The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-27)

A6 EZ SU THEWASHINGTONPOST.SUNDAY,MARCH 27 , 2022

warin ukraine

BYDAVIDL.STERN,

MARIANAALFARO

ANDMIRIAMBERGER

mukachevo,ukraine—Two
powerful rocketsstruckthe west-
ernUkrainian cityofLviv on
Saturday, injuring at leastfive
and leavingan industrialfacility
wherefuelis storedon fire, as
Russia rampedup its offensiveon
aday whenPresidentBidenwas
deliveringaforceful speechon
democracyinneighboring Po-
land.
Theattackscameas asurprise
andwere aclearindicationof
escalation by Russiantroopsin a
citythathad beenlargely spared
intensebombardmentduringthe
month-long invasion. Although
Russianadvanceshave seemingly
slowed, the day’sevents again
provedhow the war is justahair’s
breadth away from engulfing
NATO nationsor globalpowersin
acatastrophicnuclearscenario.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy
chiefofthe Russian Security
Council,reiterated in an inter-
viewonstate mediaSaturdaythat
Russiacoulduse nuclearweap-
ons if therewas anykind of attack
thatthreatenedthe nation’s exis-
tence.Medvedevoutlined the var-
iousscenariosunderwhichRus-
sia woulduse its nuclearweap-
ons,sayingthatit“demonstrates
our determinationto defendthe
independenceand sovereigntyof
our country.”
Lviv has becomesomethingof
awesterncapitalfor the country,
withmanydiplomats and others
fleeingtherefromKyiv and cities
underheavy siegeinthe eastern
partofUkraine.The cityiswidely
regardedas acenterof Ukrainian
nationalismandculture,andit
dates its official foundingto more
thanseven centuriesago.
Theattacks Saturdaysent
somenervous Lviv residents
scrambling underground.Mak-

symKozytskyy,Lviv’s governor

and headof the regionalmilitary,

saidan oil depotandafactory

had beenhit in residentialareas

of the city, whichis 50 milesfrom

the borderwithPoland. Lviv’s

mayor,Andriy Sadovyi, said

hoursafterwardthatthere had

been“significantdamage” to “in-

frastructure facilities”but thatno

residentialhomeswerehit.

Thestrikes in Lviv cameaday

after Russia asserted thatithad

endedits firstphase of the con-

flict, claimingto be shiftingits

attentiontoeastern Ukraine’s dis-

putedterritories.Pentagon intel-

ligencealso said Russia had halt-

ed groundoperationsaimedat

Kyiv,movingits focus insteadon

attackingthe easternDonbasre-

gion.

But othersrebutted thosesug-

gestions.Russia is likely to con-

tinueusing“heavy firepoweron

urbanareas”in its bombardment

of keyUkrainian citiesincluding

Kharkiv,Chernihiv and Mari-

upol,Britain’s DefenseMinistry

warnedSaturdayinanintelli-

gence update. Theministrysaid

the Russianmilitarywas seeking

to “limit its own alreadyconsider-

ablelosses”andwouldrelyon

siegetactics thatfurtherendan-

gercivilianlives.

TheInstitutefor the Studyof

War, aU.S.-basedmilitarythink

tank,also warnedthatMoscowis

misrepresentingits plannedop-

erations.Theinstitute said in a

statement FridaythatRussian

forceshave not stoppedfighting

in otherparts of the countryand

were“conducting operationsand

committingwar crimes.”The in-

stitutebelieves the Kremlinstill

aimsto seizeUkraine’s capital,

Kyiv,and othermajorcities,and

thatany absenceof significant

Russian offensive operations

probablyreflects militaryshort-

comingsrather thanachangein

war aims.

Theattack in Lviv appearedto

provethe institute’s warning, giv-

en thatthe western cityisclose to

theUkraine-Polandborder.It

came justhours before Biden

deliveredastrongcondemnation

of Russia’sVladimirPutinduring

an addressin Warsaw—2 50

milesfromLviv.

“I thinkwiththesestrikes the

aggressorwantsto sayhello to

President Bidenwhois in Po-

land,”Sadovyitold reporters after

the attack.“I thinkthe worldhas

to understand,it has to be clearto

everyone,thatthe threatisvery

veryserious.”

Separately,Russianforceshave

enteredSlavutych, acityofabout

25,000peoplethatserves as a

housingcommunityfor workers

fromthe nearbyChernobylnu-

clearpowerplant,andseizeda

hospitalthere,accordingto the

governorof the Kyiv region,Olek-

sandrPavlyuk.

Later Saturday, theInterna-

tionalAtomicEnergyAgencysaid

Russianshellingin Slavutychpre-

vented workers at theclosed

plant from returning to their

homesfor aboutaweek.

In Warsaw, Bidenconcludeda

three-dayvisit to shoreup rela-

tions with European allies by

deliveringwhataides hadsaid

wouldbe a“significantspeech”

on the importanceof democracy

overautocracy.

BidenwarnedRussiaagainst

movingon “one singleinch”of

territorybelongingto alliesin the

NorthAtlanticTreaty Organiza-

tion.On Friday, thepresidenthad

metwiththe U.S. Army’s82nd

AirborneDivision,whichis sta-

tionedin the area of Poland’s

RzeszowAirport. Itsmembersare

servingalongsidePolish forcesto

bolster NATO’sfront-linedefens-

es.

Putin’s actions, Biden said,

have had an unexpected effectfor

the Russianleader:They have

drawn NATO alliescloser.

“Russia’sbrutal tactics have

strengthenedthe resolve,”Biden

said.“RatherthandriveNATO

apart, the West is nowstronger

andmoreunitedthanit’s ever

been.”

“Infact, Russia has managed to

causesomethingI’msure he nev-

erintended,”the presidentadded.

“The democraciesof the world

are revitalizedwithpurposeand

unityfoundin monthsthatwe’ve

oncetaken yearsto accomplish.”

Themostsurprising com-

mentscame at the endof his

27-minutespeech, whenBiden

said thatPutin “cannotremainin

power,” an off-the-cuffremark.A

WhiteHouse official later clari-

fied thatthe president wasn’t

discussing“regimechange” but

Rockets strike western city of Lviv as Biden visits Poland

Attacksserveas sign of

Russianescalationin city

that has becomerefuge

HHHHIIINNNGGGGGGGGTONNNNNNNPPPPPPPOOOOOOSSSSSSTTTTTT

Black

Sea

Seaof

Azov

Odessa

Mykolaiv

Kherson

Kyiv

Kharkiv

Sumy

Chernihiv

Chernobyl

Lviv

Mariupol

Separatist-

controlled

area

Crimea

Annexedby Russia

in 2014

Crimea

Annexedby Russia

in 2014

Russian-heldareas

and troopmovement

Russian-heldareas

and troopmovement

As of March26, 3:30 p.m. EST

Sources:Institutefor the Study of War, American EnterpriseInstitute’sCriticalThreats Project,Post reporting THE WASHINGTON POST

UKRAINE

RUSSSSSIA

BELARUS

POLAND

M O L D O V A

M O L D O V A

ROMANIA

100 MILES

Activenuclearpowerplantswith

power-generatingcapabilities

y

Explosions rockedthe

westerncityofLviv.

Oneattackstruckan

industrialfacility

wherefuel is stored.

Explosions rocked the

westerncityofLviv.

Oneattack struckan

industrial facility

wherefuel is stored.

TheRussianmilitary

continuedtostruggle

togainpositions from

whichtoattackthe

capital,Kyiv.

The Russian military

continued to struggle

to gain positions from

which to attackthe

capital,Kyiv.

Ukrainianforces

successfully

counterattackedareas

aroundKharkiv,while

Russianshellingofthe

citycontinued.

Ukrainian forces

successfully

counterattacked areas

aroundKharkiv,while

Russianshelling of the

citycontinued.

Russianforces enteredthetownof

Slavutych,where manyworkers

fromthenearbyChernobylnuclear

powerplant live.

Russianforces enteredthe town of

Slavutych,where many workers

fromthenearby Chernobyl nuclear

Slavutychpowerplant live.

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