NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) -- As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth week, President Joe Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” while Moscow warned the U.S. it has the “might” to put its “enemies in their place.” Meanwhile, a search was underway for survivors after an airstrike struck a theater in Mariupol where hundreds of civilians had sought shelter. Civilian casualties continued to mount as Russia carried out further airstrikes on that city and others across the country Thursday, even as negotiators continued talks to end the war.
Thursday, March 17, 2022
7 p.m. - No vote expected on Russia's derided resolution
Russia’s U.N. ambassador says he is not asking for a vote Friday on its resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, which has been sharply criticized by Western countries for making no mention of Russia’s responsibility for the war against its smaller neighbor.
Vassily Nebenzia told the U.N. Security Council Thursday that Russia decided at this stage not to seek a vote because of pressure from the United States and Albania on U.N. members to oppose it, but he stressed that Moscow is not withdrawing the resolution.
Nebenzia said Russia plans to go ahead with a council meeting Friday to discuss again its allegations of U.S. “biological laboratories” in Ukraine with claiming new documents. His initial charge was made without any evidence and repeatedly denied by U.S. and Ukrainian officials.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield responded to Nebenzia’s announcement by saying “their farcical humanitarian resolution ... was doomed to fail.”
6:45 p.m. - Putin to threaten nuclear weapon against West if war continues: report
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to threaten nuclear weapons against the West if resistance toward their invasion in Ukraine continues, according to a Defense Intelligence Agency report, obtained by Bloomberg.
“Protracted occupation of parts of Ukrainian territory threatens to sap Russian military manpower and reduce their modernized weapons arsenal, while consequent economic sanctions will probably throw Russia into prolonged economic depression and diplomatic isolation,” Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said in its new 67-page summary of worldwide threats.
5:30 p.m. - Family ID's US Citizen killed during Chernihiv attack
A 67-year-old U.S. teacher was killed in a Russian attack on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, where he was seeking medical treatment for his partner. The death of Jim Hill, who was born in Minnesota, was reported Thursday by his sister.
“My brother Jimmy Hill was killed yesterday in Chernihiv, Ukraine. He was waiting in a bread line with several other people when they were gunned down by Russian military snippers,” his sister, Cheryl Hill Gordon, wrote on Facebook. “His body was found in the street by the local police.
Ukrainian officials reported that 10 people were killed Wednesday in Chernihiv while standing in the bread line.
Hill, who identified himself as a lecturer at universities in Kyiv and Warsaw, Poland, said he was in Chernihiv with his partner for her to receive medical treatment.
His sister told the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. Embassy called their brother Robin Hill early Thursday morning to notify the family that Hill had been killed.
Hill Gordon said her brother spent he past 25 years teaching throughout Europe, with most of that time in Ukraine. He had been home for Christmas, but went back to help his Ukrainian partner, Iryna Teslenko, get into a special hospital to begin advance treatment for her multiple sclerosis.
The couple remained in Chernihiv as Russian forces invaded the country.
Another sister, Katya Hill, told the Journal her brother only left his partner’s side to go out and look for food. They last spoke on March 5.
"My brother had the sense of humor in the family, and he retained his humor, except for the last couple of days that we were in contact. I think he was realizing how bad it was getting," she said.
4:45 p.m. - Twitter founder Jack Dorsey donates $7M to aid Ukrainians: report
Former Twitter CEO and founder Jack Dorsey has donated $7 million to organizations aiding in Ukrainian humanitarian efforts, according to a report.
TMZ reports that the funding is coming through Dorsey's LLC. Start Small, LLC, which he has previously used to donate $3 million to Colin Kapernick's legal defense initiative and a $1 billion response to COVID-19.
Dorsey is reportedly distributing the donation among 7 organizations, including World Central Kitchen and CARE.
3:45 p.m. - House votes to further restrict Russian trade after invasion
The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, preparing for President Joe Biden to enact higher tariffs on more products and further weaken the Russian economy in response to its military assault on Ukraine.
The U.S. has already taken steps to shut off the importation of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The vote on Thursday sets the stage for making it more expensive to import certain steel, aluminum and plywood items, among other goods.
The House vote was 424-8. The Senate is expected to take up the measure soon for final passage.
3:30 p.m. - Russian forces reportedly seize city in eastern Ukraine
Russian forces have reportedly seized the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, a small town in the Kharkiv region.
The town's mayor, Valeri Marchenko, said in an interview released earlier Thursday in The Orthodox Times, that the city, then-partially controlled by Russian forces, was "mercilessly bombarded" by their forces.
“After heavy aerial bombardment, artillery bombardment, and rocket strikes, essentially our city was destroyed," he said.
3:15 p.m. - Russia may plan chemical attack to justify further advances: Blinken
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he believes the Kremlin could conduct a chemical weapons attack that Russia would blame on Ukraine in order to justify increased military force.
He said Russia could deploy mercenaries and continue kidnapping local officials and replace them with "puppets."
“After devastating Ukrainian cities, Moscow may bring in officials from Russia to serve as local government officials and surge what they describe as economic support in an attempt to make the people dependent on Moscow for survival," he said.
Blinken also said Biden is correct in calling Putin a war criminal.
"Personally, I agree," he added. "Intentionally targeting civilians is a war crime."
2:15 p.m. - U.S. citizen killed in besieged city of Chernihiv
A U.S. citizen was killed in Chernihiv, a Ukrainian city near Belarus, on Thursday in a shelling attack by Russian forces, according to multiple reports.
“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine on March 17. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” a State Department representative told Business Insider and other outlets.
Earlier in the day, the governor of Chernihiv Oblast said Chernihiv had experienced “colossal losses and destruction” amid heavy bombardment from Russian artillery and air strikes.
Gov. Viacheslav Chaus told Ukrainian TV that the bodies of 53 people “killed by the Russian aggressor from the ground or from the air” had been delivered to city morgues over the past 24 hours.
“The city has never known such nightmarish, colossal losses and destruction,” Chaus said.
Ukraine’s emergency service also said a Chernihiv hostel was shelled, killing a mother, father and three of their children, including 3-year-old twins.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office said 10 people were killed while standing in line for bread in the besieged city. Russia has denied involvement.
1:30 p.m. - Zelenskyy cites Holocaust in address to German lawmakers
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed German lawmakers in a searing speech Thursday, saying Germany hasn’t fulfilled its responsibilities after the Holocaust and instead chose to appease Russia, which it is highly dependent on for gas and oil.
In the virtual address, which was streamed to lawmakers in the Reichstag, Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, said: “After 80 years, something like this happens and I am telling you: Every year politicians repeat the words ‘never again,’ and now we see that these words are simply worth nothing. In Europe, a people is being destroyed. There is an attempt to destroy everything that is dear to us.”
Zelenskyy's grandfather was the only one of four brothers to survive the Holocaust.
While Germany has joined other NATO allies in taking steps to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine—including freezing the prized Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline—Zelenskyy said Germany was initially hesitant and only did so under pressure.
“We have always said that Nord Stream 2 is a weapon and a preparation for the big war, and we received the response that it’s about the economy, the economy, the economy,” Zelenskyy said, according to a translation by Politico.
“Some steps were taken too late,” he said. “The sanctions may not have been enough to stop the war.”
The Ukrainian president called on Germany not to let a new wall divide Europe, urging support for his country’s membership of NATO and the European Union.
“The world may not have seen so clearly yet, but you are separated from us by a kind of wall. Not a Berlin Wall, but a wall in the middle of Europe between freedom and a lack thereof. And this wall is getting taller with every bomb that falls on Ukraine, with every decision that is not made for peace,” he said.
“Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this wall,” Zelenskyy said, referring to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and evoking Ronald Reagan’s famous speech directed at Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. “Give Germany the leadership role that you in Germany deserve.”
11:15 a.m. - 21 killed in pre-dawn Russian attack on school
Twenty-one people have been killed by Russian artillery that destroyed a school and a community center in Merefa, near the northeast city of Kharkiv, officials said.
Merefa Mayor Veniamin Sitov said the attack occurred just before dawn on Thursday.
The Kharkiv region has seen heavy bombardment as stalled Russian forces try to advance in the area.
In the city of Chernihiv, northeast of Kyiv, Ukraine’s emergency service says a hostel was shelled, killing a mother, father and three of their children, including 3-year-old twins.
10:30 a.m. - Russia warns US: ‘Russia has the might to put all of our brash enemies in their place’
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, said the U.S. had fueled “disgusting” Russophobia and is trying to tear the country apart, according to Reuters.
Medvedev, who served as a placeholder president for Vladimir Putin from 2008 to 2012, said: “It will not work - Russia has the might to put all of our brash enemies in their place.”
Meanwhile, in a speech Wednesday to Cabinet members and regional leaders, Putin warned against attempts by the West to use Russians who oppose his rule to bring about the “destruction of Russia.”
“But any people, and even more so the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and will simply spit them out like a gnat that accidentally flew into their mouths, spit them out on the pavement," Putin said.
He added that "a natural and necessary self-purification of society will only strengthen our country.”
10 a.m. - Rescue operation underway at destroyed Mariupol theater where civilians sought shelter
Ukraine’s ombudswoman Ludmyla Denisova says a theater in the besieged city of Mariupol has withstood the impact of an airstrike, and that the rescue of civilians from under the rubble of the destroyed building has begun.
“The building withstood the impact of a high-powered air bomb and protected the lives of people hiding in the bomb shelter,” she said on the messaging service Telegram on Thursday.
“Work is underway to unlock the basement” and surviving adults and children are coming out, she wrote. She said there is no information on casualties so far.
Ukrainian lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko said between 1,000 and 1,500 people were sheltering at the theater and called the attack the deliberate “destruction of a refuge.”
At least as recently as Monday, huge white letters on the ground in front of and behind the theater spelled out “CHILDREN” in Russian — “DETI” — to alert warplanes of those inside, according to images released by the Maxar space technology company.
9:30 a.m. - Chernihiv suffers ‘colossal losses and destruction’
The northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv has experienced “colossal losses and destruction” amid heavy bombardment from Russian artillery and air strikes, governor Viacheslav Chaus said Thursday.
Chaus told Ukrainian TV that the bodies of 53 people “killed by the Russian aggressor from the ground or from the air” had been delivered to city morgues over the past 24 hours.
The Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday 10 people were killed in Chernihiv while standing in line for bread. Russia has denied involvement.
Chaus said civilians were hiding in basements and shelters without access to utilities in the city of 280,000 people.
“The city has never known such nightmarish, colossal losses and destruction,” he said.
9:00 a.m. - Kremlin rejects order to halt Ukraine conflict
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Moscow rejects the ruling of the International Court of Justice that ordered Russia to halt its operation in Ukraine.
During his daily conference call with reporters, Peskov noted that both sides need to agree on implementing the ruling, and on Russia’s side “there can be no consent.”
Peskov also said that talks between Russia and Ukraine will continue on Thursday in some form. “I don’t know if they are already underway or not, but they should be today, in one direction or another," Peskov said.
The Kremlin spokesman stressed that the Russian delegation is ready to work 24/7 and claimed that “unfortunately, we don’t see the same zeal on Ukrainian side.”
8:30 a.m. - Russian airstrikes continue throughout Ukraine: Zelenskyy’s office
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said Russia carried out further airstrikes on the besieged port city of Mariupol early on Thursday morning.
Zelenskyy’s office did not report casualties for the latest strikes. They come amid rescue efforts in the city after a theater where hundreds had been sheltering was destroyed Wednesday in what Ukrainian authorities say was a Russian air strike.
“People are escaping from Mariupol by themselves using their own transport,” Zelenskyy’s office said, adding the “risk of death remains high” because of Russian forces previously firing on civilians.
The presidential office also reported artillery and air strikes around the country overnight, including in the Kalynivka and Brovary suburbs of the capital, Kyiv.
It said fighting continues as Russian forces try to enter the Ukraine-held city of Mykolaiv in the south and that there was an artillery barrage through the night in the eastern town of Avdiivka.
The Ukrainian General Staff said, “the enemy, without success in its ground operation, continues to carry out rocket and bomb attacks on infrastructure and highly populated areas of Ukrainian cities.”
8 a.m. - UN Security Council to meet in NYC over humanitarian crisis
The U.N. Security Council will meet Thursday at the request of six Western nations that sought an open session on Ukraine ahead of an expected vote on a Russian humanitarian resolution that they have sharply criticized for making no mention of Moscow’s war against its smaller neighbor.
“Russia is committing war crimes and targeting civilians. Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine is a threat to us all,” tweeted the U.N. mission of the United Kingdom, one of the six countries that requested the meeting.
Russia circulated a proposed Security Council resolution Tuesday that would demand protection for civilians “in vulnerable situations” in Ukraine and safe passage for humanitarian aid and people seeking to leave the country but without mentioning the war or the parties concerned.
The resolution is expected to be voted on by the council Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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