A statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that “the objectives of the first phase of the operation” had been “largely achieved”, with Ukraine’s combat capabilities “significantly reduced” and that it would now focus on security in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region, where Russia the pro-separatists have been fighting for eight years. The Defense Ministry statement was ambiguous about further possible Russian territorial ambitions in Ukraine, where its ground forces have largely been hampered by the unexpectedly strong Ukrainian military response. But on a day when President Biden was visiting US troops in Poland near the Ukrainian border, the statement suggests the Russians were looking for a way to save some sort of achievement before the cost of the war, which began a month ago, became unlikely. heavy. While Russia “does not rule out” that its forces will invade major Ukrainian cities such as Chernihiv, Mykolaiv and the capital Kyiv, the statement of the Ministry of Defense said that their withdrawal was not the primary goal. Russian bombardment of the area around Kyiv continued on Friday. Congratulations … Daniel Berehulak for the New York Times “As the individual units carry out their tasks – and are successfully resolved – our forces and resources will be concentrated on the main thing: the full liberation of Donbass,” said Colonel Sergei Rudskoi, a senior Russian military commander. in the statement, his first since the Russian invasion on February 24. Whether General Rudskoi’s statement was sincere or merely a strategic misstep was difficult to assess. But the statement was tantamount to the most immediate acknowledgment so far that Russia may not be able to take full control of Ukraine and would instead target the Donbass region, where Russia has recognized the independence of two pro-separatist regions. from the Kremlin and calls them the “Donetsk People’s Republic”. and the “Luhansk People’s Republic”. Russia has also insisted that Ukraine recognize its control of Crimea, which was seized by President Vladimir Putin’s forces in 2014. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding these areas to end the war. Pavel Luzin, a Russian military analyst, has warned that Russian military commanders’ public statements should be viewed with skepticism. Although Russia could indeed limit its military objectives, he said, General Rudchenko’s statement could also be fake as Russia prepares for a new offensive. Colonel Sergei Rudsoi, left, at a military briefing in Moscow on Friday. “We can say that this is a message that we no longer insist on dissolving the Ukrainian state,” Luzhin said. “But I would rather see it as a distraction.” General Rudskoi’s statement came as Ukraine acknowledged that Russian forces had “partially succeeded” in achieving one of their main goals – securing a land route from Russia to the Crimean peninsula. While Russia already controlled much of the region, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the route allowed Russian troops and supplies to flow between Crimea and Russia. However, some Ukrainian officials said the importance of such a route could be overstated. Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council under Zelensky, described the land bridge as a small Russian victory and said the Kremlin was moving to secure Donetsk and Luhansk to “sell to the Russian public.” as a possible victory. “ In Moscow, Mr Putin, who has made any criticism of the war a possible crime, used a teleconference with the winners of a presidential arts award on Friday to present a dialogue on “culture of annulment” that he did not do anything about. reference to the war in Ukraine. Embracing a term that has become a favorite of the American political right to reiterate its claim that the West is trying to erase Russian culture and history, Putin quoted JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book, whose comments for trans women have been criticized as transphobic. Russian President Vladimir Putin in a teleconference with award-winning cultural professionals in Moscow on Friday. Credit … Photo of a swimming pool by Mikhail Klimentyev “Not long ago, children’s author JK Rowling was” canceled “for the fact that – the author of books that have sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide – he did not please fans of so-called gender freedoms. said Mr. Putin. Rowling responded on Twitter: “Criticisms of Western culture of annulment are perhaps no better than those slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance or imprisoning and poisoning their critics.” Add the hashtag #IStandWithUkraine. As Mr Putin spoke, there were indications that Ukrainian forces were making some progress in the second week of their counterattack. A senior Pentagon official said Russian forces no longer had full control of the southern port of Kherson and that the city, the first major urban center to be occupied during the Russian invasion, was now “disputed territory.” The Pentagon’s assessment contradicts General Rudskoi’s claim on Friday that the Kherson area was “under full control.” In another sign of a bloody stalemate in Ukraine, Russian troops have taken up “defensive positions” near Kyiv, the Pentagon official said, adding that Russia seemed to be “prioritizing” the battle in eastern Ukraine, as suggested by Russian President Rudskoi. “Clearly, they overestimated their ability to occupy Kyiv and overestimated their ability to occupy any population center,” the Pentagon official said. On the second day of his three-day visit to Europe following the Ukraine crisis, Biden traveled to Rzeszow, Poland, about 50 miles from the Ukrainian border, where he met with members of the 82nd Airborne Division serving as part of NATO efforts to protect Poland and other Member States from Russian aggression. President Biden, who visited Poland on Friday, was briefed by his Polish counterpart Andrei Duda on the country’s response to the Ukraine refugee crisis. Credit … Doug Mills / The New York Times Welcoming US Army members eating pizza in a cafeteria, Biden called them “the best fighting force in the history of the world” and added: “I personally thank you for what you are doing.” Mr Biden later met with Polish President Andrzej Duda and with officials managing the humanitarian response to the more than two million Ukrainian refugees who have fled to Poland to escape bombing and deprivation. Mr Biden also announced an agreement to increase gas shipments to the United States to help Europe wean itself off Russian energy. However, it remained unclear exactly how the administration would achieve its goals. The deal calls on the United States to send an additional 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas – about 10 to 12 percent of current annual US exports to all countries. However, it does not face the lack of port capacity to send and receive more gas on both sides of the Atlantic. However, U.S. gas executives welcomed the renewed emphasis on exports as a sign that the Biden administration was now seeking to boost the U.S. oil and gas industry instead of punishing it for its contribution to climate change. “I have no idea how they are going to do this, but I do not want to criticize them for trying to do the right thing for the first time,” said Charif Souki, chief executive of Tellurian, an American gas producer. planning to build an export terminal in Louisiana. Robert Habeck, Germany’s deputy chancellor and finance minister, said his country expected to halve Russian oil imports by mid-summer and almost finish them by the end of the year – earlier than many thought. He estimated that Germany, Europe’s largest economy, could be free of Russian gas by mid-2024. Pictures and videos from Ukraine that appeared on Friday highlighted the escalating death toll and the devastation. Recently, security camera footage verified by the New York Times shows an attack on people queuing for emergency aid outside a post office and a mall in the hit northeastern city of Kharkiv on Thursday. Oleg Sinegubov, head of the regional government there, said at least six civilians had been killed and 15 wounded. A man ran from a shop that was set on fire after a Russian attack in Kharkov on Friday. Credit … Felipe Dana / Associated Press Photographs outside Kharkiv on Friday also showed a large fireball and nearby cars and buildings burning, as residents fled on foot and by bicycle, carrying whatever they could grab in the aftermath of the attack. In the central city of Dnipro, Russian missile strikes on a military installation destroyed buildings late Thursday night, according to Ukrainian officials, who said the casualties were still estimated. And in Mariupol, the southern port slaughtered by Russian attacks, Ukrainian officials say an estimated 300 people were killed in a March 16 attack on a theater used as a bomb shelter. It was not clear how the officials came to this assessment. Ukrainian officials said about 130 people had been rescued from the theater, which was attacked, although the “children” had been written in giant letters on the sidewalk on both sides of the building. The United Nations said on Friday that more than 1,000 civilians had been killed, including 93 children, since the start of the Russian invasion, many of the bombings that seemed indiscriminate could turn into a war …
