Moscow is preparing to annex huge new areas of Ukrainian territory in the coming days, the United States said Monday, possibly taking control of much of the eastern country, even as Russian forces struggle to occupy key areas on the battlefield. A move by the Kremlin to formally claim the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as the southern city of Kherson, as part of Russia, amid an ongoing military battle could spur the conflict into an unpredictable, even more explosive phase. It is unclear how Ukrainian forces and their allies would react to such an attempt, which would echo the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, but, in a crucial difference, will happen as forces loyal to Ukraine struggle to maintain control of their territory. A senior US official has said that “very credible” information indicates that Russia is likely to hold fraudulent referendums in mid-May, in which citizens of Donetsk, Luhansk or Hershey appear to have voiced support for leaving Ukraine and joining. in Russia. After that, Russia would probably install loyal leaders in Moscow in these areas. The vote would be an attempt to give planned annexations an “investment in democratic or electoral legitimacy,” Michael Carpenter, the US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, told reporters at the State Department. He described the move as “straight from the Kremlin’s book’s book” but declined to comment on US intelligence. Russia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Carpenter said the US intelligence community’s history of predicting a Russian invasion of Ukraine should give the public confidence in its current assessments. “Unfortunately, we are more right than wrong in revealing what we believe may follow,” Carpenter said. He also noted that the Russian plan may not succeed. Live updates: Read the latest news from Ukraine Moscow recognized the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, shortly before launching the invasion on February 24, sending Russian forces to those areas for “peaceful” purposes. In Kherson, the first major city to be occupied by Russian forces, the Kremlin appears to be laying the groundwork for formal consolidation of control, announcing the transition to Russian currency and – according to the British Ministry of Defense – preparing to set up a local government-puppet. Daniel Fried, a former US ambassador to Poland who is a member of the Atlantic Council, said Russian President Vladimir Putin could hope that Europeans would tolerate annexation as a way to end the bloody conflict. But he said apparent Russian atrocities – such as in the city of Bukha, where civilians appeared to have been tortured and beheaded – would make an annexation-based peace attack more difficult for Western supporters of Ukraine to accept. “This plan works if it wins,” Fried said of Putin. “The problem is that Putin can claim territory not on the basis of winning over the Ukrainians but on the basis of an exaggerated claim that he cannot support.” Western officials describe a Russian army under pressure nine weeks after its attack, but it is still able to pound strategic areas of southern Ukraine, including the coastal city of Mariupol, where heavy bombardment can leave many stranded. . A US defense official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity under Biden’s rules, said Russian troops were making “minimal progress at best” in trying to seize the Donbas area. “In some cases, frankly, the best way to describe it would be anemic,” the official said. Russian forces had withdrawn on several occasions after occupying a town or town, allowing Ukrainian forces to retake the area, the official said, adding that Russian forces were now launching offensive operations around Izyum, a town in eastern Ukraine that Russian forces occupied for the first time. on March. The British Ministry of Defense said that more than a quarter of the Russian units sent to Ukraine had been damaged to a point that was probably “ineffective in battle”. The ministry said it could take years for Russia to rebuild elite units that had been weakened by the war. Combined with the accelerating flow of Western weapons to Ukrainian forces, reports of logistical challenges and upheavals on the battlefield suggest a difficult road ahead for Russia as it approaches the traditional May 9 Victory Day celebration. Analysts have suggested that the date could give Putin a chance to offer his views on Russia’s military achievements to the Russian public. How the “jack-in-the-box” defect condemned some Russian tanks The Pentagon said in a statement that Russia’s top military official, General Valery Gerasimov, had visited the Donbas region last week, but that the Pentagon could not confirm whether Gerasimov had been injured, according to some media reports. Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, told the Telegram that Russian forces had destroyed a wide range of Ukrainian weapons, including weapons depots, drones, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft systems. Even as the struggle for control of the Donbas area unfolds in slow motion, intense Russian attacks continue in Mariupol, where civilians have been trapped by a weeks-long punitive siege. The strategic port city, if occupied, would provide Moscow with a land bridge from Russian territory to Crimea. Mykhailo Vershynin, head of the Donetsk regional patrol police, said about 200 civilians, including about 20 children, were trapped at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where civilians and fighters had taken refuge underground. About 100 non-combatants were reported to have been evacuated from the huge complex over the weekend. Versinin said he hoped civilians, wounded and possibly fighters could be evacuated from the plant if an agreement was reached between Russia and Ukraine. If not, he said, “Russia is simply leveling off what is left of the plant. This will not be easy, because one way or another we will defend ourselves until the last fighter “. “There will be losses for Russia. “He will completely lose his shaky power,” Versinin said. “And we will be destroyed. “It’s such a story.” The “Ghost of Kiev” did not die. It was never true in the beginning, says Ukraine. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that a bipartisan majority in the United States supports greater sanctions on Russia and that most support humanitarian and military aid to Russia, but most respond to direct US military action against Russia. . The Israeli government, meanwhile, has responded angrily to remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of supporting Nazism and that “Hitler also had Jewish blood.” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Russia’s ambassador to Israel would be summoned for Lavrov’s remarks, which he described as “unforgivable and outrageous.” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the Russian official’s words “are untrue and their intentions are wrong”. As Ukrainian and Western officials called for more organized evacuation of civilians from the affected areas of Ukraine, a steady stream of civilian vehicles arrived Monday in the eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, a destination for those seeking safety from all front lines and Russia. – occupied territories. Most arrived in private cars with the word “kids” written on the windshield in Russian. The passengers inside were exhausted. The disturbing second burial of Andriy Voznenko The once-simple voyages took hours or even days, as Russian soldiers searched for cell phones and personal belongings of families at each of the dozens of checkpoints. Some said they had spent nights in their cars, on the road, in fields or in churches. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts to leave the city of Enerhodar, a young couple said they woke up on Monday to find their cell phones full of messages. The road to Zaporizhzhia was open. “We just jumped in the car,” said Yuri, who, like many citizens interviewed at the evacuation site, asked for his last name to be revealed amid concerns for the safety of family members still on Russian soil. He said he and his girlfriend, Victoria, had visited her parents days before the invasion, planning a short stay. When war broke out in the city, they were trapped. The occupation that followed was like “terror,” he said. The couple had tried the route on Monday to convince Victoria’s family that she was safe. By the time they arrived in Zaporizhia, Yuri was fighting tears. On the phone to her mother, Victoria was also crying. “We are safe, Mom,” he told her. “We are safe.” Loveluck reported from Zaporizhzhia. Stern reported from Mukachevo, Ukraine. Loveday Morris in Berlin, Steve Hendrix in Jerusalem, Dan Lamothe in Washington and Hannah Allam in Lviv, Ukraine, contributed to this exhibition.
