“Was there enough body language from Washington DC, Kyiv and every European capital to provide some trading space if he wanted to? Yes. But he didn’t seem to understand,” Mr. Kupchan said.

“I think back in the early 1990s, the American foreign policy establishment was too easy to dismiss Russian objections to NATO expansion,” he added. “However, when I step back from the events of the past two months, the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO seems to me more like a smokescreen than the crux of the matter,” for Mr. Putin.

Understand Russia’s Attack on Ukraine

Card 1 of 7

What is at the heart of this invasion? Russia considers Ukraine a part his natural sphere of influence, and is unnerved by Ukraine’s proximity to the West and the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO or the European Union. Although Ukraine is not part of either, it receives financial and military assistance from the US and Europe.

Are these frictions just beginning now? Antagonism between the two countries has simmered since 2014, when Russian troops crossed into Ukraine after an uprising in Ukraine replaced a Russian-friendly president with a pro-Western government. Then, Russia annexed Crimea and inspired separatist movement in the east. A ceasefire was signed in 2015but fighting continued.

How did Ukraine react? February 23, Ukraine declared a state of emergency for 30 days. when cyberattacks took out state institutions. After the attacks began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky martial law declared. The foreign minister called the attacks a “full-scale invasion” and called on the world to “stop Putin.”

Andrew S. Weiss, head of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Russia made impossible demands from the start, but the illusion of diplomacy sparked a political debate in the West that benefited Mr. Putin. Putin’s goals According to him, Moscow “quite deftly focused on the age-old complaints about Ukraine’s theoretical right to NATO membership, knowing full well that this issue worries many in the West.”

The United States is engaged in “an outdated and predictable academic debate with itself about whether the policies of past administrations have been unnecessarily provocative towards the Kremlin,” Mr. Weiss said. The discussion, he added, has played into the hands of “isolationists like former President Trump who argue that alliances with the US are an unnecessary burden and that it is better for Americans to defend the border with Mexico.”

“In Europe, where anti-Americanism and Ukraine fatigue are barely visible, the Kremlin’s Potemkin diplomatic gambit has also paid off,” Mr. Weiss said.

Cory Shake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said it’s hard to know if Mr. Putin ever took diplomacy seriously. But she said he may have expected extreme invasion pressure to split the West and win him some concessions. “Having underestimated the unity of the West, he may have felt trapped and could not back down without demonstrating anything,” she said.

Ms Shaik said Mr Putin may have been appalled by the quality of the Biden administration’s intelligence, including access to his war plans, “and pulled the trigger in rage.”

Kimberly Gilfoil adjourned her meeting with the commission on January 6 after details of her appearance leaked, and her lawyer accused members of seeking publicity for an “unwarranted investigation.”

• Guilfoil confirmed that she met with the commission on Friday, January 6
• But her statement accused members of “hijacking” the publicity meeting
• She reportedly believes only lawyers and staff will be on call
• And she gave up when she discovered that members of the Democrats were involved
• Guilfoil, 52, is engaged to the eldest son of former President Donald Trump Don Jr.

from Rob Wings, senior US political reporter for Dailymail.Com

Published: 19:51 GMT, 25 February 2022 | Updated: 20:53 GMT 25 February 2022

Kimberly Guilfoil met with investigators from the House Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States. Capitol on Friday, but the meeting went awry as she and her lawyers clashed with members over the ground rules.

Guilfoil, 52, is engaged to the former president Donald Trumpthe eldest son of, Don Jr..

And she was among the speakers who addressed a rally on the morning of January 6, before a crowd of Trump supporters marched on the US Capitol.

But sources told CBS News that she and her lawyer abruptly ended the meeting after details leaked to the media.

Guilfoil confirmed the interview with a statement in which her lawyer attacked the “unfounded investigation”.

“Guilfoyle, threatened with a subpoena, agreed to meet exclusively with a lawyer of the elected committee in a bona fide effort to provide accurate and relevant evidence,” the statement said.

Kimberly Guilfoil appeared before the Conservatives at the CPAC conference in Florida on Thursday. On Friday, she met with the Commission to Investigate the Violence of January 6, 2021.

Guilfoil appeared with Donald Trump Jr. at the January 6 rally leading up to the violence

“We will not allow the Liberals and Democrats to steal our dream or steal our election,” she said during a rally just a few blocks from the US Capitol.

Guilfoyle issued a statement accusing members of the commission of trying to hijack the meeting in order to “publish a manifestly unfounded investigation”

“However, after Guilfoil’s presence, the commission revealed its unreliability, as members known for leaking information appeared.

“Then, while the lawyer paused to consider the matter, our concerns about the presence of committee members were confirmed, as the committee leaked news of the holiday break in less than two minutes, as chairman [Bennie] Thompson did so only a month earlier when he revealed to the press that our client’s phone records had been confidentially called.

A statement from lawyer Joseph Takopina said the hearing had been “hijacked”.

“It is now very clear to us that their only real interest was to load our client with sand and use today’s interview as a political weapon against President Trump and those who support him,” the statement said.

Sources said CBS News these problems began when Gilfoil learned that members of the committee, such as Adam Schiff of California and Jamie Ruskin of Maryland, both Democrats, were on call.

Guilfoil said she expected only lawyers and commission staff to be involved.

“Kim objected and said that was not my understanding,” said one.

After making his way through aides and advisers, the investigation is approaching Trump’s family.

The Commission has already received Gilfoil’s telephone records with a subpoena.

In a speech on January 6, she said: “We will not allow the Liberals and Democrats to steal our dream or steal our elections.”

This week it became clear that Ivanka Trump is negotiating to appear before the commission.

In January letter to Ivankaa House committee said it was seeking a voluntary interview on what it saw on Jan. 6, including Donald Trump’s actions that day and his state of mind as his supporters stormed the Capitol.

The panel also asked to hear Eric Trump, the son of the former president who ran the business empire, and Kimberly Guilfoil, an adviser on Trump’s presidential campaign and the finances of his eldest son, Don Jr.

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Although the United States has sanctioned some Russian oligarchs and frozen their assets, the direct attack on Mr. Putin has been a major escalation. This puts him in the same company as Presidents Bashar al-Assad of Syria as well as Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko from Belarusboth of which were subject to personal sanctions by the US government.

Adam M. Smith, a former Treasury Department official and now a partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, said the imposition of sanctions on Mr. Putin is an important message given that the United States has never taken such action against such a powerful leader. . However, he said it was unlikely that the sanctions would affect Mr. Putin’s fortunes or change his calculations in Ukraine.

“I don’t think Putin will really lose sleep after the imposition of sanctions,” Mr. Smith said.

The personal sanctions add to a growing list of restrictions the Biden administration, in cooperation with Europe, has implemented in recent weeks. The United States has imposed sanctions on major Russian financial institutions and the country’s public debt, and on Thursday moved to prevent Russia from gaining access to US technology critical to its military, aerospace and broader economy.

But the attempt to punish Mr. Putin showed the extent to which many European countries rely on Russia for energy, grain and other products. The sanctions package, described by European leaders as unprecedented in size and scope, has been difficult to reach consensus even as Russian troops approached Kievcapital of Ukraine.

The economy of Europe is closely intertwined with that of Russia, and the more the European Union leans toward Russian sanctions, the more its own members will suffer. The toughest sanctions could even derail the bloc’s tentative recovery from the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

This is why the negotiators did not address particularly difficult elements, such as imposing sanctions on oil and gas companies or banning Russia from using SWIFT, the platform used to conduct global financial transactions in commodities, including wheat. EU officials said one of the main reasons for their reluctance to close Russia’s access to the platform was that Europe uses it to pay for gas it buys from Russia.

Experts said the approved sanctions were tough and the speed with which the European Union moved was impressive. But some have criticized the leaders for not going further.

Among the heartbreaking images of death and destruction coming out of Ukraine on Friday was an inspiring photo shared by former First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko, an 80-year-old man enlisting in the army to fight for his grandchildren.

Yushchenko – who grew up in America and is married to Viktor Yushchenko – published the photo Twitter on Thursday night.

“Someone posted a picture of the 80-year-old, who showed up to join the army, carrying a small case with 2 T-shirts, a pair of extra pants, a toothbrush and a few lunch sandwiches. He said he was doing it for his grandchildren, “she said.

It is unclear where the photo was taken, but it spread around the world on Friday Russia launches an attack on Ukraine.

Civilians across the country are taking up arms against Putin’s troops.

Former First Lady Katerina Yushchenko of an 80-year-old man who enlists in the army to fight for her grandchildren

President Vladimir Zelensky released a video Friday showing him in central Kiev with members of his cabinet.

They are determined to stay and fight, he said, along with the country’s men and women.

“We are all here and it will be so,” he said.

Yushchenko grew up in Chicago and is the daughter of Ukrainian diplomats. She serves in the US State Department and the Reagan White House.

She and Kerry Kennedy wrote a post on Thursday Chicago Tribune appealing to Ukrainian Americans, asking them to “spread” the truth about what is happening in the region.

It is unclear where Yushchenko lives now. In their post with Kennedy, the couple mentioned that her husband was poisoned during his 2004 campaign.

“Russia has carried out targeted attacks on Ukraine, a horrific act that we condemn.

Kateryna Yushchenko is the wife of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, shown above in 2004 while running for office. He was poisoned during his campaign and has long believed it was the Kremlin trying to kill him and support his pro-Russian adversary.

Ukrainian troops occupy a bridgehead in the city of Kiev as Russian forces advance toward the capital

Soldiers tasked with defending Kiev from Russian troops take up positions under the city’s highway

Volunteers, one with an AK-47 rifle, defend the main road leading to Kiev on February 25, 2022. – Ukrainian forces fought against Russian invaders on the streets of the capital Kiev on February 25, 2022.

Volunteer holding a rifle defends a main road leading to Kiev on February 25, 2022.

A young couple joining the Territorial Defense fighters smile after receiving weapons and ammunition in Kiev, Ukraine, February 25, 2022.

Members of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine load ammunition after receiving weapons to protect the city of Kiev, Ukraine, February 25, 2022.

“It’s time for the rest of the world to wake up. It must commit to doing more. More than when Putin invaded Georgia in 2008.

“More than in response to his illegal occupation of Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014.

“This time, the West must be prepared with a multilateral plan to offer support to Ukrainians to ensure the survival and success of freedom,” the two said in a statement.

The photo of the elderly man was among the many inspiring images of Ukrainians who remain determined to fight for their country.

A Marine is hailed as a hero for blowing up a key bridge that the Russians wanted to cross near Crimea, killing himself with it to stop them.

The Marine is designated by the General Staff of the Armed Forces as Vitaly Shakun. He was driving the Henichesk Bridge in the Kherson region when the Russians stepped in and mined it.

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko holds a Kalashnikov assault rifle while interviewed on Friday. He joined the Civil Territorial Defense on the streets of Ukraine and said there were a number of people who wanted to help but did not have enough weapons

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted this video online on Friday night, showing that he and members of his cabinet are still in Kiev at government offices. “We are all here and it will be so,” he said

Vitaly Shakun was driving the Henichesk Bridge in the Kherson region when the Russians advanced. According to a post on the Facebook page of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the battalion has decided that the only way to stop them is to blow up the bridge.

Former First Lady of Ukraine Marina Poroshenko distributes sandwiches to soldiers of the Territorial Defense in Kiev

His efforts and the efforts of the Ukrainian armed forces have slowed the Russians significantly – a senior defense official was quoted as saying by CNN that Russian troops are facing “greater resistance” than expected.

“I can’t give you the exact geographical location where they are, but they are not moving to Kiev as fast as they expected they could.

‘[They are] they are meeting more resistance than they expected, “they added.

On the streets of Kiev, former leader Petro Poroshenko was among many civilians forming territorial defense squadrons, ready to stand up to Putin’s people when they present themselves.

In an emotional interview with CNN, Poroshenko raised his Kalashnikov and vowed never to give in to the Russian leader or his army.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky uploaded a video Thursday night showing him still in Kiev, in government office.

“We are all here. Our soldiers are here. The citizens are here and we are here. We defend our independence. That’s how it will happen.

“Glory to our defenders, men and women, glory to Ukraine!” He said.

Night has already fallen in Ukraine and people on earth say it is eerily quiet, except for the distant roar of explosions and small shelling.

Prince Harry he likes to lead his private life in great secrecy, but his ex-girlfriend Chelsea Davy showed him how to really do it.

I hear that the former City lawyer gave birth to her first child last month, with virtually no one knowing she was pregnant.

“Chelsea gave birth to a healthy boy,” one of her friends tells me. “She named baby Leo.”

Accordingly, Chelsea’s baby was born in LondonChelsea and Westminster Hospital.

The 36-year-old Chelsea, who loves the party, apparently managed to keep her pregnancy a secret because she lived in the quiet part of Chiswick in West London, and not in her previous, paparazzi-filled area in Chelsea.

Prince Harry loves to keep his private life a secret, but his ex-girlfriend Chelsea Davy showed him how to really do

The identity of the baby’s father is a mystery. Her last known boyfriend was the insolent TV producer James Marshall, but they separated in 2018.

Chelsea revealed in 2020 that they have a serious boyfriend, but did not give his name, explaining: “There is someone and I am quite fascinated by this one, but he is very new and I do not want to say too much.”

Zimbabwe-born Chelsea began dating Prince Harry while a student at Cheltenham Women’s College. The couple had a relationship for seven years until they separated in 2011 because Chelsea did not want to be a royal bride.

The stormy couple was still the subject of rumors in September 2015, when reports suggested that they wanted to renew their relationship.

Less than a year later, Harry was introduced to Megan Markle.

Chelsea, which now runs a jewelry and luxury travel business, did not respond to requests for comment.

I hear that the former City lawyer gave birth to her first child last month, with virtually no one knowing she was pregnant.

(Many) modern manners

At what age should you give up disco dancing? The Countess Bathurst, a brown-haired woman from Syrenster Park in Gloucestershire, where Princes William and Harry played polo, broke her wrist at a wedding.

“They were spinning me on the boards where the drink was spilled,” said Sarah Bathurst, 57.

“I measured my length in a spectacular style. Without realizing what I had done, I continued to dance for three hours. My street trust in young people has reached new heights.

It was not until the next morning that she went to the hospital. She added: “The lesson is that it is unwise to try to keep up with the younger generation.

At what age should you give up disco dancing? The Countess Bathurst, a brown-haired girl from Syrenster Park in Gloucestershire, where Princes William and Harry played polo, broke her wrist at a wedding

After being forced to share the lavish 115-room house, the elegant and affordable Chevening House in Kent with Liz Truss, Dominic Raab is now trying to emulate her spectacular 18th-century hallway in his own home.

The deputy prime minister and his wife, Erica, have been given permission to renovate their five-bedroom, £ 1.6 million house near Escher in Surrey, following a planning battle with a neighbor.

The rabbis must build a cozy lair, as well as an extended entrance hall, study and back foyer.

They were given the green light while using vague glazing after a neighbor complained that the plans would lead to a loss of privacy in their patio.

Raab, who celebrated his 48th birthday yesterday, applied for a major overhaul permit just five weeks after he was ordered to share the keys to Chevening with Trass, who succeeded him as foreign minister.

After being forced to share the lavish 115-room, grace and favor Chevening House in Kent with Liz Truss, Dominic Raab is now trying to emulate her spectacular 18th-century hallway in his own home.

This may not have made him friends among all these BBC Guardian readers, but Radio 4 presenter Justin Webb revealed today that the first newspaper he spoke to this morning was the Daily Mail.

Webb, 61, told an audience at a corporate event in London that he was referring to the British newspaper 1 because “it has all the big stories, often sets the news agenda and is a fun read.”

Obviously a man of impeccable taste …

The joy of Amanda’s premiere opposes gravity!

Even if the world may feel gloomy right now, Mamma Mia! star Amanda Seyfried still loves to jump for joy.

The 36-year-old Hollywood actress was in high spirits before the premiere of her new TV drama The Dropout, so she shared this photo of herself jumping on a bed.

At the same time, she managed to look stylish in a blue velvet mini dress by Oscar de la Renta.

Seyfried, who once dated Mama Mia! Star colleague Dominic Cooper is already married to 45-year-old American actor Thomas Sadoski.

The Dropout sees her portraying Elizabeth Holmes, the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, who was recently convicted of criminal fraud.

Even if the world may feel gloomy right now, Mamma Mia! star Amanda Seyfried still loves to jump for joy

Sir Van Morrison is no longer welcome at the Ian Anderson mansion in Wiltshire, frontman of Jethro Tull.

“Some of his behavior made me think of him as a rather despised person,” Anderson said of the campaign against blocking his ex-boyfriend.

“I don’t want to think of him that way, but when you’re frustrated by someone’s irresponsible behavior and almost infantile proclamations to the world, it makes me feel justified in not liking this man as much as I do now.”

The hopes for the couple who sing, did I tell you lately (that I love you) together seem distant …

The rugby rivalry is heating up for William and Kate

Decency and decency will be unusually scarce in the household of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today.

That’s according to former England rugby captain Jason Robinson, who knows how competitive things are between him and Welsh wife Xian when the two meet in the Six Nations, as they did at Twickenham this afternoon.

“I know exactly how it is – my wife is Welsh,” he tells me. “This is the one who can get up early and take our son’s shirt, Noah.

Then I will include, God bless the queen, if Xian has not already glued Bread Of Heaven.

Surely the patron saint of the Welsh Rugby Union, Prince William, will not object to Kate, who recently succeeded Prince Harry as a figure in English rugby, playing God Save My Grandmother?

Most people slow down when they reach their 80s, but Prue Leith, who turns 82 this month, instead adds to her projects.

The Bake Off judge told me that she now takes care of 100 acres of land to her Gloucestershire neighbors, whom she sold to them.

She used her remaining 60 acres to build a home for her husband, 74-year-old John Playfair, for the first time in ten years.

“We are monitoring the agriculture of our land and theirs to turn it into sustainable wildlife fields,” she said. “Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?”

The school system in LA is based on bribes, moans Petra’s friend

Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone’s fiancé, Sam Palmer, announced last year that they were educating their children at home because the curriculum included too much “awakened stupidity,” but now they’ve screamed a U-turn.

I can reveal that the couple is trying to enroll their three children in expensive private schools in Los Angeles.

Formula One successor’s fiancé Petra Ecclestone, Sam Palmer, announced last year that they are teaching their children at home because the curriculum includes too much “awakened stupidity”, but now they have screamed a U-turn

But this is clearly problematic, as former vintage car dealer Palmer complains that the “disgraceful” school system in the American city where they live for most of the year is effectively based on bribes.

“To get into a private school is all about how big your ‘donation’ is,” he shouts.

“If you reject their ridiculous requests, it becomes clear that you are no longer welcome in school.

“Learning in the UK is much easier and better.” Is it time to go home?

This is a disregard that will really hurt Prince Andrew: I can reveal that his honorary membership of the Royal Dornoch Golf Club was revoked after his humiliation.

The avid golfer was one of the four honorary members of the Sutherland club. He declined to comment, but confirmed in an update to his members that Andrew was “no longer” an honorary member.

One tells me, “This is a welcome move, given that members are expected to have certain standards of conduct.”

This is a disregard that will really hurt Prince Andrew: I can reveal that his honorary membership of the Royal Dornoch Golf Club was revoked after his humiliation

While Prince Harry and Megan were talking about Ukraine online, Prince William was meeting a man who could actually do something about it.

I heard that he had talks at Kensington Palace on Thursday with Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace.

They have certainly discussed the Russian invasion, although a source says the tete-a-tete was scheduled before the crisis unfolded.

If you see a famous lady in a restaurant in Norfolk throwing leftovers in her bag, it will be Delia Smith.

The 80-year-old chef says he doesn’t want to look rude by failing to finish his meal.

“If I can’t eat it, I’ll put it in my bag when no one is looking and take it with me,” said Delia, who has sold more than 21 million copies of her cookbooks.

I don’t want people to think, “Who does she think she is – someone special?” When I’m not – I’m just an ordinary player.

WASHINGTON. For the Russian military, the hardest part came quickly.

On the first day of President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, his generals and troops followed a textbook strategy for land invasions. They attacked the country’s military installations and air defense systems with missiles launched from the air, sea and land, seeking to take over the skies, and rushed to Kyiv, the capital, with the aim of decapitating the government of the democratically elected president. , Vladimir Zelensky.

But then things slowed down. It is one thing to cross the border of another country with tanks and artillery under the cover of warplanes, Pentagon officials and analysts say. It is quite another thing to lay siege to cities and an army populated by people willing to risk their lives to defend what they consider to be their sovereign right to self-determination.

During the day after entering Ukraine, Russian forces lost some momentum as Ukrainian fighters put up resistance, according to senior US and British officials. Not a single locality was taken, a senior Defense Department official told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday. Russia also failed to achieve air superiority over Ukraine, partly because the Ukrainians use mobile systems and partly because Russian missiles hit old air defense sites, which may be indicative of Russian intelligence shortcomings. According to him, the Ukrainian air and missile defense systems have degraded, but the country’s air force is still flying planes and blocking Russia’s access by air.

In addition, officials said Russia conducted most of its initial operations during the day, suggesting that its ability to fight at night—a hallmark of the US military—was less effective.

“The Ukrainian armed forces continue to put up strong resistance,” said Lieutenant General Jim Hockenhull, head of British military intelligence.

At the same time, Pentagon officials warned that Russia sent only one-third of the 150-190,000 troops it has concentrated near the borders of Ukraine, so Moscow can increase pressure at any time. Military officials said Russia is still in the early stages of an operation that could take two to three weeks to take over most of the country.

Officials said Russia had launched an amphibious landing from the Sea of ​​Azov, near Mariupol, to the south. Thousands of Russian marines are landing there, and the military estimates that the plan is to move towards the city. The Russian army, with its decisive advantage in cyberwartanks, heavy weapons, missiles, fighter jets, warships and sheer numbers overshadow Ukraine.

But wars are fought not only on paper. While Russia established lines of attack on three cities “Kyiv in the north, Kharkiv in the northeast, and Kherson in the south—Ukrainian forces are fighting to hold all three. Remarkably, a senior US Department of Defense official said, Ukrainian command and control remains intact.

Russia’s lines of attack are blocked as Ukrainian troops are engaged in heavy fighting with the Russians, a second official said. The resistance, according to the official, is the reason why Russian troops concentrated near the border have not all crossed the border. But the official warned that more of those troops would be quickly deployed to the cities, especially Kyiv, if the forward units defeated the Ukrainian forces that had held them up.

“It is not clear to us that the Russian forces over the past 24 hours have been able to carry out their plans as they hoped,” top Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said later Friday. “But it’s a dynamic situation.”

When part of the Russian troops entered the northern region of Kyiv, rocket attacks were launched on the city, rockets hit residential buildings. If Russian intelligence has figured out where Mr. Zelensky and the rest of the Ukrainian leadership are hiding, the Russian military will likely try to destroy them with missiles and airstrikes, a senior Biden administration official said in an interview. But if that doesn’t work, Russian forces could resort to urban combat, which is a more difficult task.

“The easiest way is to attack with missiles and strike at airfields,” said retired Colonel David Lapan, a 30-year Marine Corps veteran. “But the narrative that they have taken over Ukraine is very premature. We’re only a couple of days into this and it could go on for a long time.”

Senior Pentagon officials echoed this view. According to a senior Biden official, Russian troops are encircling Kyiv with the aim of isolating and possibly besieging the capital. He said Russian forces have a list of Mr. Zelensky’s leadership team and will seek to kill or capture these officials if targeted airstrikes fail to achieve Mr. Putin’s goal of eliminating the government. But Ukrainian troops and citizens are resisting, he said, meaning that Russia, for all its military might, may have a hard time achieving its goals. He said it would get bloody.

Updated

February 25, 2022 8:52 pm ET

It has already happened. In a conversation recorded on an audio recording that was circulated around the world and posted on Twitter, a Russian warship ordered 13 soldiers defending tiny Snake Island in the country’s south to “surrender” or “be bombed.” The Ukrainian border guard responded defiantly: “A Russian warship,” and then dismissed the demand with a curse.

The warship opened fire and killed all 13 border guards. This small Russian victory on the battlefield could inspire Ukrainians and cost Mr. Putin the public spotlight at home, one Pentagon official said.

“Ukrainians are vastly inferior in technology and sheer combat power, especially in the air and at sea, but are fighting in their homeland to protect their children and families,” said Retired Adm. James G. Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander. Europe. “The motivation is much higher on their side and intangibles can help.”

The Russian military attack continued on Friday as it began the day before, with a terrifying rumble of artillery strikes on airports and military installations across Ukraine.

The Pentagon said the Russians, using rockets and long-range artillery, faced particularly strong resistance near Kiev and Kharkov.

Understand Russia’s Attack on Ukraine

Card 1 of 7

What is at the heart of this invasion? Russia considers Ukraine a part his natural sphere of influence, and is unnerved by Ukraine’s proximity to the West and the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO or the European Union. Although Ukraine is not part of either, it receives financial and military assistance from the US and Europe.

Are these frictions just beginning now? Antagonism between the two countries has simmered since 2014, when Russian troops crossed into Ukraine after an uprising in Ukraine replaced a Russian-friendly president with a pro-Western government. Then, Russia annexed Crimea and inspired separatist movement in the east. A ceasefire was signed in 2015but fighting continued.

How did Ukraine react? February 23, Ukraine declared a state of emergency for 30 days. when cyberattacks took out state institutions. After the attacks began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky martial law declared. The foreign minister called the attacks a “full-scale invasion” and called on the world to “stop Putin.”

But Russian forces have also stepped up their cyberattacks against media websites and other means of communication, as well as against a major dam that supplies power to southern Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said. However, he added that Mr. Zelenskiy and his top civilian aides are still in contact with Ukrainian commanders.

Why Russia did not launch even larger cyber attacks across the country and cut off virtually all communications to cut off military units from their commanders in Kyiv and from each other remained a mystery on Friday.

US military officials said efforts to protect Ukraine’s communications in anticipation of a major Russian attack may have helped. Or, since many Ukrainian Internet and telephone communications are believed to go through Russia, Moscow may leave some lines open for eavesdropping on Ukrainian civilian and military officials.

By Thursday evening, Russian special forces and airborne troops reached the outskirts of Kyiv. And on Friday, Russian airborne troops blockaded Kyiv from the west, the defense ministry said, after seizing an airfield in the area in an assault that used “more than 200 Russian helicopters.” If true, this could create an air bridge that would allow Russia to move hundreds of soldiers to help encircle the capital.

Ukrainian forces, which officials say shot down several Russian planes and a helicopter in the early hours of Thursday’s conflict, fought along a broad front to maintain control of their country.

By Friday afternoon, Russian forces had fired more than 200 missiles, mostly short-range ballistic missiles, as well as cruise missiles and missiles fired from the Black Sea, at targets inside Ukraine, according to a senior Pentagon official who asked not to be named. to discuss sensitive military assessments.

The targets were mostly military: barracks, ammunition depots and airfields, the official said, in an expected move to eliminate as many of the armed Ukrainian military as possible, as well as to help weaken any partisan movement that might rise from the ashes. defeated Ukrainian army.

Russia insisted that it did not bomb civilian targets and tried to limit the losses of the Ukrainian army. “There are no strikes on civilian infrastructure,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

But a senior Pentagon official disputed that claim, saying the strikes targeted some residential areas of the civilian population, though the official could not say if they were deliberate strikes.

How the battle for Kyiv ends is likely to signal Mr. Putin’s larger plans for Ukraine.

“Putin’s mandate is to set up a new government and have it do all the dirty work,” said MP Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican and former Army Green Beret who visited Ukraine in December. “It’s unclear if he underestimates the level of Ukrainian nationalism that has developed since 2014.”

Mr. Waltz said that during that December trip he met with the Ukrainian high command. “He was very focused on developing a resistance organization,” Mr. Waltz said, “but I’m not sure he had enough time.”

For the second day in a row, I woke up yesterday to the sound of sirens warning of air attacks.

I had covered the windows of my rental apartment with blankets as protection from flying glass in case of explosions nearby.

My colleague and photographer, Kate Baklitska, was sleeping behind a safety sofa.

Ian Birel in Chernobyl, Ukraine. He writes: “For the second day in a row, I woke up yesterday to the sound of sirens warning of air attacks.”

Residential homes in the Ukrainian capital Kiev were shelled overnight and images on social media show a Russian plane shot down just ten miles away, ravaging an apartment building.

I looked down the street as several groups of people hurried to shelters, some taking cats or dogs.

Others headed for the precarious eviction from Kiev – about 100,000 people fled the evil attack on Moscow on the first day alone.

The key question facing me – along with other foreign media here – was whether it was better to stay or leave.

I decided it was time to leave, instead of risking being trapped in a basement for days unable to report freely amid escalating shelling and street fighting.

First, we needed a car – not an easy task when the streets were deserted. However, a minibus driver agreed to pick us up.

But he failed to find petrol at four petrol stations and needed 100 liters of fuel to return 1,000 km (620 miles) to Lviv, in western Ukraine.

Fortunately, we managed to secure two seats in a car with an almost full tank, driven out of town by another journalist. I agreed to meet with him in the area of ​​the central government – where street fights broke out less than five hours later.

I went on my last walk in the Ukrainian capital after two weeks here. The sun was shining as I walked to the botanical garden, passing scattered groups of tense people carrying bags and suitcases. It was 8.30 in the morning – usually rush hour – in the European capital.

Rescue act: 23-year-old Carolina and her cat. Ian Birel writes: “We passed more military vehicles passing to the city. More armored vehicles. More mechanized ambulances “

But the roads were almost empty, except for a few packed cars coming out of town full of frightened people. All cafes were closed.

In the center of the city, the sound of shelling resumed. I passed groups of well-armed soldiers and policemen.

There was no one around the famous tourist site “St. Michael” – a beautiful cathedral with golden domes.

It was there, in 2014, that pro-democracy protesters fled the massacre that killed 104 people and effectively began the long-running conflict that erupted last week.

After sticking “Press” and “TV” inscriptions on our silver Skoda, I noticed a young soldier who had just left his teens, walking with a holder to join his unit. I wondered if he would survive the day.

We left at 10 in the morning, but soon we were stuck in a crowd of cars, vans and trucks. At the Beresteiska metro station, there were several Ukrainian soldiers at the entrance in an armored car lurking in the trees behind them.

Across the road, a soldier stood on a mound with his legs outstretched and a rifle hanging as he scanned the road. A colleague sat casually on the grass with several grenade launchers leaning against a tree, hidden behind blue sandbags.

Many of the cars were full of families. A 24-year-old man named Maxim told me that he was traveling with ten members of his family in a convoy of three cars, including his mother, father, three-month-old baby and their pet spaniel.

It had already taken them two days to reach Kiev from the city of Chernihiv, east of Chernobyl and in an area where some of the fiercest battles against the Russians have been fought in the last 24 hours.

Ukrainian troops occupy positions in central Kiev, Ukraine, today as Russia continues its invasion

“Yesterday we drove to stay with friends in Kiev and planned to leave on Thursday,” he said.

“During the night we heard planes flying over the apartment building. Judging by the sounds, they went down to drop something, be it bombs or fighters. We were so scared.

“We packed everything in our cars, then sat there until we could leave. My only job now is to protect my family.

As we advanced west, we began to see military vehicles heading toward downtown Kiev: tanks, armored personnel carriers with grim-looking soldiers sitting on top, Humvees waving the Ukrainian flag from their radio mast, army trucks, fuel tanks, and several motorized vehicles. rulers. An hour later we were barely a mile away.

Next to us was a steady stream of human misery struggling across the pavement, an endless procession of people with hastily packed backpacks and suitcases.

Family with a little girl on her father’s shoulders. Three teenage girls in bright coats. An elderly couple pulls covers on wheels. A young man with a cat in his arms.

Ruslan, 45, was walking alone. He told me that he was a taxi driver who worked in Kiev and was trying to return home to Khmelnytsky, halfway to the Romanian border.

“There are such problems to get out of town,” he said. He had tried to buy a bus ticket, but it wasn’t available, so now he was walking to Dachna Bus Station. We passed the station six miles later. It was closed.

These scenes were a pathetic sight. So many lives have been lost as a traitorous dictator tries to thwart democracy in a neighboring nation for fear that it could infect its own besieged and repressed citizens.

We passed a digital billboard. At one point, he displayed the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag, and then announced the recruitment of volunteers to the Territorial Defense Forces – although it was almost certainly too late to count in this brutal war.

Crowds of people waiting to board an evacuation train from Kiev to Lviv at Kiev Central Station, Ukraine today

One showed a cyclist delivering food who had decided to save his city at this time of danger. Another involved a female doctor who registered, saying, “I’ve always wanted to save others.”

We were still crawling. Shortly after noon, a series of earthquakes exploded a few miles to the right of the car.

They came from Obolon, a district of Kiev and the site of fierce street clashes between Russian forces.

According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Russian contingent arriving in the city was led by soldiers dressed in stolen Ukrainian uniforms – with tanks and mechanized artillery after them.

I saw more troops and armored personnel carriers heading into battle, with groups of Territorial Defense men marching toward the city.

The sirens rang again. Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing champion who is mayor of Kiev, has issued a warning that people should stay at home and enter bomb shelters when they hear the sirens.

He said: “There are battles in several parts of the city and you can hear the shooting. The Ukrainian army destroys Russian sabotage groups.

We passed more military vehicles passing to the city. More armored vehicles. More mechanized ambulances. And more from the depressing blunt blows of Russian bombs and missiles hitting the unfortunate people of Kiev.

President Vladimir Zelensky imposed martial law on Thursday and ordered the opening of state arsenals so that citizens could receive firearms to protect their city.

As we moved forward, Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov announced that 18,000 semi-automatic rifles and ammunition had been distributed.

“The number of people who want to defend their homeland as part of the territorial defense against the Russian occupation is growing and sending us more weapons,” he said.

At 15.00 on the opposite side of the road we passed a checkpoint of the National Guard, monitoring the vehicles entering the city. Officers dressed in black with rifles in hand and pistols on their hips in holsters ordered five men to get out of a car to search it.

I talked to other families in cars crawling up to us. They all had stories of escaping in fear of the hail of terror falling from the sky on their homes. Julia, 30, told how her mother woke her up at night.

“The sky seemed to be on fire, and I knew it was the shelling. I was really scared. I woke up my husband and told him we had to leave, but he said we had to wait until morning.

“We ran to the bomb shelter and sat there for several hours. I started calling everyone I knew to ask if they could drive us out of town.

They found friends driving West who offered to help. Julia said: “If it was just me and my husband, we could have left town, but we have a six-year-old daughter. My husband stayed. I hope he can take a bus or a train.

Irina, 28, told me she was with her husband, who drove their two young children, her mother and grandmother, but they had no idea where they were headed, except, hopefully, safely.

Queues of cars in a traffic jam on the highway outside the Ukrainian capital as people leave Kiev today

“Today we woke up to the sound of shelling very close to our place. It was still night, but we decided to leave, “she said.

Then we passed an abandoned concrete building where six soldiers in balaclavas were standing while two colleagues were talking on the phone – and then we saw their tank’s pistol sticking out of the woods by the road.

When I looked back to the city center, I suddenly noticed a large empty road just behind us. Apparently the traffic has stopped. It was not possible to say whether he was stopped by Ukrainian or Russian soldiers.

My colleague Kate started receiving voicemails from her lawyer friend Anna in Kiev, who told her that she had entered the basement of her apartment, for safety, with her partner, their dogs and food and water supplies.

She said: “There are a lot of people here. People are crying. It is very tense and people are nervous.

As darkness fell, we began to see empty tanks and trucks roaring down the wrong road on the other side of the road.

There were three surface-to-surface missile launchers on the edge – and some unfortunate people were still moving with their bags in the direction of Poland.

Kate’s text messages to Anna were not received. It is assumed that she was still in the basement.

It is now nine o’clock as I write these words. We were on the road for 11 hours and covered 70 miles. Lviv remains far away; maybe we will go somewhere else to cover the suffering of this nation. But at least we are – for now – safe, along with all those others in the thousands of cars fleeing Kiev.

Additional report: Kate Baklitska

While Putin’s military is attacking Kiev, a Ukrainian actress lives there new York spent Friday morning on the phone with his cousin Irina, who was in the Ukrainian capital, gathering her two daughters and embarking on an eight-hour trip to Poland.

Irina’s 55-year-old husband plans to leave them at the eastern border and then return to Kiev to fight to protect his homeland from Russia.

“No, I can’t do without you,” Irina shouted at her husband.

“I will not leave, I will fight for my homeland,” he replied.

A cousin in New York, 45-year-old Elena Sobina, recalled the story in an interview with DailyMail.com on Friday and said she felt helpless as family and friends suddenly found themselves in the battlefields of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Elena Sobina, a 45-year-old New Yorker, told DailyMail.com she felt helpless as family and friends were in the battle zones of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Sobina spent Friday on the phone with her cousin Irina, who was in Ukraine, gathering her two daughters and embarking on an eight-hour trip to Poland.

“Sanctions don’t stop this evil,” said Sobina, who lives in Upper Manhattan. – They need real help, military help.

Ukraine is struggling today to retain control of its capital, while US intelligence warns that Russia hopes a lightning attack on the city is the quickest way to win the war and regain control of Moscow’s country. Part of this plan is to encircle Kiev, besiege and take over one of the two intact airports.

Sobina is on a family vacation in Panama this week, but spends her phone trip with panicked relatives in Ukraine, including her cousin, whom she considers a sister.

“She tried to be strong yesterday,” Sobina said. “She is no longer strong. She said she could not stop trembling.

She said Irina had started her day struggling to get money for her evacuation, but the banks were closed. They wanted to fly out of Ukraine, but it was impossible.

“They were trying to get to the airport, but she said there were tanks and missiles in the city threatening to shoot down planes,” she said. “The whole airport is off.”

Traveling was their only option. They went to a friend’s house to fix their tires before heading to the border.

“It’s really hard to drive because all the roads are full of cars and it’s hard to get gas,” Sobina said.

The Ukrainian president has ordered military mobilization and banned men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving, but Sobina said her ex-military husband plans to return independently.

She is proud of him.

“Good people, they will not leave,” Sobina said. “They are ready to fight.”

People wait in traffic jam as they leave Kharkiv after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorizes military operation in eastern Ukraine

Firefighters put out a fire in a residential building damaged by a rocket on Friday in Kiev, Ukraine

Traffic jams in Kiev, Ukraine on Thursday as residents flee the capital

Sobina is also talking to her 80-year-old aunt, who lives in Chernihiv on the northern border, which is also under attack.

“She says she hears gunfire and her building and windows are shaking,” Sobina recalled. “Everyone is told to go to the basement, but she really can’t move well.”

Just last month, Sobina visited Chernigov, where she celebrated the New Year with her aunt and other relatives.

She had planned to return earlier this month to an apartment she owns outside of Kiev, but was canceled due to an impending threat she never thought would materialize. She also postponed her trip to Chernobyl in May, where she grew up.

Russian forces have taken control of the city’s nuclear power plant.

“When I heard about Chernobyl, it hurt me the most,” Sobina said tearfully. “I was strong, but when I heard they took my land.”

She stopped to gather herself.

“If hatred ever gets into my heart, I try to take it away because hating people is the worst thing,” she told DailyMail.com. “But right now I’m feeling so crazy about Russia.”

She said she refused to even talk to acquaintances who supported Russia and its actions, and criticized a friend who dismissed the war as “only Ukraine and Russia”.

“Putin is not a man with a brain,” Sobina said. She criticized President Biden’s leadership of the crisis, likening it to his evacuation of US troops from Afghanistan last year.

“I said it’s not just Ukraine and Russia, how can you not understand that?” Sobina argued. “The whole world is involved in this. We are talking about a crazy person. We don’t know what he will do. Do you know how much uranium there is in Chernobyl, buried? It is enough to destroy the whole planet.

“I want people to understand the danger and hope to fight for this man,” she continued.

She said sanctions would not stop the aggression.

“Putin is not a man with a brain,” Sobina said. “He does not care about all these sanctions. All he wants is to take. He thinks of himself as Napoleon. It must be stopped.

She criticized President Biden’s leadership of the crisis, likening it to his evacuation of US troops from Afghanistan last year.

“My opinion, and I’m not afraid to say it anymore, is that Biden is a very weak man,” she said. “She seems to be afraid to fight. I have a feeling that Trump was more aggressive towards all kinds of evil, and Biden is weak. Putin is taking advantage of a president who will not argue about it.