Warning to Putin From Biden Not To Use Unconventional Weapons 2+ Can PlayThe Game
KYIV, Ukraine — President Biden has once again warned President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia against using unconventional or nuclear weapons to try to turn the tide of the war in Moscow’s favor, saying that such an action would “change the face of war unlike anything since World War II.”
Speaking in an interview with the CBS News program “60 Minutes” that is scheduled to air on Sunday, Mr. Biden said that the United States’ response would be “consequential,” though he declined to go into detail.
“You think I would tell you if I knew exactly what it would be? Of course I’m not going to tell you. It’ll be consequential,” Mr. Biden said, according to an excerpt from the interview. “They’ll become more of a pariah in the world than they ever have been. And depending on the extent of what they do will determine what response would occur.”
His warning was in response to an interviewer’s question, not in light of any newly released intelligence suggesting that the threat had changed.
The comments came as Russian forces have been left reeling from retreats on the battlefield in Ukraine and as Mr. Putin faces intensifying questions back home over how he has conducted the war.
The leaders of Mr. Putin’s two most consequential strategic partners, India and China, both raised concerns about the war this past week, puncturing the Kremlin’s message that Russia was far from isolated as a result of the war.
Some Western officials have expressed concern that the more cornered Mr. Putin feels, the greater the chance that he might turn to unconventional weapons like a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon, which can be fired at relatively short distances, as opposed to “strategic” nuclear weapons that can be launched over much longer distances.
In April, the C.I.A. director warned about how Mr. Putin could turn to such weapons in “desperation.”
The director, William J. Burns, said it was a possibility that the United States remained “very concerned” about, although he said that, at that stage of the war, Washington had seen no “practical evidence” of the kinds of military deployments or movement of weapons to suggest that such a move was imminent.
Mr. Biden has repeatedly said that the use of such weapons would have serious consequences.
Despite the setbacks and the loss of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers in Ukraine, Mr. Putin has showed no signs of changing course. On Friday, he threatened to escalate his forces’ attacks.
In a news conference in Uzbekistan at the conclusion of a regional summit, Mr. Putin claimed that Ukraine was trying to carry out “terrorist acts” inside Russia and “to damage our civilian infrastructure.”
Ukraine has occasionally hit fuel and military targets in Russia’s border region but has denied targeting civilian infrastructure, and Mr. Putin offered no evidence to back up his assertion.
“We are, indeed, responding rather restrainedly, but that’s for the time being,” Mr. Putin said. “The Russian armed forces delivered a couple of sensitive blows there. Well, what about that? We will assume that these are warning strikes. If the situation continues to develop in this way, the answer will be more serious.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has sought to seize on his country’s military advances to bolster the resolve of Western allies, using it as proof that Ukraine is capable not only of mounting an effective defense, but also of driving Russian forces from the country and winning the war.
At the same time, he has called on the world to respond to the mounting evidence of atrocities in recently de-occupied parts of northeastern Ukraine.
“Exhumation of bodies continues at a mass burial site near Izium,” he said in his overnight address. “As of now, more than 440 graves have been found. It is too early to say about the number of people buried there — investigations are ongoing,” he said. “There is already clear evidence of torture, humiliating treatment of people.”
“The world must react to all this,” he said.
The discovery this week of hundreds of bodies buried in a forest near the northeastern Ukrainian city of Izium has cast a renewed spotlight on potential war crimes and prompted fresh calls to hold Russia accountable for any abuses committed during their occupation of the city.
Investigators say the discoveries recall the broad evidence of atrocities by Russian soldiers in towns like Bucha, near Kyiv. But many of the bodies have not been identified, and the causes of death, or even how many were civilians and how many were soldiers, are not yet known.
While the work to clarify how the deaths occurred in Izium continued, Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said on Friday that it was vital to push for legal accountability.
At a news conference in Washington, he said it was “important that even as the Ukrainians do everything they can to take back the land that’s been seized from them by Russia in this aggression, that at the same time we’re all working to build the evidence and document the atrocities that have been committed.”
“And in many instances, these will amount to war crimes,” he added.
Indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian civilians have become a hallmark of Russia’s invasion, among them devastating strikes on hospitals, private residences and other targets that have killed and injured thousands.
After Russian forces withdrew from Bucha in April, they left signs of atrocities in their wake.
Investigators building cases for war crimes face immense challenges. More than six months into the war, there are as many as 20,000 continuing war crimes investigations, with multiple countries and international agencies at work, and a high burden of proof to reach a conviction.
In his nightly address on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, repeated some of what had been found in Izium and said there was “evidence of torture, humiliating treatment of people.”
“The world must react to all this,” he said.
Next week, he will have the attention of the world’s leaders. The United Nations General Assembly voted on Friday to let him deliver a prerecorded address to the gathering of world leaders in New York, making an exception to its requirement that all leaders speak in person.
A war crime is an act committed during armed conflict that violates international humanitarian laws designed to protect civilians. The rules of war are codified in various treaties, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
Complicating efforts to prosecute potential war crimes is that investigators are working while the war is still raging. The Kremlin has denied allegations against its forces, and Russia’s Defense Ministry has called graphic evidence of atrocities “fake.”
At The Hague in July, representatives from 45 nations, including the United States and European Union countries, heard testimony about atrocities and pledged about $20 million to assist the International Criminal Court, Ukraine’s prosecutor general and efforts by the United Nations.
Experts say the I.C.C., established in 1998 to handle cases of mass atrocities, could be an important avenue for accountability for Russia, though there are obstacles. Neither Russia nor Ukraine is among the court’s 123 member nations, but Ukraine has granted the court jurisdiction over crimes committed in its territory.
Potential war crimes are investigated as any suspected criminal activity would be, through interviewing witnesses, reviewing photos and videos, and collecting forensic evidence, including through ballistics analysis, autopsies and DNA testing. Prosecutors need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that people knowingly committed the crimes.
Tougher to prove is how much heads of state knew about or were directly responsible for what happened under their command. The history of war crimes cases suggests prosecutors face a formidable challenge to holding Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, to account.
Three of the most prominent prosecutions in history — against Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia, Charles Taylor of Liberia and Saddam Hussein of Iraq — were brought against leaders who were out of power; no sitting president has ever been handed over to an international court.
The State of the War
- Dramatic Gains for Ukraine: After Ukraine’s offensive in the country’s northeast drove Russian forces into a chaotic retreat, Ukrainian leaders face critical choices on how far to press the attack.
- In Izium: Following Russia’s retreat, Ukrainian investigators have begun documenting the toll of Russian occupation on the northeastern city. They have already found several burial sites, including one that could hold the remains of more than 400 people.
- Southern Counteroffensive: Military operations in the south have been a painstaking battle of river crossings, with pontoon bridges as prime targets for both sides. So far, it is Ukraine that has advanced.
- An Inferno in Mykolaiv: The southern Ukrainian city has been a target of near-incessant shelling since the war began. Firefighters are risking their lives to save as much of it as possible. Ukraine wants the U.S. to send powerful new weapons. Biden is not so sure.
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WASHINGTON — Flush with victory in northeast Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky is pressing President Biden for a new and more powerful weapon: a missile system with a range of 190 miles, which could reach far into Russian territory.
Mr. Zelensky insists to U.S. officials that he has no intention of striking Russian cities or aiming at civilian targets, even though President Vladimir V. Putin’s forces have hit apartment blocks, theaters and hospitals in Ukraine throughout the war. The weapon, Mr. Zelensky says, is critical to launching a wider counteroffensive, perhaps early next year.
Mr. Biden is resisting, in part because he is convinced that over the past seven months, he has successfully signaled to Mr. Putin that he does not want a broader war with the Russians — he just wants them to get out of Ukraine.
A shipment of long-range guided missiles, which could also give Ukraine new options for striking Crimea, the territory it annexed in 2014, would likely be seen by Moscow as a major provocation, Mr. Biden has concluded.
“We’re trying to avoid World War III,” Mr. Biden often reminds his aides, echoing a statement he has made publicly as well.
The argument over the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, comes at a critical moment, when officials in the White House, the State Department, the Pentagon and American intelligence agencies appear more concerned than ever that Mr. Putin could escalate the war to compensate for his humiliating retreat.
They do not know what form that escalation might take. But many of the options they are preparing for are bleak.
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WASHINGTON — President Biden met on Friday with family members of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, two Americans imprisoned in Russia whose release the United States is trying to negotiate with Moscow amid poisoned relations over the war in Ukraine.
Mr. Biden spoke with Mr. Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth, and then with Ms. Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, and her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, to discuss his “continuing commitment” to bringing both Americans home.
It was Mr. Biden’s first in-person meetings with both families, though he spoke to them by telephone this summer. Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, also attended Friday’s sessions.
The meetings reflect an effort by the White House to demonstrate compassion for Ms. Griner and Mr. Whelan, even as some critics say that Mr. Biden is not doing enough to persuade President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to release the two Americans.
The Biden administration offered in June to release a notorious Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, in exchange for Ms. Griner and Mr. Whelan. Mr. Bout is serving a federal prison sentence for agreeing to sell weapons to a Colombian rebel group, then designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, which he believed would be used against American troops.
Russia has yet to respond to the offer, John F. Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman, said in a briefing earlier on Friday. He added that the administration has stayed in touch with family members of both detainees throughout the process.
“We have made a serious offer to get Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan back home,” Mr. Kirby said. “The Russians have not responded to that offer. But that doesn’t mean that we’re not still in negotiations and we’re not still trying.”
The negotiations are complicated by the extremely tense relations between Washington and Moscow over the war in Ukraine, which the United States is supplying with billions of dollars in military aid to fight Russia’s invasion.
Ms. Griner, a W.N.B.A. star and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was arrested after landing in February at a Moscow-area airport, where the Russian authorities say they found two vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. After she pleaded guilty, a Russian court convicted her last month and sentenced her to nineyears in prison.
Mr. Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who was working as a corporate security executive, was arrested in December 2018 in a Moscow hotel room after receiving a flash drive that investigators said contained classified information. He was sentenced in June 2020 to a 16-year prison sentence.
The Biden administration has categorized both Ms. Griner and Mr. Whelan as “wrongfully detained” and assigned their cases to its hostage affairs office.
From atop his tank’s turret, the grinning Ukrainian soldier looked almost joyous: He flashed the V for victory sign as his armored vehicle navigated a street corner in the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the diesel engines screaming as the tank lumbered toward the front line.
A few blocks away, Valentyna, 70, stood in front of a two-story brick apartment building where she was staying. It had been hit by a Russian shell last week. The explosion destroyed much of the top floor and sent glass and debris onto the sidewalk below.
“Yeah, shelling is happening here sometimes. See?” she said calmly, gesturing to the damaged structure. In her baggy and dirty clothing, she looked tired after enduring days without power and running water, and the nonstop artillery fire that echoed through the neighborhood.
The soldier and the civilian, separated by less than a mile, represented a fitting juxtaposition on Wednesday of life in what was once a hub of 70,000 people. Surrounded by sunflower fields and salt mines, Bakhmut still remains under partial siege despite Ukraine’s recent breakthrough victory in the country’s northeast. It became one of the Russian forces’ focal points in the Donetsk province after they took neighboring Luhansk in July.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have edged closer to the outskirts of Bakhmut from both the east and the south, gaining ground by incessant shelling and crawling troop advances.
The decisive sweep around Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city around 120 miles northwest of Bakhmut, has galvanized the Ukrainian military as it aims to take back more Russian-held territory. But civilians still trapped in the middle of the nearly seven-month conflict remain wary about what comes next, in Bakhmut and the broader mineral-rich Donbas region.
“How do we know what is going to happen?” Valentyna asked. “We were not going to leave, and we are not going to leave.”
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The first five months of the war in Ukraine reduced its crop-storage capacity by nearly 15 percent, a report by the U.S. State Department and Yale University researchers said this week, an accounting of how the conflict has severely disrupted agriculture in one of the world’s largest grain-exporting countries.
The report, published on Thursday, found that about 14.6 percent of the country’s estimated prewar crop-storage capacity had been affected by the war from late February to late July. That figure reflects damaged capacity on Ukrainian-controlled soil as well as territory lost to Russia that included crop-storage facilities. The report did not account for Ukraine’s recent territorial gains this month in the south and northeast.
Destroyed or visibly damaged facilities, many of them near ports or railroads, accounted for more than 5 percent of prewar storage capacity, the report said. It added that future studies should try to determine whether those sites had been targeted. Russian officials have denied suggestions that they were targeting granaries and other agricultural infrastructure in Ukraine.
The report was based on commercial satellite imagery and open-source information collected from social media and Ukrainian and Russian news media reports, among other sources. The authors wrote that their research had been limited by several constraints, including uncertainty about the total number of crop-storage facilities in Ukraine.
Fierce fighting in Ukraine has been wrecking crops and granaries since the early months of the war. Until early August, when Turkey and the United Nations brokered a deal to allow ships carrying grain to leave the country, even harvested crops were trapped within Ukraine’s borders as Russia blockaded its ports on the Black Sea.
The grain deal solved some logistical challenges, but many others remain. There’s the issue of growing and reaping crops like wheat, barley and sunflower in a war zone where fields are strewn with cluster munitions. And Mr. Putin has threatened to pull out of the deal.
Further damage to Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure would put recent progress on global food security at risk, Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, told reporters at a news conference in Washington on Thursday.
He also called for further investigation into the report’s suggestion that the destruction of crop-storage facilities in Ukraine might constitute a war crime and violate a 1977 amendment to the Geneva Conventions.
The report is the result of a collaboration since May between the State Department, the Yale School of Public Health and other organizations to document war crimes and other atrocities committed by Russian troops and Russian-backed forces during the war in Ukraine.
Edward Wong contributed reporting.
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WASHINGTON — Ukrainian forces continue to shore up their gains after a lightning counteroffensive against Russian troops in the northern Kharkiv region, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman said Friday.
Ukraine recaptured roughly 1,000 square miles around Kharkiv in a matter of days as Russian forces withdrew to avoid encirclement and isolation, especially near Izium, a strategically important railway hub. Ukrainian forces have also made more modest advances in recent weeks in the southern Kherson region.
“In the north what we assess is that the Ukrainians are consolidating their gains after taking back significant territory, and that the Russians are attempting to shore up their defensive lines after having been pushed back,” the spokesman, Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, told reporters at the Pentagon.
“In the south, the Ukrainians continue to make what we would assess as deliberate, calculated forward movement as the Russians continue to try to hold that line,” he said.
“As always our focus continues to remain on providing them the support that they need in their fight,” General Ryder added, noting the announcement on Thursday that the United States would send an additional $600 million in military equipment to Ukraine — the 21st such drawdown of U.S. military hardware since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The shipment will include additional guided rockets for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS launchers; 105-millimeter howitzer ammunition; counterartillery radars; mine-clearing equipment; trucks and cold-weather gear for the coming winter.
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MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian and Russian forces traded long-distance blows in southern Ukraine on Friday, bombing each other’s positions and inflicting major damage.
The two top floors of the city administration building in Kherson, a southern Ukrainian city the Russians occupy, were turned into rubble by a Ukrainian missile strike. At least three people died, according to the Russian news agency TASS. The Ukrainians took credit for the attack, saying it was an attempt to decapitate the leadership of the occupied area.
“All the collaborators of the occupied Kherson region were gathered there,” said Serhiy Khlan, a regional legislator. “When they all gathered, a ‘greetings’ from the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrived.”
Mr. Khlan warned civilians to stay away from government offices and military targets in Kherson, in case there are more strikes.
In Kryvyi Rih, a Ukrainian industrial city under government control, the Russians hit a gigantic dam for the third consecutive day on Friday, damaging it but not causing any serious flooding. Ukrainian officials have said that the Russians are trying to breach the dam, sending torrents of water downstream, to frustrate the efforts of Ukrainian forces to cross the river.
Natalia Humeniuk, the spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern military command, said the attacks on critical infrastructure facilities signified a new stage of hostilities in the seven-month war.
The attacks are “not only for direct damage,” she said on Friday. “It also creates insane psychological and social pressure, as we are approaching the winter.”
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