WASHINGTON — A U.S. aid package for Ukraine and its Eastern European allies grew to around $14 billion on Tuesday as lawmakers put finishing touches on a $1.5 trillion government-wide spending bill that leaders hope Congress will enact by week’s end.

Democrats and Republicans rallied solidly behind the Ukraine aid, with Russia’s attack devastating parts of the country and prompting Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. Negotiators said the package of military, humanitarian and economic aid to the region had grown close to $14 billion, up from $12 billion just Monday and President Biden’s $10 billion request last week.

“We’re going to support them against tyranny, oppression, violent acts of subjugation,” Biden said at the White House.

The bipartisan rallying behind the Ukraine aid package was just one manifestation of Congress’ eagerness to help that country, but not all of it has been harmonious.

Republicans accused Biden of moving too slowly to help Ukraine and NATO nations assisting it, and to impose sanctions against Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Democrats say time was needed to bring along European allies that rely heavily on Russian energy sources. And a bipartisan push to ban Russian oil imports had grown perhaps unstoppable before Biden announced Tuesday that he would do that on his own.

Read the full story here.

Two million have fled Ukraine since start of Russian invasion, U.N. says

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has driven more than 2 million people out of the country, the United Nations said Tuesday, equaling in less than two weeks the historic flow of mainly Syrian refugees into Europe in 2015 and 2016. Half of the 2 million from Ukraine are children, according to UNICEF.

In its scale and speed, the exodus has stunned even veteran humanitarian workers, including U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. In announcing the 2 million milestone on Tuesday, he paused and repeated the distressing figure: “Two million.”

About 500,000 refugees have fled into neighboring countries in just two days since Sunday, as Ukraine has accused Russia of shelling civilian evacuation routes. Millions more people are displaced within the country, though the exact number is hard to know for sure. The United Nations estimates that ultimately as many as 4 million people may leave Ukraine – roughly 10 percent of the population.

Train stations have been filled with massive crowds. In many cases, mothers and children are saying goodbye to male family members who are staying behind to fight.

Border posts along Ukraine’s arcing 1,600-mile western border have been overwhelmed. Lines to get into Poland have stretched as long as 20 miles, with people waiting through achingly long days and frigid nights, often without food and water. Physically and emotionally beat, many of those crossing wept as they were offered a hot bowl of soup or a warm car to thaw their feet in.

Read the full story here.

Pentagon says Poland’s offer to give jets for Ukraine ‘not tenable’

WARSAW, Poland — The Pentagon on Tuesday rejected Poland’s offer to give the United States its MiG-29 fighter jets for use by Ukraine, in a rare public display of disharmony by NATO allies seeking to boost Ukrainian fighters while avoiding getting caught up in a wider war with Russia.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Poland’s proposal earlier Tuesday to deliver the jets to the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany raised the concerning prospect of jets departing from a U.S. and NATO base to fly into airspace contested with Russia in the Ukraine war.

“We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one,” Kirby said in a statement.

“It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it,” he said.

Any decision to provide the MiGs would be a morale booster for Ukraine as Russian attacks on its cities deepen the humanitarian catastrophe. But it also would raise the risks of a wider war.

One senior U.S. diplomat said Poland’s announcement came as a surprise.

Read the full story here.

Zelensky evokes Churchill, tells UK Ukraine ‘will not give up’

LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy evoked British wartime leader Winston Churchill as he told the U.K. Parliament that his country would fight Russia’s invasion to the end in Ukraine’s cities, fields and riverbanks.

Zelenskyy told British lawmakers “we will not give up and we will not lose,” in a speech that evoked Churchill’s stirring “never surrender” speech during the darkest days of World War II.

Speaking by video from Ukraine to a packed House of Commons chamber, Zelenskyy urged Britain to increase sanctions on Russia and to recognize Russia as “a terrorist country.”

Tuesday’s address was the first time a foreign leader was allowed to speak in the House of Commons. Screens and simultaneous translation headsets were set up in the House of Commons so lawmakers could hear him.

U.S. says Russia underestimated Ukraine’s resistance

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s top intelligence official said Tuesday the U.S. believes Russia underestimated the strength of Ukraine’s resistance before launching an invasion that has likely caused thousands of Russian casualties.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a congressional panel that U.S. officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin feels “aggrieved” by Russia’s failure to subdue Ukraine and that he perceives that he cannot afford to lose the war. But what Putin might consider a victory could change given the escalating costs of the conflict to Russia, Haines said.

Despite Putin’s announcement that he would raise Russia’s alert level for nuclear weapons, Haines said the U.S. has not observed unusual changes in Russia’s nuclear force posture.

Haines said it is “unclear at this stage” whether Russia will try to conquer all of Ukraine, something that would require more resources than Putin has committed.

CERN suspends collaboration with Russia

GENEVA — The international scientific laboratory that is home to the world’s largest atom smasher says it is suspending Russia’s observer status and halting any new collaboration with Russia or its institutions “until further notice.”

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, said its 23 member states — all European, plus Israel — condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is one of seven associate member states, and Russia, like the United States, Japan and the European Union, has had observer status.

The CERN council made the decisions about Russia at a special meeting on Tuesday and expressed its support “to the many members of CERN’s Russian scientific community who reject this invasion.”

CERN is home to the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator.

Finland to donate medical, emergency vehicles to Ukraine

HELSINKI — Finland will donate 15 decommissioned ambulances and two fire trucks to Ukraine, and they are expected to be delivered in the country within a week, Finnish media outlets say.

Ten of the ambulances come from hospital districts across Finland and five from rescue services, Finnish public broadcaster YLE said Tuesday.

The ambulances have just recently been taken out of service, YLE said, quoting health and rescue officials. Decommissioned ambulances are usually sold, but now it was decided to donate them to Ukraine, YLE said.

Finland will also give humanitarian help to Moldova including a field kitchen, five large multi-purpose tents for emergency accomodation and two shower tents to be used by refugees from Ukraine.

A Danish ambulance services and patient transportation company Falck said last week that it donated 30 ambulances to Ukraine and neighboring countries.

International Red Cross says it’s not involved in civilian evacuations

GENEVA — The International Committee for the Red Cross says it’s not involved in any evacuation of civilians from two Ukrainian cities and is emphasizing the strict rules under international law about the use of the red cross emblem in an armed conflict.

Videos have shown buses leaving northern Sumy and heading toward Mariupol in the southeast bearing a red cross on the side. It’s not clear who put them there.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the International Red Cross was “forbidding the use of its emblem on our cars,” without elaborating.

ICRC spokesman Ewan Watson said “we don’t forbid per se” but cited rules about use of protective emblems like the red cross. “In armed conflict, it may be used by medical staff and facilities, including army medics and vehicles. It may also be used by Red Cross and Red Crescent workers, vehicles, facilities, and the humanitarian relief they bring,” he said.

ICRC said it has no staffers in Sumy but has been working with Ukrainian and Russian authorities toward an agreement to help people leave Mariupol.

Trading in nickel suspended on London Stock Exchange

LONDON — Trading in nickel, much of it produced in Russia, was suspended Tuesday on the London Metal Exchange after prices doubled to an unprecedented $100,000 per metric ton.

Nickel is used mostly to produce stainless steel and some alloys, but increasingly it is used in batteries, particularly electric vehicle batteries.

Russia, facing severe economic sanctions after invading Ukraine, is the world’s third biggest nickel producer. The Russian mining company Nornickel is a major supplier of the high-grade nickel that is used in electric vehicles.

Nickel prices had quadrupled in a week over supply issues and the spike Tuesday forced the LME to shut down electronic and floor trading.

Trading in nickel will not resume Tuesday and the halt could last longer than that “given the geopolitical situation which underlies recent price moves,” the LME said Tuesday.

UN human rights office confirms 474 civilian deaths in Ukraine

GENEVA — The U.N. human rights office says it has confirmed 474 civilian deaths in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24.

The office said Tuesday that the number of confirmed civilian injuries now stands at 861.

The U.N. office uses strict methodology and only reports casualties it has been able to verify.

It acknowledges that the real figures are much higher, in part because intense fighting has delayed its receipt of information and many reports still have to be corroborated.

UK delegation to chemical weapons watchdog office walks out of meeting with Russia

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The U.K. delegation to the global chemical weapons watchdog says in a tweet that it and a group of supporters walked out of a meeting Tuesday in response to what the delegation called “unacceptable Russian falsehoods on Ukraine.”

It was not immediately clear what the Russian representative said at the behind-closed-doors meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ executive council to prompt the walkout.

The British delegation tweeted a photo of more than 50 people standing with two Ukrainian flags on the steps outside the OPCW’s headquarters in The Hague.

France’s ambassador, Luis Vassy, says in a tweet that the walkout by European Union nations and their supporters came as Russia’s representative “was denying basic facts about Ukraine” and other issues tackled by the OPCW.

In a written statement posted on the OPCW’s website, U.K. ambassador Joanna Roper urged the organization to be vigilant. “The UK remains concerned that Russia may use the pretext of chemical weapons to try to justify its illegal actions in Ukraine and we know only too well that Russia is also prepared to use chemical weapons against others,” she said.

Ukraine acknowledges International Women’s Day

KYIV, UKRAINE — Tuesday is International Women’s Day, an important official holiday in Russia and Ukraine dating from the Soviet era. Women are normally feted with flowers and chocolates and speeches, but this year the holiday was overshadowed in Ukraine by war, and in Russia by economic chaos.

Sugary messages of love and support were shared on social networks as in previous years, but many were tinged with sorrow or pleas for peace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opened his morning video address Tuesday saying: “Ukrainians, we usually celebrate this holiday, the holiday of spring. We congratulate our women, our daughters, wives, mothers. Usually. But not today.”

“Today I cannot say the traditional words. I just can’t congratulate you. I can’t, when there are so many deaths. When there is so much grief, when there is so much suffering. When the war continues,” he said.

NATO says Russia likely targeting civilians

BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Russia’s armed forces may be deliberately targeting civilians as they try to flee the military assault on Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said Tuesday “there are very creditable reports of civilians coming under fire as they try to evacuate. Targeting civilians is a war crime, and it’s totally unacceptable.”

He told reporters in Latvia that the humanitarian impact of the almost two-week long war “is devastating.”

“We need real humanitarian corridors that are fully respected,” he said.

Asked what NATO can do to help, Stoltenberg said: “We have a responsibility to ensure the conflict does not spread beyond Ukraine.” NATO is boosting its defenses to ensure that members near Russia and Ukraine are not next on Moscow’s target list.

Ukraine says Russian troops have killed 38 children, wounded more than 70

KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has released new estimates of casualties and damage from the Russian war, saying Russian military actions have killed 38 children and wounded more than 70.

Overall at least 400 civilian deaths have been recorded and 800 wounded, though “these data are definitely incomplete,” he said in a video address. It was not immediately possible to verify the figures.

He said Russian strikes have destroyed more than 200 Ukrainian schools, 34 hospitals and 1,500 residential buildings.

He estimated some 10,000 foreign students, notably from India, China and the Persian Gulf are trapped by the fighting, and described attacks on British and Swiss journalists.

He claimed that Ukrainian forces have killed more than 11,000 Russian troops.

“Russian invaders fire on humanitarian corridors through which civilians are trying to escape,” he said, without saying where.

Russian officials did not comment Tuesday and have only acknowledged several hundred deaths among Russian forces.

Germany investigating possible war crimes committed by Russian forces

BERLIN — The German federal prosecutor’s office is looking into possible war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

The prosecutor’s office said Tuesday it has launched a so-called “structural investigation” — a preliminary investigation against persons unknown which entails looking for evidence leading to possible suspects who could be prosecuted.

It’s unclear whether or when a prosecution of any suspect would actually be launched and what the chances are of any defendant eventually being brought to court in Germany.

Germany applies the principle of universal jurisdiction for serious crimes. In a groundbreaking verdict in January, a German court convicted a former Syrian secret police officer of crimes against humanity for overseeing the abuse of detainees at a jail.

UK says it will process refugee applications faster after criticism of its slow pace

LONDON — Britain’s defense minister says his staff will help process applications from Ukrainians fleeing war, after criticism of the sluggish U.K. effort to take in refugees.

Britain says it expects to take in as many as 200,000 displaced Ukrainians, and has set no upper limit on the number it will accept. But as of Monday night, the government said only 300 visas had been issued.

French officials have accused Britain of turning Ukrainians away at the English Channel port of Calais, telling them to apply for visas at British embassies in Paris or Brussels.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Tuesday that “we can do more, we will do more” to speed up people’s journeys to the U.K.

Zelensky calls for expansion of humanitarian corridors

KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the expansion of humanitarian corridors for Ukrainian civilians fleeing war, and more support from the Red Cross.

In a video address Tuesday from an undisclosed location, he said a child died of dehydration in the blockaded southern seaport of Mariupol, in a sign of how desperate the city’s population has become.

He pleaded again with Western countries to provide air support.

He said evacuation buses have been sent to Mariupol, but said there was no firm agreement on the route, so “Russian troops can simply shoot on this transport on the way.”

Zelenskyy accused the International Red Cross of “forbidding the use of its emblem on our cars,” but did not give details. Videos of buses heading out of Sumy and toward Mariupol have had signs with a red cross on the side but it’s not clear who pasted them there.

« Previous

Air alert declared in Ukraine’s capital as fighting continues and evacuation attempts fail

Next »

Six teens charged with murder in Iowa school shooting that killed 1, wounded 2