First and second, the beginnings of Associated Press and Reuters summaries, with links, both made available in early afternoon EDT. Next, from last week, a Ross Douthat column from the New York Times, reprinted here and there. Fourth,  fifth and sixth, via The Greanville Post, an interview with Bulgarian journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva on U.S. biolabs in Ukraine, linked to a paper she wrote; an interview with former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ridder by two Grayzone journalists; and a look at how Ukraine’s government gets its word out on the war. — MCM

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Russia shifts focus to try to grind Ukraine’s army in east, by Nebi Qena and Yuras Karmanau | The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — With its aspirations for a quick victory dashed by a stiff Ukrainian resistance, Russia has increasingly focused on grinding down Ukraine’s military in the east in the hope of forcing Kyiv into surrendering part of the country’s territory to possibly end the war. The bulk of the Ukrainian army is concentrated in eastern Ukraine, where it has been locked up in fighting with Moscow-backed separatists in a nearly eight-year conflict. If Russia succeeds in encircling and destroying the Ukrainian forces in the country’s industrial heartland, called Donbas, it could try to dictate its terms to Kyiv and potentially attempt to split the country in two. The Russian military declared Friday that the “first stage of the operation” had been largely accomplished . . . READ MORE . . .

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Putin not seen ready to compromise ahead of peace talks, by Pavel Polityuk and Vitalii Hnidyi | Reuters * Talks arranged after call between Erdogan and Putin * 160,000 people still trapped in Mariupol – mayor * Russians turn effort towards separatist areas | LVIV/KHARKIV, Ukraine — Ukraine and Russia were preparing on Monday for the first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks, but a senior U.S. official said Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear ready to make compromises to end the war. Ukrainian officials also played down the chances of a major breakthrough at the talks, due to be held in Istanbul after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Sunday. But the fact that they were taking place in person at all — for the first time since an acrimonious meeting between foreign ministers on March 10 —  was a sign of . . . READ MORE . . .

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Why We Need Wartime Dissent, by Ross Douthat | The New York Times On Sept. 14, 2001, the House of Representatives passed what was understood to be a declaration of war against the perpetrators of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, by a vote of 420 to 1. The one dissenter was Barbara Lee, Democrat of California. At the time, her protest vote seemed like embarrassing peacenik nonsense, an example of left-wing folly at a time of moral clarity and necessary war. In recent days, since the invasion of Ukraine, the House has cast votes by similarly lopsided margins — 426 to 3 for a resolution urging various kinds of support for Kyiv, 424 to 8 to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. The dissenters this time have been Republicans, a mixture of . . . READ MORE . . .

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Richard Medhurst Interviews Dilyana Gaytandzhieva on U.S. BioLabs in Ukraine. From The Greanville Post. One of several online interviews with the Bulgarian journalist. There is a link HERE to a paper she wrote on the subject. An introduction to her conversation with Richard Medhurst reads, “The truth about these biowarfare labs would have been kept secret if the Russians had not invaded Ukraine and overrun the labs. The truth is a lot filthier and more sinister than you thought. That’s one of the main reasons for the secrecy and emphatic denials by all U.S. officials. They got caught, but now, as usual, the media will muddy the waters and turn its attention elsewhere, as if nothing happened. Incidentally, Dilyana shows the legion of fat U.S. and Western presstitutes what it means to be a true journalist in the service of humanity.”

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The battle for Ukraine, with ex-U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter. Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate of The Grayzone spoke FIVE DAYS AGO with ex-U.N. weapons inspector and military expert Scott Ritter. From the introduction: “Ritter provides a detailed analysis of the battlefield that stands in stark contrast to the rose-colored perspective of most Western analysts and offers his perspective on the political follies that drove the conflict.” Watch and listen HERE. (Blumenthal says several times during the conversation that it has been the most-watched to date of the Grayzone live interviews, with 8,000 people tuning in.) 

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The foreign strategists, Washington D.C., lobbyists and intelligence-linked media outlets behind Ukraine’s public relations, by Dan Cohen | Mint Press News WASHINGTON — Since the Russian offensive inside Ukraine commenced on February 24, the Ukrainian military has cultivated the image of a plucky little army standing up to the Russian Goliath. To bolster the perception of Ukrainian military mettle, Kiev has churned out a steady stream of sophisticated propaganda aimed at stirring public and official support from Western countries. . . . Ukraine’s propaganda strategy earned it praise from a NATO commander who told the Washington Post, “They are really excellent in . . . READ MORE . . .

First and second, Reuters and Associated Press summaries with links, both made available around noon EDT. — MCM

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Ukraine says Russia wants to split nation, calls for more arms, by Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Pavel Polityuk | Reuters * Ukraine intelligence chief predicts guerrilla warfare * Zelenskiy appeals for more Western military hardware * Biden says Putin ‘cannot remain in power’ * Russia-backed region signals possible referendum * Ukraine, Russia agree on two humanitarian corridors | LVIV, Ukraine — Russia wants to split Ukraine into two, as happened with North and South Korea, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said on Sunday, vowing “total” guerrilla warfare to prevent a carve-up of the country. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the West to give Ukraine tanks, planes and missiles to help fend off the Russian forces, which the Kyiv government said were increasingly targeting fuel and food depots. U.S. officials continued efforts to soften comments on Saturday from U.S. President Joe Biden, who said in a fiery speech in Poland that Russian leader Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had no strategy of regime change in Moscow and that Biden had simply meant Putin could not be “empowered to wage war” against Ukraine or anywhere else. READ MORE . . . .

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Zelenskyy: West needs more courage in helping Ukraine fight, by Yuras Karmanau | The Associated Press LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of cowardice as his country fights to stave off Russia’s invading troops, making an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks to sustain a defense as the war ground into a battle of attrition. Speaking after U.S. President Joe Biden said in a lacerating speech that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not stay in power — words the White House immediately sought to downplay — Zelenskyy lashed out Sunday at the West’s “ping-pong about who and how should hand over jets” and other weapons while Russian missile attacks kill and trap civilians. “I’ve talked to the defenders of Mariupol today. I’m in constant contact with them. Their determination, heroism and firmness are astonishing,” Zelenskyy said in a video address, referring to the besieged southern city that has suffered some of the war’s greatest deprivations and horrors. “If only those who have been thinking for 31 days on how to hand over dozens of jets and tanks had 1% of their courage.” READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

First and second, the beginnings of Reuters and Associated Press summaries from Ukraine, both constantly updated today and linking to other stories. Next, a 10-minute report by correspondent Matthew Tyrmand made several weeks ago. Next, in The Atlantic, a writer notes similarities between a 2006 Russian novel and what she sees as the Russian war plan. (The link contains others to Atlantic contributors’ writing related to the war.) Next, at top left of its homepage, the Justice Integrity Project suggests that an isolated Russian President Putin is fearful of his military brass and shows a gregarious U.S. President Biden enjoyably sharing pizza with soldiers in Poland. Finally, four reports from today’s “Weekend Edition” of National Public Radio. — MCM

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Rockets hit Lviv in western Ukraine, Biden calls Putin a ‘butcher’, by Natalia Zinets | Reuters LVIV, Ukraine — Rockets struck the outskirts of the western Ukrainian city of Lviv today for what appeared to be the first time since Russia’s invasion, and Russian forces took control of a town where workers at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant live. Intense fighting raged in several parts of Ukraine, suggesting there will be no swift let-up in the month-old war, and U.S. President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “butcher” after meeting Ukrainian refugees in Poland. The Kremlin was cited by Russia’s TASS news agency as saying such comments would further damage . . . READ MORE . . .

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Shelled city in north Ukraine fears becoming ‘next Mariupol’, by Yuras Karmanau | The Associated Press LVIV, Ukraine — Nights are spent huddling underground from Russian strikes pounding their encircled city into rubble. Daylight hours are devoted to hunting down drinkable water and braving the risk of standing in line for the little food available as shells and bombs rain down. In the second month of Russia’s invasion, this is what now passes for life in Chernihiv, a besieged city in northern Ukraine where death is everywhere. Russia continues to pound cities throughout Ukraine — three powerful explosions Saturday shook the western city of Lviv, which is near the Polish border and has been a refuge for thousands of displaced people. Chernihiv has been blockaded and pounded from afar by Russian troops for weeks. And while it has . . . READ MORE . . .

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Dispatch from Medyka, Poland. Matthew Tyrmand reports in late February or early March, giving what he called a “breakdown of the dynamics on the ground,” HERE. (The reporting from the Poland-Ukraine border was recommended by a Facebook friend. In October 2020 Atlantic Magazine writer Anne Applebaum had THIS to say about Tyrmand.)

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Putin Is Just Following the Manual, by Dina Khapaeva | The Atlantic No one can read Vladimir Putin’s mind. But we can read the book that foretells the Russian leader’s imperialist foreign policy. Mikhail Yuriev’s 2006 utopian novel, The Third Empire: Russia as It Ought to Be, anticipates—with astonishing precision—Russia’s strategy of hybrid war and its recent military campaigns: the 2008 war with Georgia, the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the incursion into the Donetsk and Luhansk regions the same year, and Russia’s current assault on Ukraine. Yuriev’s book, like Putin’s war with Ukraine, is an expression of post-Soviet neo-medievalism, a far-right, anti-Western, and antidemocratic ideology that assigns . . . READ MORE . . .

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Study in Contrasts. From the Justice Integrity Project It’s widely speculated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is afraid of mingling with his generals from fear of them regarding the cruel and disastrous Ukraine invasion, and not from Covid-19. Among the reasons [for this view], Putin was recently photographed enjoying himself mingling with a group airline stewardesses and one of Russia’s most famed Cold War generals, retired Gen. Leonid Ivashov, denounced Putin’s invasion and called on him to resign in an open letter in February shortly before the invasion on behalf of the All-Russian Officers Association that Ivashov chairs. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden dined on boxed-in pizza with a group of U.S. soldiers on Friday at a base in Poland. .  . . 

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Four NPR Reports. By Nathan Rott, HERE;  by Eric Westervelt, HERE; by Debbie Elliott, HERE; and by Joanna Kakissis, HERE.

First and second, Associated Press and Reuters reports made available by 11 a.m. EDT, both linked to others. Third, an AP story from Tuesday on efforts to counter Russian propaganda. Then, Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, accuses Instagram and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally of shadow banning her messages. Next, a Wall Street Journal column from early this week. Finally, an unsigned TeleSUR analysis. — MCM

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Ukraine says 300 died in theater attack, hunger grips cities, by Nebi Qena and Andrea Rosa | The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — About 300 people were killed in the Russian airstrike last week that blasted open a Mariupol theater, Ukrainian authorities said Friday in what would make it the war’s deadliest known attack on civilians yet. In a vain attempt to protect the hundreds of people taking cover inside the theater, “CHILDREN” in Russian had been printed in huge white letters on the ground in two places outside the grand, columned building to make it visible from the air. For days, the government in the besieged and ruined city of Mariupol was unable to give a casualty count for the March 16 attack. In announcing the death toll on its Telegram channel Friday, it cited . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia signals scaled-back war aims, Ukrainians advance near Kyiv, by Gleb Garanich and Natalia Zinets| Reuters BUCHA/LVIV, Ukraine — Moscow signalled on Friday it was scaling back its ambitions in Ukraine to focus on territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists as Ukrainian forces went on the offensive, recapturing towns on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv. In the first big sign that Western sanctions on Russia were impacting investment from China, sources told Reuters state-run Sinopec Group, Asia’s biggest oil refiner, had suspended talks on a petrochemical investment and a . . . READ MORE . . .

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U.S., Ukraine quietly try to pierce Putin’s propaganda bubble, by Colleen Long, Amanda Seitz and Nomaan Merchant | The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Ukraine have knocked back Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to falsely frame the narrative of his brutal war, but they are struggling to get a more accurate view of the Kremlin’s invasion in front of the Russian people. While the Russian military suffers thousands of deaths and fails to capture key cities, Putin is intensifying his two-decade crackdown on information. The Kremlin has shut down Russia’s last three independent media outlets, barred major social media platforms, created new laws against journalists who defy its propaganda and insisted on calling the war a “special military operation.” The result is a Russian public with little to no access to . . . READ MORE . . .

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Shadow Banned? Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, says she has been shadow banned on Instagram. Addressing “my many friends on Instagram” Gabbard states, in part, “Unfortunately, [Meta Platforms Chairman and CEO Mark] Zuckerberg is blocking you from receiving many of my messages. This mini-tyrant is also deprioritizing my name/account in the discover and search pages, and telling many who @mention me ‘this account has posted false information,’ but he fails to provide any examples of such so-called ‘misinformation.’ All of us will continue to be under this Big Tech dictatorship so long as cowardly leaders from both parties are in their pocket. I need your support. Join me at tulsi.locals.com and on platforms that believe in free speech and democracy.” A Bitchute video, HERE, shows Gabbard delivering the message, alongside a photo of Zuckerberg with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (Shadowbans block Internet users or content without letting users know that they or content has been blocked.)

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Sanctions on Russia Pit the West Against the Rest of the World, by Walter Russell Mead | Wall Street Journal As the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war ricochet through global politics, the West has never been more closely aligned. It has also rarely been more alone. Allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plus Australia and Japan are united in revulsion against Vladimir Putin’s war and are cooperating with the most sweeping sanctions since World War II. The rest of the world, not so much. In a development that suggests trouble ahead . . . READ MORE . . .

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The U.S. Fuels the Ukrainian Conflict to Maintain its Hegemony, From TeleSUR. A month has passed since Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine. The United States has not only failed to take practical measures to de-escalate the situation, but continued to “fan the flames” through weapon assistance and sanctions. The root cause of the outbreak of the conflict . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

First and second, Associated Press and Reuters reports made available by 10 a.m. EDT. Next, Joe Laura of Consortium News depicts a struggle within the U.S. government over Ukraine war policy, with the Defense Department on one side and the State Department, Congress and the news media on the other. Then, via Popular Resistance, two looks at NATO and at refugees pouring into Moldavia. Then, two reports from NPR’s “Morning Edition.” Then, a trio of pieces via Global Research. — MCM

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U.S. to expand Russia sanctions, accept 100K Ukraine refugees, by Chris Megerian, Lorne Cook and American Mahhani | The Associated Press BRUSSELS — The United States will expand its sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine, targeting members of the country’s parliament and the central bank’s gold reserves, the White House announced today. At the same time, Washington will increase its humanitarian assistance by welcoming 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and providing an additional $1 billion in food, medicine, water and other supplies. The White House announced the initiatives as U.S. President Joe Biden and world leaders gathered in Brussels for a trio of summits in response to the Russian invasion, seeking new ways to limit the economic and security fallout from the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the day’s first meeting, an emergency NATO summit, where he called for “military assistance without . . . READ MORE . . .

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Western nations to bolster Ukraine aid, by John Chalmers and Natalia Zinets | Reuters * Western leaders meet to take more action against Russia * More than half of Ukraine’s children forced to flee – UN * In besieged Mariupol, people bury their dead * Energy supplies complicate responses | BRUSSELS/LVIV/MARIUPOL, Ukraine — Western leaders meeting in Brussels on today will agree to strengthen their forces in Eastern Europe and increase military aid to Ukraine as the Russian assault on its neighbour entered its second month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged them to go further and repeated his call for a no-fly zone over his country, where thousands of people have been killed, millions become refugees, and cities pulverised since Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed his . . . READ MORE . . .

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Pentagon Drops Truth Bombs to Stave Off War With Russia, by Joe Lauria | Consortium News The Pentagon is engaged in a consequential battle with the U.S. State Department and the Congress to prevent a direct military confrontation with Russia, which could unleash the most unimaginable horror of war. President Joe Biden is caught in the middle of the fray. So far he is siding with the Defense Department, saying there cannot be a NATO no-fly zone over Ukraine fighting Russian aircraft because “that’s called World War III, okay? Let’s get it straight here, guys. We will not fight the third world war in Ukraine.” . . . (The administration plan is to bring down the Russian government through a ground insurgency and economic war, not a direct military one.) But pressure on the White House from Congress and the press corps is unrelenting to recklessly bring NATO directly into the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, hailed as a virtual superhero in Western media . . . READ MORE . . .

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NATO Is a Problem, Not the Solution, by Yves Engler | EDUCATE! While in no way excusing Russia’s criminal invasion, NATO expansion eastward increased its likelihood. Although we’ll never know if the war would not have happened under different circumstances, after a month of Russian violence against Ukraine the two countries’ negotiators have reportedly agreed that it will reject joining NATO as part of a peace pact. Russia has long objected to NATO’s eastward expansion, particularly Ukraine’s de facto incorporation into the alliance. It repeatedly raised objections to NATO encircling its territory in the months leading up to its illegal invasion. Last week the head of the European Union’s foreign policy, Josep Borrell, even admitted the push to expand NATO into Ukraine was an error. “I am ready . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian Refugees Spare No Words on Zelensky government, by Fergie Chambers, Toward Freedom, EDUCATE! CHISINAU, Moldova — Nestled above the Black Sea, between the war zone in Ukraine and the eastern limits of NATO territory in Romania, sits the tiny, oft-forgotten landlocked nation of Moldova. Among the poorest countries in Europe by just about any relevant metric, it has been overwhelmed by Ukrainian refugees in the three weeks since the outset of what Russia calls its “special military operation” (спецоперация) in Ukraine. More than 359,000 people of the 3.38 million who have fled Ukraine since February 24 have passed in and out of the country, according to . . . READ MORE . . .

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Moldova, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, eyes Russia’s actions, by Frank Langfitt | NPR. Listen HERE.

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The state of the war: a month after Russia tried to claim an easy victory. Steve Inskeep, Tom Bowman and Tim Mak | NPR | They talk about changes in Ukraine has changed and the efforts of that country’s military and civilian resistance. Listen HERE.

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What About That Theater? by Max Blumenthal | The Grayzone. Testimony by evacuated Mariupol residents and warnings of a false flag attack undermine the Ukrainian government’s claims about a Russian bombing of a local theater sheltering civilians. Western media have reported that Russia’s military deliberately attacked the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, claiming that it was filled with civilians and marked with signs reading “children” on its grounds. The supposed bombing took place just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to US Congress .   .   . READ MORE . . .

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Madeleine Albright saw NATO expansion eastward as essential. From The Conversation. Madeleine Albright may have not coined the phrase “indispensable nation,” but she will always be associated with the concept. By the time she became Secretary of State in 1997, the United States had become a beached superpower. . . . . When the Soviet Union disappeared in 1991, so did the primary justification for America’s enormous troop presence abroad and globe-spanning web of military alliances. The Czech-born Albright, who died on March 23 at age 84, helped the United States to conjure a new rationale for its militarized global role in the post-Cold War era. Her trenchant belief that . . . READ MORE . . .

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Defense Giants Quietly Making Billions on Ukraine War, by Peter Bloom | The Conversation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been widely condemned for its unjustified aggression. There are legitimate fears of a revived Russian empire and even a new world war. Less discussed is the almost half-trillion dollar defense industry supplying the weapons to both sides, and the substantial profits it will make as a result. The conflict has already seen massive growth in defense spending. . . . An international coalition of nations is also willingly arming the Ukrainian resistance, including the UK, Australia, Turkey and . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

First and second, Reuters and Associated Press reports from late this morning, both linking to other stories. Then, a selection of Ukraine-related National Public Radio stories from today and yesterday. — MCM

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Kremlin veteran quits over Ukraine war and leaves Russia, by Natalia Zinets, Natalie Thomas and Vitalii Hnidiy | Reuters * Anatoly Chubais was Putin’s first Kremlin boss under Yeltsin * Biden on first foreign trip since war began * Destruction of Mariupol seen in new satellite images | LVIV/MYKOLAIV/KHARKIV, Ukraine — A veteran envoy of President Vladimir Putin has resigned over the Ukraine war and left Russia with no intention to return, two sources said today, the first senior official to break with the Kremlin since Putin launched his invasion a month ago. The Kremlin confirmed that Anatoly Chubais had resigned of his own accord. Chubais was one of the principal architects of Boris Yeltsin’s economic reforms of the 1990s and was Putin’s boss in the future president’s first Kremlin job. He held senior business and political jobs under Putin, lately serving as Kremlin special envoy to international organisations. READ MORE . . .

Ties between Russia and Japan get even worse because of the war, by Anthony Kuhn | NPR.   Listen HERE.

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The U.S. and allies plan to step up sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, by A. Martinez and Tamara Keith | NPR.  Listen HERE.

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Ukraine’s military is fortifying its defenses around city of Odessa,report by Tim Mak | NPR. Listen and read HERE.

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Russia cut off access to Facebook, by Charles Maynes | NPR.  Listen and read HERE.

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TO BE CONTINUED

The column beginning just below, from Consortium News, is followed by links to several news reports and other items related to the war in Ukraine. — MCM

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Imperial Infantilism

By Patrick Lawrence

It’s getting downright difficult to keep track of all the epithets American statesmen, stateswomen, political leaders and legislators use to tell us just who Vladimir Putin is — and with what bottomless contempt we should regard the Russian president.

I long for the days when he was simply “Hitler.” Such as when Hillary Clinton compared him with der Führer after Moscow re-annexed Crimea in response to the coup the U.S. had just engineered in Kiev. That was back in 2014. There were few complications then: All we needed to do was hate him.

Now the names we have for Putin roll around . . . like pinballs.  “Hitler” has fallen somewhat out of fashion, the hyperbole having proven too silly, or maybe because NATO is now arming a Nazi-infested regime.

He’s all sorts of other things too, keeping us well on the side of repugnance and hostility, and safely away from a serious, adult understanding of the man, the nation and what the man and the nation are doing — in Ukraine and elsewhere.

In an encounter with reporters last week, President Joe Biden described the Russian leader as “a war criminal.”  This came as demands for direct U.S. intervention in Ukraine grow shriller. You have to love The New York Times, and especially its national-security clerk, David Sanger. He added that Biden “was speaking from the heart, his aides said.” A man of humane passions, our president.

One would have thought . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine retakes key Kyiv suburb; battle for Mariupol rages, by Nebi Qena and Kara Anna | The Associated Press | KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine said it retook a strategically important suburb of Kyivearly Tuesday, as Russian forces squeezed other areas near the capital and their attack on the embattled southern port of Mariupol raged unabated. Explosions and bursts of gunfire shook Kyiv, and black smoke rose from a spot in the north. Intensified artillery fire could be heard from the northwest, where Russia has sought to encircle and capture several suburban areas of the capital, a crucial target.  . . . Russian forces also pressed their siege of Mariupol after the southern port city’s defenders refused demands to surrender, with fleeing civilians describing relentless bombardments and corpses lying in the streets. But the Kremlin’s ground offensive in other parts of the country advanced slowly or not at all, knocked back by lethal hit-and-run attacks by the Ukrainians. READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine pleads for help as more bombs hit besieged Mariupol, by Natalia Zinets and Patel Polityuk | Reuters * Ukrainian generals expect more indiscriminate bombing * Ukraine says ‘no question of surrender’ in Mariupol * 96-year-old Holocaust survivors killed in shelling | LVIV/KYIV, Ukraine – Russia is pounding the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol into the “ashes of a dead land”, its local council said on Tuesday, describing two more huge bombs that fell on the city that has been sealed off for weeks. Ukraine’s military warned the public on Tuesday of more indiscriminate Russian shelling from bogged-down Russian troops, and U.S. President Joe Biden issued his strongest warning yet that Russia is considering using chemical weapons. Amid the devastation caused by Russia’s unceasing bombardment of Ukrainian cities, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy highlighted the death of a 96-year-old survivor of Nazi concentration camps, killed in his flat by shelling in Kharkiv. READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine Would Discuss Crimea, Donbas with Russia. From TeleSUR President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said he would be ready to discuss the issues of Crimea and the recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics with Russia after the Ukrainian side receives security guarantees. “This is a very difficult situation for everyone,” he said in an interview with TV companies from European countries and Ukraine. “For Crimea, Donbass, and for everyone. In order to find a way out, you have to take this first step, which I have mentioned: security guarantees, the end of the war.” According to Zelensky, he is ready to discuss these issues at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I am ready to raise these issues at the first meeting with the President of Russia, they are relevant, they are important for us,” he said. READ MORE . . .

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Bits of interest from the war, by Moon of Alabama | Educate! * Zelensky says ‘western’ leaders said no to Ukrainian NATO membership, but rejected to do so publicly * U.S. supported ‘activist’ commits publicly to war crimes * CNN promotes leader of neo-Nazi Azov Battalion * Arch Zionists are pissed off by Zelensky’s holocaust revisionism * Destroyed Kiev shopping mall was used as weapon and ammunition depot * Despite a hopeless situation the government in Kiev rejects to end war in Mariupol * Unconfirmed: Zelensky rejects Ukrainian military request for retreat from the Donbas front | In two draft treaties, which Russia had sent to the U.S. and EU in December, it demanded written declarations that the Ukraine would never join NATO. The U.S. and the EU publicly rejected that demand. It was a major reason for Russia to start its intervention. Consider that in light of this interview Zelensky gave yesterday to CNN. He said: “I requested them personally to say directly that we are going to accept you into NATO in a year or two or five. Just say it directly and clearly or just say no the response was very clear, you are not going to be a NATO or E.U. member, but publicly the doors will remain open.” READ MORE . . .

First and second, two Reuters reports, from Lviv and Washington. Third, an Associated Press report from Lviv. Fourth, a TeleSUR package. Fifth, a Reuters story updated at 4 p.m. EDT. — MCM

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Ukraine defies Russian demand to lay down arms in Mariupol, by Pavel Polityuk | Reuters * ‘Lay down your arms’ before dawn, Russian general says * Ukraine says ‘no question of surrender’ in Mariupol * Hundreds of thousands of civilian trapped under siege  LVIV, Ukraine — Ukraine defied a Russian demand that its forces lay down arms before dawn on Monday in Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped in a city under siege and already laid to waste by Russian bombardment. Russia’s military had ordered Ukrainians inside the besieged southeastern city to surrender by 5 a.m., saying that those who do so would be permitted to leave through safe corridors. “There can be no question of any surrender, laying down of arms” in the city, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk responded. “We have already informed the Russian side about this.” Russia’s assault on Ukraine, now in its fourth week, has stalled along most fronts. Russia has failed to seize a single major . . . READ MORE . . .

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Pressed to choose sides on Ukraine, China trade favors the West, by David Lawder | Reuters WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden’s warning of “consequences” for any aid China may give to Russia’s Ukraine war effort could force Chinese President Xi Jinping to choose between a longstanding lucrative trade relationship with the West and a growing strategic partnership with Moscow. Based on trade flows alone . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine rejects Russian demand for surrender in Mariupol, by Cara Anna | The Associated Press LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials defiantly rejected a Russian demand that their forces in Mariupol lay down arms and raise white flags Monday in exchange for safe passage out of the besieged strategic port city. Even as Russia intensified its attempt to bombard Mariupol into surrender, its offensive in other parts of Ukraine has floundered. Western governments and analysts see the broader conflict grinding into a war of attrition, with Russia continuing to barrage cities. In the capital Kyiv, Russian shelling devastated a shopping center near the city center, killing at least eight people and leaving a sea of rubble amid scarred high-rises. Ukrainian authorities also said Russia shelled a chemical plant in northeastern Ukraine, causing an ammonia leak, and hit a military training base in the west with cruise missiles. The encircled southern city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov has seen some of the worst horrors of the war, under Russian pounding for more than three weeks. Strikes hit an art school sheltering some 400 people only hours before Russia’s offer to open two corridors out of the city in return for the capitulation of its defenders, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian officials rejected the Russian proposal for safe passage out of Mariupol even before Russia’s deadline of 5 a.m. Moscow time (0200GMT) for a response came and went. READ MORE . . .

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Russia Says Nationalists Provoke With Toxic Chemicals in Ukraine, From TeleSUR — Ukrainian nationalist forces are preparing provocations with dangerous chemicals at at least two locations in Ukraine, for which they plan to hold the Russian military responsible, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, has said. “In Sumy, nationalists have mined the ammonia and chlorine storage facilities of the SumyJimProm chemical plant with the aim of mass poisoning the residents of the Sumy region in case the Russian Armed Forces enter the city,” the military official reported. In addition, the nationalists are preparing provocations with toxic chemicals in the village of Kotliarovo, Nikolayev region, southern Ukraine. READ MORE . . .

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Russia may not stop with Ukraine — NATO looks to its weakest link, by Sabina Siebold and Robin Emmett  * NATO is back defending against its original nemesis, but this time it’s different *  Baltic region’s new NATO members vulnerable from land and sea * Mines, container ship accident, could seal them off * With China, Russia in concert, alliance is at turning point * NATO “thought that there wouldn’t be an enemy anymore” ON BOARD THE SUPPLY SHIP ELBE, Latvia — Hours after Russian missiles first struck Ukrainian cities on Feb. 24, German naval commander Terje Schmitt-Eliassen received notice to sail five warships under his command to the former Soviet Republic of Latvia to help protect the .   .   . READ MORE . . .

First and second, an Associated Press analysis of the war and a Reuters update. Third, James Brooke, a visiting fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, draws from knowledge of Ukraine and Russia, in part from his years as a news correspondent in both countries. Fourth, Moon of Alabama examines destruction at a theater and a maternity hospital, both in Mariupol. Fifth, Vijay Prashad of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Reseach, provides a Marxist perspective on the war. — MCM

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Denied easy victory, Russia presses reduced goals in Ukraine, by Ellen Knickmeyer | The Associated Press  WASHINGTON — The signs are abundant of how Ukraine frustrated Vladimir Putin’s hopes for a swift victory, and how Russia’s military proved far from ready for the fight. . . .Despite all the determination of Ukraine’s people, all the losses among Russia’s forces, and all the errors of Russia’s leaders, there is no sign that the war will soon be over . . . .Fatefully, Putin underestimated the national pride and battlefield skills that Ukrainians have built up over the past eight years of battling Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east. . . .  READ MORE . . .

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Talk peace now or suffer for generations, Ukraine’s Zelenskiy tells tells Russia, by Natalia Zinets and Natalie Thomas | Reuters * Zelenskiy calls for comprehensive peace talks. * Russia reports hypersonic missile strike * Ukraine says it has lost access to Sea of Azov * Biden warns China’s Xi against helping Russia LVIV/ODESSA, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Saturday for comprehensive peace talks with Moscow to stop its invasion of Ukraine, saying it would otherwise take Russia “several generations” to recover from its losses in the war. Russian forces have taken heavy losses and their advance has largely stalled since President Vladimir Putin launched the assault on Feb. 24, with long columns of troops that bore down on Kyiv halted in its suburbs. READ MORE . . .

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History explains Ukraine’s tenacious resistance, by James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle There is a saying that you can push a meek and mild Ukrainian all the way until his forehead touches the ground. Then, he arises a Cossack.  With Russia’s frontal attack on Ukraine, the foreheads of 40 million Ukrainians hit the ground. READ MORE, with an Eagle subscription . . ,

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Neo-Nazis in Ukraine fake Incidents to gain more ‘Western’ support, by Moon of Alabama The Ukraine claims that [an attack on the Mariupol Drama Theater] took place. Russia says that the Azov battalion blew up the building. Evidence for ‘hit by an air strike . . .’ and for ‘1,200 civilians sheltering in it’? READ MORE . . .

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We are in a period of great tectonic shifts, by Vijay Prashad | Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research The war in Ukraine has focused attention on the shifts taking place in the world order. Russia’s military intervention has been met with sanctions from the West as well as with the transport of arms and mercenaries to Ukraine. These sanctions will have a major impact on the Russian economy as well as the Central Asian states, but they will also negatively impact the European population who will see energy and food prices rise further. Until now, the West has decided not to intervene with direct military force or to try and establish a ‘no-fly zone’. It is recognized, sanely, that . . . READ MORE . . . 

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TO BE CONTINUED