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Russian defense ministry official Sergey Rudskoy claimed Friday that “the main goal” of the Russian operation is “the liberation of Donbas” — referring to an area of eastern Ukraine that has been partially controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces since 2014. The Pentagon also believes that Russian forces “are putting their priorities in the east of Ukraine,” according to a senior defense official.
Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine’s population centers and other targets continues, with a senior defense official reporting Moscow is flying 300 sorties over Ukraine per day — an increase compared with over a week ago. On Friday, Ukraine’s air force also claimed that Russian missiles had hit a command center in Vinnitsya, in west-central Ukraine, “significantly” damaging some buildings.
Here’s what to know
Russia begins to mobilize military reinforcements for Ukraine as casualties mount, Pentagon says
Return to menuRussia has begun to mobilize military reinforcements to send into Ukraine as its combat losses in the month-old war continue to grow, the Pentagon said Friday, citing its latest intelligence assessments.
“We now have indications that they are drawing on forces from Georgia,” said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Biden administration. “Russian troops that are based in Georgia. We don’t have an exact number.”
Thousands of Russian troops are regularly stationed at military outposts from Georgia to Syria to Tajikistan, many of them in motorized rifle brigades that experts consider combat-capable and ready to deploy immediately.
Spotify says it will suspend service in Russia
Return to menuSpotify announced Friday that it is pulling the plug on its services in Russia, citing a restrictive new media law passed by the Kremlin.
The audio streaming platform joins other social media and tech platforms suspending their business in the country out of concern for the repercussions for workers and users after the Russian parliament banned what it called “fake” news earlier this month. News outlets have also removed their Russian correspondents or suspended broadcasting in response to the law that carries a 15-year prison sentence.
Spotify, which also hosts podcasts, said in a statement that while it was “critically important” to stream independent news to Russians, the law “puts the safety of Spotify’s employees and possibly even our listeners at risk.” The company had closed its Russian offices indefinitely earlier this month.
Spotify’s announcement adds to a digital iron curtain building around Russia, as more tech companies have either left or been booted, an added hurdle for Russians seeking to get past Moscow’s propaganda bubble. Earlier this month, TikTok said it would suspend live-streaming and new content from Russia, while the country’s Internet censor said it would block access to Facebook.
France’s Macron says nation will help Mariupol residents seeking to leave
Return to menuFrench President Emmanuel Macron announced Friday that he’s working with Greece and Turkey to coordinate a humanitarian operation for people wanting to leave the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Macron told reporters after a European Union summit in Brussels that he has been in talks with Mariupol’s mayor and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and that he intended to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the next 48 to 72 hours.
“We will then negotiate with the Russian side. I hope we will be able to have as many stakeholders as possible in this operation. So the sooner the better,” he said. “And for me, this is one of the most urgent and it is our duty, I believe.”
The southeastern Ukrainian city has been among the areas most devastated in Russia’s invasion of the nation. Mariupol officials announced Friday that at least 300 people died in an attack on a theater earlier this month.
Ukrainian mayors and other government officials have repeatedly spoken about Russian forces thwarting evacuation efforts to reach humanitarian corridors.
However, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a daily video update Friday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to two humanitarian corridors operating Friday, including one that would allow Mariupol residents to leave in private vehicles.
E.U. leaders back joint purchases as bloc weans off Russian gas
Return to menuEuropean Union leaders have endorsed a plan to make joint gas purchases as part of a broader push to secure supply and stabilize prices as Europe shifts away from Russian energy, officials and leaders said.
The plan was announced Friday evening in Brussels after hours of discussion about energy sanctions and prices. The decision paves the way for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, and willing member states, to start working together.
The news came the same day the European Commission and the United States announced a joint task force to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels. As part of E.U.-U.S. effort, the United States will work with other nations to increase liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe by at least 15 billion cubic meters this year with the aim of providing larger shipments in the future.
E.U. officials did not provide much detail on how joint purchases might work. A statement published Friday calls on the bloc to “work together on voluntary common purchase of gas, LNG and hydrogen, making optimal use of the collective political and market weight of the European Union and its Member States to dampen prices in negotiations.”
“Instead of outbidding each other and driving prices up, we will pool our demand,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday in a news conference.
President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that joint purchases are “the best instrument for our gas price to decrease.”
Here’s the status of Ukrainian cities under Russian attack
Return to menuJoyce Lee contributed to this report.
Video shows Russian missile strike hitting civilians waiting in line
Return to menuA Russian strike hit civilians in Kharkiv waiting for humanitarian aid on Thursday, leaving six dead and another 15 injured, according to a statement from Oleg Synegubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration.
New security video posted Friday, verified by The Washington Post, shows the moment when people lined up near the entrance to a post office were struck. The video shows the explosion and then footage edited to zoom in on the attack. Survivors are seen fleeing the area. The attack occurred along a major avenue, just outside a market, in northeastern Kharkiv.
In another video, remnants of the weapon are strewn across the pavement and people tend to others on the ground.
The downtown area of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has been ravaged by missiles, and at least half of its 1.4 million residents have fled, according to officials, though no one is sure of the exact figure.
Loveday Morris contributed to this report.
They chose to flee Ukraine. The next question is where to go.
Return to menuPRZEMYSL, Poland — The stream of people keeps arriving, safe at last in Poland, and for many, the next stop is a shuttered shopping mall four miles from the border. That’s where they encounter a place that some volunteers call the “decision room.”
It’s less a room than a bank of chairs, crammed among a sea of cots, near what used to be the mall’s supermarket. Now, it’s a riot of activity: volunteers, European national flags, information booths for various countries and refugees trying to make sense of the staggering choices at hand.
“Free transport to Estonia,” one sign reads. “Free housing 90 days” in Denmark, reads another, posted in front of a whiteboard listing the buses departing daily: for Zurich, Dresden, Munich and so many other cities that are everywhere but Ukraine.
Ukraine claims that Russia is using white phosphorus bombs
Return to menuUkraine’s president has accused invading Russian forces of using white phosphorus, a controversial chemical substance that can cause severe and indiscriminate harm to civilians.
“This morning, by the way, there were phosphorus bombs. Phosphorus Russian bombs. Adults were killed again and children were killed again,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a virtual address to NATO leaders Thursday, as the military alliance held an emergency summit on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Washington Post has not been able to independently verify reports of white phosphorous being used in Ukraine. Although the chemical is infamous because of the extreme damage it can cause, other incendiary weapons and chemicals used by militaries for illumination have been mistaken for white phosphorous in the past.
Asked by reporters about Zelensky’s comments on, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russia “has never violated international conventions.”
Pentagon: Russians lose full control of Kherson as Ukraine expands offensive
Return to menuRussian forces have lost full control of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the Pentagon assessed Friday, as Ukraine expands offensive operations in the fifth week of the war.
The port city on the Black Sea had a population of about 280,000 before the war and is home to shipbuilding facilities. It was first occupied by Russian forces March 3 and became one of a handful of midsized Ukrainian cities seized by Russia.
“It doesn’t appear to be as solidly in Russian control as it was before,” a senior U.S. defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon. “Ukrainians are trying to take Kherson back, and we would argue that Kherson is actually contested territory again.”
Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian advances in other parts of Ukraine as well. The Pentagon said Friday that Ukraine has made “incremental” progress against Russia outside the northern city of Chernihiv, and other offensives were underway in the western suburbs of Kyiv, the capital.
While Russia’s initial objective after invading appeared to be seizing Kyiv, the Kremlin is now emphasizing the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. It is “difficult to say” whether that is a full change in strategy, the senior defense official said. He added that Russian troops, stalled outside Kyiv for weeks, have begun to establish defensive positions instead of prioritizing an advance.
Russia focusing fight in Donbas in possible strategy to save face
Return to menuRussian forces are halting ground operations toward Kyiv and focusing attacks in the eastern Donbas region, the Pentagon said Friday, a potential indication that Moscow may be paring back its ambitions after a month of stumbles and frustrations.
The Pentagon has observed “a lot more ground activity” and aggression among Russian forces in Donbas, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters, and in addition to Kyiv and the northern Chernihiv enclave, the region has seen an increased number of airstrikes in recent days. Donbas is the breakaway region seized by Russian-backed separatists in 2014 that sparked the initial conflict that widened into a full-scale invasion last month.
The renewed focus on Donbas could be a face-saving measure as the Russians stumble and fail to achieve their aims, including the capture of Kyiv and decapitation of its government, by attempting to enlarge territory held by friendly forces. Russian officials have also shifted their rhetoric to suggest that Donbas was their top priority.
“The combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been considerably reduced, which … makes it possible to focus our core efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbas,” Sergei Rudskoy, head of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operational Directorate, said in a speech Friday.
It is not clear whether Russian troops will be pulled from elsewhere to reinforce Donbas, the U.S. defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, but there is evidence that they have shifted how they fight in other places.
“It appears the Russians are for the moment not pursuing a ground offensive toward Kyiv,” the official said. “They are digging in. They are establishing defensive positions.”
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