FRIDAY,APRIL 1 , 2022 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ SU A
warin ukraineBut the exactstatusofthe con-
voy was uncertain late Thursday.
AUnited Nationsofficial said the
organization had not beenable to
reachMariupoland otherplaces
of greatneed, “despiteextensive
efforts.”
UkrainianDeputyPrimeMin-
ister Iryna Vereshchuksaid in a
Telegram messagethatmore than
30 busesremained at the city
entrancewaitingto pick people
upandtakethemtoZaporizhzhia.
Despite the local cease-fire,
part of theconvoy was fired upon
Thursdayafternoonwhiledriving
towardthe Russian-heldcityof
Berdyansk,asthecolumnofbuses
approachedacheckpoint,damag-
ing at least one vehicle,according
TetianaIgnatenkova, aspokes-
womanfor the Donetsk regional
administration. Previous human-
itariancorridorsin the country
also have beenfragile,witheach
side accusingthe otherof violat-
ing cease-fires and obstructing
supplies.
Sincethe startofthe conflict,
80,000residentshave beenevac-
uated fromMariupolusingbuses
and privatetransport, according
to the local government.
Ukraine will resume peace
talkswithRussiaonlineonFriday,
aseniorUkrainiandiplomatpar-
ticipating in the negotiationssaid
on his Telegram channel, after
tentative progressin discussions
in Istanbulon Tuesday.
Thediplomat, David Arakha-
mia, saidUkrainestressed the
needfor ameeting between Putin
and UkrainianPresidentVolod-
ymyr Zelenskyatavenuenot in
Belarusor Russia.But Russian
officials declined, saying the sides
shouldfirstworkout amore co-
herentdraftagreement, he said.
Ukrainianofficials have said any
peacedealshouldbesignedbythe
twoleaders.
Thetwosideshavebeenexplor-
ing ways for Ukraine to becomea
neutralcountryaspartofabroad-
er peacedeal.Ukrainianofficials
have demandedacease-fire and
the withdrawal of Russianforces
to the bordersthatexisted on Feb.
23—adaybeforeRussialaunched
its invasion, Arakhamiasaid.
Thenegotiations have been
metwithskepticismbyUkrainian
and Western officials.Ukrainian
lawmaker Ivanna Klympush-
Tsintsadze,who visitedWashing-
ton, D.C., this weekas partofa
parliamentarydelegation,repeat-
edlysaidPutinwasusingthetalks
as asmokescreento buy time for
his forcesin Ukraine to regroup.
“Itisdifficult to negotiate with
someonewhenthe gun is being
[pointed]at yourhead,”she said
inaninterviewwiththeCanadian
Broadcasting Corp.In remarksto
reporters publishedby CNNon
Wednesday,she saidPutin was
“sendingfalse,lyingmessages” to
the world.BennettreportedfromtheDnipro
regionof Ukraine.BrittanyShammas,
WilliamBranigin,SarahCahlan, Jeff
Stein,Meryl KornfieldandHannah
Knowlesin Washington,Andrew
JeonginSeoul,KimBellwarein
Chicago,Emily Rauhalain Brussels
andAdela Sulimanin London
contributedtothisreport.cluster bombs,chemicalweapons
and otherbannedmunitions, in
additionto heavy shellingand
conventionalairstrikes.
Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev,
the Russian three-star general
wholed forcesin Syria, has been
identified as the architectofthe
devastatingsiegeofMariupoland
has beengivenanew nickname:
the Butcherof Mariupol.Ukraini-
an officialsblamehimfor the
bombingof amaternityhospital,
the DramaTheater and other
buildingsinthe portcityand
vowedto see him triedfor war
crimesin TheHague.
“Rememberhim,”Oleksandra
Matviichuk, head of Ukraine’s
Centerfor Civil Liberties, tweeted
recentlyoveraphoto of the 59-
year-old general, aman with
close-croppedgrayhair and pale
blueeyes. “ThisisMikhailMizint-
sev. He is leadingthe siegeof
Mariupol.”
Thethousands of expected
evacueesfromMariupolwill be
brought to the Ukrainian-held
cityofZaporizhzhia. By Thursday
evening,45buses hadarrivedin
the region to transportpeople,
accordingtolocal officials. Nei-
thertheRussiansnortheUkraini-
ans specified whenthe cease-fire
andhumanitariancorridorwould
end, but Ukraine said its soldiers
would“guaranteeafull cease-fire
regime.”
Aspokesmanfor the Interna-
tionalCommitteeoftheRedCross
said its teamswouldtravel with
theconvoyFriday“tofacilitatethe
safe passageofcivilians out of
Mariupol.”Thevideo, which compared re-
centimages withfootagefrom
2021,showsthe stark contrastof
before and after the siege, includ-
ing the MariupolDrama Theater
thatwas bombed twoweeks ago.
Thedestruction withinthe city
has drawncomparisonswith the
siegeofAleppoin 2016, when
Russian forces helped Syrian
PresidentBasharal-Assadcrush
rebelsin an eight-monthcam-
paignthatfeaturedthe use ofheadquarters in the southerncity
of Mykolaiv,Ukraine’s State
EmergencyService said.
In aFacebookpostThursday,
the agencysaid rescuers hadre-
moved19 bodiesfromthe scene
and thatone persondied in inten-
sive care.Dozensmorewerein-
jured.
Drone videopublished
Wednesdayand verified by The
Washington Post shows wide-
spread destruction in Mariupol.contracts would be terminated
forthosecountriesthatrefuse to
comply.The stipulation takes ef-
fectFriday, aday later thanthe
initialdeadline.But French,Ger-
man and British officials said
their countrieswould not pay for
gasdeliveriesin Russianrubles.
Thedevastation wroughtfrom
five weeksof war showedno signs
of ending.The death toll rose to
20 in Tuesday’sRussianmissile
strikeontheregionalgovernmentnobylnuclearpowersite, officials
said.
AseniorU.S. defenseofficial,
speakingon the conditionofano-
nymityunder groundrulessetby
the Pentagon, said Moscowcould
be planningtoseize Mariupolas a
springboardintotheeasternDon-
basregion,whereRussianstroops
maytry to envelop Ukrainian
forces.Russia’smilitary has in-
creasinglytriedto seizetownsin
thatpartofUkraine,thePentagon
has said,and forcespulledfrom
the country’snorth appeartobe
headingthere.
Thefocus on Mariupolcameas
Western officials attemptedto as-
sessRussia’snextmoves, with
troops withdrawing from the
Chernobylnuclearsite,diplomats
preparingfor morediscussions
Fridayand the war continuing to
disruptoil and natural gas supply
aroundthe world.
There werealso newclaims
thatRussianPresidentVladimir
Putin is beingfurtherisolated
fromhis advisers,withapicture
of chaosemergingaroundRus-
sia’sfrontlinesandtensionsatthe
highestlevelsofthe Kremlin.
JeremyFleming,head of Brit-
ain’s signalsintelligenceagency,
said in aspeechThursdaythat
Russiansoldiersare shortonmo-
rale and weapons and have re-
fusedorders, sabotaged their own
equipmentand shot downone of
theirown aircraft.
In Washington, President
Biden saidPutin “seemsto be
self-isolated, and there’s some in-
dication thathehas fired or put
underhousearrestsomeof his
advisers.”
“ButIdon’t wantto put too
muchstock in thatatthis time
becausewe don’t have thatmuch
hard evidence,”Biden said.
BothBidenand NATO Secre-
taryGeneralJens Stoltenbergex-
pressed doubt Thursdayabout
Russia’sclaim thatitiswithdraw-
ing fromthe areaaroundKyiv,
withStoltenbergsaying Moscow
has lied aboutits intentionsbe-
fore and appearsto be reposition-
ing troopsfor freshattacks.
“Wecan only judgeRussiaon
its actions, not its words,”hesaid
at anewsconference inBrussels.
“According to our intelligence,
Russianunitsare not withdraw-
ing but repositioning.”
Thechief of Ukraine’s Energy
Ministrysaid Russian soldiers
were withdrawing fromwhathe
characterizedas the “mainpart”
of the Chernobylnuclearpower
plantsite, whichRussianforces
capturedinFebruaryshortlyafter
the war brokeout.But Minister
German Galushchenkonoted
thatsometroopsremainatthe
facilityand cautionedthat“no
one can predicttheir next steps.”
Energoatom,Ukraine’s state-
ownedatomicenergyfirm, said
Russianforceswerehandingover
Chernobylto Ukrainianauthori-
ties and withdrawing troops.In a
statementon Telegram, the com-
panyshared aletter in which
Russian and Ukrainian forces
purportedlyagreedto the “trans-
fer of protection”ofthe site.The
claimscouldnot be independent-
ly verified.
ThePentagonsaid Thursday
thatitwas “unclear”aboutthe
accuracyofunconfirmedreports
thatRussian soldiers who are
leaving the Chernobyl nuclear
station had beenexposedto high
levels of radiation and presented
signsof illness.
Biden’s remarkson Putin came
after he announcedhe had au-
thorizedthe releaseof an average
of 1millionbarrels aday fromthe
Strategic PetroleumReserve for
the next six monthsas a“wartime
bridge” untilU.S.production can
ramp up later this year.
TheTreasuryDepartment,
meanwhile,unveilednewsanc-
tionson Russia’stechnologysec-
tor,focusingon an area thaten-
ablesMoscowto acquiretechnol-
ogycriticalforitsmilitary, includ-
ing one firm thatisRussia’s
largestmicrochip producer.
“Wewillcontinue to target Pu-
tin’s war machinewith sanctions
fromeveryangle, untilthis sense-
less war of choiceis over,” Treas-
urySecretaryJanetL.Yellensaid
in astatement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov rejected claimsthatthe
Russian leader’s advisers have
misledhim aboutthe invasion of
Ukraine.
“Theydon’t understandPresi-
dentPutin,”hesaid of Western
governmentand intelligence offi-
cialswho madethoseassertions
Wednesday.“Theydon’t under-
stand the decision-makingmech-
anism,and theydon’tunderstand
our style of work.”
Putin announced Thursday
thathehad signedadecreere-
quiring“unfriendlycountries”to
payfor natural gas in rubles
throughRussianbanks.Hesaidin
broadcastremarksthatexisting
UKRAINEFROMA
Russia continues strikes in Mariupol, Kyiv, Pentagon says
HHHIINNGGGGGGGGTONNNNNNNPPPPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOSSSSSSTTTTTT
Black
SeaSeaof
AzovMykolaiv
Kherson
Kyiv
Kharkiv
Sumy
Chernihiv
ChernobylLviv
Mariupol
Separatist-
controlled
areaCrimea
Annexedby Russia
in 2014Crimea
Annexedby Russia
in 2014Russian-heldareas
and troopmovementRussian-heldareas
and troopmovementAs of March31, 5p.m. EST
Sources:InstitutefortheStudyof War, AmericanEnterpriseInstitute’sCriticalThreatsProject,Postreporting THEWASHINGTONPOST
UKRAINERUSSSSSIA
BELARUSPOLANDM O L D O V A
M O L D O VROMANIA A100 MILESActivenuclearpowerplantswith
power-generatingcapabilitiesnnob
m
y
n
Ukrainiancounterattacks
recapturedsometerritories
aroundKyiv,butheavy
shellingandfighting
continuedinthecity.Ukrainiancounterattacks
recapturedsometerritories
aroundKyiv,but heavy
shellingandfighting
continuedin thecity.Heavyairstrikescontinued
intheportcityofMariupol.Heavyairstrikescontinued
in theportcityofMariupol.Civiliansaretrappedin
Izyum,southofKharkiv,
asheavyfighting
continues.Civiliansaretrappedin
Izyum,southofKharkiv,
asheavyfighting
continues.Slavutych
ALEXANDERERMOCHENKO/REUTERS
MARKODJURICA/REUTERS
TOP:MariupolresidentshaveamealThursdayamidtheruinsof their community. Theportcityhas
bornetheworstofRussia’s invasion.ABOVE:Evacuees arrivein Zaporizhzhia,Ukraine,onThursday.