As Russia pulls back from Kyiv, grim scenes emerge

KHRESTYSHCHE, Ukraine — This town is slowly fading away. Most residents have fled after nearly a decade of bloody conflict since Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern provinces took up arms against the Ukrainian state. One morning this week, six elderly women, some of the town’s remaining 1,500 residents, huddled outside the village’s only church.

They were nervous. Here on the war’s most hotly contested front line, Russian airstrikes have drawn closer and the din of war grows louder. The incessant thud of artillery striking a village 10 miles away, echoed through the valley below, interrupting their prayer.

“We don’t know who, or what, is being fired at,” said 65-year-old Valentina, who said she was too afraid to give her last name.

The eastern region of Ukraine, known as the Donbas, has emerged as the most critical battlefield at this stage in the month-long war between Russian invaders and Ukrainian forces trying to protect their homeland. Russian President Vladimir Putin has set his sights on taking full control of this region as he withdraws his forces from the outskirts of Kyiv, according to intelligence assessments. Analysts say Putin will redeploy forces here for a new offensive and in an effort to save face after humiliating setbacks elsewhere, setting the stage for increasingly brutal battles for control here.

A diplomatic spat broke out on Twitter after the Czech Foreign Ministry appealed Friday for Russian diplomats to resign over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

In an open letter posted online, Czech officials urged their Russian counterparts to abandon a “sinking ship” and avoid becoming accomplices in the “apocalyptic destruction” of Ukraine.

“Colleagues, we implore those of you who have a conscience and who maintain the capacity to recognize evil: take yourself out of this circle of accomplices,” the ministry said in the letter. “We call on you, those with morals and good hearts, to please, leave this sinking ship, which only attracts the wrath of freedom-loving people around the world.”

Russia hit back through its diplomatic mission in Geneva, which sarcastically thanked the Czech ministry for the offer and called the European country an American “lapdog.”

Last month, Russia accused Canada of “kindergarten-level Russophobic libel” after it annotated a letter Russia had sent to the United Nations about Ukraine. Canada’s response was that it had simply “suggested edits.”

Tens of thousands of Russian troops massed on the Ukrainian border in early February, Western intelligence officials warned of an imminent invasion and key senators worked furiously to assemble a sanctions package that they hoped would deter Russian President Vladimir Putin — or at least demonstrate bipartisan U.S. resolve to oppose him.

A sanctions deal, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters on Feb. 8, was “getting closer and closer” after weeks of negotiations.

Instead, the talks fell apart. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters that day that President Biden had “all the authority he needs,” and the GOP withdrew from talks and introduced its own sanctions bill a week later.

When Russian forces crossed the Ukrainian border on Feb. 24, virtually every U.S. lawmaker condemned the invasion, but Congress as an institution took no immediate action to respond.

Five weeks later, Congress has yet to send a piece of stand-alone legislation to Biden punishing Russia or aiding Ukraine. Lawmakers did approve a $13.6 billion package of military and humanitarian aid last month, but that legislation — which was included in a massive federal spending bill — has been the exception proving the rule.

Five weeks after Russian troops hurtled into the country in the hope of swiftly seizing the capital, installing a friendly government and subjugating Ukraine, the Russian military appears to be shrinking its goals to prioritize the east, redeploying forces that had been destined for the Kyiv region and attempting to organize reinforcements to compensate for the thousands of troops that have been killed.

The move represents a new and substantially different phase of the war as Russia withdraws its troops from battered northern and western areas to focus eastward, where it has already wreaked massive destruction and deprivation, most notably in the city of Mariupol, where as many as 100,000 people remained trapped in grim conditions.

The shift reflects a recognition in Moscow that Russia can no longer accomplish its original goals, analysts say. After making initial gains, its forces have stalled on most of the fronts they advanced on, and they have meanwhile suffered huge losses in terms of equipment and soldiers.

• Kyiv: The region around Ukraine’s capital is no longer under Russian control, a high-ranking Ukrainian official said Saturday. As Russian troops pulled out, locals and reporters have described grim scenes in their wake — with a trail of destruction and bodies in the streets of towns around the capital.
• Chernobyl: Ukraine’s state-owned atomic energy firm Energoatom reported Saturday that the country’s flag has been raised again over the site of a major 1986 nuclear accident, which was seized by Russian troops in the early days of the invasion.
• Mariupol: The International Committee of the Red Cross said Saturday that it had not yet reached this hard-hit port city where 100,000 were trapped after weeks of heavy fighting and a Russian blockade. Still, Ukrainian authorities said about 765 Mariupol residents made it to safer territory Saturday.
• Mykolaiv: The death toll from a Tuesday missile strike on this southern city’s main government building has risen to 36, the regional governor said. Ukrainian forces there have managed to ward off Russian artillery, but interviews in the front-line city show that they’ve paid a heavy price.
• Zaporizhzhia: Four people were “injured and severely burned” when Russian forces fired mortars at protesters near this city in southeastern Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s human rights ombudswoman.
• Donetsk region: Moscow has seemed to shift its focus toward eastern Ukraine, where pro-Kremlin separatists controlled some territory before the invasion. But Ukrainian and Western officials worry Russian troops might attack other areas anew after regrouping.

Ellen Francis, Jon Gerberg, Hannah Knowles and Frances Stead Sellers contributed to this report.

At least 17 colleges and universities across five states say they will give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky honorary degrees in the wake of his leadership during Russia’s invasion of his nation, one of the schools says.

Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, Adrian College in Michigan and Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina are among those who have publicly committed to honoring Zelensky with degrees from their institutions in absentia.

The idea came from Alfred University president Mark Zupan who wrote Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States requesting Zelensky to speak to the 2022 graduating class, according to a university news release.

“Given how effectively President Zelenskyy was communicating with so many different audiences around the world, I thought that perhaps he might be interested in speaking to our graduating students,” he said, adding that the Ukrainian leader has been effective in communicating with audiences around the world since the war started.

Zelensky has emerged as an international leader unafraid to speak up for is country via Telegram.

His handling of the war has given about 72 percent of Americans a lot or some confidence in him — higher than any other world leader, according to a recent survey from the Pew Research Center.

The admiration for Zelensky’s leadership, despite a “graciously declined” response from the Ukrainian Embassy inspired Zupan to contact other colleges with his idea that has since spread across the country.

“It has been beyond heartening to see how readily and positively colleagues at other higher education institutions have responded to the idea,” Zupan said. “Given the role colleges and universities play in promoting the rights of individuals and a liberal society, adding our voice in recognition of and support for the Ukrainian cause is a meaningful way that we can put our shoulders to the wheel.”

Four people were “injured and severely burned” after Russian forces fired mortars at protesters in a city near Zaporizhzhia, the site of a nuclear plant that Russia captured last month, according to Ukraine’s human rights ombudswoman.

Residents of Energodar, a satellite town of Zaporizhzhia, which has been occupied by Russian forces for nearly four weeks, held a rally in support of Ukraine on Saturday. Russian soldiers used light and noise grenades to disrupt the protest and fired on residents with mortars, the ombudswoman, Lyudmyla Denisova, said in a statement posted to Telegram.

“Such treatment of civilians is a crime against humanity and a war crime as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” Denisova said.

The Washington Post verified two videos recorded by witnesses and posted to Telegram. The images were filmed at the same time from separate angles and show at least nine flashes followed by large booms. Gunfire is audible as people run away from the site of the protest.

A photo verified by The Post and posted to Telegram on Saturday appears to show the protest earlier in the day. A large group of protesters stood peacefully on the steps of a community center, holding Ukrainian flags.

Nearly a dozen people in military fatigues appear to monitor the protesters from a little more than 100 feet away. They stand next to two vehicles marked with the letter “Z,” suggesting the vehicles belong to Russian forces.

Denisova called on the United Nations commission investigating human rights violations in Ukraine and an expert mission established by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to look into alleged rights violations and war crimes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the protesters in Energodar, saying he appreciates people who were not afraid to protest in occupied cities.

“The more people protest, the harder it is for the occupiers to destroy us, to destroy our freedom,” Zelensky said in a video released Saturday night.

“There will be an answer for every wounded person,” he said.

The list of Ukrainian refugees waiting to enter the United States is kept in a yellow legal pad on a folding table inside a blue camping tent, a few feet away from the multilane highway that connects Mexico to the United States.

It is written in English and Cyrillic by volunteers, many refugees themselves, waiting for their own numbers to be called.

“They said it could be two or three days,” said Valentina Shymanservska, No. 884, a sunflower farmer from Kharkhiv.

“My turn is any minute,” said Svyastoslav Urusky, No. 319, a university student from Lviv.

“I can’t believe we’re still waiting,” said Maxim Polosov, No. 363, who renovated homes in Slavansk.

By Saturday morning, the list had more than 1,200 names on it. Dozens more Ukrainians were arriving every hour. A van was shuttling them between the Tijuana airport and the tent where the yellow legal pad was kept.