Russia-Ukraine live updates: Bombarded Mariupol is suffering through a blockade, mayor says

WARSAW — Vice President Harris and Polish President Andrzej Duda sought Thursday to downplay a disagreement between their countries over providing fighter jets for Ukraine, emphasizing instead America’s commitment to defend NATO and to help a flood of Ukrainian refugees.

Harris’s meeting with Duda, like a session with Romanian leaders set for Friday, was an effort to reassure NATO countries increasingly anxious about Russian aggression. But its early moments were overshadowed by a surprise statement by Poland earlier in the week that it wanted to transfer an unspecified number of MiG-29 jets to the United States, which could launch them from Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

The United States rejected that offer, worried that the prospect of jets taking off from a NATO country to battle it out with Russian planes in the skies over Ukraine could turn a war between two countries into a broader, even global, conflict.

Asked about the fighter planes on Thursday, Harris stressed that the tactical disagreement on that issue did not blunt the broad U.S. support for Poland and other NATO member nations.

“I want to be very clear,” Harris told reporters. “The United States and Poland are united in what we have done, and are prepared to do, to help Ukraine and the people of Ukraine, full stop.”

She added, “The United States’ commitment to Article 5 is ironclad. The United States is prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory.” Under Article 5 of the NATO treaty, the alliance’s members agree to come to one another’s aid in case of attack.

Poland and Romania are NATO members; Ukraine is not.

Rosenzweig-Ziff reported from Przemysl, Poland.

Millions of civilians prevented from fleeing Ukraine by Russia’s “siege warfare” are at risk of violence in a Russian occupation, a U.S. ambassador warned in Vienna on Thursday.

Cities including Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy are under bombardment, and their residents prevented from leaving, said Michael Carpenter, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Speaking to the organization’s Permanent Council, Carpenter outlined what a potential occupation of Ukraine could look like, based on what Russia has done before.

“Since 2014, there have been scores, if not hundreds, of reports documenting atrocities by Russia and its proxies in Russia-controlled parts of the Donbas and in Crimea,” he said. Donbas is a separatist-held region in eastern Ukraine. Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, a move Ukraine called illegitimate.

“There are credible reports of enforced disappearances and abductions of dissidents, members of religious and ethnic minority groups, and others who dare to voice dissatisfaction with Russia’s criminal rule,” he said.

In the Donbas, at prisons and unofficial places of detention, Carpenter said, “Russia-led forces routinely beat and physically and psychologically tortured detainees, conducted mock executions, committed sexual violence, deprived detainees of food, water, and medical care, and required forced labor. ”

He added that according to the United Nations, women and men are victims of sexual violence, including rape, threats of castration, intentional damage to genitalia, threats of sexual violence against family members and forced prostitution.

Russia’s proxies in the Donbas and occupation forces in Crimea have also restricted freedom of expression on the street, in the news media and on the Internet, and have blocked international aid groups from delivering food and other assistance to civilians, Carpenter said.

“So, we don’t have to guess what Russia will do if it occupies Ukraine,” he said. “We’ve been watching it play out for eight straight years.”

The mayor of Mariupol said Thursday that people in his blockaded Ukrainian port city were going through “Armageddon” and “two days of hell” as Russian forces fired on residential areas.

“Every 30 minutes, the city of Mariupol was visited by aviation, which worked in residential areas, killing civilians: old people, women, children,” Mayor Vadym Boichenko said in a video, describing Thursday’s devastation. “This is the greatness of the Russian army.”

Accusing Russia of “genocide” and calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “terrorist,” Boichenko said 400,000 residents of Mariupol are being held captive, waiting for a “humanitarian corridor” to materialize. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russia of violating temporary cease-fires meant to clear the way for civilian evacuations and delivery of supplies.

Leaders have also warned for days of a humanitarian crisis in southern Mariupol, saying Russian forces have cut off entrances and exits and left the city without much water, electricity, heat or mobile communication. On Wednesday, at least three people were killed and 17 were injured there in a strike on a maternity hospital.

Ukraine’s battered Mariupol, reeling from hospital strike, says Russia’s assault continues as bodies pile up

Speaking in a video the Mariupol City Council posted to Telegram on Thursday, Boichenko said “humanitarian cargo” was unable to enter the city for a sixth day. He said there remained no viable path for evacuation, despite Russian promises.

“As we try to get through, we run into mines, we hit tanks, we fall under the hail,” he said. “A struggle for the life of our city” was underway Thursday, the mayor said, led by Ukraine’s top officials.

“Work is underway to make this corridor, so that the cargo that needs to reach Mariupol could reach it,” Boichenko said. “I am sure it will.”

U.S. officials are considering sending the Ukrainian military more complex weapons, including air-defense systems that are more sophisticated than the “man-portable” missiles the United States and allies have been sending in large quantities, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday.

The additional assistance could help bolster Ukrainian forces as Russia increasingly relies on its air force after mostly keeping it grounded early in the invasion. The senior defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, declined to say what kind of additional weapons could be added. One possibility could be the S-300, which launches surface-to-air missiles and is capable of targeting drones and planes. The United States does not possess the Soviet-made S-300, but allies such as Bulgaria do, and Ukrainian forces are familiar with it.

The comments came one day after U.S. officials short-circuited a proposal by Poland to turn over MiG-29 fighter jets to the United States for transfer to Ukraine. The deal would have boosted the size of the Ukrainian air force, with the United States sending F-16s to Poland to fill the gaps in their arsenal. U.S. officials said they saw the deal having significant risks of escalation with Russia, with minimum value, considering the Ukrainian air force largely remains intact.

Russian forces have continued slow advances around several cities.

As of Thursday, the Russians had launched 775 missiles at Ukraine since the invasion began, the senior defense official said. The number continues to climb by a few dozen per day.

The Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that it will pause all business in Russia, adding to the growing list of companies who are ending or limiting financial ties to the nation.

The pause on all business includes content and product licensing, Disney Cruise Line activities, National Geographic magazine, tours and content production, a company spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson said some of the business activities can be paused immediately while others, such as some content and product licensing, will take longer to stop because of “contractual complexities.”

“Even as we pause these businesses, we remain committed to our dedicated colleagues in Russia, who will remain employed,” the company said. “And we continue to work with our NGO [nongovernmental organization] partners to provide urgent aid and other much-needed assistance to refugees.”

Activists and Ukrainian allies have called for major companies such as Disney to alter or cease their business with Russia in response to the invasion.

Wall Street slumped Thursday, with the major U.S. indexes edging broadly lower as investors remained lasered in on the crisis in Ukraine and its economic ripple effects.

After an emphatic rally Wednesday, stocks turned negative in premarket trading on news that the first high-level round of diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine failed to produce any resolution. After opening 1 percent lower, the Dow Jones industrial average finished down 112.18 points, about 0.3 percent, to end regular trading at 33,174.07. The S&P 500 index slid more than 18 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 4,259.52. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell roughly 125 points, almost 1 percent, to settle at 13,129.96.

Markets typically look past geopolitical tensions, but the particular unpredictability of this conflict has riled investors as it drags into a third week. Stocks have been moving in lockstep with headlines because of Russia’s role as a major global oil producer, as disruptions to energy markets and other commodities will exacerbate inflation. And that’s all combining with the storm cloud of uncertainty stemming from the pandemic, including a vexed labor market and a global supply chain in deep distress.

Fresh data Thursday confirmed that in February, before the invasion, prices were up 7.9 percent compared to a year ago, the biggest spike in 40 years.

“The war in Ukraine has changed the inflation conversation,” Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell, said in commentary Thursday. “Food, energy, the basics of life will keep on getting more expensive and companies experiencing further supply price hikes will find they have little choice but to pass those increases on to their customers.”

Oil prices, which have jumped near $130 a barrel in recent weeks, bounced around Thursday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, shed 1.8 percent to near $109 a barrel after erasing earlier gains. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. oil benchmark, fell 2.27 percent to trade near $105.50 per barrel.

Gas prices, meanwhile, continue to surge. The U.S. average for gallon of gas has spiked roughly 60 cents in the past week, hitting $4.31 as of Thursday, according to data from AAA. At the same time last year, the national average was $2.81.

Gold, an investor safe haven, edged up 0.6 percent to trade just above $2,000 per troy ounce.

Interpol on Thursday rejected calls to suspend Russia’s access to the policing consortium’s data on crimes around the world, calling neutrality “fundamental” to its work even when some of its 195 member countries are in conflict.

“As long as the INTERPOL network can assist in the rescue of one child abuse victim, the prevention of one terrorist attack or the identification of one missing person, it is its duty to ensure that lines of communication remain open,” the international group’s leadership said in a statement.

Officials in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand — the members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance — had urged Interpol to “decide this week on the immediate suspension of Russia’s access,” according to the U.S. Justice Department. U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel argued that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “direct threat to the safety of individuals and to international law enforcement cooperation.”

But Interpol’s General Secretariat, the central body that runs the cooperative, said its mandate “does not include issuing sanctions or taking punitive measures.” It said many law enforcement leaders expressed concerns about the consequences of halting information-sharing and said war creates fertile ground for exploitation, trafficking, smuggling and other crimes.

This year, Interpol said, almost 60,000 checks against its databases have referenced data from Russia.

“INTERPOL was created to ensure the widest possible law enforcement cooperation, including between countries where diplomatic relations do not exist,” the General Secretariat said.

The group said its secretary general is working to prevent misuse of Interpol’s channels to target people in Ukraine and beyond. It noted that Ukraine has disconnected from its network. Now all of Moscow’s requests for international cooperation must go through the General Secretariat “to be checked for compliance,” Interpol leadership said.

As gas prices continue to hit record highs in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, American lawmakers are questioning what oil companies are doing now that the Biden administration has banned all imports of oil and natural gas from Russia.

So when a Shell executive