Mickeyrat is dead right. You can't ask the Ukrainians to forget their history and the deaths of their relatives only a few generations ago.
I agree that I doubt Ukraine can get Crimea back in any circumstances, but they cannot be asked to give up the new oblasts that Russia invaded.
But where is Ukraine after Speaker Mccarthy turns off the money spigot?
As much as WE love to dream we can negotiate away the putin problem, negotiating with him is pointless, as he is not trustworthy
And putin knows that American voters are about to hand him a huge assist.
This is another good point that is to be considered. What happens if the republicans stop funding Ukraine? If they don't have further arms and can't negotiate where does that leave them?
Again if Putin can't be trusted and negotiated with why not a targeted strike. We (NATO) did it in Libya against Qaddafi in the name of freedom and as bad as I thought that was, if doing such a thing would avoid escalation and open war with the major powers of the world, it is hard to be against something like that in this case.
Targeted strike against Russia? If so, That will probably not work, as Putin has shown he is an eye for an eye dude. So unless we want missies aimed at us, no escalation.
The problem with negotiations is we’d be telling an ally to give away land to its ruthless neighbor. And wouldn’t this just give Putin incentive to target the Baltics?
By splitting republicans from historical American norms with their anticipated Ukraine funding cuts, Putins work in supporting the gop the past six years is paying dividends. Yes there was collusion and yes it’s worked. Just ask Reagan’s legacy. It’d be incredible if one of the occasional ATM right wing temporary visitors were aware of this. TJ? KP? Role?
Speaking of collusion. And delusion.
Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin appears to admit to US election interference
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Kremlin-linked oligarch known as “Vladimir Putin’s chef,” appeared to admit to Russian interference in US elections in a Telegram post on Monday.
Prigozhin said that Russia has interfered, is interfering and will continue to interfere in the US democratic process, in response to a journalist’s question about Russia potentially meddling in US congressional elections on Tuesday.
“I will answer you very subtly, and delicately and I apologize, I will allow a certain ambiguity. Gentlemen, we interfered, we interfere and we will interfere,” Prigozhin said.
“Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way, as we know how. During our pinpoint operations, we will remove both kidneys and the liver at once,” he added.
Prigozhin has no post in the Russian government, but his statement appeared to be the first admission of a high-level Russian campaign to interfere in US elections from someone close to the Kremlin.
Prigozhin is reportedly one of Putin’s trusted confidants – so close that the Russian press dubbed him the “chef” to the Russian President after he began catering events for the Kremlin. Prigozhin subsequently won lucrative catering contracts for schools and Russia’s armed forces, and by 2010 he was a Kremlin insider with a growing commercial empire.
Mickeyrat is dead right. You can't ask the Ukrainians to forget their history and the deaths of their relatives only a few generations ago.
I agree that I doubt Ukraine can get Crimea back in any circumstances, but they cannot be asked to give up the new oblasts that Russia invaded.
But where is Ukraine after Speaker Mccarthy turns off the money spigot?
As much as WE love to dream we can negotiate away the putin problem, negotiating with him is pointless, as he is not trustworthy
And putin knows that American voters are about to hand him a huge assist.
This is another good point that is to be considered. What happens if the republicans stop funding Ukraine? If they don't have further arms and can't negotiate where does that leave them?
Again if Putin can't be trusted and negotiated with why not a targeted strike. We (NATO) did it in Libya against Qaddafi in the name of freedom and as bad as I thought that was, if doing such a thing would avoid escalation and open war with the major powers of the world, it is hard to be against something like that in this case.
Targeted strike against Russia? If so, That will probably not work, as Putin has shown he is an eye for an eye dude. So unless we want missies aimed at us, no escalation.
The problem with negotiations is we’d be telling an ally to give away land to its ruthless neighbor. And wouldn’t this just give Putin incentive to target the Baltics?
By splitting republicans from historical American norms with their anticipated Ukraine funding cuts, Putins work in supporting the gop the past six years is paying dividends. Yes there was collusion and yes it’s worked. Just ask Reagan’s legacy. It’d be incredible if one of the occasional ATM right wing temporary visitors were aware of this. TJ? KP? Role?
Speaking of collusion. And delusion.
Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin appears to admit to US election interference
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Kremlin-linked oligarch known as “Vladimir Putin’s chef,” appeared to admit to Russian interference in US elections in a Telegram post on Monday.
Prigozhin said that Russia has interfered, is interfering and will continue to interfere in the US democratic process, in response to a journalist’s question about Russia potentially meddling in US congressional elections on Tuesday.
“I will answer you very subtly, and delicately and I apologize, I will allow a certain ambiguity. Gentlemen, we interfered, we interfere and we will interfere,” Prigozhin said.
“Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way, as we know how. During our pinpoint operations, we will remove both kidneys and the liver at once,” he added.
Prigozhin has no post in the Russian government, but his statement appeared to be the first admission of a high-level Russian campaign to interfere in US elections from someone close to the Kremlin.
Prigozhin is reportedly one of Putin’s trusted confidants – so close that the Russian press dubbed him the “chef” to the Russian President after he began catering events for the Kremlin. Prigozhin subsequently won lucrative catering contracts for schools and Russia’s armed forces, and by 2010 he was a Kremlin insider with a growing commercial empire.
& the GOP welcomes the interference with open arms.
America First indeed.
The collusion wasn’t just social media though. It was Maria Buttina and the NRA and their dirty money going to super PACs. It was Moscow mitchy baby and the Russian owned aluminum smelter in Kentucky. It was repub congress members and operatives taking junkets and hosting “conventions” in former Soviet states.
Mickeyrat is dead right. You can't ask the Ukrainians to forget their history and the deaths of their relatives only a few generations ago.
I agree that I doubt Ukraine can get Crimea back in any circumstances, but they cannot be asked to give up the new oblasts that Russia invaded.
But where is Ukraine after Speaker Mccarthy turns off the money spigot?
As much as WE love to dream we can negotiate away the putin problem, negotiating with him is pointless, as he is not trustworthy
And putin knows that American voters are about to hand him a huge assist.
This is another good point that is to be considered. What happens if the republicans stop funding Ukraine? If they don't have further arms and can't negotiate where does that leave them?
Again if Putin can't be trusted and negotiated with why not a targeted strike. We (NATO) did it in Libya against Qaddafi in the name of freedom and as bad as I thought that was, if doing such a thing would avoid escalation and open war with the major powers of the world, it is hard to be against something like that in this case.
Targeted strike against Russia? If so, That will probably not work, as Putin has shown he is an eye for an eye dude. So unless we want missies aimed at us, no escalation.
The problem with negotiations is we’d be telling an ally to give away land to its ruthless neighbor. And wouldn’t this just give Putin incentive to target the Baltics?
By splitting republicans from historical American norms with their anticipated Ukraine funding cuts, Putins work in supporting the gop the past six years is paying dividends. Yes there was collusion and yes it’s worked. Just ask Reagan’s legacy. It’d be incredible if one of the occasional ATM right wing temporary visitors were aware of this. TJ? KP? Role?
I meant a targeted strike at Putin, not Russia. Seal team six or some other unknown alphabet soup spooks.
Mickeyrat is dead right. You can't ask the Ukrainians to forget their history and the deaths of their relatives only a few generations ago.
I agree that I doubt Ukraine can get Crimea back in any circumstances, but they cannot be asked to give up the new oblasts that Russia invaded.
But where is Ukraine after Speaker Mccarthy turns off the money spigot?
As much as WE love to dream we can negotiate away the putin problem, negotiating with him is pointless, as he is not trustworthy
And putin knows that American voters are about to hand him a huge assist.
This is another good point that is to be considered. What happens if the republicans stop funding Ukraine? If they don't have further arms and can't negotiate where does that leave them?
Again if Putin can't be trusted and negotiated with why not a targeted strike. We (NATO) did it in Libya against Qaddafi in the name of freedom and as bad as I thought that was, if doing such a thing would avoid escalation and open war with the major powers of the world, it is hard to be against something like that in this case.
Targeted strike against Russia? If so, That will probably not work, as Putin has shown he is an eye for an eye dude. So unless we want missies aimed at us, no escalation.
The problem with negotiations is we’d be telling an ally to give away land to its ruthless neighbor. And wouldn’t this just give Putin incentive to target the Baltics?
By splitting republicans from historical American norms with their anticipated Ukraine funding cuts, Putins work in supporting the gop the past six years is paying dividends. Yes there was collusion and yes it’s worked. Just ask Reagan’s legacy. It’d be incredible if one of the occasional ATM right wing temporary visitors were aware of this. TJ? KP? Role?
I meant a targeted strike at Putin, not Russia. Seal team six or some other unknown alphabet soup spooks.
Zero chance. Russia has to solve that problem on their own. It will be a general's revolt or cancer.. that's the only way.
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Opinion | Putin just backtracked under pressure. That’s a hopeful sign for Ukraine. Opinion by Max Boot November 07, 2022 at 12:01 ET Vladimir Putin’s power rests on the impression that he is invincible and implacable — that the Russian president can’t be defeated and will stop at nothing to achieve his objectives. The first myth has already been dispelled in Ukraine, where the Russian military has suffered heavy losses without coming close to achieving his ultimate objective of destroying Ukrainian independence. But the second myth lives on: It is leading some in the West to argue that the United States should use its leverage to force Kyiv to the bargaining table, because the Ukrainians will never succeed in regaining all of their lost territory. This pessimistic argument is premised on the assumption that Putin will just keep escalating indefinitely with more troops and more weapons — even nuclear weapons if necessary. But in recent weeks we have seen evidence that suggest Putin is a rational actor who is perfectly capable of backtracking if it’s in his interest to do so. On Oct. 29, Putin announced he was suspending a deal with Turkey and the United Nations to allow ships full of Ukrainian grain to transit the Black Sea. Putin has long been unhappy with this arrangement because it throws a lifeline to Ukraine, which has been able to export more than 9 million tons of food since Aug. 1. As his excuse to leave the deal, he cited a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet. Yet, on Wednesday, Putin basically said never mind — Russia will abide by the grain deal after all. His transparent excuse was that he had received assurances that Ukraine will not use the humanitarian corridors for food shipments to attack Russian forces — something it wasn’t doing anyway.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Opinion | Putin just backtracked under pressure. That’s a hopeful sign for Ukraine. Opinion by Max Boot November 07, 2022 at 12:01 ET Vladimir Putin’s power rests on the impression that he is invincible and implacable — that the Russian president can’t be defeated and will stop at nothing to achieve his objectives. The first myth has already been dispelled in Ukraine, where the Russian military has suffered heavy losses without coming close to achieving his ultimate objective of destroying Ukrainian independence. But the second myth lives on: It is leading some in the West to argue that the United States should use its leverage to force Kyiv to the bargaining table, because the Ukrainians will never succeed in regaining all of their lost territory. This pessimistic argument is premised on the assumption that Putin will just keep escalating indefinitely with more troops and more weapons — even nuclear weapons if necessary. But in recent weeks we have seen evidence that suggest Putin is a rational actor who is perfectly capable of backtracking if it’s in his interest to do so. On Oct. 29, Putin announced he was suspending a deal with Turkey and the United Nations to allow ships full of Ukrainian grain to transit the Black Sea. Putin has long been unhappy with this arrangement because it throws a lifeline to Ukraine, which has been able to export more than 9 million tons of food since Aug. 1. As his excuse to leave the deal, he cited a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet. Yet, on Wednesday, Putin basically said never mind — Russia will abide by the grain deal after all. His transparent excuse was that he had received assurances that Ukraine will not use the humanitarian corridors for food shipments to attack Russian forces — something it wasn’t doing anyway.
continues...
I like the idea of negotiating with Russias allies to help put pressure on Putin to back down. I'm sure the Rs would love giving concessions to China in exchange for Russia backing off though and could see that as a disaster in the making domestically for us (USA).
All good reasonable conditions for peace but we all know Putin will never back down and agree on these conditions!
The question is whether he considers Crimea a part of "restoration of territorial integrity". Certainly the recently occupied oblasts have to go back, but they lost Crimea in 2014.
All good reasonable conditions for peace but we all know Putin will never back down and agree on these conditions!
The question is whether he considers Crimea a part of "restoration of territorial integrity". Certainly the recently occupied oblasts have to go back, but they lost Crimea in 2014.
Yeah I’m sure he def would not include it!
jesus greets me looks just like me ....
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Zelenskyy open to talks with Russia — on Ukraine's terms
By ANDREW MELDRUM and YURAS KARMANAU
Today
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president has suggested he’s open to peace talks with Russia, softening his refusal to negotiate with Moscow as long as President Vladimir Putin is in power while sticking to Kyiv’s core demands.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy's appeal to the international community to “force Russia into real peace talks” reflected a change in rhetoric. In late September, after Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions, he signed a decree stating “the impossibility of holding talks” with Putin.
But the preconditions the Ukrainian leader listed late Monday appear to be non-starters for Moscow, so it’s hard to see how Zelenskyy’s latest comments would advance any talks.
Zelenskyy reiterated that his conditions for dialogue were the return of all of Ukraine's occupied lands, compensation for war damage and the prosecution of war crimes. He didn't specify how world leaders should coerce Russia into talks.
Western weapons and aid have been key to Ukraine’s ability to fight off Russia’s invasion, which some initially expected would tear through the country with relative ease. That means Kyiv cannot ignore how the war is seen in the U.S. and the European Union, according to political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.
“Zelenskyy is trying to maneuver because the promise of negotiations does not oblige Kyiv to anything, but it makes it possible to maintain the support of Western partners,” Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center independent think tank, said.
“A categorical refusal to hold talks plays into the Kremlin’s hands, so Zelenskyy is changing the tactics and talks about the possibility of a dialogue, but on conditions that make it all very clear,” he added.
Recent comments by Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy that lawmakers would not cut a “blank check” to Ukraine reflect the party's growing skepticism about the cost of support.
In private, Republican lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine see an opportunity to pass one more tranche of assistance this year with the current Congress.
Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of talks in Belarus and Turkey early in the war, which is now nearing its nine-month mark, and Zelenskyy repeatedly called for a personal meeting with Putin — which the Kremlin brushed off.
The talks stalled after the last meeting of the delegations, held in Istanbul in March, yielded no results.
Zelenskyy said Monday that Kyiv has “repeatedly proposed (talks) and to which we always received crazy Russian responses with new terrorist attacks, shelling or blackmail.”
Russia resumed calls for talks after it started losing ground to a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the east and the south in September. Zelenskyy rejected the possibility of negotiating with Putin later that month after the Russian leader illegally claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory.
Zelenskyy said Monday that Ukraine's conditions for dialogue included the “restoration of (Ukraine’s) territorial integrity ... compensation for all war damage, punishment for every war criminal and guarantees that it will not happen again.”
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, said Tuesday that Moscow was not setting any conditions for the resumption of talks. He accused Kyiv of lacking “good will.”
“This is their choice. We have always declared our readiness for such negotiations,” Rudenko said.
Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly claimed that the United States is preventing Ukraine from engaging in peace talks, which several countries have offered to mediate.
In an interview released Tuesday, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said Western countries wouldn't push Kyiv to negotiate on Moscow's terms.
“Ukraine is receiving rather effective weapons from its partners, first and foremost the U.S.,” Podolyak said. “We're pushing the Russian army out of our territory. And given that, it's nonsense to force us to negotiate, and de facto to concede to Russia's ultimatum! No one will do that.”
In other developments:
— In the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, which the Russians are struggling to take full control of, Moscow's shelling killed three civilians and wounded seven others over the past 24 hours, according to Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko.
Kyrylenko said the fatalities occurred in the city of Bakhmut, a key target of Russia’s grinding offensive in Donetsk, and the town of Krasnohorivka. Ukraine's deputy defense minister last week described the Bakhmut area as “the epicenter” of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
— Elsewhere, two civilians were seriously wounded by unexploded mines in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, where Kyiv's forces retook broad swaths of territory in September, Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.
— In the partially occupied Kherson region in the south, where Ukraine's troops are conducting a successful counteroffensive, Russian-installed authorities said they have completed the evacuation of residents ahead of anticipated Ukrainian advances. The Kremlin-appointed administration has sought to relocate tens of thousands.
— Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show a rapid expansion of a cemetery in southern Ukraine in the months after Russian forces seized the port city of Mariupol. It's unclear how many people were buried there.
— The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations reassured Ukrainian farmers that extending a wartime deal that allowed Ukrainian grain and other commodities to be shipped on the Black Sea was a priority for the U.N.
The agreement brokered by the U.N. and Turkey has allowed more than 10 million tons of grain to leave Ukrainian ports and travel along a designated corridor. It is set to expire on Nov. 19. A Russian diplomat on Tuesday cited Moscow’s dissatisfaction with its implementation and said the Kremlin had not decided whether to extend it.
During a visit to Kyiv, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was asked whether she was telling the Ukrainians about American ideas to end the war. She replied: “Russia started this and Russia can end this, and they can end it by pulling their troops out and stopping committing the atrocities that they are committing against the Ukrainian people.”
She announced $25 million in additional U.S. assistance to help Ukrainians get through the winter.
___
Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed from Washington.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Russia claims pullout from occupied city; Ukraine skeptical
By SAM MEDNICK
Today
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia's military said Wednesday it will withdraw from the only Ukrainian regional capital it captured, but Kyiv was skeptical and an analyst warned this could be a ruse to lure the country's forces into a deadly trap. A forced pullout from the city of Kherson would mark one of Russia’s worst setbacks in the 8-month-old war.
Ukrainian authorities cautioned against considering the announced plan to retreat from Kherson, a gateway to the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, and nearby areas as a done deal. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the Russians were feigning a pullout from Kherson to lure the Ukrainian army into an entrenched battle in the strategic industrial port city.
If confirmed, the withdrawal from Kherson — in a region of the same name that Moscow illegally annexed in September — would pile on another setback to Russia's early failed attempt to capture the capital, Kyiv, and the chaotic and hasty retreat from the administrative region around Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, which itself never fell to the Russians. Russian forces captured Kherson early in the invasion, which began Feb. 24.
Kyiv's forces have zeroed in on the city, whose prewar population was 280,000, and cut off supply lines in recent weeks as part of a larger counteroffensive in eastern and southern Ukraine that has pushed Russian troops out of wide swaths of territory.
Recapturing Kherson could allow Ukraine to win back lost territory in the Zaporizhzhia region and other southern areas, including Crimea, which Russia illegally seized in 2014. A Russian retreat is almost certain to raise domestic pressure on the Kremlin to escalate the conflict.
Speaking in a stern tone and with a steely face on Russian TV, Moscow's top military commander in Ukraine pointed to a blurred map as he reported to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday that it was impossible to supply the city of Kherson and that its defense would be “futile.”
Gen. Sergei Surovikin said that 115,000 people had been relocated because their “lives are constantly in danger” and proposed a military retreat “in the near future” to the opposite bank of the Dnieper River from where Kherson lies.
Shoigu agreed with Surovikin’s assessment and ordered him to “start with the withdrawal of troops and take all measures to ensure the safe transfer of personnel, weapons and equipment across the Dnieper River.”
But Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press: “So far, we do not see any signs that Russia is completely leaving the city, which means that these statements may be disinformation.”
Yaroslav Yanushevych, Kherson’s Ukrainian-appointed governor, called on residents “not to give in to euphoria” just yet. Another Ukrainian-appointed Kherson regional official, Serhii Khlan, told reporters that Russian forces had blown up five bridges to slow Kyiv’s forces.
Military analyst Oleg Zhdanov told the AP Russia’s announced retreat “could very well be an ambush and a Russian trap to force the Ukrainians to go on the offensive, force them to penetrate the Russian defenses, and in response to strike with a powerful blow from the flanks.”
After a day of his aides' observations about the announced retreat and a meeting he held with his senior military staff in Kyiv, Zelenskyy didn't directly comment, saying in his nightly video address, “Our emotions must be restrained — always during war. I will definitely not feed the enemy all the details of our operations. ,.. When we have our result, everyone will see it.”
In addition to the largely successful counteroffensive, Ukrainian resistance fighters behind the front line have worked inside Kherson, with sabotage and assassinations of Moscow-appointed officials.
With no indication of foul play but against that backdrop, reports surfaced Wednesday that the No. 2 official of the Moscow-installed Kherson regional government was killed in a car crash. The death of Kirill Stremousov — a prominent regional official who posted public updates about the war almost daily — was confirmed by his boss, Vladimir Saldo.
The Russian Defense Ministry said months ago that Saldo himself had been poisoned and hospitalized.
The Russian military appeared to have been preparing for an orderly pullout from Kherson — or an ambush — for months, contrasting with the haphazard retreat from the Kharkiv region when the invading force left behind a large amount of weapons and ammunition. In October, Surovikin appeared to set the stage for a withdrawal from Kherson, acknowledging the situation was “quite difficult." Evacuations of civilians followed, as did symbolic moves, such as relocation of the remains of Grigory Potemkin, the Russian general who founded Kherson in the 18th century.
In recent months, Ukraine used U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers to hit a key bridge on the Dnieper in Kherson and a large dam upstream that is also used as a crossing point. The strikes forced Russia to rely on pontoons and ferries that Ukraine also targeted.
The attacks disrupted supply links to Kherson and made Russian forces on the Dnieper's west bank vulnerable to encirclement. The shortages were exacerbated after an Oct. 8 truck bomb blew up part of the strategic Kerch Bridge linking Russia’s mainland to Crimea, which has served as a major supply hub for Russian forces.
Russia wanted to hold onto Kherson and other positions west of the Dnieper so it could press an offensive to other areas and sever Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea. That would damage Ukraine’s economy and enable Moscow to build a land corridor to the separatist Transnistria region of Moldova, home to a major Russian military base.
The loss of Kherson could have painful consequences for Russian President Vladimir Putin: more criticism of Russia’s military command from hawks, a decline in troop morale, and stronger opposition to his troop mobilization. Abroad, China and India could see the loss as a sign of the Kremlin’s weakness just when it needs their support to soften the blow of crippling Western sanctions.
Other Kremlin setbacks have included a chaotic and mistake-ridden troop mobilization, poor training and a shortage of weapons, clothing and other supplies for troops, increase in international sanctions, and intensified Western advanced weapons supplies to Kyiv.
Fresh signs of Ukraine's advance toward Kherson emerged Wednesday. Zhdanov, the analyst, said Ukrainians captured the city of Snihurivka, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Kherson, opening a direct road to a Dnieper River crossing and Kherson's suburbs. The Ukrainian Pravda news outlet cited Ukrainian armed forces intelligence as claiming that two other settlements in the Kherson region, Pravdyne and Kalynivske, had been captured,
None of the reports could be independently confirmed.
Nationwide, at least nine civilians were killed and 24 wounded in 24 hours, the Ukrainian president's office said. It accused Russia of using explosive drones, rockets, heavy artillery and aircraft to attack eight regions in the southeast.
The president's office said widespread Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy system continued. Two cities not far from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — Europe’s largest — were shelled overnight.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Russia withdrawing, Ukrainian official fears 'city of death'
By JOHN LEICESTER and YURAS KARMANAU
1 hour ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia said it began withdrawing troops from a strategic Ukrainian city Thursday, creating a potential turning point in the grinding war, while a Ukrainian official warned that Russian land mines could render Kherson a “city of death.”
Ukrainian officials acknowledged Moscow’s forces had no choice but to flee Kherson, yet they remained cautious, fearing an ambush. With Ukrainian officials tight-lipped with their assessments, reporters not present and spotty communications, it was difficult to know what was happening in the port city, where the residents who remained after tens of thousands fled were afraid to leave their homes.
A forced pullout from Kherson — the only provincial capital Moscow captured after invading Ukraine in February — would mark one of Russia’s worst war setbacks. Recapturing the city, whose pre-war population was 280,000, could provide Ukraine a launching pad for supplies and troops to try to win back other lost territory in the south, including Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.
Ukrainian forces seem to be scoring more battlefield successes elsewhere in the Kherson region and closing in on the city. President Volodymyr Zelenskky said Thursday night the pace has increased so much that residents “are now checking almost every hour where our units have reached and where else our national flag was raised.”
The armed forces commander-in-chief, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, said Kyiv’s forces have advanced 36.5 kilometers (22.7 miles) and retaken 41 villages and towns since Oct. 1 in the province, which the Kremlin has illegally annexed. That included 12 settlements on Wednesday alone.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Russian troops laid mines throughout Kherson as they withdrew to turn it into a “city of death” and predicted they would shell it after relocating across the Dnieper River.
From these new positions, the Kremlin could try to escalate the 8 1/2-month war, which U.S. assessments showed may already have killed or wounded tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Arkadiy Dovzhenko, who fled Kherson in June, said his grandparents still living there told him Thursday that “the Russians were bringing a lot of equipment into the town and also mining every inch of it.”
Zelenskyy said Thursday night his forces were racing to remove land mines from 170,000 square meters (65,637 square miles) nationwide, and planned also to do so in Kherson. A spokeswoman for Ukraine's southern military, Natalia Humeniuk, said on Ukrainian television that resistance forces working behind enemy lines “carefully collect information" about critical infrastructure threatened by mines.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered a troop withdrawal from Kherson and nearby areas on Wednesday after his top general in Ukraine reported that a loss of supply routes during Ukraine's southern counteroffensive made a defense “futile.”
Shoigu's ministry reported Thursday a “maneuver of units of the Russian group” to the Dnieper River's eastern bank, also known as its left bank.
On Thursday, Ukrainian officials appeared to soften the skepticism they had expressed over whether the Russians were really on the run or trying to trap Ukraine's soldiers. “The enemy had no other choice but to resort to fleeing,” armed forces chief Zaluzhny said, because Kyiv’s army destroyed supply systems and disrupted Russia’s local military command.
Still, he said the Ukrainian military could not confirm a Russian withdrawal.
Alexander Khara, of the Kyiv-based think tank Center for Defense Strategies, echoed those concerns, saying he remained fearful that Russian forces could destroy a dam upriver from Kherson and flood the city's approaches. The former Ukrainian diplomat also warned of booby traps and other possible dangers.
“I would be surprised if the Russians had not set up something, some surprises for Ukraine,” Khara said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who just over a month ago celebrated the annexation of Kherson and three other Ukrainian regions and vowed to defend them by any means, has not commented on the withdrawal.
A resident said Kherson was deserted Thursday and that explosions could be heard from around Antonivskiy Bridge — a key Dnieper River crossing that Ukrainian forces have repeatedly bombarded.
“Life in the city seems to have stopped. Everyone has disappeared somewhere and no one knows what will happen next," said Konstantin, a resident whose last name was withheld for security reasons.
He said Russian flags have disappeared from the city’s administrative buildings, and no signs remain of the Russian military personnel who earlier moved into the apartments of evacuated residents. Russian state news agency Tass reported that emergency services such as police officers and medical workers would leave along with the last Russian troops.
Halyna Lugova, head of the Ukrainian administration of Kherson city, told Ukrainian television Thursday that the Russian military was moving vehicles towards the Antonivskiy Bridge. Lugova, who is now based in Ukrainian-controlled territory, described conditions in the city as brutal.
Kherson remains without power, heating and internet service, gas stations in the city are closed, and there is no fuel, she said. The city also has run out of medications for cancer and diabetes patients. Ukrainian news reports said the Russians blew up the local television center, some of the cellphone towers and energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian officials have been cautious at other times in declaring victories against a Russian force that at least initially outgunned and outnumbered Ukraine's armed forces.
Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at international affairs think-tank Chatham House, said the reticence explains “why, until Ukrainians are in the city, they don’t want to declare that they have it (in) control.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was similarly cautious. He spoke to Zelenskyy on Thursday, and his office said they agreed “it was right to continue to exercise caution until the Ukrainian flag was raised over the city.”
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday he believed a retreat was underway, but that Russia had amassed as many as 30,000 troops in Kherson and that a full withdrawal could take several weeks.
One analyst noted that the Ukrainian army has destroyed bridges and roads as part of its counteroffensive, making a quick transfer of Russian troops across the Dnieper River impossible.
“The main question is whether the Ukrainians will give the Russians the opportunity to calmly withdraw, or fire at them during the crossing to the left bank,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said. “The personnel can be taken out on boats, but the equipment needs to be taken out only on barges and pontoons, and this is very easily shelled by the Ukrainian army.”
Putin’s allies rushed to defend the retreat as tough, but necessary. However, Pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov broke ranks and described the move as “Russia’s biggest geopolitical loss since the collapse of the Soviet Union” and warned that “political consequences of this huge loss will be really big.”
___
Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Raf Casert contributed from Brussels. Jill Lawless contributed from London. Andrew Katell contributed from New York.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Villagers holding flowers waited on the road to the southern city of Kherson to greet and kiss Ukrainian soldiers on Saturday as they poured in to secure control of the right bank of the Dnipro River after a stunning Russian retreat.
Volleys of incoming and outgoing artillery fire continued to blast around Kherson's international airport and the police said they were setting up checkpoints in and around the city and sweeping for mines left behind by the Russians.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Villagers holding flowers waited on the road to the southern city of Kherson to greet and kiss Ukrainian soldiers on Saturday as they poured in to secure control of the right bank of the Dnipro River after a stunning Russian retreat.
Volleys of incoming and outgoing artillery fire continued to blast around Kherson's international airport and the police said they were setting up checkpoints in and around the city and sweeping for mines left behind by the Russians.
continues...
This makes no sense. Tucker told me Ukrainians wanted to be part of Russia. Only the corrupt Nazi Jewish leader was preventing it.
Villagers holding flowers waited on the road to the southern city of Kherson to greet and kiss Ukrainian soldiers on Saturday as they poured in to secure control of the right bank of the Dnipro River after a stunning Russian retreat.
Volleys of incoming and outgoing artillery fire continued to blast around Kherson's international airport and the police said they were setting up checkpoints in and around the city and sweeping for mines left behind by the Russians.
continues...
This makes no sense. Tucker told me Ukrainians wanted to be part of Russia. Only the corrupt Nazi Jewish leader was preventing it.
lol
Scio me nihil scire
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Villagers holding flowers waited on the road to the southern city of Kherson to greet and kiss Ukrainian soldiers on Saturday as they poured in to secure control of the right bank of the Dnipro River after a stunning Russian retreat.
Volleys of incoming and outgoing artillery fire continued to blast around Kherson's international airport and the police said they were setting up checkpoints in and around the city and sweeping for mines left behind by the Russians.
continues...
This makes no sense. Tucker told me Ukrainians wanted to be part of Russia. Only the corrupt Nazi Jewish leader was preventing it.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Ukrainian police, TV broadcasts return to long-occupied city
By HANNA ARHIROVA
Today
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian police officers returned Saturday, along with TV and radio services, to the southern city of Kherson following the withdrawal of Russian troops, part of fast but cautious efforts to make the only regional capital captured by Russia livable after months of occupation. Yet one official still described the city as “a humanitarian catastrophe.”
The Russian retreat represented a significant setback for the Kremlin some six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the Kherson region and three other provinces in southern and eastern Ukraine in breach of international law and declared them Russian territory.
The national police chief of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, said Saturday on Facebook that about 200 officers were at work in the city, setting up checkpoints and documenting evidence of possible war crimes. Police teams also were working to identify and neutralize unexploded ordnance and one sapper was wounded Saturday while demining an administrative building, Klymenko said.
Ukraine’s communications watchdog said national TV and radio broadcasts had resumed and an adviser to Kherson’s mayor said humanitarian aid and supplies had begun to arrive from the neighboring Mykolaiv region.
But the adviser, Roman Holovnya, described the situation in Kherson as “a humanitarian catastrophe.” He said the remaining residents lacked water, medicine and food — and key basics like bread went unbaked because a lack of electricity.
“The occupiers and collaborators did everything possible so that those people who remained in the city suffered as much as possible over those days, weeks, months of waiting” for Ukraine’s forces to arrive, Holovnya said. “Water supplies are practically nonexistent.”
The chairman of Khersonoblenergo, the region's prewar power provider, said electricity was being returned “to every settlement in the Kherson region immediately after the liberation."
Despite the efforts to restore normal civilian life, Russian forces remain close by. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces said Saturday the Russians were fortifying their battle lines on the river's eastern bank after abandoning the capital. About 70% of the Kherson region still remains under Russian control.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Saturday that Ukrainian forces have established control of more than 60 settlements in the Kherson region and “stabilization measures are also ongoing in Kherson itself.”
“Everywhere in the liberated territory, our explosives technicians have a lot of work to do. Almost 2,000 explosive items have already been removed,” Zelenskyy said. “Before fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all critical infrastructure — communication, water supply, heat, electricity.”
Photos on social media Saturday showed Ukrainian activists removing memorial plaques put up by the occupation authorities the Kremlin installed to run the Kherson region. A Telegram post on Yellow Ribbon, Ukrainian resistance movement, showed two people in a park taking down plaques picturing Soviet-era military figures.
Moscow's announcement that Russian forces were withdrawing across the Dnieper River, which divides both the Kherson region and Ukraine, followed a stepped-up Ukrainian counteroffensive in the country's south. In the last two months, Ukraine's military claimed to have reclaimed dozens of towns and villages north of the city of Kherson, and the military said that's where stabilization activities were taking place.
Russian state news agency Tass quoted an official in Kherson’s Kremlin-appointed administration on Saturday as saying that Henichesk, a city on the Azov Sea 200 kilometers southeast of Kherson, would now serve as the region’s “temporary capital.”
Ukrainian media derided the announcement, with the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper saying Russia “had made up a new capital” for the region.
Across much of Ukraine, moments of jubilation marked the exit of Russian forces, since a retreat from Kherson and other areas on the Dnieper’s west bank would appear to shatter Russian hopes to press an offensive west to Mykolaiv and Odesa to cut off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea.
In Odesa, the Black Sea port, residents draped themselves in Ukraine's blue-and-yellow flags, shared Champagne and held up flag-colored cards with the word “Kherson” on them.
But like Zelenskyy, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba sought to temper the excitement.
“We are winning battles on the ground, but the war continues," he said from Cambodia, where he was attending a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Kuleba brought up the prospect of the Ukrainian army finding evidence of possible Russian war crimes in Kherson, just as it did after Russian pullbacks in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions.
“Every time we liberate a piece of our territory, when we enter a city liberated from Russian army, we find torture rooms and mass graves with civilians tortured and murdered by Russian army in the course of the occupation," Ukraine's top diplomat said. "It’s not easy to speak with people like this. But I said that every war ends with diplomacy and Russia has to approach talks in good faith.”
U.S. assessments this week showed Russia's war in Ukraine may already have killed or wounded tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Elsewhere, Russia continued its grinding offensive in Ukraine’s industrial east, targeting the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian General Staff said.
Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko reported Saturday that two civilians were killed and four wounded over the last day as battles heated up around Bakhmut and Avdiivka, a small city that has remained in Ukrainian hands.
Russia’s push to capture Bakhmut demonstrates the Kremlin’s desire for visible gains following weeks of setbacks. It would also pave the way to move onto other Ukrainian strongholds in the heavily contested Donetsk region.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region west of Donetsk, Russia troops again shelled communities near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the Ukrainian regional governor said.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Zelenskyy calls liberation of Kherson 'beginning of the end'
By SAM MEDNICK
2 hours ago
KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a triumphant visit to the newly liberated city of Kherson on Monday, hailing the Russian withdrawal as the “beginning of the end of the war” but also acknowledging the heavy price Ukrainian soldiers are paying in their grinding effort to push back the invading force.
The retaking of Kherson was one of Ukraine’s biggest successes in nearly nine months since the invasion. It served another stinging blow to the Kremlin and could become a springboard for further advances into occupied territory.
Zelenskyy walked the streets of the city Monday, just hours after warning in his nightly video address of booby traps and mines left behind by the Russians before their retreat.
“This is the beginning of the end of the war,” he said. “We are step by step coming to all the temporarily occupied territories.”
The end of Russia’s occupation of the city has sparked days of celebration — but also exposed a humanitarian emergency, with residents living without power and water and short of food and medicines. Russia still controls about 70% of the wider Kherson region.
Zelenskyy has previously appeared unexpectedly in other front-line areas at crucial junctures of the war and his latest visit was both laden with symbolism and the common touch — clearly aimed at boosting the morale of both soldiers and civilians alike.
In video published by a presidential aide, a visibly moved Zelenskyy stood with his right hand on his heart and sang the national anthem, as troops saluted and stood to attention and soldier steadily hauled the yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flag up a flagpole.
Other footage showed Zelenskyy waving to residents who saluted him from an apartment window and yelled: “Glory to Ukraine!” The reply — “Glory to the heroes!” — came back from Zelenskyy’s group, made up of soldiers and others.
The president also distributed medals to Ukrainian soldiers in a central square and posed for selfies with them.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday refused to comment on Zelenskyy’s visit to Kherson, saying only that “you know that it is the territory of the Russian Federation.” The Kremlin illegally annexed the Kherson region and three others earlier this year.
After the Russian retreat, Ukrainian authorities say they are finding evidence of torture and other atrocities.
In his nightly video address on Sunday, Zelenskyy said without giving details that “investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes, and the bodies of both civilians and military personnel have been found.”
“In the Kherson region, the Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country," he said. “We will find and bring to justice every murderer. Without a doubt.”
Residents said departing Russian troops plundered the city, carting away loot as they withdrew last week. They also wrecked key infrastructure before retreating across the wide Dnieper River to its east bank.
One Ukrainian official described the situation in Kherson as “a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Reconnecting the electricity supply is the priority, with gas supplies already assured, Kherson regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said.
The Russian pullout marked a triumphant milestone in Ukraine’s pushback against Moscow’s invasion almost nine months ago. In the past two months, Ukraine’s military claimed to have retaken dozens of towns and villages north of the city of Kherson.
___
Associated Press writers John Leicester in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Hanna Arhirova in Odesa, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
G-20 to hold tough on Russia, urge end to Ukraine war
By SEUNG MIN KIM, ZEKE MILLER and ELAINE KURTENBACH
15 mins ago
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — Leaders of the world’s largest economies appeared ready Tuesday to convey a strong message from most condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed the group to maintain pressure on Moscow over its nine-month war that has devastated Ukraine and roiled the global economy.
A draft declaration by leaders of the Group of 20 major economies under discussion Tuesday echoes the condemnation of Russia’s war on Ukraine by the United Nations, while acknowledging differing views among members. The careful wording of the statement reflects tensions prevailing at the gathering, which includes leaders from Russia and China, and the challenge facing the U.S. and its allies to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin's government as some nations seek to avoid becoming entangled in antagonisms between the big powers.
Still, it would be a strong rebuke of the war that has killed thousands, heightened global security tensions and disrupted the world economy if adopted in its current form, particularly since China and India abstained from condemning Russia’s aggression in the March U.N. resolution.
The statement seen Tuesday by The Associated Press “deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation” and “demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine." The G-20 draft statement also noted there were different views on the situation and sanctions against Russia, saying that the G-20 was not the forum for resolving security issues.
The push for a strong statement against Russia came as the summit was touched by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen tested positive for COVID-19 after his arrival in Bali and said he was returning home. So far, no other leaders are known to have tested positive, though many of those in Bali also attended meetings with prime minister just days ago during a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian nations.
Biden skipped out on an evening gala for the leaders hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, to attend to unspecified matters. Biden sent his regrets to Widodo and said he would attend a planned tree planting with fellow G-20 leaders on Wednesday, according to a White House official. The official, who was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted it had been a “full day” for the president but insisted that Biden’s absence was not related to COVID-19.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who led the Russian delegation to the summit, denounced the Biden administration push to condemn Moscow.
“All problems are on the Ukrainian side that categorically refuses to hold any talks and comes up with conditions obviously unrealistic and inadequate to this situation," Lavrov said.
In a video address to the summit, Zelenskyy joined Biden in trying to persuade the G-20 to further isolate Russia diplomatically and economically, despite a souring global financial outlook that has tested many nations' resolve.
Inflation and slowing economies are weighing on countries that have imposed penalties on Russia for starting the war. Higher costs for energy and food have destabilized business activity around the world, as much of Europe prepares to brave the winter without imports of Russian natural gas.
In opening the summit, Widodo impressed on the gathering what's at stake. “If the war does not end, it will be difficult for the world to move forward,” he said.
Zelenskyy reiterated 10 conditions for ending the conflict that began in February, among them a complete withdrawal of Russian troops and full restoration of Ukrainian control of its territory. He spoke days after Ukraine retook the strategic city of Kherson from Russian forces, in his country's latest step in a counteroffensive that has forced Moscow to withdraw its forces from previously-occupied areas.
“Ukraine should not be offered to conclude compromises with its conscience, sovereignty, territory and independence," he said. “Ukraine has always been a leader in peacekeeping efforts, and the world has witnessed it. And if Russia says that it supposedly wants to end this war, let it prove it with actions."
The European Council president, Charles Michel, also urged other global powers to intensify pressure on Russia. But it was unclear how many nations would embrace the relatively tough language in a final statement.
At the summit, Biden met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who played a pivotal role this summer in brokering a deal to open up Ukrainian grain exports to ease global food shortages. Biden also met briefly with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose cooperation is needed to secure a U.S.-sought price cap on Russian oil to limit the profits Moscow uses to invest in its defense base.
Modi, whose country will assume the G-20 presidency after Indonesia, reiterated his call for “the path of ceasefire and diplomacy” in the war in Ukraine and spoke about efforts by world leaders at World War II to pursue a “path of peace.”
“Now it’s our turn. The onus of creating a new world order for the post-Covid period lies on our shoulders,” he said.
Separately, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres held a lengthy meeting Tuesday with Lavrov to discuss the Black Sea Grain Initiative, said UN Spokesperson Florencia Soto Niño. The deal, which allowed major grain exporter Ukraine to resume exports from ports that had been blocked due to the war, is up for renewal on Nov. 19.
The U.S. and its allies have responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine with export controls and other sanctions, making it harder for Russia's military to access key technologies and resupply with drones, artillery and other weapons.
Chinese officials have largely refrained from public criticism of Russia’s war, although Beijing has avoided direct support of the Russians, such as supplying arms. Biden said that during his meeting Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping they discussed the war and “reaffirmed our shared belief” that the use or even the threat of nuclear weapons was “totally unacceptable” — a reference to Moscow’s thinly veiled threats to use atomic weapons as its invasion of Ukraine has faltered.
Xi told G-20 leaders the global economy should not be weaponized.
“We must resolutely oppose the attempt to politicize food and energy issues or use them as tools and weapons,” he said in translated remarks.
After meeting with Xi, French President Emmanuel Macron said they had called for “respect of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”
In a tweet, Macron said France and China were determined to “put an end to the escalation of the war in Ukraine and deal with its consequences.”
U.S. officials have said Biden's trip shows countries large and small are willing to condemn Russian aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed away, sending Lavrov as his representative.
The summit schedule does not include the customary “family photo” of leaders, avoiding a potentially awkward moment of interaction with Lavrov.
The summit is the first for two critical new partners in Biden's effort: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.
Sunak, who took office last month after the disastrously short tenure of Liz Truss, has promised to continue his conservative predecessors’ steadfast support for Ukraine. He and Biden were set to strategize during their Wednesday meeting on new ways to bolster Ukraine’s defenses for the long haul.
Meloni has pledged to continue to provide arms and aid for Ukraine, but questions remain over her far-right coalition’s commitment to stand up to Russia. She and Biden met on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday and discussed China, the climate crisis, the impact of Russia’s invasion on the global energy market, and their commitment to providing Ukraine support, according to a White House statement.
—
AP writers Niniek Karmini, Foster Klug and Adam Schreck in Nusa Dua, Indonesia and Josh Boak and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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Russia unleashes darkness on Ukraine with power grid attack
By JOHN LEICESTER
2 mins ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded Ukraine's energy facilities Tuesday with its biggest barrage of missiles yet, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts, and a U.S. official said missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, where two people were killed.
A defiant Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy shook his fist and declared: “We will survive everything.”
Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller did not immediately confirm the information from a senior U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation. But Mueller said top leaders were holding an emergency meeting due to a “crisis situation.”
Polish media reported that two people died Tuesday afternoon after a projectile struck an area where grain was drying in Przewodów, a Polish village near the border with Ukraine.
Neighboring Moldova was also affected. It reported massive power outages after the strikes knocked out a key power line that supplies the small nation, an official said.
Zelenskyy said Russia fired at least 85 missiles, “most of them at our energy infrastructure," and shut down power in many cities.
“We’re working, will restore everything. We will survive everything," the president vowed. His energy minister said the attack was “the most massive” bombardment of power facilities in the nearly 9-month-old Russian invasion, striking both power generation and transmission systems.
The minister, Herman Haluschenko, described the missile strikes as “another attempt at terrorist revenge” after military and diplomatic setbacks for the Kremlin. He accused Russia of “trying to cause maximum damage to our energy system on the eve of winter.”
The aerial assault, which resulted in at least one death in a residential building in the capital, Kyiv, followed days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by one of its biggest military successes — the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.
The power grid was already battered by previous attacks that destroyed an estimated 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not commented on the retreat from Kherson since his troops pulled out in the face of a Ukrainian offensive. But the stunning scale of Tuesday’s strikes spoke volumes and hinted at anger in the Kremlin.
By striking targets in the late afternoon, not long before dusk began to fall, the Russian military forced rescue workers to labor in the dark and gave repair crews scant time to assess the damage by daylight.
More than a dozen regions — among them Lviv in the west, Kharkiv in the northeast and others in between — reported strikes or efforts by their air defenses to shoot missiles down. At least a dozen regions reported power outages, affecting cities that together have millions of people. Almost half of the Kyiv region lost power, authorities said. Ukrainian Railways announced nationwide train delays.
Zelenskyy warned that more strikes were possible and urged people to stay safe and seek shelter.
“Most of the hits were recorded in the center and in the north of the country. In the capital, the situation is very difficult,” said a senior official, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
He said a total of 15 energy targets were damaged and claimed that 70 missiles were shot down. A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said Russia used X-101 and X-555 cruise missiles.
As city after city reported attacks, Tymoshenko urged Ukrainians to “hang in there.”
With its battlefield losses mounting, Russia has increasingly resorted to targeting Ukraine’s power grid, seemingly hoping to turn the approach of winter into a weapon by leaving people in the cold and dark.
In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said authorities found a body in one of three residential buildings that were struck in the capital, where emergency blackouts were also announced by power provider DTEK.
Video published by a presidential aide showed a five-story, apparently residential building in Kyiv on fire, with flames licking through apartments. Klitschko said air defense units also shot down some missiles.
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra took to a bomb shelter in Kyiv after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart and, from his place of safety, described the bombardment as "an enormous motivation to keep standing shoulder-to-shoulder” with Ukraine.
“There can be only one answer, and that is: Keep going. Keep supporting Ukraine, keep delivering weapons, keep working on accountability, keep working on humanitarian aid," he said.
Ukraine had seen a period of comparative calm since previous waves of drone and missile attacks several weeks ago.
The strikes came as authorities were already working furiously to get Kherson back on its feet and beginning to investigate alleged Russian abuses there and in the surrounding area.
The southern city is without power and water, and the head of the U.N. human rights office’s monitoring mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, on Tuesday decried a “dire humanitarian situation” there.
Speaking from Kyiv, Bogner said her teams are looking to travel to Kherson to try to verify allegations of nearly 80 cases of forced disappearances and arbitrary detention.
The head of the National Police of Ukraine, Igor Klymenko, said authorities are to start investigating reports from Kherson residents that Russian forces set up at least three alleged torture sites in now-liberated parts of the wider Kherson region and that “our people may have been detained and tortured there.”
The retaking of Kherson dealt another stinging blow to the Kremlin. Zelenskyy likened the recapture to the Allied landings in France on D-Day in World War II, saying both were watershed events on the road to eventual victory.
But large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine remain under Russian control, and fighting continues.
Zelenskyy warned of possible more grim news ahead.
“Everywhere, when we liberate our land, we see one thing — Russia leaves behind torture chambers and mass burials. … How many mass graves are there in the territory that still remains under the control of Russia?" Zelenskyy asked.
___
Associated Press writers Joanna Kozlowska in London, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Mike Corder in The Hague, Hanna Arhirova in Kherson, Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, and James LaPorta in Wilmington, North Carolina, contributed to this story.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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Poland: Russian-made missile fell on our country, killing 2
By JOHN LEICESTER and JAMES LAPORTA
43 mins ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Poland said early Wednesday that a Russian-made missile fell in the eastern part of the country, killing two people in a blast that marked the first time since the invasion of Ukraine that Russian weapons came down on a NATO country.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy decried the strike as “a very significant escalation” of the war.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the government was investigating and raising its military preparedness.
A statement from the Polish Foreign Ministry identified the missile as being made in Russia. But President Andrzej Duda was more cautious about its origin, saying that officials did not know for sure who fired it or where it was made. He said it was “most probably” Russian-made but that is being still verified.
“We are acting with calm," Duda said. “This is a difficult situation.”
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called an emergency meeting for later in the day of the alliance's envoys to discuss the events close to the Ukrainian border in Poland.
The U.N. Security Council also planned to meet Wednesday for a previously scheduled briefing on the situation in Ukraine. The strike in Poland was certain to be raised.
In their statements, Poland and NATO used language that suggested they were not treating the missile blast as a Russian attack, at least for now.
Poland’s statement did not address the circumstances of the strike, including whether it could have been a targeting error or if the missile could have been knocked off course by Ukrainian defenses. A NATO statement called it a “tragic incident.”
If Russia had deliberately targeted Poland, it would risk drawing the 30-nation alliance into the conflict at a time when it is already struggling to fend off Ukrainian forces.
Polish media reported that the strike took place in an area where grain was drying in Przewodów, a village near the border with Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied being behind “any strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border” and said in a statement that photos of purported damage “have nothing to do” with Russian weapons.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau summoned the Russian ambassador and “demanded immediate detailed explanations,” the government said.
The strike came to light Tuesday as Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy facilities with its biggest barrage of missiles yet, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts.
The barrage also affected neighboring Moldova. It reported massive power outages after the strikes knocked out a key power line that supplies the small nation, an official said.
The missile strikes plunged much of Ukraine into darkness and drew defiance from Zelenskyy, who shook his fist and declared: “We will survive everything.”
In his nightly address, the Ukrainian leader said the strike in Poland offered proof that “terror is not limited by our state borders.”
"We need to put the terrorist in its place. The longer Russia feels impunity, the more threats there will be for everyone within the reach of Russian missiles,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia fired at least 85 missiles, most of them aimed at the country's power facilities, and blacked out many cities, he said.
The Ukrainian energy minister said the attack was “the most massive” bombardment of power facilities in the nearly 9-month-old invasion, striking both power generation and transmission systems.
The minister, Herman Haluschenko, accused Russia of “trying to cause maximum damage to our energy system on the eve of winter.”
The aerial assault, which resulted in at least one death in a residential building in the capital, Kyiv, followed days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by one of its biggest military successes — the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.
The power grid was already battered by previous attacks that destroyed an estimated 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not commented on the retreat from Kherson since his troops pulled out in the face of a Ukrainian offensive. But the stunning scale of Tuesday’s strikes spoke volumes and hinted at anger in the Kremlin.
By striking targets in the late afternoon, not long before dusk, the Russian military forced rescue workers to labor in the dark and gave repair crews scant time to assess the damage by daylight.
More than a dozen regions — among them Lviv in the west, Kharkiv in the northeast and others in between — reported strikes or efforts by their air defenses to shoot missiles down. At least a dozen regions reported power outages, affecting cities that together have millions of people. Almost half of the Kyiv region lost power, authorities said.
“Most of the hits were recorded in the center and in the north of the country. In the capital, the situation is very difficult,” said a senior official, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
He said a total of 15 energy targets were damaged and claimed that 70 missiles were shot down. A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said Russia used X-101 and X-555 cruise missiles.
As city after city reported attacks, Tymoshenko urged Ukrainians to “hang in there.”
With its battlefield losses mounting, Russia has increasingly resorted to targeting Ukraine’s power grid, seemingly hoping to turn the approach of winter into a weapon by leaving people in the cold and dark.
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra took to a bomb shelter in Kyiv after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart and, from his place of safety, described the bombardment as "an enormous motivation to keep standing shoulder-to-shoulder” with Ukraine.
The strikes came as authorities were already working furiously to get Kherson back on its feet and beginning to investigate alleged Russian abuses there and in the surrounding area.
The southern city is without power and water, and the head of the U.N. human rights office’s monitoring mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, decried a “dire humanitarian situation” there.
Speaking from Kyiv, Bogner said her teams are looking to travel to Kherson to try to verify allegations of nearly 80 cases of forced disappearances and arbitrary detention.
The head of the National Police of Ukraine, Igor Klymenko, said authorities are to start investigating reports from Kherson residents that Russian forces set up at least three alleged torture sites in now-liberated parts of the wider Kherson region.
The retaking of Kherson dealt another stinging blow to the Kremlin. Zelenskyy likened the recapture to the Allied landings in France on D-Day in World War II, saying both were watershed events on the road to eventual victory.
But large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine remain under Russian control, and fighting continues.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy pressed fellow G20 leaders at the summit in Indonesia for a robust condemnation of Russia’s nuclear threats and food embargoes. More discussion and a possible vote come Wednesday.
___
Associated Press writers Joanna Kozlowska in London; Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; Hanna Arhirova in Kherson, Ukraine; Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia; Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland; Raf Casert and Lorne Cook in Brussels; and Nomaan Merchant in New York contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Biden calls 'emergency' meeting after missile hits Poland
By SEUNG MIN KIM and ZEKE MILLER
5 mins ago
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — President Joe Biden convened an “emergency” meeting of the Group of Seven and NATO leaders in Indonesia Wednesday morning for consultations after NATO-ally Poland said a “Russian-made” missile killed two people in the eastern part of its country near the Ukraine border.
Biden, who was awakened overnight by staff with the news of the missile explosion while in Indonesia for the Group of 20 summit, called Polish President Andrzej Duda early Wednesday to express his “deep condolences” for the loss of life. Biden promised on Twitter “full U.S support for and assistance with Poland’s investigation,” and “reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to NATO.”
Meeting at a large round table in a ballroom in his hotel, the U.S. president hosted the leaders of the G-7, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union, along with the president of the European Council and the prime ministers of NATO allies Spain and the Netherlands.
Biden replied “no” to reporters who asked if he would provide an update on the situation in Poland.
A statement from the Polish Foreign Ministry identified the missile as being made in Russia. But Poland's president, Duda, was more cautious about its origin, saying that officials did not know for sure who fired it or where it was made. He said it was “most probably” Russian-made, but that is being still verified. If confirmed, it would be the first time since the invasion of Ukraine that a Russian weapon came down on a NATO country.
The foundation of the NATO alliance is the principle that an attack against one member is an attack on them all.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,937
Poland, NATO say missile landing wasn't Russian attack
By VASILISA STEPANENKO
24 mins ago
PRZEWODOW, Poland (AP) — Poland said Wednesday there is “absolutely no indication” that a missile which came down in Polish farmland, killing two people, was a intentional attack on the NATO country, and that neighbor Ukraine likely launched the Soviet-era projectile as it fended off a Russian air assault that savaged its power grid.
“Ukraine’s defense was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory," said Polish President Andrzej Duda. “There is nothing, absolutely nothing to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, at a meeting of the military alliance in Brussels, agreed with the assessment.
“An investigation into this incident is ongoing and we need to await its outcome. But we have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack,” Stoltenberg told reporters.
The preliminary findings came after U.S. President Joe Biden and other Western backers of Ukraine had thrown their weight behind the investigation and amid repeated assertions from Russia that it didn't fire the missile.
Biden said it was “unlikely” that Russia fired the missile but added: "I’m going to make sure we find out exactly what happened."
The missile came down Tuesday near Poland's border with Ukraine. Three U.S. officials said preliminary assessments suggested it was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian one. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
That assessment and Biden’s comments at the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia contradicted information earlier Tuesday from a senior U.S. intelligence official who told The Associated Press that Russian missiles crossed into Poland.
Former Soviet-bloc country Ukraine maintains stocks of Soviet- and Russian-made weaponry, including air-defense missiles, and has also seized many more Russian weapons while beating back the Kremlin’s invasion forces.
Ukrainian air defenses worked furiously against the Russian assault Tuesday on power generation and transmission facilities, including in Ukraine’s western region that borders Poland. Ukraine’s military said 77 of the more than 90 missiles fired were brought down, along with 11 drones.
The Kremlin on Wednesday denounced Poland’s and other countries’ initial reaction to the missile incident and, in rare praise for a U.S. leader, hailed the response of the U.S.
“We have witnessed another hysterical, frenzied, Russophobic reaction that was not based on any real data,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. He added that “immediately, all experts realized that it could not have been a missile linked to the Russian armed forces,” and pointed to a “restrained, much more professional reaction” of the U.S. and its president, Joe Biden.
In Brussels, NATO countries were coming together Wednesday for emergency talks. There was no immediate proof that Tuesday’s blast was a deliberate, hostile attack on NATO member Poland that could trigger the alliance’s provisions for a collective military response.
Russia denied any involvement. But Ukraine was under countrywide Russian bombardment Tuesday by barrages of cruise missiles and exploding drones, which clouded the picture of what exactly happened in Poland and why.
In Europe, NATO members Germany and the U.K. were among those stressing the need for a full investigation. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned against jumping to conclusions “in such a serious matter.”
Still, Scholz and others also laid overall but not specific blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
“This wouldn’t have happened without the Russian war against Ukraine, without the missiles that are now being fired at Ukrainian infrastructure intensively and on a large scale,” Scholz said.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak echoed that assessment, saying: “This is the cruel and unrelenting reality of Putin’s war.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “a very significant escalation." On the other end of the spectrum, China was among those calling for calm and restraint.
Former Soviet-bloc country Ukraine maintains stocks of Soviet- and Russian-made weaponry, including air-defense missiles, and has also seized many more Russian weapons while beating back the Kremlin's invasion forces.
Damage from the aerial assault in Ukraine was extensive and swaths of the country were plunged into darkness. Zelenskyy said about 10 million people lost power but tweeted overnight that 8 million were subsequently reconnected, with repair crews laboring through the night. Previous Russian strikes had already destroyed an estimated 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the meeting in Brussels of the alliance’s envoys. The U.N. Security Council also planned to meet Wednesday for a previously scheduled briefing on the situation in Ukraine.
If Russia had deliberately targeted Poland, it would risk drawing NATO into the conflict.
Polish media reported that the strike took place in an area where grain was drying in Przewodow, a village near the border with Ukraine.
Russia's Defense Ministry denied being behind “any strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border” and said in a statement that photos of purported damage “have nothing to do” with Russian weapons.
The Russian bombardment also affected neighboring Moldova. It reported massive power outages after the strikes in Ukraine disconnected a power line to the small nation.
The assault killed at least one person in a residential building in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. It followed days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by one of its biggest military successes — the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.
With its battlefield losses mounting, Russia has increasingly resorted to targeting Ukraine’s power grid, seemingly hoping to turn the approach of winter into a weapon by leaving people in the cold and dark.
___
Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw; Zeke Miller in Nusa Dua, Indonesia; Michael Balsamo and Lolita Baldor in Washington, D.C.; and James LaPorta in Wilmington, North Carolina, contributed to this story.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Could Ukraine have intentionally fired a Russian made missile into Poland (during a heavy Russia missile onslaught) to try and fool NATO into thinking Putin attached a NATO country and get them to help and engage Russia? As Bo says...just a thought.
Could Ukraine have intentionally fired a Russian made missile into Poland (during a heavy Russia missile onslaught) to try and fool NATO into thinking Putin attached a NATO country and get them to help and engage Russia? As Bo says...just a thought.
Could Ukraine have intentionally fired a Russian made missile into Poland (during a heavy Russia missile onslaught) to try and fool NATO into thinking Putin attached a NATO country and get them to help and engage Russia? As Bo says...just a thought.
I was hoping this wasn't gonna be some gulf of Tonkin or WMD justification. Glad the truth came out and the situation wasn't manipulated and spun to start WW3. I have to admit I also had a thought similar to yours cross my mind.
Could Ukraine have intentionally fired a Russian made missile into Poland (during a heavy Russia missile onslaught) to try and fool NATO into thinking Putin attached a NATO country and get them to help and engage Russia? As Bo says...just a thought.
Could Ukraine have intentionally fired a Russian made missile into Poland (during a heavy Russia missile onslaught) to try and fool NATO into thinking Putin attached a NATO country and get them to help and engage Russia? As Bo says...just a thought.
Did Vladimir Putin hack your 10c account?
Did Joe McCarthy's ghost hack yours?
By all accounts Ukraine is pushing back Russian forces, why would they do what Poncier suggested now as opposed to 4 or 5 months ago?
Oh wait... you've self admittedly never posted anything serious in this forum. Never mind.
Could Ukraine have intentionally fired a Russian made missile into Poland (during a heavy Russia missile onslaught) to try and fool NATO into thinking Putin attached a NATO country and get them to help and engage Russia? As Bo says...just a thought.
Did Vladimir Putin hack your 10c account?
Did Joe McCarthy's ghost hack yours?
By all accounts Ukraine is pushing back Russian forces, why would they do what Poncier suggested now as opposed to 4 or 5 months ago?
Oh wait... you've self admittedly never posted anything serious in this forum. Never mind.
I've never been serious on the internet. There is a difference.
Could Ukraine have intentionally fired a Russian made missile into Poland (during a heavy Russia missile onslaught) to try and fool NATO into thinking Putin attached a NATO country and get them to help and engage Russia? As Bo says...just a thought.
Did Vladimir Putin hack your 10c account?
Did Joe McCarthy's ghost hack yours?
By all accounts Ukraine is pushing back Russian forces, why would they do what Poncier suggested now as opposed to 4 or 5 months ago?
Oh wait... you've self admittedly never posted anything serious in this forum. Never mind.
I've never been serious on the internet. There is a difference.
Comments
& the GOP welcomes the interference with open arms.
America First indeed.
Doesn’t anyone remember dots?
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
Opinion by Max Boot
November 07, 2022 at 12:01 ET
Vladimir Putin’s power rests on the impression that he is invincible and implacable — that the Russian president can’t be defeated and will stop at nothing to achieve his objectives.
The first myth has already been dispelled in Ukraine, where the Russian military has suffered heavy losses without coming close to achieving his ultimate objective of destroying Ukrainian independence. But the second myth lives on: It is leading some in the West to argue that the United States should use its leverage to force Kyiv to the bargaining table, because the Ukrainians will never succeed in regaining all of their lost territory. This pessimistic argument is premised on the assumption that Putin will just keep escalating indefinitely with more troops and more weapons — even nuclear weapons if necessary.
But in recent weeks we have seen evidence that suggest Putin is a rational actor who is perfectly capable of backtracking if it’s in his interest to do so. On Oct. 29, Putin announced he was suspending a deal with Turkey and the United Nations to allow ships full of Ukrainian grain to transit the Black Sea. Putin has long been unhappy with this arrangement because it throws a lifeline to Ukraine, which has been able to export more than 9 million tons of food since Aug. 1. As his excuse to leave the deal, he cited a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Yet, on Wednesday, Putin basically said never mind — Russia will abide by the grain deal after all. His transparent excuse was that he had received assurances that Ukraine will not use the humanitarian corridors for food shipments to attack Russian forces — something it wasn’t doing anyway.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president has suggested he’s open to peace talks with Russia, softening his refusal to negotiate with Moscow as long as President Vladimir Putin is in power while sticking to Kyiv’s core demands.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy's appeal to the international community to “force Russia into real peace talks” reflected a change in rhetoric. In late September, after Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions, he signed a decree stating “the impossibility of holding talks” with Putin.
But the preconditions the Ukrainian leader listed late Monday appear to be non-starters for Moscow, so it’s hard to see how Zelenskyy’s latest comments would advance any talks.
Zelenskyy reiterated that his conditions for dialogue were the return of all of Ukraine's occupied lands, compensation for war damage and the prosecution of war crimes. He didn't specify how world leaders should coerce Russia into talks.
Western weapons and aid have been key to Ukraine’s ability to fight off Russia’s invasion, which some initially expected would tear through the country with relative ease. That means Kyiv cannot ignore how the war is seen in the U.S. and the European Union, according to political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.
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“Zelenskyy is trying to maneuver because the promise of negotiations does not oblige Kyiv to anything, but it makes it possible to maintain the support of Western partners,” Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center independent think tank, said.
“A categorical refusal to hold talks plays into the Kremlin’s hands, so Zelenskyy is changing the tactics and talks about the possibility of a dialogue, but on conditions that make it all very clear,” he added.
While support for Ukraine has garnered strong bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress, a growing conservative opposition could complicate that next year if Republicans take control of the House in Tuesday's elections.
Recent comments by Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy that lawmakers would not cut a “blank check” to Ukraine reflect the party's growing skepticism about the cost of support.
In private, Republican lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine see an opportunity to pass one more tranche of assistance this year with the current Congress.
Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of talks in Belarus and Turkey early in the war, which is now nearing its nine-month mark, and Zelenskyy repeatedly called for a personal meeting with Putin — which the Kremlin brushed off.
The talks stalled after the last meeting of the delegations, held in Istanbul in March, yielded no results.
Zelenskyy said Monday that Kyiv has “repeatedly proposed (talks) and to which we always received crazy Russian responses with new terrorist attacks, shelling or blackmail.”
Russia resumed calls for talks after it started losing ground to a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the east and the south in September. Zelenskyy rejected the possibility of negotiating with Putin later that month after the Russian leader illegally claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory.
Zelenskyy said Monday that Ukraine's conditions for dialogue included the “restoration of (Ukraine’s) territorial integrity ... compensation for all war damage, punishment for every war criminal and guarantees that it will not happen again.”
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, said Tuesday that Moscow was not setting any conditions for the resumption of talks. He accused Kyiv of lacking “good will.”
“This is their choice. We have always declared our readiness for such negotiations,” Rudenko said.
Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly claimed that the United States is preventing Ukraine from engaging in peace talks, which several countries have offered to mediate.
In an interview released Tuesday, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said Western countries wouldn't push Kyiv to negotiate on Moscow's terms.
“Ukraine is receiving rather effective weapons from its partners, first and foremost the U.S.,” Podolyak said. “We're pushing the Russian army out of our territory. And given that, it's nonsense to force us to negotiate, and de facto to concede to Russia's ultimatum! No one will do that.”
In other developments:
— In the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, which the Russians are struggling to take full control of, Moscow's shelling killed three civilians and wounded seven others over the past 24 hours, according to Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko.
Kyrylenko said the fatalities occurred in the city of Bakhmut, a key target of Russia’s grinding offensive in Donetsk, and the town of Krasnohorivka. Ukraine's deputy defense minister last week described the Bakhmut area as “the epicenter” of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
— Elsewhere, two civilians were seriously wounded by unexploded mines in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, where Kyiv's forces retook broad swaths of territory in September, Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.
— In the partially occupied Kherson region in the south, where Ukraine's troops are conducting a successful counteroffensive, Russian-installed authorities said they have completed the evacuation of residents ahead of anticipated Ukrainian advances. The Kremlin-appointed administration has sought to relocate tens of thousands.
— Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show a rapid expansion of a cemetery in southern Ukraine in the months after Russian forces seized the port city of Mariupol. It's unclear how many people were buried there.
— The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations reassured Ukrainian farmers that extending a wartime deal that allowed Ukrainian grain and other commodities to be shipped on the Black Sea was a priority for the U.N.
The agreement brokered by the U.N. and Turkey has allowed more than 10 million tons of grain to leave Ukrainian ports and travel along a designated corridor. It is set to expire on Nov. 19. A Russian diplomat on Tuesday cited Moscow’s dissatisfaction with its implementation and said the Kremlin had not decided whether to extend it.
During a visit to Kyiv, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was asked whether she was telling the Ukrainians about American ideas to end the war. She replied: “Russia started this and Russia can end this, and they can end it by pulling their troops out and stopping committing the atrocities that they are committing against the Ukrainian people.”
She announced $25 million in additional U.S. assistance to help Ukrainians get through the winter.
___
Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed from Washington.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia's military said Wednesday it will withdraw from the only Ukrainian regional capital it captured, but Kyiv was skeptical and an analyst warned this could be a ruse to lure the country's forces into a deadly trap. A forced pullout from the city of Kherson would mark one of Russia’s worst setbacks in the 8-month-old war.
Ukrainian authorities cautioned against considering the announced plan to retreat from Kherson, a gateway to the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, and nearby areas as a done deal. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the Russians were feigning a pullout from Kherson to lure the Ukrainian army into an entrenched battle in the strategic industrial port city.
If confirmed, the withdrawal from Kherson — in a region of the same name that Moscow illegally annexed in September — would pile on another setback to Russia's early failed attempt to capture the capital, Kyiv, and the chaotic and hasty retreat from the administrative region around Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, which itself never fell to the Russians. Russian forces captured Kherson early in the invasion, which began Feb. 24.
Kyiv's forces have zeroed in on the city, whose prewar population was 280,000, and cut off supply lines in recent weeks as part of a larger counteroffensive in eastern and southern Ukraine that has pushed Russian troops out of wide swaths of territory.
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Recapturing Kherson could allow Ukraine to win back lost territory in the Zaporizhzhia region and other southern areas, including Crimea, which Russia illegally seized in 2014. A Russian retreat is almost certain to raise domestic pressure on the Kremlin to escalate the conflict.
Speaking in a stern tone and with a steely face on Russian TV, Moscow's top military commander in Ukraine pointed to a blurred map as he reported to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday that it was impossible to supply the city of Kherson and that its defense would be “futile.”
Gen. Sergei Surovikin said that 115,000 people had been relocated because their “lives are constantly in danger” and proposed a military retreat “in the near future” to the opposite bank of the Dnieper River from where Kherson lies.
Shoigu agreed with Surovikin’s assessment and ordered him to “start with the withdrawal of troops and take all measures to ensure the safe transfer of personnel, weapons and equipment across the Dnieper River.”
But Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press: “So far, we do not see any signs that Russia is completely leaving the city, which means that these statements may be disinformation.”
Yaroslav Yanushevych, Kherson’s Ukrainian-appointed governor, called on residents “not to give in to euphoria” just yet. Another Ukrainian-appointed Kherson regional official, Serhii Khlan, told reporters that Russian forces had blown up five bridges to slow Kyiv’s forces.
Military analyst Oleg Zhdanov told the AP Russia’s announced retreat “could very well be an ambush and a Russian trap to force the Ukrainians to go on the offensive, force them to penetrate the Russian defenses, and in response to strike with a powerful blow from the flanks.”
After a day of his aides' observations about the announced retreat and a meeting he held with his senior military staff in Kyiv, Zelenskyy didn't directly comment, saying in his nightly video address, “Our emotions must be restrained — always during war. I will definitely not feed the enemy all the details of our operations. ,.. When we have our result, everyone will see it.”
In addition to the largely successful counteroffensive, Ukrainian resistance fighters behind the front line have worked inside Kherson, with sabotage and assassinations of Moscow-appointed officials.
With no indication of foul play but against that backdrop, reports surfaced Wednesday that the No. 2 official of the Moscow-installed Kherson regional government was killed in a car crash. The death of Kirill Stremousov — a prominent regional official who posted public updates about the war almost daily — was confirmed by his boss, Vladimir Saldo.
The Russian Defense Ministry said months ago that Saldo himself had been poisoned and hospitalized.
The Russian military appeared to have been preparing for an orderly pullout from Kherson — or an ambush — for months, contrasting with the haphazard retreat from the Kharkiv region when the invading force left behind a large amount of weapons and ammunition. In October, Surovikin appeared to set the stage for a withdrawal from Kherson, acknowledging the situation was “quite difficult." Evacuations of civilians followed, as did symbolic moves, such as relocation of the remains of Grigory Potemkin, the Russian general who founded Kherson in the 18th century.
In recent months, Ukraine used U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers to hit a key bridge on the Dnieper in Kherson and a large dam upstream that is also used as a crossing point. The strikes forced Russia to rely on pontoons and ferries that Ukraine also targeted.
The attacks disrupted supply links to Kherson and made Russian forces on the Dnieper's west bank vulnerable to encirclement. The shortages were exacerbated after an Oct. 8 truck bomb blew up part of the strategic Kerch Bridge linking Russia’s mainland to Crimea, which has served as a major supply hub for Russian forces.
Russia wanted to hold onto Kherson and other positions west of the Dnieper so it could press an offensive to other areas and sever Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea. That would damage Ukraine’s economy and enable Moscow to build a land corridor to the separatist Transnistria region of Moldova, home to a major Russian military base.
The loss of Kherson could have painful consequences for Russian President Vladimir Putin: more criticism of Russia’s military command from hawks, a decline in troop morale, and stronger opposition to his troop mobilization. Abroad, China and India could see the loss as a sign of the Kremlin’s weakness just when it needs their support to soften the blow of crippling Western sanctions.
Other Kremlin setbacks have included a chaotic and mistake-ridden troop mobilization, poor training and a shortage of weapons, clothing and other supplies for troops, increase in international sanctions, and intensified Western advanced weapons supplies to Kyiv.
Fresh signs of Ukraine's advance toward Kherson emerged Wednesday. Zhdanov, the analyst, said Ukrainians captured the city of Snihurivka, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Kherson, opening a direct road to a Dnieper River crossing and Kherson's suburbs. The Ukrainian Pravda news outlet cited Ukrainian armed forces intelligence as claiming that two other settlements in the Kherson region, Pravdyne and Kalynivske, had been captured,
None of the reports could be independently confirmed.
Nationwide, at least nine civilians were killed and 24 wounded in 24 hours, the Ukrainian president's office said. It accused Russia of using explosive drones, rockets, heavy artillery and aircraft to attack eight regions in the southeast.
The president's office said widespread Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy system continued. Two cities not far from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — Europe’s largest — were shelled overnight.
___
Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia said it began withdrawing troops from a strategic Ukrainian city Thursday, creating a potential turning point in the grinding war, while a Ukrainian official warned that Russian land mines could render Kherson a “city of death.”
Ukrainian officials acknowledged Moscow’s forces had no choice but to flee Kherson, yet they remained cautious, fearing an ambush. With Ukrainian officials tight-lipped with their assessments, reporters not present and spotty communications, it was difficult to know what was happening in the port city, where the residents who remained after tens of thousands fled were afraid to leave their homes.
A forced pullout from Kherson — the only provincial capital Moscow captured after invading Ukraine in February — would mark one of Russia’s worst war setbacks. Recapturing the city, whose pre-war population was 280,000, could provide Ukraine a launching pad for supplies and troops to try to win back other lost territory in the south, including Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.
Ukrainian forces seem to be scoring more battlefield successes elsewhere in the Kherson region and closing in on the city. President Volodymyr Zelenskky said Thursday night the pace has increased so much that residents “are now checking almost every hour where our units have reached and where else our national flag was raised.”
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The armed forces commander-in-chief, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, said Kyiv’s forces have advanced 36.5 kilometers (22.7 miles) and retaken 41 villages and towns since Oct. 1 in the province, which the Kremlin has illegally annexed. That included 12 settlements on Wednesday alone.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Russian troops laid mines throughout Kherson as they withdrew to turn it into a “city of death” and predicted they would shell it after relocating across the Dnieper River.
From these new positions, the Kremlin could try to escalate the 8 1/2-month war, which U.S. assessments showed may already have killed or wounded tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Arkadiy Dovzhenko, who fled Kherson in June, said his grandparents still living there told him Thursday that “the Russians were bringing a lot of equipment into the town and also mining every inch of it.”
Zelenskyy said Thursday night his forces were racing to remove land mines from 170,000 square meters (65,637 square miles) nationwide, and planned also to do so in Kherson. A spokeswoman for Ukraine's southern military, Natalia Humeniuk, said on Ukrainian television that resistance forces working behind enemy lines “carefully collect information" about critical infrastructure threatened by mines.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered a troop withdrawal from Kherson and nearby areas on Wednesday after his top general in Ukraine reported that a loss of supply routes during Ukraine's southern counteroffensive made a defense “futile.”
Shoigu's ministry reported Thursday a “maneuver of units of the Russian group” to the Dnieper River's eastern bank, also known as its left bank.
On Thursday, Ukrainian officials appeared to soften the skepticism they had expressed over whether the Russians were really on the run or trying to trap Ukraine's soldiers. “The enemy had no other choice but to resort to fleeing,” armed forces chief Zaluzhny said, because Kyiv’s army destroyed supply systems and disrupted Russia’s local military command.
Still, he said the Ukrainian military could not confirm a Russian withdrawal.
Alexander Khara, of the Kyiv-based think tank Center for Defense Strategies, echoed those concerns, saying he remained fearful that Russian forces could destroy a dam upriver from Kherson and flood the city's approaches. The former Ukrainian diplomat also warned of booby traps and other possible dangers.
“I would be surprised if the Russians had not set up something, some surprises for Ukraine,” Khara said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who just over a month ago celebrated the annexation of Kherson and three other Ukrainian regions and vowed to defend them by any means, has not commented on the withdrawal.
A resident said Kherson was deserted Thursday and that explosions could be heard from around Antonivskiy Bridge — a key Dnieper River crossing that Ukrainian forces have repeatedly bombarded.
“Life in the city seems to have stopped. Everyone has disappeared somewhere and no one knows what will happen next," said Konstantin, a resident whose last name was withheld for security reasons.
He said Russian flags have disappeared from the city’s administrative buildings, and no signs remain of the Russian military personnel who earlier moved into the apartments of evacuated residents. Russian state news agency Tass reported that emergency services such as police officers and medical workers would leave along with the last Russian troops.
Halyna Lugova, head of the Ukrainian administration of Kherson city, told Ukrainian television Thursday that the Russian military was moving vehicles towards the Antonivskiy Bridge. Lugova, who is now based in Ukrainian-controlled territory, described conditions in the city as brutal.
Kherson remains without power, heating and internet service, gas stations in the city are closed, and there is no fuel, she said. The city also has run out of medications for cancer and diabetes patients. Ukrainian news reports said the Russians blew up the local television center, some of the cellphone towers and energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian officials have been cautious at other times in declaring victories against a Russian force that at least initially outgunned and outnumbered Ukraine's armed forces.
Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at international affairs think-tank Chatham House, said the reticence explains “why, until Ukrainians are in the city, they don’t want to declare that they have it (in) control.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was similarly cautious. He spoke to Zelenskyy on Thursday, and his office said they agreed “it was right to continue to exercise caution until the Ukrainian flag was raised over the city.”
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday he believed a retreat was underway, but that Russia had amassed as many as 30,000 troops in Kherson and that a full withdrawal could take several weeks.
One analyst noted that the Ukrainian army has destroyed bridges and roads as part of its counteroffensive, making a quick transfer of Russian troops across the Dnieper River impossible.
“The main question is whether the Ukrainians will give the Russians the opportunity to calmly withdraw, or fire at them during the crossing to the left bank,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said. “The personnel can be taken out on boats, but the equipment needs to be taken out only on barges and pontoons, and this is very easily shelled by the Ukrainian army.”
Putin’s allies rushed to defend the retreat as tough, but necessary. However, Pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov broke ranks and described the move as “Russia’s biggest geopolitical loss since the collapse of the Soviet Union” and warned that “political consequences of this huge loss will be really big.”
___
Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Raf Casert contributed from Brussels. Jill Lawless contributed from London. Andrew Katell contributed from New York.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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Volleys of incoming and outgoing artillery fire continued to blast around Kherson's international airport and the police said they were setting up checkpoints in and around the city and sweeping for mines left behind by the Russians.
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MYKOLAIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian police officers returned Saturday, along with TV and radio services, to the southern city of Kherson following the withdrawal of Russian troops, part of fast but cautious efforts to make the only regional capital captured by Russia livable after months of occupation. Yet one official still described the city as “a humanitarian catastrophe.”
People across Ukraine awoke from a night of jubilant celebrating after the Kremlin announced its troops had withdrawn to the other side of the Dnieper River from Kherson. The Ukrainian military said it was overseeing “stabilization measures” around the city to make sure it was safe.
The Russian retreat represented a significant setback for the Kremlin some six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the Kherson region and three other provinces in southern and eastern Ukraine in breach of international law and declared them Russian territory.
The national police chief of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, said Saturday on Facebook that about 200 officers were at work in the city, setting up checkpoints and documenting evidence of possible war crimes. Police teams also were working to identify and neutralize unexploded ordnance and one sapper was wounded Saturday while demining an administrative building, Klymenko said.
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Ukraine’s communications watchdog said national TV and radio broadcasts had resumed and an adviser to Kherson’s mayor said humanitarian aid and supplies had begun to arrive from the neighboring Mykolaiv region.
But the adviser, Roman Holovnya, described the situation in Kherson as “a humanitarian catastrophe.” He said the remaining residents lacked water, medicine and food — and key basics like bread went unbaked because a lack of electricity.
“The occupiers and collaborators did everything possible so that those people who remained in the city suffered as much as possible over those days, weeks, months of waiting” for Ukraine’s forces to arrive, Holovnya said. “Water supplies are practically nonexistent.”
The chairman of Khersonoblenergo, the region's prewar power provider, said electricity was being returned “to every settlement in the Kherson region immediately after the liberation."
Despite the efforts to restore normal civilian life, Russian forces remain close by. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces said Saturday the Russians were fortifying their battle lines on the river's eastern bank after abandoning the capital. About 70% of the Kherson region still remains under Russian control.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Saturday that Ukrainian forces have established control of more than 60 settlements in the Kherson region and “stabilization measures are also ongoing in Kherson itself.”
“Everywhere in the liberated territory, our explosives technicians have a lot of work to do. Almost 2,000 explosive items have already been removed,” Zelenskyy said. “Before fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all critical infrastructure — communication, water supply, heat, electricity.”
Photos on social media Saturday showed Ukrainian activists removing memorial plaques put up by the occupation authorities the Kremlin installed to run the Kherson region. A Telegram post on Yellow Ribbon, Ukrainian resistance movement, showed two people in a park taking down plaques picturing Soviet-era military figures.
Moscow's announcement that Russian forces were withdrawing across the Dnieper River, which divides both the Kherson region and Ukraine, followed a stepped-up Ukrainian counteroffensive in the country's south. In the last two months, Ukraine's military claimed to have reclaimed dozens of towns and villages north of the city of Kherson, and the military said that's where stabilization activities were taking place.
Russian state news agency Tass quoted an official in Kherson’s Kremlin-appointed administration on Saturday as saying that Henichesk, a city on the Azov Sea 200 kilometers southeast of Kherson, would now serve as the region’s “temporary capital.”
Ukrainian media derided the announcement, with the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper saying Russia “had made up a new capital” for the region.
Across much of Ukraine, moments of jubilation marked the exit of Russian forces, since a retreat from Kherson and other areas on the Dnieper’s west bank would appear to shatter Russian hopes to press an offensive west to Mykolaiv and Odesa to cut off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea.
In Odesa, the Black Sea port, residents draped themselves in Ukraine's blue-and-yellow flags, shared Champagne and held up flag-colored cards with the word “Kherson” on them.
But like Zelenskyy, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba sought to temper the excitement.
“We are winning battles on the ground, but the war continues," he said from Cambodia, where he was attending a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Kuleba brought up the prospect of the Ukrainian army finding evidence of possible Russian war crimes in Kherson, just as it did after Russian pullbacks in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions.
“Every time we liberate a piece of our territory, when we enter a city liberated from Russian army, we find torture rooms and mass graves with civilians tortured and murdered by Russian army in the course of the occupation," Ukraine's top diplomat said. "It’s not easy to speak with people like this. But I said that every war ends with diplomacy and Russia has to approach talks in good faith.”
U.S. assessments this week showed Russia's war in Ukraine may already have killed or wounded tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Elsewhere, Russia continued its grinding offensive in Ukraine’s industrial east, targeting the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian General Staff said.
Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko reported Saturday that two civilians were killed and four wounded over the last day as battles heated up around Bakhmut and Avdiivka, a small city that has remained in Ukrainian hands.
Russia’s push to capture Bakhmut demonstrates the Kremlin’s desire for visible gains following weeks of setbacks. It would also pave the way to move onto other Ukrainian strongholds in the heavily contested Donetsk region.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region west of Donetsk, Russia troops again shelled communities near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the Ukrainian regional governor said.
___
Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a triumphant visit to the newly liberated city of Kherson on Monday, hailing the Russian withdrawal as the “beginning of the end of the war” but also acknowledging the heavy price Ukrainian soldiers are paying in their grinding effort to push back the invading force.
The retaking of Kherson was one of Ukraine’s biggest successes in nearly nine months since the invasion. It served another stinging blow to the Kremlin and could become a springboard for further advances into occupied territory.
Zelenskyy walked the streets of the city Monday, just hours after warning in his nightly video address of booby traps and mines left behind by the Russians before their retreat.
“This is the beginning of the end of the war,” he said. “We are step by step coming to all the temporarily occupied territories.”
The end of Russia’s occupation of the city has sparked days of celebration — but also exposed a humanitarian emergency, with residents living without power and water and short of food and medicines. Russia still controls about 70% of the wider Kherson region.
Zelenskyy has previously appeared unexpectedly in other front-line areas at crucial junctures of the war and his latest visit was both laden with symbolism and the common touch — clearly aimed at boosting the morale of both soldiers and civilians alike.
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In video published by a presidential aide, a visibly moved Zelenskyy stood with his right hand on his heart and sang the national anthem, as troops saluted and stood to attention and soldier steadily hauled the yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flag up a flagpole.
Other footage showed Zelenskyy waving to residents who saluted him from an apartment window and yelled: “Glory to Ukraine!” The reply — “Glory to the heroes!” — came back from Zelenskyy’s group, made up of soldiers and others.
The president also distributed medals to Ukrainian soldiers in a central square and posed for selfies with them.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday refused to comment on Zelenskyy’s visit to Kherson, saying only that “you know that it is the territory of the Russian Federation.” The Kremlin illegally annexed the Kherson region and three others earlier this year.
After the Russian retreat, Ukrainian authorities say they are finding evidence of torture and other atrocities.
In his nightly video address on Sunday, Zelenskyy said without giving details that “investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes, and the bodies of both civilians and military personnel have been found.”
“In the Kherson region, the Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country," he said. “We will find and bring to justice every murderer. Without a doubt.”
Residents said departing Russian troops plundered the city, carting away loot as they withdrew last week. They also wrecked key infrastructure before retreating across the wide Dnieper River to its east bank.
One Ukrainian official described the situation in Kherson as “a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Reconnecting the electricity supply is the priority, with gas supplies already assured, Kherson regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said.
The Russian pullout marked a triumphant milestone in Ukraine’s pushback against Moscow’s invasion almost nine months ago. In the past two months, Ukraine’s military claimed to have retaken dozens of towns and villages north of the city of Kherson.
___
Associated Press writers John Leicester in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Hanna Arhirova in Odesa, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — Leaders of the world’s largest economies appeared ready Tuesday to convey a strong message from most condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed the group to maintain pressure on Moscow over its nine-month war that has devastated Ukraine and roiled the global economy.
A draft declaration by leaders of the Group of 20 major economies under discussion Tuesday echoes the condemnation of Russia’s war on Ukraine by the United Nations, while acknowledging differing views among members. The careful wording of the statement reflects tensions prevailing at the gathering, which includes leaders from Russia and China, and the challenge facing the U.S. and its allies to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin's government as some nations seek to avoid becoming entangled in antagonisms between the big powers.
Still, it would be a strong rebuke of the war that has killed thousands, heightened global security tensions and disrupted the world economy if adopted in its current form, particularly since China and India abstained from condemning Russia’s aggression in the March U.N. resolution.
The statement seen Tuesday by The Associated Press “deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation” and “demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine." The G-20 draft statement also noted there were different views on the situation and sanctions against Russia, saying that the G-20 was not the forum for resolving security issues.
The push for a strong statement against Russia came as the summit was touched by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen tested positive for COVID-19 after his arrival in Bali and said he was returning home. So far, no other leaders are known to have tested positive, though many of those in Bali also attended meetings with prime minister just days ago during a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian nations.
Biden skipped out on an evening gala for the leaders hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, to attend to unspecified matters. Biden sent his regrets to Widodo and said he would attend a planned tree planting with fellow G-20 leaders on Wednesday, according to a White House official. The official, who was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted it had been a “full day” for the president but insisted that Biden’s absence was not related to COVID-19.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who led the Russian delegation to the summit, denounced the Biden administration push to condemn Moscow.
“All problems are on the Ukrainian side that categorically refuses to hold any talks and comes up with conditions obviously unrealistic and inadequate to this situation," Lavrov said.
In a video address to the summit, Zelenskyy joined Biden in trying to persuade the G-20 to further isolate Russia diplomatically and economically, despite a souring global financial outlook that has tested many nations' resolve.
Inflation and slowing economies are weighing on countries that have imposed penalties on Russia for starting the war. Higher costs for energy and food have destabilized business activity around the world, as much of Europe prepares to brave the winter without imports of Russian natural gas.
In opening the summit, Widodo impressed on the gathering what's at stake. “If the war does not end, it will be difficult for the world to move forward,” he said.
Zelenskyy reiterated 10 conditions for ending the conflict that began in February, among them a complete withdrawal of Russian troops and full restoration of Ukrainian control of its territory. He spoke days after Ukraine retook the strategic city of Kherson from Russian forces, in his country's latest step in a counteroffensive that has forced Moscow to withdraw its forces from previously-occupied areas.
“Ukraine should not be offered to conclude compromises with its conscience, sovereignty, territory and independence," he said. “Ukraine has always been a leader in peacekeeping efforts, and the world has witnessed it. And if Russia says that it supposedly wants to end this war, let it prove it with actions."
The European Council president, Charles Michel, also urged other global powers to intensify pressure on Russia. But it was unclear how many nations would embrace the relatively tough language in a final statement.
At the summit, Biden met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who played a pivotal role this summer in brokering a deal to open up Ukrainian grain exports to ease global food shortages. Biden also met briefly with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose cooperation is needed to secure a U.S.-sought price cap on Russian oil to limit the profits Moscow uses to invest in its defense base.
Modi, whose country will assume the G-20 presidency after Indonesia, reiterated his call for “the path of ceasefire and diplomacy” in the war in Ukraine and spoke about efforts by world leaders at World War II to pursue a “path of peace.”
“Now it’s our turn. The onus of creating a new world order for the post-Covid period lies on our shoulders,” he said.
Separately, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres held a lengthy meeting Tuesday with Lavrov to discuss the Black Sea Grain Initiative, said UN Spokesperson Florencia Soto Niño. The deal, which allowed major grain exporter Ukraine to resume exports from ports that had been blocked due to the war, is up for renewal on Nov. 19.
The U.S. and its allies have responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine with export controls and other sanctions, making it harder for Russia's military to access key technologies and resupply with drones, artillery and other weapons.
Chinese officials have largely refrained from public criticism of Russia’s war, although Beijing has avoided direct support of the Russians, such as supplying arms. Biden said that during his meeting Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping they discussed the war and “reaffirmed our shared belief” that the use or even the threat of nuclear weapons was “totally unacceptable” — a reference to Moscow’s thinly veiled threats to use atomic weapons as its invasion of Ukraine has faltered.
Xi told G-20 leaders the global economy should not be weaponized.
“We must resolutely oppose the attempt to politicize food and energy issues or use them as tools and weapons,” he said in translated remarks.
After meeting with Xi, French President Emmanuel Macron said they had called for “respect of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”
In a tweet, Macron said France and China were determined to “put an end to the escalation of the war in Ukraine and deal with its consequences.”
U.S. officials have said Biden's trip shows countries large and small are willing to condemn Russian aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed away, sending Lavrov as his representative.
The summit schedule does not include the customary “family photo” of leaders, avoiding a potentially awkward moment of interaction with Lavrov.
The summit is the first for two critical new partners in Biden's effort: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.
Sunak, who took office last month after the disastrously short tenure of Liz Truss, has promised to continue his conservative predecessors’ steadfast support for Ukraine. He and Biden were set to strategize during their Wednesday meeting on new ways to bolster Ukraine’s defenses for the long haul.
Meloni has pledged to continue to provide arms and aid for Ukraine, but questions remain over her far-right coalition’s commitment to stand up to Russia. She and Biden met on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday and discussed China, the climate crisis, the impact of Russia’s invasion on the global energy market, and their commitment to providing Ukraine support, according to a White House statement.
—
AP writers Niniek Karmini, Foster Klug and Adam Schreck in Nusa Dua, Indonesia and Josh Boak and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed.
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded Ukraine's energy facilities Tuesday with its biggest barrage of missiles yet, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts, and a U.S. official said missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, where two people were killed.
A defiant Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy shook his fist and declared: “We will survive everything.”
Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller did not immediately confirm the information from a senior U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation. But Mueller said top leaders were holding an emergency meeting due to a “crisis situation.”
Polish media reported that two people died Tuesday afternoon after a projectile struck an area where grain was drying in Przewodów, a Polish village near the border with Ukraine.
Neighboring Moldova was also affected. It reported massive power outages after the strikes knocked out a key power line that supplies the small nation, an official said.
Zelenskyy said Russia fired at least 85 missiles, “most of them at our energy infrastructure," and shut down power in many cities.
“We’re working, will restore everything. We will survive everything," the president vowed. His energy minister said the attack was “the most massive” bombardment of power facilities in the nearly 9-month-old Russian invasion, striking both power generation and transmission systems.
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The minister, Herman Haluschenko, described the missile strikes as “another attempt at terrorist revenge” after military and diplomatic setbacks for the Kremlin. He accused Russia of “trying to cause maximum damage to our energy system on the eve of winter.”
The aerial assault, which resulted in at least one death in a residential building in the capital, Kyiv, followed days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by one of its biggest military successes — the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.
The power grid was already battered by previous attacks that destroyed an estimated 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not commented on the retreat from Kherson since his troops pulled out in the face of a Ukrainian offensive. But the stunning scale of Tuesday’s strikes spoke volumes and hinted at anger in the Kremlin.
By striking targets in the late afternoon, not long before dusk began to fall, the Russian military forced rescue workers to labor in the dark and gave repair crews scant time to assess the damage by daylight.
More than a dozen regions — among them Lviv in the west, Kharkiv in the northeast and others in between — reported strikes or efforts by their air defenses to shoot missiles down. At least a dozen regions reported power outages, affecting cities that together have millions of people. Almost half of the Kyiv region lost power, authorities said. Ukrainian Railways announced nationwide train delays.
Zelenskyy warned that more strikes were possible and urged people to stay safe and seek shelter.
“Most of the hits were recorded in the center and in the north of the country. In the capital, the situation is very difficult,” said a senior official, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
He said a total of 15 energy targets were damaged and claimed that 70 missiles were shot down. A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said Russia used X-101 and X-555 cruise missiles.
As city after city reported attacks, Tymoshenko urged Ukrainians to “hang in there.”
With its battlefield losses mounting, Russia has increasingly resorted to targeting Ukraine’s power grid, seemingly hoping to turn the approach of winter into a weapon by leaving people in the cold and dark.
In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said authorities found a body in one of three residential buildings that were struck in the capital, where emergency blackouts were also announced by power provider DTEK.
Video published by a presidential aide showed a five-story, apparently residential building in Kyiv on fire, with flames licking through apartments. Klitschko said air defense units also shot down some missiles.
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra took to a bomb shelter in Kyiv after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart and, from his place of safety, described the bombardment as "an enormous motivation to keep standing shoulder-to-shoulder” with Ukraine.
“There can be only one answer, and that is: Keep going. Keep supporting Ukraine, keep delivering weapons, keep working on accountability, keep working on humanitarian aid," he said.
Ukraine had seen a period of comparative calm since previous waves of drone and missile attacks several weeks ago.
The strikes came as authorities were already working furiously to get Kherson back on its feet and beginning to investigate alleged Russian abuses there and in the surrounding area.
The southern city is without power and water, and the head of the U.N. human rights office’s monitoring mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, on Tuesday decried a “dire humanitarian situation” there.
Speaking from Kyiv, Bogner said her teams are looking to travel to Kherson to try to verify allegations of nearly 80 cases of forced disappearances and arbitrary detention.
The head of the National Police of Ukraine, Igor Klymenko, said authorities are to start investigating reports from Kherson residents that Russian forces set up at least three alleged torture sites in now-liberated parts of the wider Kherson region and that “our people may have been detained and tortured there.”
The retaking of Kherson dealt another stinging blow to the Kremlin. Zelenskyy likened the recapture to the Allied landings in France on D-Day in World War II, saying both were watershed events on the road to eventual victory.
But large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine remain under Russian control, and fighting continues.
Zelenskyy warned of possible more grim news ahead.
“Everywhere, when we liberate our land, we see one thing — Russia leaves behind torture chambers and mass burials. … How many mass graves are there in the territory that still remains under the control of Russia?" Zelenskyy asked.
___
Associated Press writers Joanna Kozlowska in London, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Mike Corder in The Hague, Hanna Arhirova in Kherson, Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, and James LaPorta in Wilmington, North Carolina, contributed to this story.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Poland said early Wednesday that a Russian-made missile fell in the eastern part of the country, killing two people in a blast that marked the first time since the invasion of Ukraine that Russian weapons came down on a NATO country.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy decried the strike as “a very significant escalation” of the war.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the government was investigating and raising its military preparedness.
A statement from the Polish Foreign Ministry identified the missile as being made in Russia. But President Andrzej Duda was more cautious about its origin, saying that officials did not know for sure who fired it or where it was made. He said it was “most probably” Russian-made but that is being still verified.
“We are acting with calm," Duda said. “This is a difficult situation.”
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called an emergency meeting for later in the day of the alliance's envoys to discuss the events close to the Ukrainian border in Poland.
The U.N. Security Council also planned to meet Wednesday for a previously scheduled briefing on the situation in Ukraine. The strike in Poland was certain to be raised.
In their statements, Poland and NATO used language that suggested they were not treating the missile blast as a Russian attack, at least for now.
Poland’s statement did not address the circumstances of the strike, including whether it could have been a targeting error or if the missile could have been knocked off course by Ukrainian defenses. A NATO statement called it a “tragic incident.”
If Russia had deliberately targeted Poland, it would risk drawing the 30-nation alliance into the conflict at a time when it is already struggling to fend off Ukrainian forces.
Polish media reported that the strike took place in an area where grain was drying in Przewodów, a village near the border with Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied being behind “any strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border” and said in a statement that photos of purported damage “have nothing to do” with Russian weapons.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau summoned the Russian ambassador and “demanded immediate detailed explanations,” the government said.
The strike came to light Tuesday as Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy facilities with its biggest barrage of missiles yet, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts.
The barrage also affected neighboring Moldova. It reported massive power outages after the strikes knocked out a key power line that supplies the small nation, an official said.
The missile strikes plunged much of Ukraine into darkness and drew defiance from Zelenskyy, who shook his fist and declared: “We will survive everything.”
In his nightly address, the Ukrainian leader said the strike in Poland offered proof that “terror is not limited by our state borders.”
"We need to put the terrorist in its place. The longer Russia feels impunity, the more threats there will be for everyone within the reach of Russian missiles,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia fired at least 85 missiles, most of them aimed at the country's power facilities, and blacked out many cities, he said.
The Ukrainian energy minister said the attack was “the most massive” bombardment of power facilities in the nearly 9-month-old invasion, striking both power generation and transmission systems.
The minister, Herman Haluschenko, accused Russia of “trying to cause maximum damage to our energy system on the eve of winter.”
The aerial assault, which resulted in at least one death in a residential building in the capital, Kyiv, followed days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by one of its biggest military successes — the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.
The power grid was already battered by previous attacks that destroyed an estimated 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not commented on the retreat from Kherson since his troops pulled out in the face of a Ukrainian offensive. But the stunning scale of Tuesday’s strikes spoke volumes and hinted at anger in the Kremlin.
By striking targets in the late afternoon, not long before dusk, the Russian military forced rescue workers to labor in the dark and gave repair crews scant time to assess the damage by daylight.
More than a dozen regions — among them Lviv in the west, Kharkiv in the northeast and others in between — reported strikes or efforts by their air defenses to shoot missiles down. At least a dozen regions reported power outages, affecting cities that together have millions of people. Almost half of the Kyiv region lost power, authorities said.
“Most of the hits were recorded in the center and in the north of the country. In the capital, the situation is very difficult,” said a senior official, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
He said a total of 15 energy targets were damaged and claimed that 70 missiles were shot down. A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said Russia used X-101 and X-555 cruise missiles.
As city after city reported attacks, Tymoshenko urged Ukrainians to “hang in there.”
With its battlefield losses mounting, Russia has increasingly resorted to targeting Ukraine’s power grid, seemingly hoping to turn the approach of winter into a weapon by leaving people in the cold and dark.
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra took to a bomb shelter in Kyiv after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart and, from his place of safety, described the bombardment as "an enormous motivation to keep standing shoulder-to-shoulder” with Ukraine.
The strikes came as authorities were already working furiously to get Kherson back on its feet and beginning to investigate alleged Russian abuses there and in the surrounding area.
The southern city is without power and water, and the head of the U.N. human rights office’s monitoring mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, decried a “dire humanitarian situation” there.
Speaking from Kyiv, Bogner said her teams are looking to travel to Kherson to try to verify allegations of nearly 80 cases of forced disappearances and arbitrary detention.
The head of the National Police of Ukraine, Igor Klymenko, said authorities are to start investigating reports from Kherson residents that Russian forces set up at least three alleged torture sites in now-liberated parts of the wider Kherson region.
The retaking of Kherson dealt another stinging blow to the Kremlin. Zelenskyy likened the recapture to the Allied landings in France on D-Day in World War II, saying both were watershed events on the road to eventual victory.
But large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine remain under Russian control, and fighting continues.
In other developments, leaders of most of the world’s economic powers were drawing closer to approval of a declaration strongly denouncing Russia’s invasion.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy pressed fellow G20 leaders at the summit in Indonesia for a robust condemnation of Russia’s nuclear threats and food embargoes. More discussion and a possible vote come Wednesday.
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Associated Press writers Joanna Kozlowska in London; Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; Hanna Arhirova in Kherson, Ukraine; Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia; Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland; Raf Casert and Lorne Cook in Brussels; and Nomaan Merchant in New York contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — President Joe Biden convened an “emergency” meeting of the Group of Seven and NATO leaders in Indonesia Wednesday morning for consultations after NATO-ally Poland said a “Russian-made” missile killed two people in the eastern part of its country near the Ukraine border.
Biden, who was awakened overnight by staff with the news of the missile explosion while in Indonesia for the Group of 20 summit, called Polish President Andrzej Duda early Wednesday to express his “deep condolences” for the loss of life. Biden promised on Twitter “full U.S support for and assistance with Poland’s investigation,” and “reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to NATO.”
Meeting at a large round table in a ballroom in his hotel, the U.S. president hosted the leaders of the G-7, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union, along with the president of the European Council and the prime ministers of NATO allies Spain and the Netherlands.
Biden replied “no” to reporters who asked if he would provide an update on the situation in Poland.
A statement from the Polish Foreign Ministry identified the missile as being made in Russia. But Poland's president, Duda, was more cautious about its origin, saying that officials did not know for sure who fired it or where it was made. He said it was “most probably” Russian-made, but that is being still verified. If confirmed, it would be the first time since the invasion of Ukraine that a Russian weapon came down on a NATO country.
The foundation of the NATO alliance is the principle that an attack against one member is an attack on them all.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
PRZEWODOW, Poland (AP) — Poland said Wednesday there is “absolutely no indication” that a missile which came down in Polish farmland, killing two people, was a intentional attack on the NATO country, and that neighbor Ukraine likely launched the Soviet-era projectile as it fended off a Russian air assault that savaged its power grid.
“Ukraine’s defense was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory," said Polish President Andrzej Duda. “There is nothing, absolutely nothing to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, at a meeting of the military alliance in Brussels, agreed with the assessment.
“An investigation into this incident is ongoing and we need to await its outcome. But we have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack,” Stoltenberg told reporters.
The preliminary findings came after U.S. President Joe Biden and other Western backers of Ukraine had thrown their weight behind the investigation and amid repeated assertions from Russia that it didn't fire the missile.
Biden said it was “unlikely” that Russia fired the missile but added: "I’m going to make sure we find out exactly what happened."
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The missile came down Tuesday near Poland's border with Ukraine. Three U.S. officials said preliminary assessments suggested it was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian one. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
That assessment and Biden’s comments at the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia contradicted information earlier Tuesday from a senior U.S. intelligence official who told The Associated Press that Russian missiles crossed into Poland.
Former Soviet-bloc country Ukraine maintains stocks of Soviet- and Russian-made weaponry, including air-defense missiles, and has also seized many more Russian weapons while beating back the Kremlin’s invasion forces.
Ukrainian air defenses worked furiously against the Russian assault Tuesday on power generation and transmission facilities, including in Ukraine’s western region that borders Poland. Ukraine’s military said 77 of the more than 90 missiles fired were brought down, along with 11 drones.
The Kremlin on Wednesday denounced Poland’s and other countries’ initial reaction to the missile incident and, in rare praise for a U.S. leader, hailed the response of the U.S.
“We have witnessed another hysterical, frenzied, Russophobic reaction that was not based on any real data,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. He added that “immediately, all experts realized that it could not have been a missile linked to the Russian armed forces,” and pointed to a “restrained, much more professional reaction” of the U.S. and its president, Joe Biden.
In Brussels, NATO countries were coming together Wednesday for emergency talks. There was no immediate proof that Tuesday’s blast was a deliberate, hostile attack on NATO member Poland that could trigger the alliance’s provisions for a collective military response.
Russia denied any involvement. But Ukraine was under countrywide Russian bombardment Tuesday by barrages of cruise missiles and exploding drones, which clouded the picture of what exactly happened in Poland and why.
In Europe, NATO members Germany and the U.K. were among those stressing the need for a full investigation. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned against jumping to conclusions “in such a serious matter.”
Still, Scholz and others also laid overall but not specific blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
“This wouldn’t have happened without the Russian war against Ukraine, without the missiles that are now being fired at Ukrainian infrastructure intensively and on a large scale,” Scholz said.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak echoed that assessment, saying: “This is the cruel and unrelenting reality of Putin’s war.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “a very significant escalation." On the other end of the spectrum, China was among those calling for calm and restraint.
Former Soviet-bloc country Ukraine maintains stocks of Soviet- and Russian-made weaponry, including air-defense missiles, and has also seized many more Russian weapons while beating back the Kremlin's invasion forces.
Damage from the aerial assault in Ukraine was extensive and swaths of the country were plunged into darkness. Zelenskyy said about 10 million people lost power but tweeted overnight that 8 million were subsequently reconnected, with repair crews laboring through the night. Previous Russian strikes had already destroyed an estimated 40% of the country’s energy infrastructure.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the meeting in Brussels of the alliance’s envoys. The U.N. Security Council also planned to meet Wednesday for a previously scheduled briefing on the situation in Ukraine.
If Russia had deliberately targeted Poland, it would risk drawing NATO into the conflict.
Polish media reported that the strike took place in an area where grain was drying in Przewodow, a village near the border with Ukraine.
Russia's Defense Ministry denied being behind “any strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border” and said in a statement that photos of purported damage “have nothing to do” with Russian weapons.
The Russian bombardment also affected neighboring Moldova. It reported massive power outages after the strikes in Ukraine disconnected a power line to the small nation.
The assault killed at least one person in a residential building in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. It followed days of euphoria in Ukraine sparked by one of its biggest military successes — the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.
With its battlefield losses mounting, Russia has increasingly resorted to targeting Ukraine’s power grid, seemingly hoping to turn the approach of winter into a weapon by leaving people in the cold and dark.
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Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw; Zeke Miller in Nusa Dua, Indonesia; Michael Balsamo and Lolita Baldor in Washington, D.C.; and James LaPorta in Wilmington, North Carolina, contributed to this story.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
As Bo says...just a thought.
I was hoping this wasn't gonna be some gulf of Tonkin or WMD justification. Glad the truth came out and the situation wasn't manipulated and spun to start WW3. I have to admit I also had a thought similar to yours cross my mind.
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
Oh wait... you've self admittedly never posted anything serious in this forum. Never mind.
There are no kings inside the gates of eden