Russia-Ukraine live updates: Putin threatens Ukraine’s ‘statehood,’ likens sanctions to ‘declaration of war’

Jessica Orakpo, 23, a medical student from Nigeria, and her friend Nataizya Nanyangwe, 24, an economics student from Zambia, both enrolled at universities in Ternopil, in western Ukraine, decided that the time had come, in the face of Russia’s invasion of the country, for them to leave.

They piled into a cab bound for the Polish border, some 136 miles distant, at around 8 a.m. last Saturday. After two hours, they hit wall-to-wall traffic. The cab couldn’t go any further.

After the cab hit the bottleneck, Orakpo and her friend decided to continue their journey by foot. Orakpo said she only packed some clothes, blankets and her travel documents.

By the time they drew close to the Polish border — a day later — they faced another obstacle, one that Orakpo says was prompted by her race.

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Russia’s Internet censorship agency announced on Friday that it plans to block access to Facebook throughout the country, joining a small handful of the world’s most repressive regimes in cutting off its citizens from the world’s largest social network. In an Orwellian twist, the agency, called Roskomnadzor, said it made the move to uphold the free flow of information, blaming Facebook for restrictions it has placed on Russian state media outlets in recent days.

Of course, blocking Facebook isn’t really about upholding free speech for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has spent years eroding press and online freedoms and arresting protesters. But contrary to what Western observers might assume, it also isn’t really about restricting Russians’ access to social media — at least, not directly. It’s an act of intimidation aimed at bringing other social networks to heel.

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Steve Daines (Mont.) are facing blowback on Saturday after they shared photos of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s video address to Congress.

In a call over Zoom attended by more than 280 members of the U.S. Senate and House, Zelensky pleaded for help in fending off the Russian invasion of his country, urging them to support the politically fraught step of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, help secure more fighter jets and ban the purchase of Russian oil.

Ukraine’s ambassador asked the U.S. lawmakers not to share details of the meeting on social media until it was over, according to a Twitter post after the meeting from Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.). But that did not stop Rubio and Daines from tweeting out photos of the meeting while it was still going on.

At 9:45 a.m., Rubio tweeted out a photo of Zelensky with a caption reading, “On zoom call now with President Zelensky of #Ukraine.” Eight minutes later, Daines followed suit with a photo and similar tweet of his own: “Currently on a zoom call with President Zelenskyy #StandWithUkraine️.”

The reaction to the Zelensky meeting photos from Rubio and Daines quickly spread on social media Saturday. Phillips tweeted that he was shocked the GOP senators would tweet out photos while the meeting was ongoing when they were told it was prohibited.

“The Ukrainian Ambassador very intentionally asked each of us on the zoom to NOT share anything on social media during the meeting to protect the security of President Zelenskyy,” Phillips wrote. “Appalling and reckless ignorance by two US Senators.”

Dan Holler, a spokesman for Rubio, told The Washington Post in an email that there was nothing in the senator’s tweet that would have put Zelensky in danger.

“There was no identifying information of any kind,” Holler wrote. “Anybody pretending this tweet is a security concern is a partisan seeking clicks.”

A representative for Daines did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

Other lawmakers also shared photos of Zelensky from the meeting but not until it was over. Among those who shared photos afterward was Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.).

“He is standing strong, but pleaded for more help,” Himes tweeted. “We stand with him #Ukraine️.”

Ukraine and Russia are aiming to meet Monday for another round of talks in the hope of getting one step closer to ending the invasion that has gone on for more than a week, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said Saturday.

“The third round of negotiations will be held on Monday,” Arakhamia wrote in a brief Facebook post. Arakhamia, the head of the parliamentary faction of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, did not give any additional details.

Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky was less definitive about the two sides meeting Monday, according to Reuters.

“The third round really could take place in the coming days; it’s possible it will be on Monday,” Slutsky said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted Saturday that while Zelensky’s attempt to get NATO to give direct help to Ukraine was not helping the situation, Moscow was ready for a third round of talks.

While the two sides have not gotten far in their previous negotiations since the invasion began Feb. 24, Russia and Ukraine agreed to limited cease-fire pacts for humanitarian corridors in some parts of the country to evacuate civilians trapped in the battered cities.

But Ukrainian officials on Saturday accused Russia of breaching a temporary truce in the southern cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha — meant to allow people to flee the battle zone — less than three hours after both sides were supposed to have ceased fire. Britain’s Defense Ministry on Saturday accused Russia of using the proposed cease-fire agreement as a way to deflect international condemnation while giving their forces a chance to rest, Reuters reported. Equally, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that their forces had resumed fighting because Ukrainians had used the cease-fire to reinforce their strategic positions.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday as the crisis in Ukraine deepened.

The two leaders met for about three hours in the Kremlin, an Israeli official said. The head of Israel’s national security council, Eyal Hulata, also attended, along with Zeev Elkin, Israel’s minister of housing and construction, who is from Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine that has come under intense Russian shelling.

Bennett spoke with Putin about the impact of the conflict on Israelis and Jewish communities, the official said.

The United States was notified about the meeting in advance, Bennett’s office said. The Israeli official said Bennett is coordinating with the United States, Germany and France and is “in ongoing dialogue with Ukraine.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow did not plan to release a statement on the meeting, according to Russian news agencies.

Israel has said it will maintain communications with Moscow to help de-escalate the conflict and has offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. Israel has been trying to support Ukraine, which has a large Jewish population, without alienating Moscow.

The country has walked a diplomatic tightrope in its response to the war. Israeli officials have voiced support for Ukraine, whose president — Volodymyr Zelensky — is the only other Jewish head of state in the world. They have called Ukraine a liberal democratic ally. But mindful that Russia backs the Syrian regime on Israel’s northern border, Israel is concerned about provoking Moscow. Russia has also unofficially permitted Israel to carry out strikes targeting weapons transfers to Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite group in Lebanon.

During their meeting, Bennett and Putin also discussed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the Israeli official said. Israel opposed a return to the agreement.

Jerusalem has refused Zelensky’s requests for aid, including for the transfer of military equipment. Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial and museum, is embroiled in controversy after asking U.S. officials not to put sanctions on Israeli Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, a longtime Putin supporter.

Israel’s Holocaust museum is so dependent on a Russian oligarch that it wants to protect him from sanctions

Bennett called his country’s policy “measured and responsible” in a joint statement with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after the leaders gathered at the Yad Vashem memorial on Wednesday.

“Our responsibility is to do everything we can to prevent bloodshed,” the statement said. “It’s not too late.”

Bennett’s office said later Saturday that the prime minister had spoken with Zelensky after his meeting with Putin and was traveling from Moscow to Berlin to meet with Scholz.

Video shows two aircrew members parachuting from a downed Russian jet Saturday in Chernihiv, Ukraine, according to the Ukraine State Emergency Service (SES).

The SES shared photos on Twitter on Saturday showing the smoking remnants of the jet in the city that lies about 95 miles north of Kyiv. Officials said on social media that the plane had been shot down and two people rescued.

The Post verified the visuals and, using the number “24” on the plane’s vertical stabilizer, determined the aircraft was a Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet. The same plane was photographed in 2019 in Russia by plane spotters, and the identification was confirmed by Tony Wilson of the Security Force Monitor at the Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute.

A billowing column of black smoke from the crash site could be seen from half a mile away, according to a video verified by The Post.

Britain’s Defense Ministry on Saturday accused Russia of proposing a cease-fire in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol to “deflect international condemnation” and give its forces time to reset.

“By accusing Ukraine of breaking the agreement, Russia is likely seeking to shift responsibility for current and future civilian casualties in the city,” the ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that his country’s military had resumed attacks on Mariupol and another southern Ukrainian city because Ukrainians had used the cease-fire to reinforce their strategic positions. Igor Konashenkov, the spokesman, told reporters late Saturday that Ukrainian battalions had taken advantage of a pause in hostilities in Mariupol and Volnovakha meant to evacuate civilians.

Ukrainian officials previously accused Russia of breaching the temporary truce — less than three hours after it was supposed to begin — by continuing to attack both cities. Mariupol’s city council had urged people to hunker down because, they said, the Russian military was still shelling the city. Ukrainian officials also said the city of Volnovakha, with a population of about 21,000, experienced “heavy artillery” assaults during the cease-fire.