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Two Ukrainian soldiers killed, five wounded in eastern Ukraine shelling, defense minister says
Return to menuLVIV, Ukraine — Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and five others were wounded as a result of shelling in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, the country’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said.
Reznikov did not provide further details in a statement posted on social media.
The defense minister reiterated that Ukrainian government forces were not planning to launch an offensive in the nation’s eastern Donbas region. But he also said Kyiv would “not allow the firing on the positions of our troops and human settlements with impunity.”
The deaths come as the Ukrainian military reports a tenfold increase in shelling in the past three days, accusing separatists of using weapons banned in previous agreements.
The sound of shelling could be heard at a crossing between Ukraine and the separatist-controlled Luhansk territory Saturday — another indication of an escalation in fighting and tension between Ukraine’s government forces and the pro-Russian militants.
Ukraine’s Zelensky criticizes West for ‘appeasement’ of Russia
Return to menuUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a standing ovation when he took the podium at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. But after thanking the crowd for the warm reception, Zelensky had some sharp words for Western leaders.
“Has our world completely forgotten the mistakes of the 20th century? Where does the appeasement policy usually lead to?” he said.
He added: “How did we get to this point in the 21st century where war is being waged and people are dying in Europe? … To me, this answer is obvious: The security architecture of our world is brittle, it is obsolete. The rules that have been agreed upon by the world dozens of years ago are no longer working.”
Zelensky traveled to the conference to speak to assembled dignitaries about the escalating threat of a Russian invasion as shelling by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine intensified.
Zelensky blamed countries around the world for their “indifference that turns them into accomplices” as “some countries are committing crimes.” He said the global security system is slow and ineffective, likening it to “a cough syrup instead of a good covid vaccine.”
Western officials repeated their support for Ukraine at the conference this weekend and warned that Russia will face severe sanctions if it attacks. Some countries have also sent defensive weaponry and other supplies to Ukraine.
Zelensky thanked countries for their support but cast the crisis as a grave threat to Europe writ large, arguing that the West had an obligation to do more to prevent “a third world war.”
“Everybody needs to understand this is not some kind of donation Ukraine should be reminding or begging for, this is not just a broad gesture that Ukraine should be bowing down for — this is your contribution into the European and international security for which Ukraine has been serving as a shield for eight years now,” he said.
Zelensky called on NATO to specify a timeline for Ukraine’s possible membership in the alliance. He also asked for additional military support to Ukraine and preventive sanctions against Russia.
In an interview with CNN, Zelensky said any provocations in eastern Ukraine would be dangerous. “One shelling, one cannon fire can lead to war,” he warned.
Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines will suspend flights to Kyiv through the end of the month
Return to menuLufthansa and Austrian Airlines announced Saturday that all flights to the Ukrainian capital will be temporarily suspended as fears of a potential Russian strike mount.
The German airliner Lufthansa said in a news release that the company was suspending flights to and from Kyiv between Monday and Feb. 28.
“Lufthansa is constantly monitoring the situation and will decide on further flights at a later date,” the company said.
Austrian Airlines, which is part of the Lufthansa Group, noted that it was suspending flights to Kyiv from Sunday through the end of the month. The company said flights to Odessa would also be suspended during that period.
The moves come shortly after Dutch airline KLM announced that all flights into Ukraine were canceled until further notice.
Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines are still offering flights to Lviv, a western city close to the Polish border, according to Bloomberg News.
Ukraine rejects Russia’s claim of cross-border shelling
Return to menuKYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials rejected claims it had fired artillery rounds onto Russian soil, saying the claims were part of false flag operations to justify an invasion.
Russian state-owned media claimed artillery was fired over the border and landed in the Rostov region.
“We resolutely refute all accusations of any alleged Ukrainian shells falling on the Russian territory. Ukraine has never opened any such fire,” said Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister. “We call for an immediate and impartial international investigation of the incidents reported by Russian media.”
Lt. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, said in a statement that the alleged shelling exceeded the reach of its artillery in the region.
“The invaders themselves undermine infrastructure in the occupied territories, carry out chaotic shelling of settlements and deliberately produce false reports,” Zaluzhnyi said.
Russia’s Investigative Committee on Saturday opened a criminal investigation into what it called, without evidence, “the fact of shelling” in the Rostov region in southern Russia “from the territory of Ukraine.” Earlier, Interfax cited Rostov authorities stating they found two exploded shells near a village in the region.
Germany, France urge nationals to leave Ukraine
Return to menuGermany and France on Saturday urged their nationals to immediately leave Ukraine as tensions with Russia and shelling in Ukraine’s east increased.
“German nationals are urged to leave the country now,” Germany’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “A military confrontation is possible at any time.”
The statement warned that support for German nationals in Ukraine would be limited if Russia invades.
The French Foreign Ministry called on French nationals in Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk — areas in eastern Ukraine, where shelling by Russia-backed separatists has intensified in recent days — to leave quickly. It recommended that people exercise increased vigilance and refrain from traveling to the north or east of the country, and that French citizens who do not have a “compelling motive” to remain in Ukraine depart the country.
France’s ambassador to Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins, last week urged French citizens in Ukraine to prepare a supply of water, food, warm clothing and fuel but said France was not “at this stage” asking all French residents of Ukraine to leave the country.
The United States, Britain and other countries have already urged their citizens to leave Ukraine.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, condemned “the use of heavy weaponry and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas” in the contested east, they said in a statement Friday, calling the activity a “clear violation of the Minsk agreements.”
Artillery, mortars and grenades pound border town
Return to menuNOVOLUHANSKE, Ukraine — Outside the border city of Novoluhanske, Ukrainian army Brigade Commander Olexandr Zinevitch showed journalists where separatist forces have been pounding an abandoned industrial area with artillery in recent days.
Earlier Saturday, a 27-year-old Ukrainian private had been sprinting to shelter across the asphalt when he was knocked from his feet by a shell. “He’s going to lose his hand,” Zinevitch said, flipping through photographs of the injury on his phone.
A civilian fisherman had been shot in the morning, Zinevitch said, but not seriously injured.
This area has not been a hot spot in the last several years, with almost no shelling. Zinevitch sees the eruption of attacks over the last three days — including artillery, mortars and grenades — as evidence of a coordinated campaign by Russia.
Moscow is trying to provoke Ukrainian forces into responding and giving Russia an excuse to launch a major attack, he said. He has told his troops not to respond unless their lives are in danger.
“The Russian Federation is trying to lead us into war with a lie,” Zinevitch said.
A few minutes later, as the group of journalists and the soldiers escorting them were pulling away in military vehicles, an artillery shell slammed into the ground 200 yards away.
The leading vehicles raced from the spot as more shells sounded to the east. A man who had been tinkering with his pickup truck rushed on foot toward safety in the village.
At the entrance to a military blast shelter near an apartment building, soldiers rushed journalists and several residents into the darkness. They waited inside, unsure if the booms sounding every few minutes were the start of something even more frightening.
Chinese foreign minister calls Minsk agreement ‘only way out’ of crisis
Return to menuChinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday called for the implementation of a 2015 peace accord between Russia and Ukraine known as the Minsk agreement, describing it as the “only way out” of the crisis.
Wang, who was addressing the Munich Security Conference by video link, did not comment on Russia’s military buildup but said Russia’s concerns “should be respected and heeded,” according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Without naming the United States, Wang criticized countries warning of an imminent invasion. Describing “certain major countries” as reviving a Cold War mentality, he called on governments to stop “hyping up issues, creating panic and trumpeting the threat of war.”
An invasion would test Beijing’s commitment to its burgeoning quasi-alliance with Moscow. Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted President Vladimir Putin before the opening of the Winter Olympics this month and pledged to deepen a strategic partnership of “no limits.”
Beijing has repeatedly called Russia’s security concerns “legitimate,” and a Russian invasion of Ukraine could bolster its own ambitions toward Taiwan. Yet an invasion of Ukraine could also complicate Beijing’s international standing in a year in which Xi is poised to take on a controversial and unprecedented third term.
Speaking by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, Xi called for “political settlement … through dialogue and consultation,” according to a readout from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Russian official’s accusations against Ukraine reinforce Western fears that Moscow is staging a pretext to invade
Return to menuRussian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Saturday that Ukraine was committing “crimes against humanity” in separatist regions of the country’s east, fueling Western officials’ alarm that Russia is manufacturing a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine.
Her comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Tuesday that Ukraine was committing “genocide” in the regions, without offering evidence or explanation. Fears about a staged pretext were compounded by orders given by separatist leaders on Friday for a mass evacuation of the population in a Moscow-backed breakaway region. The separatist administrations have since aired allegations of “terrorist” attacks and sabotage, without evidence. Ukraine officials have denied the claims.
Zakharova said the West was ignoring the human rights of residents in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, saying they would “become accomplices” in “crimes against humanity.” She did not provide details of the alleged crimes.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russian claims of genocide in Donbas region were “ridiculous.” Russia’s Foreign Ministry called his comments “unacceptable.”
Franklin Graham asks Americans to ‘Pray for President Putin’ to avoid war
Return to menuEvangelist Franklin Graham has asked Americans to “pray for” Vladimir Putin shortly after President Biden indicated that the Russian president has “made the decision” to strike Ukraine.
Graham, the son of evangelical icon Billy Graham and a staunch supporter of former president Donald Trump, wrote on Facebook:
“Pray for President Putin. This may sound like a strange request, and I might get some angry comments, but we need to pray that God would work in his heart so that war—and the loss of thousands of lives—could be avoided at all cost.”
He added, “May God give wisdom to the leaders involved in these talks and negotiations, as well as those advising them. Our prayers might make the difference between life and death.”
Pray for President Putin today. This may sound like a strange request, but we need to pray that God would work in his heart so that war could be avoided at all cost. May God give wisdom to the leaders involved in these talks & negotiations, as well as those advising them.
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) February 18, 2022
Graham was among the evangelical leaders who had previously cultivated ties with Russia before the 2016 U.S. presidential election. During a 2015 speaking tour in Russia, Graham met privately with Putin for 45 minutes. Graham told The Washington Post in 2017 that Putin “answers questions very directly and doesn’t dodge them like a lot of our politicians do.” He also tweeted out a photo of him shaking hands with Putin.
In 1982, Graham’s father famously went to the Soviet Union on a missionary trip during the Cold War. Having met with Soviet officials, Billy Graham was criticized for the trip and accused of going soft of communism.
While Franklin Graham’s supporters backed his call to “pray for President Putin,” critics slammed him for not doing the same for the people of Ukraine ahead of a potential invasion that is likely to bring bloodshed to the country. Jon Cooper, a Democrat and majority leader of the Suffolk County legislature on Long Island, offered one word in response to Graham asking for prayers for Putin: “Unreal.”
Ukraine’s Lviv becomes ‘western capital’ as diplomats leave Kyiv
Return to menuLVIV, Ukraine — There are winding cobblestone streets and delicious pastries. The old Habsburg elegance still runs through Lviv.
Lviv is also about as far from Russia as you can get in Ukraine. These days, that makes it a preferred place for some to set up shop amid growing fears that Russia could attack — and possibly put the capital, Kyiv, in its crosshairs.
At least five embassies, including that of the United States, have moved a part of their operations to Lviv, about 350 miles west of Kyiv and within a short drive to the Polish border.
European officials say they have not seen intelligence that Putin has decided to attack Ukraine
Return to menuMUNICH — President Biden said Friday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had “made the decision” to strike Ukraine — an assessment that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday that he agreed with.
However, high-level European officials said Saturday that they had not been given any direct intelligence or evidence of Putin having made up his mind to attack. “Let me say clearly that at this stage, we do not have such clear intelligence,” one European official told The Washington Post, adding that “it is also clear that the situation is very serious.”
Another European official said, “We have no clear evidence ourselves that Putin has made up his mind, and we have not seen anything that would suggest otherwise,” adding that they believed such strong statements could be part of a U.S. tactic to increase pressure on Russia.
Meanwhile, a German security official said they had seen an increase in Russian cyberattacks and attempts to spread false information in recent weeks.
All three officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Harris, Blinken navigate Munich Security Conference as Europe holds its breath
Return to menuMUNICH, Germany — When Vice President Harris met with the heads of Baltic nations here on Friday, she made a vow that was equal parts American might and personal promise.
“We stand with you — I am here personally to say that,” she told the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, who had just recounted how the Russian threat triggered traumatic memories of Soviet occupation. “We stand with you on this and many other issues, in the spirit of our alliance and our mutual interest and priorities.”
Nearby, at Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Secretary of State Antony Blinken found it hard to navigate the narrow corridors as foreign ministers, prime ministers and other longtime acquaintances intercepted his path with handshakes, hugs or an oft-repeated “Hey, Tony!”
The split screen brought into sharp relief the complex dynamic at the conference as Harris, the senior official and head of the U.S. delegation, shares a double-billing with Blinken, who has known many of the foreign officials here for decades.
The White House says their roles are complementary, that Harris is in Munich to provide leadership and inspiration while Blinken handles the private talks and diplomatic minutiae. But some U.S. diplomats say it’s not that simple.
Shelling in separatist region prompts unease, shrugs
Return to menuSTANYTSIA LUHANSKA, Ukraine — Distant thuds of shelling could be heard at a crossing between Ukraine and the separatist-controlled Luhansk territory Saturday — artillery fire that offered another indication of an escalation in fighting and tension between Ukraine’s government forces and the pro-Russian militants.
Most people didn’t react, either walking to the checkpoint to enter the self-proclaimed Luhansk republic or coming back from there. Oleksandr, whose sister lives in the Luhansk territory, spent a week there before returning to the Kyiv-controlled side on Saturday morning. He said he didn’t witness a mass evacuation of people, as both the Luhansk and Donetsk territories declared on Friday night.
But there were long lines at gas stations and crowds of people stocking up on supplies in stores.
“My sister is still there and my niece, so how can I not worry?” said Oleksandr, who, like others, declined to give his surname for fear of separatist reprisals on his family. “I don’t want to believe that this is the start of an escalation,” he added.
The Ukrainian military has reported a tenfold increase in shelling in the past three days, accusing separatists of using weapons banned in previous agreements. One Ukrainian soldier was killed in a recent strike.
One woman who was returning from the separatist region said it was “calm and quiet” there, and she didn’t hear any shelling. Another, Emma, whose parents live in the self-proclaimed republic, said they heard the announcement about an evacuation but didn’t plan on leaving the area.
“But people are afraid,” she said.
The traffic of people going there and coming back continued, despite the occasional sounds of shelling in the background. They’ve grown used to the booms of this eight-year conflict. They just hope something more menacing isn’t looming.
Zelensky says Ukraine will not ‘respond to provocations’ near borders
Return to menuUkraine will not respond to provocations near its borders, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday, as artillery fire escalated along a front line with pro-Russian separatists in the disputed eastern Donbas region.
He made the comments shortly after landing in Munich to meet with Vice President Harris and other Western leaders. “We do not respond to provocations and strive to establish peace exclusively through diplomacy,” Zelensky wrote in an Instagram post.
The contact line that divides government troops from pro-Russian separatist troops in eastern Ukraine has seen a sharp rise in cease-fire violations in recent days, according to European monitors.
The Ukrainian leader said he would fly back from the Munich security conference later Saturday.
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Russia-Ukraine live updates and latest news on border crisis - The Washington Post
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