Ukrainian officials say there has been no reduction in hostilities overnight despite claims by Russia that it planned to reduce the number of troops and military operations around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the northern city of Chernihiv.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said the Russian army continues to conduct a full-scale armed aggression against the country on Wednesday, while Ukrainian forces continue to conduct a defense operation in the eastern, southeastern and northeastern directions.
The mayor of Chernihiv said the city has come under “colossal attack,” while Russia says that there has been “no breakthrough” in negotiations being held in Istanbul. The mayor of the northern Ukrainian city dismissed Moscow’s claim of a scale-back in operations. The city was “under fire” from Russian airstrikes while shelling continued through the night, according to Viacheslav Chaus, head of the Chernihiv regional administration.
US officials have also been skeptical of Russia’s claims of de-escalation in certain parts of Ukraine, and some observers have suggested Russia’s shifting military objectives are meant to conceal setbacks on the battlefield.
Here’s more of the latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine conflict:
- Ukrainian police say there is continued shelling by Russians in the Donetsk region: Russia troops have attacked nine settlements, damaging at least eight civilian buildings, including houses and shops, according to the National Police of Ukraine. Russians fired at the civilian population with “mortars, tanks, artillery, and small arms,” and some have been wounded. The most heavily shelled cities and towns in the region over the past 24 hours have been: Mariupol, Marinka, Krasnohorivka, Avdiivka, Vuhledar, Volnovakha, Zalizne, Ocheretyne (Oleksandrivska TG), and Novoselivka-3, according to police. The city of Pokrovsk also came under attack on Wednesday. The Donetsk region is one of two breakaway eastern Ukrainian territories, the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.
- Satellite imagery confirms Mariupol Red Cross warehouse has been hit by military strikes: The Red Cross warehouse in central Mariupol was hit by at least two military strikes, new satellite images from Maxar Technologies confirm. On Wednesday, the Azov Battalion — a unit that began as an ultra-nationalist militia but has since integrated into the Ukrainian Armed Forces — claimed on their Telegram channel that the warehouse had been hit by Russian military strikes, posting an image of the larger complex as evidence. CNN has obtained a satellite image from Maxar Technologies that confirms the allegation.
- Top US general in Europe says US force posture has to change on the continent: Gen. Tod Wolters, commander of US European Command, told lawmakers during a congressional hearing Wednesday the US force posture in Europe needs to change. Wolters, who oversees the US military presence on the European continent, said the US force posture needs to change not only in Eastern Europe but also in “air policing activity” and in “naval maritime groups.” Wolters also highlighted the eight battalion-sized battle groups the US and NATO are establishing in Eastern European NATO member countries.
- Biden told Zelensky the US would provide Ukraine with $500 million in “direct budgetary aid,” White House says: US President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for about an hour Wednesday, according to the White House. Zelensky tweeted after the call that they “shared assessment of the situation on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. Talked about specific defensive support, a new package of enhanced sanctions, macro-financial and humanitarian aid.” In a statement, the White House said Biden told Zelensky the US “intends to provide the Ukrainian government with $500 million in direct budgetary aid” on the call. The budgetary aid is to help pay salaries, among other things, according to an official.
- Top US senators express frustration over delay of bill to punish Russia: Sen. Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, expressed concern about the delay of the bill to revoke the normal trade status of Russia and Belarus. “First of all, it doesn’t have to be this way. If people just focus on the bottom line is that this is the key addition that our country needs to add economic firepower to the fight against Putin,” he told CNN. Meanwhile, Sen. Mike Crapo, the ranking Republican on the panel, said to CNN: “I wish we had been able to move last week. But as you know, in the Senate, we have to get unanimous consent or spend a week or more on a filibuster battle. We’ve been working really hard to get it put together and we’ve been making some progress. And my hope is that we’ll be able to move soon.”
- UNICEF says 2 million children have fled Ukraine, with more than 100 killed: Roughly two million children have now been forced to flee Ukraine — making up half of all refugees from the war — the United Nations Children’s Fund said Wednesday. More than 1.1 million have arrived in Poland alone, with hundreds of thousands in nearby countries of Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. UNICEF warned of a heightened risk of exploitation and trafficking for children fleeing violence. In an effort to quell those risks, the UN agency is scaling up “Blue Dots,” which are one-stop safe spaces for traveling families. More than 100 children have been killed in the conflict, UNICEF added, with more than 130 injured. More than 2.5 million children have been internally displaced within Ukraine, according to UNICEF.
- British prime minister says it’s “not the objective of the UK government” to remove Putin from power: Boris Johnson said Wednesday that it’s “not the objective of the UK government” to remove Russian President Vladimir Putin from power. Speaking to the Liaison Committee of the House of Commons, Johnson was asked by lawmakers if he agreed that the final outcome should not only be “Russians out of Ukraine but Putin out of the Kremlin?” He said: “It is absolutely clear, it is not the objective of the UK government [to remove Putin from power]. We are simply setting out to help, to protect the people of Ukraine, to protect them against absolutely barbaric and unreasonable violence. That is what we are doing,” the prime minister responded.
Read more>>Comparison Between Ukraine and Russia’s militaries
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