Moscow and its Western foes each signaled Tuesday they’re prepared to ramp up an economic war that has already shaken global markets and sent fuel prices soaring, while Russian troops stormed facilities in Mariupol in a renewed effort to conquer the Ukrainian port city and finally notch a win in an unimpressive military campaign.
Russian missile strikes were also reported far from the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine. Officials in the western city of Lviv said at least four Russian missiles hit sites around the city Tuesday evening.
The twin developments across Europe on Tuesday underscored both the growing economic fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the rising human cost, as international aid workers raced to evacuate more than 100 civilians from a Mariupol steel plant that has served as a refuge from the Russian assault. The frantic rescue came as Russian forces attacked the facility after weeks of failed attempts to force Ukrainian troops to surrender.
By holding on to the site, the Ukrainian military has denied Moscow a strategic land bridge from the Donbas region to Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which Russia forcibly annexed in 2014. Tuesday’s assault suggests that Russian President Vladimir Putin is growing impatient with the slow progress his military has made on the eastern front, and it points to a growing desire inside the Kremlin to secure a high-profile victory ahead of Russia’s May 9 “Victory Day” holiday, which celebrates Nazi Germany’s defeat in 1945.
But Mr. Putin also escalated the conflict on another front. The longtime Russian leader signed a decree Tuesday that would forbid the export of Russian products and materials to a host of individuals and governments, presumably those in Europe and the U.S. who have imposed their own economic sanctions on Russia. Mr. Putin directed that his government produce a list of those individuals, entities and countries within 10 days.
Meanwhile, European Union policy chief Josep Borrell said that the EU is working on yet another round of economic sanctions, this time targeting Russian oil exports to Europe and cutting off more Russian institutions from the SWIFT international banking system.
“Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine affects global security. We are working on the 6th package of sanctions which aims to [cut off] more banks, list disinformation actors and tackle oil imports,” Mr. Borrell tweeted.
Amid the deepening rift between Moscow and Europe, Mr. Putin spoke by phone Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron and said that he’s open to peace talks with Kyiv, though he continued blaming both Ukraine and NATO for the conflict. A Kremlin readout of the call also blamed rising food prices and global food shortages on Western sanctions, not the war itself.
“The Russian president explained the fundamental approach to negotiations with the Ukrainian representatives. In particular, he stressed that despite Kyiv’s inconsistency and unpreparedness for serious work Russia remained open to a dialogue,” the Kremlin said.
Powerful world leaders tried to find a path to peace Tuesday. Pope Francis said he wants to meet with Mr. Putin in Moscow as part of his efforts to end the war in Ukraine. He said that weeks ago he instructed Vatican leaders to ask Mr. Putin for a meeting, but they got no response.
“We received no answer whatsoever, but we keep pressing them on this issue,” he said.
Battle for Mariupol
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Russia’s state-run Tass news agency cast the ongoing attack on Mariupol as a “liberation” of the city, which has become a strategic prize for Russia and a symbol of Ukraine’s defiant resistance in the face of constant shelling and dwindling supplies.
Ukrainian troops and civilians have spent weeks huddled inside the Azovstal steel plant. Russia’s attack on that facility Tuesday sparked fears that hundreds of civilians would soon be killed. International Red Cross officials said they evacuated more than 100 Ukrainians from the site and transported them to the government-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia.
“Today, we brought people safely to Zaporizhzhia,” said Osnat Lubrani, the Red Cross’ humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine. “However, I worry that there may be more civilians who remain trapped.”
Analysts say it is stunning that Russia, weeks after abandoning its campaign to capture Kyiv and redirecting the bulk of its forces to the Donbas region, has failed to take Mariupol or achieve any of its other major strategic aims on the eastern front. With the May 9 celebration just days away, Mr. Putin and his inner circle are said to feel growing pressure to deliver something resembling a victory, if for no other reason than to provide a shot in the arm to the sagging morale among Russian troops.
But Mr. Putin’s enemies seem increasingly optimistic, having watched the Russian army sustain massive casualties and commit repeated logistical blunders across Ukraine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for example, told Ukrainian lawmakers that the campaign has “exploded the myth of Putin’s invincibility.”
“You are the masters of your fate, and no one can or should impose anything on Ukrainians. We in the U.K. will be guided by you and we are proud to be your friends,” he said in a video address to the Ukrainian parliament.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, offered a damning new analysis of the Russian war machine. British officials said that even though Russia’s military budget doubled from 2005 to 2018, “the modernization of its physical equipment has not enabled Russia to dominate Ukraine.”
“Failures both in strategic planning and operational execution have left it unable to translate numerical strength into decisive advantage,” the defense ministry tweeted. “Russia’s military is now significantly weaker, both materially and conceptually, as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. Recovery from this will be exacerbated by sanctions. This will have a lasting impact on Russia’s ability to deploy conventional military force.”
• Mark A. Kellner and David R. Sands contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire-service reports.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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