A senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that 80 percent of the Russian forces arrayed near Ukraine’s borders have moved into forward operating positions, suggesting that an invasion could take place if and when Russian President Vladimir Putin gives an order to strike.
Here’s what to know
- Pope Francis said Wednesday that the prospect of war in Ukraine caused “great pain in my heart,” and he condemned actions “destabilizing coexistence among nations and discrediting international law.”
- Reacting to a first wave of U.S. sanctions after Russian troops deployed into two pro-Moscow separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, Russia warned that Americans will fully feel the “consequences.” President Biden has acknowledged that the crisis could lead to higher gasoline prices.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Tuesday night that he was calling up the country’s military reservists after Russian lawmakers voted to give Putin the authority to send troops into eastern Ukraine.
UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan lands in Moscow, says he’s excited
Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, landed in Moscow on Wednesday and became the first foreign leader to meet with Putin after Russia acknowledged and entered Ukraine’s separatist regions Monday.
“What a time to come, so much excitement,” Khan can be heard saying as he walked away from his plane in Moscow, where he was received with pomp.
Khan is the first Pakistani prime minister to visit Moscow in 23 years. His two-day visit had been scheduled before Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“We are so excited to come to Moscow,” he added to a member of his welcoming entourage.
Khan and Putin will hold a bilateral summit Thursday, the top item on their agenda, in which they will discuss energy cooperation and other regional and international issues, including the situation in the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, according to India Today.
In an interview with Russian state-run network RT, which aired Tuesday, Khan said he hopes for a “peaceful solution” to the situation in Ukraine.
“I am not a believer in military conflicts,” Khan said. “I believe civilized societies resolve the difference through dialogues and countries that rely on military conflicts have not studied history properly.”
On Poland’s border with Ukraine, U.S. military helps plan for possible war refugees
RZESZOW, Poland — The domed chrome-and-glass exhibition center in the southeastern Polish city of Rzeszow has hosted Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, mixed martial arts bouts and trade fairs.
Now, U.S. military Humvees are parked behind newly erected barriers outside. Rooms are lined with cots for thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. And the ground floor is outfitted to receive people who may flee Ukraine, about 30 miles to the east.
A new war on the edge of Europe has the potential to unleash the continent’s biggest humanitarian crisis since the Syrian civil war triggered the arrival of more than 1 million refugees in 2015. At every level, plans are complicated by huge unknowns. Could there be a trickle of people seeking safety inside the borders of the European Union — or potentially millions?
Polish officials have indicated that a worst-case scenario could see as many as 1 million people arriving from Ukraine in case of a full-scale Russian invasion. Hungary, which also borders Ukraine, has said it is sending troops to the border, partly in preparation for refugees. Romania has said it is considering refugee camps.
Analysis: Republicans view Putin more favorably than they do leading Democrats
Putin operates within a well-established political framework. He is an autocrat with near-unilateral control over his country. Russia has elections, but no one is under the impression that the results will be allowed to pose a threat to Putin’s power. Personal freedoms are constrained significantly; opponents of Putin’s regime have a habit of succumbing to sudden illness and accidents.
Yet American Republicans view him slightly more positively than they do leading Democratic officials. Between Putin and Biden, it’s a toss-up that leans in Putin’s favor.
Polling from YouGov conducted for the Economist magazine in January compares Putin and various American leaders. Among Republicans, Putin is viewed far less positively than Donald Trump — but more positively than sitting Democratic leaders.
Pelosi denounces ‘very evil’ move by Putin, defends Biden’s handling of sanctions
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression toward Ukraine as “very evil” and defended how President Biden has approached the issue of sanctions thus far.
“It’s not just about when you do the sanctions or how you support the people,” Pelosi said at the Capitol. “It’s about how the world views what Putin is doing. This is a very evil move on the part of Vladimir Putin. He’s a KGB guy who happens to be probably the richest man in the world because of his exploitation of his own people.”
“This, my friends, is our moment. This is the Sudetenland — that’s what people are saying there,” she said, referring to Hitler’s 1938 annexation of an area of what was then Czechoslovakia bordering Germany. “You cannot ignore what Putin is doing. And nobody’s of course ignoring it, but you cannot take it any lighter than what it is: a total assault on democracy.”
Pelosi said Biden’s “leadership has been outstanding” and described the response to Russia’s actions as a “unified effort” with NATO allies. In a sharp contrast to former president Donald Trump’s recent statements, she also condemned Putin, calling him “the same tyrant who attacked our democracy in 2016.”
“This is the same tyrant who is opposed to democracy and wants to trivialize it, to downgrade it in the eyes of the Russian people,” Pelosi said.
Pentagon official: 80 percent of Russian forces around Ukraine are ready to attack
A senior defense official said Wednesday that 80 percent of the Russian forces arrayed around Ukraine have moved into forward operating positions, suggesting that an invasion could take place if and when Russian President Vladimir Putin gives an order to strike.
“It is our assessment that he is fully prepared to conduct a large-scale invasion,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details of a developing situation. The official added: “That is a likely option.”
The official said that Putin had mobilized “dang near 100 percent” of the forces the Pentagon had expected he would move into the area, and that they believed the Russian president had made a decision in favor of an invasion, as President Biden has stated in recent days. But the official would not specify the number or type of Russian assets they were seeing coalesce, although such troops have not yet moved westward past the territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
The official nonetheless warned that Putin “is as ready as he can be” and that the troops “could go at any hour now.”
“Whether they actually go or not is up to Mr. Putin,” the official added.
At the State Department, spokesman Ned Price was asked about reports that the U.S. issued warnings to the Ukrainian government that intelligence points to a wider invasion of Russia imminently, particularly, the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
“For several days now, we have said the invasion is potentially imminent, meaning it could start today, tomorrow or next week,” he said. “What we haven’t seen is any indication that the Russians are backing away from this.”
Russian soldiers mark Defender of the Fatherland Day, stock up on food, with possibility of invasion
By Mary Ilyushina1:41 p.m.
NEKLINOVKA — Dozens of Russian soldiers were celebrating Defender of the Fatherland Day in a village about 30 miles from the border between Russia and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, as heavy military equipment stood on train tracks, their barrels pointing toward eastern Ukraine.
The equipment, which included an array of howitzers and armored vehicles, was moved there in the past few days on tow trucks from fields and woods in the Rostov region. U.S. officials have warned about Russia’s near-complete military buildup and the possibility of a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Shelves of a local grocery store in Neklinovka were emptied by soldiers who appeared to be stocking up for several days, grabbing instant noodles, water, bread and condensed milk.
Across the road, young men in uniforms lined up in front of a liquor store. A canteen next door quickly ran out of food as soldiers gathered for dinner.
“Today, it is like a field kitchen out here,” one man standing in line joked. Music blasted from parked cars and smartphones as soldiers smoked outside.
Locals say that troops camping there began arriving about a month ago but appear to be loaded up into convoys and preparing to leave on Thursday.
The holiday commemorates soldiers who lost their lives in various conflicts throughout Russia’s history and is now celebrated across several post-Soviet countries.
Russian YouTuber, popular with Russian urban youth, condemns Putin’s ‘imperial frenzy’
MOSCOW — Russian celebrity YouTuber Yury Dud, who has a massive following of more than 10 million subscribers, condemned President Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine policy in an Instagram post, calling it “imperial frenzy.”
Dud suggested that Putin’s recognition of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine would have immense historical implications.
“I am writing this with exactly one motive: when my children grow up, get to this piece of history, go nuts and ask, ‘Dad, what were you doing then?’ I will have a written proof.
“I did not support this imperial frenzy,” he wrote.
Dud, 35, who is of Ukrainian descent, was born in Eastern Europe but has lived in Russia since childhood. He began the post describing a recent trip to Norway where every village showed prosperity. The contrast with Russia, also rich in oil and gas, was obvious.
The photograph he used with the post showed Russian President Vladimir Putin sitting at a table in the Kremlin with his National Security Council on Monday. Putin called on the members, perched faraway on chairs, and asked whether they supported his move to recognize the separatist regions. Not one dissented.
According to Dud, Russia saw: “An emperor fascinated by history. A retinue with an amputated opinion and will. A propaganda escort, so smoothly and so sweetly approving the war from warm metropolitan apartments.
“Well, the decisions that this whole party takes. The decisions are not to convert natural resources into the well-being of Voronezh, Kamchatka, Nikel and Zapolyarny, but to grow rich ourselves and stay longer in the control of these resources.”
It is becoming increasingly difficult for Russian YouTubers and bloggers to express dissent. Comedians have been charged over satirical videos.
Correction: An earlier version of this post inaccurately referred to Dud’s trip abroad. He traveled to Norway, not Finland, and the post has been corrected.
Twitter says it deleted accounts outing Russian disinformation by mistake
We’re closely investigating — but mass reporting is not a factor here.
A small number of human errors as part of our work to proactively address manipulated media resulted in these incorrect enforcements. We’re fixing the issue and reaching out directly to the affected folks. https://t.co/sxh9IFgug2
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) February 23, 2022
Researchers in recent weeks have been studying Russian-made videos for signs that Moscow’s claims of violence in Ukraine’s eastern separatist regions were fabrications. And they found copious evidence, including repurposed clips from years ago and dates in metadata fields that made clear that the claims were faked.
But Twitter on Tuesday mysteriously suspended several of the researchers’ accounts for unspecified violations. One even appealed his suspension, and it was upheld without explanation.
The researchers feared the worst — that a coordinated campaign by Russia, perhaps using bots or other forms of automation, had reported phantom violations in a bid to silence the work of the researchers.
On Wednesday, however, Twitter said the problem was with its own content-moderation systems and not the work of Russian sabotage.
The explanation: Twitter’s human review teams studying video from the Ukraine crisis had erroneously concluded that videos posted by the researchers, who by their very nature work with “open source” material such as news clips and YouTube videos, were manipulated images, said Twitter spokeswoman Katie Rosborough. She cited the company’s policy against “synthetic and manipulated media” and said she knew of fewer than a dozen affected accounts.
“We’ve been proactively monitoring for emerging narratives that are violative of our policies, and, in this instance, we took enforcement action on a number of accounts in error,” Rosborough said in an email statement. “We’re expeditiously reviewing these actions and have already proactively reinstated access to a number of affected accounts. The claims that the errors were a coordinated bot campaign or the result of mass reporting is inaccurate.”
One researcher who had tweeted about the problem, Nick Waters, a London-based investigator for research group Bellingcat, said he counted 15 Twitter accounts erroneously blocked. He welcomed the acknowledgment of error by Twitter but said such problems have happened repeatedly around the world, including in Syria, Turkey and India.
“It’s still disappointing that these things keep happening again and again,” Waters said.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield to U.N.: ‘Calling for both sides to de-escalate only gives Russia a pass’
In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, laid blame for the crisis between Russia and Ukraine squarely on Russia’s actions, and called on member nations to act urgently to stop Putin from escalating the situation further.
“Colleagues, there is no middle ground here. Calling for both sides to de-escalate only gives Russia a pass. Russia is the aggressor here,” Thomas-Greenfield said Wednesday. “History tells us that looking the other way is ultimately the more costly path.”
Thomas-Greenfield said Putin had manufactured a “fake reality” by declaring regions of eastern Ukraine as “independent states” to justify an invasion of Ukraine. She said the world only needs to look at Putin’s actions over the past decade — noting Russia’s 2014 invasion and occupation of Crimea — to see the path Russia is taking now. She also referred to Putin’s speech Monday, when he harked back to Russia’s empire more than a century ago.
“He asserted that Russia can recolonize its neighbors. And that he will use force — he will use force — to make a farce of the United Nations,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “The United States rejects that firmly. This is 2022. We are not going back to an era of empires and colonies — or to the USSR or the Soviet Union. We have moved forward.”
Pope Francis asks for peace in Ukraine, says situation is causing ‘great pain in my heart’
Pope Francis, speaking Wednesday during his weekly general audience, condemned Russian actions in Ukraine and said the situation there pains him deeply.
“I have great pain in my heart for the worsening situation in Ukraine,” Francis said. “Despite the diplomatic efforts over the past few weeks, various alarming scenarios continue to open, and like myself, many people throughout the world are worried, and once more the peace of all is threatened by the interests of a few.”
Francis said he would like “all of those who have the political responsibility to make a serious examination of conscience before God.”
“He wants us to be brothers and not enemies,” the pope added. “I pray that all sides abstain from any action that could provoke more suffering to the population.”
Francis then proclaimed that this year’s Ash Wednesday, which falls on March 2, will be marked as an international day of fasting and prayer for peace.
Ukraine fights off new wave of cyberattacks on government, banking websites
Government and banking websites in Ukraine came under renewed cyberattack Wednesday, but cyber protection agencies are fighting back, the Ukrainian government said.
“Currently, the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine and other subjects of the national cybersecurity system are working on countering the attacks, collecting and analyzing information,” the agency said in a statement.
The Ukrainian government did not say who it believed was behind Wednesday’s attacks, but last week, the United States blamed the Russian government for cyberattacks that disrupted the online banking services of at least two large Ukrainian banks. The distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks flooded websites with an overwhelming amount of traffic, causing servers to crash. Service was restored within hours.
A spokesman for the Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
After last week’s cyberattacks, the Ukrainians approached U.S. counterparts, who connected them with DDoS protection services, which they are using to try to restore service.
Computer systems at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were hit Wednesday morning but were operating soon after. Also affected were sites including those of the Rada, or Ukrainian Parliament, and the Cabinet of Ministers. One large bank, Oschadbank, whose online services were disrupted last week, was hit again Wednesday. So was the website of the agency that polices cybercrime.
Private-sector analysts said that Ukraine overall was still connected to the Internet but that banks and government agency sites were being flooded with DDoS traffic.
“The country is presently still connected to the Internet, and data is flowing in and out,” said Doug Madory, the director of Internet analysis for Kentik, which tracks data flows worldwide.
Russia has stepped up its cyber aggression against Ukraine, as it has massed what U.S. officials say are up to 190,000 troops and supporting forces in and near Ukraine. Cyberattacks that disrupt services are widely expected as a means of trying to sow panic and confusion and to diminish confidence in the government. They also can be used to cut communications and hinder military operations. So far, that has not happened, but Ukrainian officials and their counterparts in the United States and Europe are closely monitoring events.
Leaders of Poland, Lithuania call for ‘robust’ sanctions against Russia, back Ukraine for E.U. membership
By David L. Stern10:57 a.m.
LVIV, Ukraine — The leaders of Poland and Lithuania joined Ukraine in calling Wednesday for the “swift introduction of robust package of sanctions” against Moscow, and they expressed support for Ukraine’s candidacy to become a member of the European Union.
In a joint statement after a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, Poland’s Andrzej Duda and Lithuania’s Gitanas Nauseda also strongly condemned Russia’s decision to recognize two pro-Moscow separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
“We call upon the international community to take resolute and far-reaching steps in response to this yet another act of aggression committed by Russia against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the three presidents said.
These would include further measures against the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, the statement said. Berlin announced Tuesday it was freezing the certification process for the project, in response to Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In a phone call Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that recognizing the two self-proclaimed “people’s republics” was an “objective necessity” because of “the aggression of the Ukrainian authorities,” according to the Kremlin. Kyiv has denied Russian claims that it has mounted massive attacks on the regions in recent days.
In their joint statement, Duda, Nauseda and Zelensky also said that Ukraine “deserves E.U. candidate status” and that Poland and Lithuania would “support Ukraine in achieving this goal.”
After the presidents’ meeting, Duda said at a joint news conference that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions were a threat “not only to Ukraine, but to our entire region, in particular to the eastern flank of NATO and the entire European Union.”
“We must say a clear stop to Russia’s neo-imperial policy,” Duda added.
Russia threatens tough response to Western sanctions
MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry vowed a “tough response” Wednesday to Washington’s sanctions package that hit Russian sovereign debt and two banks that finance infrastructure and defense.
The package also targeted Russian elites and their families.
Russia’s response measures would not necessarily be symmetrical but would be “well-grounded” and painful, the ministry said in a statement. It said Russia has proved it could withstand the impact of all previous Western sanctions packages.
The ministry said that the U.S. policy of trying to change Russia’s course through repeated sanctions amounted to “blackmail, intimidation and threats,” adding that this would not work with a global power such as Russia.
The United States’ reliance on sanctions showed its foreign policy to be “trapped in the stereotypes of a unipolar world with a false belief that the U.S. still has the right and the ability to impose its own rules of the world order,” the statement said.
Invoking Cold War rhetoric, it said the United States is being emulated by “satellites and clients, who have completely lost their independence.”
After Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a meeting this week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the ministry said Russia was still “open to diplomacy based on the principles of mutual respect, equality and consideration for each other’s interests.”
White House defends ‘first tranche’ of sanctions as Ukraine urges more
The White House is defending a first round of sanctions on Russia as Ukraine pushes for more.
“Let me just be really clear: We did hit hard yesterday, and it was only a demonstration effect,” Daleep Singh, a deputy national security adviser, said Wednesday during an appearance on CNN.
On Tuesday, Biden announced a “first tranche” of U.S. sanctions against Russia that targets two financial institutions, Russian sovereign debt, and Russian elites and their family members.
During the CNN interview, Singh was asked to respond to a tweet from Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, urging the United States and its European allies to hit harder.
Singh said some of the media seem to have a “bloodlust” for imposing sanctions.
“But the point the Ukrainians are making is right,” Singh said. “These costs are going to escalate from here.”
Singh argued that the “signaling of sanctions” alone had already taken its toll on Russia’s economy, adding: “And now we’re starting to deliver.”
“Yesterday was a demonstration effect,” he said. “And that demonstration effect will go higher and higher. Russia is already feeling the pain, and let’s remember the bigger purpose. Our purpose is not to max out on sanctions. That serves no purpose to itself. Our purpose is to prevent a large-scale invasion and … seizure of large cities in Ukraine. Our purpose is to prevent human suffering that could involve tens of thousands of casualties. And our purpose is to prevent a puppet regime from taking over in Kyiv that bends to the will of Moscow. That’s what this is all about.”
Singh also urged caution in judging the impact of U.S. and European sanctions, saying, “Day 1 is not the way to judge whether it’s working.”
“Our purpose here is to make this as costly a strategic choice as possible for Russia,” he said. “We think we have the winning hand.”
