The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-06)

A18 EZ M2 THEWASHINGTONPOST.SUNDAY,MARCH 6 , 2022

been closed, damaged or de-

stroyed, the IMF noted in anews

release.

“While the situationremains

highly fluid and the outlookis

subjecttoextraordinaryuncer-

tainty,the economicconsequenc-

es are alreadyveryserious,”the

agencywrote. “While it is very

difficulttoassessfinancingneeds

preciselyatthisstage,itisalready

clearthatUkrainewillfacesignifi-

cant recoveryandreconstruction

costs.”

TheIMF saidUkraine has re-

quested more than $1.4billionof

emergencyfinancing.

As Russia tries to advance on

several fronts, pummelingcities

and towns with heavy weapons,

Ukraine’sdefense minister Olek-

siiReznikovwarnedSaturdayina

Facebook postthat“the mainef-

fortofthe invadershas been fo-

cused on encircling Kyiv.” The

city’sdefenders, headded, “con-

tinuetofight back the enemy’s

offensive and inflictlosses up on

itsoffensivegroupings.”

An outgunnedbut resilient

Ukrainian militaryisadopting a

two-prongstrategyinthefaceofa

flawedbutfierceRussianassault,

relyingonhit-and-runtacticsand

thefortificationofmajorcitiesas

Putin’s campaign enters amore

perilousphase, militaryexperts

said.

Theodds remain stacked

againstUkraine.Russian forces

have begun employingsiegetac-

tics, aiming to flatten civilian in-

frastructure and exactmaximum

punishmentfor Ukrainian resis-

tance. While Russia has mostly

failed, so far,toseize major cities

and effectivelysupplyits soldiers

with food and fuel, the Pentagon

believesitisprobablethatRussia

willregroupandpressitsmassive

advantageinfirepower.

Themain threattoKyiv ap-

pearstobeamassive Russian

convoy,about 40 miles long,ap-

proachingKyivfromthewestand

believedtobeabout20milesfrom

thecapitalandstucknearacargo

airport.

Western officials have saidthe

convoy has stalled because of re-

sistancefromUkrainiantroopsas

wellaslogisticalsetbacks,includ-

ingshortagesoffuel.Butmilitary

analysts have not ruled out tacti-

calreasonsforthedelayinmoving

the convoy forward, as Moscow

waitsfor its forces to advance

otherfronts.

In amedia briefing last week,

John Kirby,the Pentagon spokes-

man, said Ukrainianresistance

and “logistical and sustainment”

challengeshadhamperedthecon-

voy’sprogress. But the United

Statesalsobelievedthat“theRus-

siansaredeliberately,actually,re-

grouping themselves and reas-

sessing the progress thatthey

have not made and how to make

upforlosttime.”

Can Kasapoglu, director of the

SecurityandDefenseStudiesPro-

gram at EDAM,aTurkish think

tank,saidthe convoy’s delay was

partiallythe resultofRussia’sef-

forttoshiftawayfrom afailed

battle plan thathad initially

aimedatquicklydecapitatingthe

Ukrainian government with a

“hybrid”militaryforce—ofatype

Moscow had previously used, in-

cluding during its annexation of

Crimeain2014.TheRussianforc-

es are trying to transition to a

“Soviet-typeheavyfirepowerand

armor-focused operations,”he

said. But, he said, “the transition

to amassiveinvasionisnot easy,

especially for logistics.”Inaddi-

tion,Russiantruckshadbeentar-

getedbyUkrainianforces.

AbriefingfromtheInstitutefor

the StudyofWar on Fridaycon-

cluded thatwhile the convoy’s

progress from the westremained

slow,“Russiantroopshavemoved

morerapidlyfromtheeastandare

arrivinginthe capital’s outskirts

on the Sumyaxis,”referring to a

cityabout180mileseastofKyiv.

TheSumyaxis“iscurrentlythe

mostsuccessful and dangerous

Russian avenue of advance on

Kyiv,” the authorssaid, adding

thatthe Russianforceshadlikely

proceeded alongterrain thatis

“flatand sparsely populated, of-

fering fewgood defensive posi-

tions.”AstheRussiansdrewnear-

er to Kyiv,they“maybegin to

encounter the sorts of challenges

thathaveslowed their comrades’

advances on the westbank of the

Dnipro, depending on the

strength and capabilityofUkrai-

nian forces attempting to defend

ontheeast,”referringtotheriver

thatdividesKyiv.

As the crisisdeepened,Israeli

Prime MinisterNaftali Bennett

metwithPutin in Moscow for

aboutthreehoursintheKremlin,

anIsraeliofficialsaid.Theheadof

Israel’sNationalSecurityCouncil,

Eyal Hulata, also attended, along

with Zeev Elkin, Israel’s minister

ofhousingandconstruction,who

is from Kharkiv,acityinnorth-

eastern Ukraine thathas come

underintenseRussianshelling.

BennettspokewithPutinabout

the impactofthe conflict on Is-

raelis and Jewish communities,

theofficialsaid.

Israel has saiditwill maintain

communicationswith Moscow to

help de-escalatethe conflictand

has offered to mediate between

Russia and Ukraine. Israel has

been trying to supportUkraine,

whichhas alargeJewishpopula-

tion,withoutalienatingMoscow.

FahimreportedfromIstanbul,Harris

fromWashingtonandFrancisfrom

London.AlexanderStetsenkoin Kyiv;

LovedayMorris in BilaTs erkva,

Ukraine;Missy Ryanin Korczowa,

Poland;SteveHendrixin Jerusalem;

ClaireParkerinNewYork;and

TimothyBella,ToddC. Frankel,Mike

DeBonis, DanLamothe,AlexHorton,

KarounDemirjian,MarisaIatiand

KareemCopelandin Washington

contributedto this report.

warin ukraine

consideringthelattermeasure.

InacalloverZoomattendedby

more than280 lawmakers, Zel-

enskydescribed“theurgentneed”

formoremilitarysupportandhu-

manitarianaid.The callcame af-

ter the Bidenadministration on

Thursdayrequested$10billionin

aidforUkraine.

TheUkrainianpresident’smes-

sagewas“closetheskiesorgiveus

planes,”Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.)

said in astatement after the call,

whichlastedjustunderanhour.

In commentsafterward,law-

makers seemedgenuinelymoved

tostepupaid.ButU.S.andEuro-

pean officials have steadfastly re-

sistedcallstocreateano-flyzone,

worried about the potential for

directconflictwithRussia.

“The only waytoactually im-

plement something likeano-fly

zoneistosendNATOplanes into

Ukrainian airspaceand to shoot

down Russianplanes, and that

couldleadtoafull-fledgedwarin

Europe,”State Department

spokesmanNedPricesaid.

In the face of U.S. reluctance,

Zelenskyasked lawmakers for

helpwithanotherwaytolimitthe

damagefromRussia’sdevastating

aerial raids: more planes for

Ukraine.

“HismainaskwasfortheU.S.to

allow Poland and Romaniato

transfer Sovietera jets to

#Ukraine,andfortheU.S.tocom-

pensatebygivingmoreadvanced

planes to thosetwo NATO allies,”

Rep.BradSherman(D-Calif.)said

inaTwitterpost.

UkraineandRussiaareaiming

to meetMondayfor another

roundoftalks,Ukrainiannegotia-

torDavidArakhamiasaid.

Bidenand Zelenskytalked for

about30minutesonSaturday

evening,duringwhichthe U.S.

president reiterated thatthe ad-

ministration “issurgingsecurity,

humanitarian, and economic as-

sistancetoUkraine andiswork-

ingclosely with Congress to se-

Putin cracked jokes, the Russian
leaderescalatedhisrhetoricasthe
crisis enteredits ninthday.He
compared international sanc-
tionsagainstMoscowtoa“decla-
ration of war”and saidthatany
countrythatparticipatedinano-
flyzone over Ukraine would be
considered“participantsinamili-
taryconflict.”
Putin’scommentssignaledthat
he had little intention of halting
his campaignto seize hugepor-
tionsofthe countryand remove
itsgovernment. Negotiationsbe-
tween Ukrainian and Russian
teamsmeeting in Belarus have
producednotangibleresults.
Citizens fled cities amidshell-
ing as local officials warnedof a
humanitarian catastrophe for
thosewhoremained.AndU.S.and
European officials have quietly
begunmakingplanstohelpestab-
lishandsupportaUkrainiangov-
ernment in exile, assuming that
Russian military forces,which
have faced noticeable setbacks,
willultimatelyprevail.
SpeakinginPolandataborder
crossing with Ukraine,Secretary
of State AntonyBlinken said,
“Putin has made aterrible, terri-
ble, terrible mistakeinmany
ways,butitstartswiththepropo-
sition thatsomehowUkraine
doesn’t existasanindependent
country. WhatUkrainiansare
showingeverysingleday is, of
course,exactlytheopposite.
“We’reinitwithUkraine one
wayoranother,” Blinken said.
“The shortrun, the medium run,
thelongrun.We’reinthistogeth-
er.Wewill succeed together.
Ukraineisgoingtoprevail.”
Duringavirtualameetingwith
membersofCongress, Zelensky
soughtadditionalU.S.helptofend
offtheRussianinvasionbyasking
formorefighterjetsandabanon
the purchase of Russian oil. The
WhiteHouseonFridaysaiditwas

MILITARYFROMA

Putin threatens

government after

brief cease-fire

cureadditionalfunding.”

Evacuations continued in Kyiv

and air raid sirenssounded re-

peatedly as Ukraine’s defense

minister warnedof agathering

threattothe capital from ap-

proaching columns of Russian

troops.

Ukrainian officials accused

Russia of violating temporary

truceagreementsinthesouthern

cities of Mariupol and Volno-

vakha. In Mariupol,wherethe

mayor on Fridaywarnedthatthe

coastalcitywasfacinga“humani-

tariancatastrophe,”thecitycoun-

cilonSaturdayadvisedcitizensto

evacuate, beforereversing course

and urging people to hunker

down because,theysaid, Russian

forcescontinuedtoshellthecity.

Britain’sDefense Ministryac-

cusedRussiaofproposingacease-

fire in Mariupol to “deflectinter-

nationalcondemnation”andgive

itsforcestimetoreset.

“ByaccusingUkraineofbreak-

ingtheagreement,Russiaislikely

seekingto shiftresponsibility for

currentandfutureciviliancasual-

ties in the city,”the ministry said

inastatement.

Volnovakha, acityofabout

21,000,alsoendured“heavyartil-

lery” assaultsduringthe cease-

fire,Ukraine’s deputyprimemin-

istersaid.Russiadeniedbreaking

thetruce,accusingUkraineofus-

ingciviliansas“humanshields.”

Also Saturday, apowerful ex-

plosionstruckaresidential area

in Bila Tserkva,50milessouthof

Kyiv.Localofficials saidtheysus-

pected aRussian rocket attack.

Several peoplewere injured, but

there were no immediate reports

offatalities.

That city of around 200,

people—aboutthesamepopula-

tion as Des Moines —wouldbea

strategic prize in anyRussian ef-

forttochoke offKyiv,but for the

momentitremainedatthemouth

of one of the fewrelativelysafe

passagesinandoutofthecapital.

Streams of people fleeingKyiv

cloggedcheckpointsastheymade

theirlong drive away from the

shelling.

Bila Tserkva is also ahub for

humanitarianaidandmilitaryde-

liveries into the capital and fur-

ther east. Much of the energyof

the militaryvolunteers andcity

officials was focusedongetting

the right materials to the places

theyareneeded.

TheU.N.human rights office

said Fridaythatatleast331 civil-

ians have beenkilled during the

conflict,whileUkraine’semergen-

cyservicesputthenumberofcivil-

ianfatalitiesmuchhigher,atmore

than2,000.Nearly1.3millionpeo-

ple have been evacuated by train

sinceRussiabeganitsinvasionof

UkraineonFeb. 24,Oleksandr

Kamyshin, chairmanof Ukraini-

anRailways,saidSaturday.

TheInternational Monetary

Fund warnedthatUkraine will

suffer “devastating”economic

damageifRussia’sinvasionofthe

countrycontinuestoescalate.The

Russian bombardmentisalso in-

flicting a“substantial”economic

toll because numerousairports,

sea ports, roads and bridges have

HHHIINNGGGGGGGTONNNNNPPPPPOOOOOSSSSSSSTTTTT

Russiabrokethe

cease-fireagreementin

Mariupol,wherea

humanitariancorridor

wasbrieflyestablished

soresidentscould

escape.

Black

Sea

Seaof

Azov

DDDnnn

iiiep

er

Kyiv

Mariupol

Odessa Kherson

Kharkiv

Russianforcesdid

notadvancetoward

KyivonSaturday

Separatist-

controlled

area

Crimea

Annexedby Russia

in 2014

Crimea

Annexedby Russia

in 2014

Russian-heldareas

and troopmovement

Russian-heldareas

and troopmovement

Russian-heldareas

and troopmovement

Russian-heldareas

and troopmovement

As of March5, 3:00 p.m. EST

Sources:InstitutefortheStudyof War, Post reporting THEWASHINGTONPOST

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