about visiting his late son, Beau Biden, while he was deployed in Baghdad and going by his mother’s maiden name so as not to draw attention to himself. The president jokingly razzed one service member about his standard-issue short haircut and seriously praised the troops, too.
“You are the finest fighting force in the world and that's not hyperbole,” Biden said before sitting down on a folding chair to eat with the group.
Biden will depart Rzeszów for Warsaw around 5:45 p.m. local time. He’ll arrive in the Polish capital about an hour later, landing at the Warsaw Chopin Airport.
On Saturday, Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Duda in Warsaw. He’s also scheduled to deliver remarks “on the united efforts of the free world to support the people of Ukraine, hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, and defend a future that is rooted in democratic principles.”
10 a.m. - Russia confirms over 1,300 of its soldiers have died in Ukraine
The deputy head of Russia’s military general staff says that 1,351 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine.
Col.-Gen. Sergei Rudskoi also said Friday that 3,825 have been wounded.
NATO estimated on Wednesday that 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in four weeks of war in Ukraine.
The Russian figure did not appear to include the Moscow-backed separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine, and it was not clear whether the toll encompassed Russian forces not part of the Defense Ministry, such as the National Guard.
7:30 a.m. - Biden headed to Poland as Europe trip continues
President Biden’s visit to Poland as his final stop in Europe this week offers a chance to underscore the U.S. commitment to protect a key NATO member on Ukraine’s doorstep, and thank Poles for their generous welcome to refugees fleeing Russia's invasion.
The two-day visit starting Friday follows a trio of emergency war summits in Brussels. It brings Biden to a country that has accepted the lion’s share of the more than 3.5 million Ukrainians who have fled the month-old war. More than 2.2 million have entered Poland and many propose to stay there.
Poland also hosts thousands of additional U.S. troops, beyond the thousands deployed on a rotational basis since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014.
President Andrzej Duda, who is allied with a right-wing political party accused of eroding democratic norms, and who clearly preferred former President Trump to Biden, is set to welcome his American counterpart to Rzeszow, a city some 45 miles from the border with Ukraine.
Biden plans to be briefed there on the humanitarian efforts to help Ukrainians and to meet with U.S. troops.
Before Biden returns to Washington on Saturday, he is expected to address the Polish people.
The White House said he would “deliver remarks on the united efforts of the free world to support the people of Ukraine, hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, and defend a future that is rooted in democratic principles.”
7:15 a.m. - Russia is facing 'total war' from West: Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Russia is facing total war declared by the West.
Lavrov said at a meeting on Friday that “a real hybrid war, total war was declared on us.” He said the goal was “to destroy, break, annihilate, strangle the Russian economy, and Russia on the whole.”
During the first month of what Russia describes as a “special military operation” in Ukraine, the West imposed tough measures targeting Russia’s economy and financial system as well as President Vladimir Putin and Russian oligarchs.
Despite that, Lavrov said Russia was not isolated.
“We have many friends, allies, partners in the world, a huge number of associations in which Russia is working with countries of all continents, and we will continue to do so,” Lavrov said. He added that the vast majority of states won’t join the Western sanctions policy against Russia.
7 a.m. - 300 people were killed in Russian strike on Mariupol theater-turned-bomb-shelter
The government of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol says 300 people died in a Russian airstrike on March 16 on a theater being used as a bomb shelter.
The post Friday on the city government Telegram channel cited eyewitnesses for the toll of “about 300.” It was not immediately clear whether emergency workers had finished excavating the site or how the eyewitnesses arrived at the horrific death toll.
When the theater was struck, an enormous inscription reading “CHILDREN” was posted outside in Russian, intended to be visible from the skies above.
Soon after the airstrike, Ludmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament’s human rights commissioner, said more than 1,300 people had been sheltering in the building.
Meanwhile, Mariupol’s city government said the Kremlin's main political party has opened a political office in a shopping mall on the outskirts of the besieged city. According to the post on the city’s Telegram channel, the United Russia office is distributing promotional materials as well as mobile phone cards for an operator that functions in the nearby Russia-backed separatist regions.
6:30 a.m. - US, EU announce new partnership to undercut Russian energy
The United States and the European Union have announced a new partnership to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian energy. Top officials characterized the step as the start of a years-long initiative to further isolate Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden asserted Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin uses energy to “coerce and manipulate his neighbors” and uses the profits from its sale to “drive his war machine.”
Biden said the partnership he announced jointly with a top European Union official will turn that dynamic on its head by reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian energy sources, as well as the continent’s demand for gas overall.
Under the plan, the U.S. and other nations will increase liquified natural gas exports to Europe by 15 billion cubic meters this year. Even larger shipments would be delivered in the future.
At the same time, they will try to keep their climate goals on track by powering gas infrastructure with clean energy and reducing methane leaks that can worsen global warming.
6:30 a.m. - Zelenskyy tells Ukraine ‘we can’t stop’ as war enters 2nd month
With the war headed into its second month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of hope and determination in his nighttime video address to the nation late Thursday.
“It is already night. But we are working,” he said in a quiet voice. “The country must move toward peace, move forward. With every day of our defense, we are getting closer to the peace that we need so much. We are getting closer to victory. … We can’t stop even for a minute. For every minute determines our fate, our future, whether we will live.”
He reported on his conversations that day with leaders of NATO and European Union countries gathered in Brussels, and their promises of even more sanctions on Russia.
“We need to look for peace,” he said. “Russia also needs to look for peace.”
Zelenskyy also thanked EU leaders for working together to support Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia, including Germany’s decision to block Russia from delivering natural gas to Europe through the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But he lamented that these steps weren’t taken earlier, saying there was a chance Russia would have thought twice about invading.
6 a.m. - Ukraine says more than 400,000 of its citizens have been forcibly taken to Russia
Kyiv and Moscow gave conflicting accounts about whether people were being moved to Russia willingly or whether they were being coerced or manipulated.
Ukraine officials say Russian troops are confiscating passports from Ukrainian citizens then moving them to “filtration camps” in Ukraine’s separatist-controlled east before sending them to various distant, economically depressed areas in Russia.
Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s ombudsperson, said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, were moved against their will. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said 6,000 of those forced to Russia were from the devastated port city of Mariupol, and 15,000 more people in a section of Mariupol under Russian control have had their identifying documents confiscated.
But Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said the roughly 400,000 people evacuated to Russia since the start of the war were from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have been fighting for control for nearly eight years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related
Related
Related
