Revealing what he said was US intelligence, John Kirby, the National Security Council’s chief spokesman, told a White House news conference that the Russians were preparing to install proxies, establish the ruble as the default currency and force the residents to apply for citizenship. “We have information today, including classified information that we can share with you, about how Russia is setting the stage to annex Ukrainian territory it controls in direct violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Kirby said. It’s the same tactic used in 2014 when Russia announced its annexation of Crimea after taking control of it from Ukraine, Kirby said. The international community considers the annexation of Crimea illegal. “We want to make that clear to the American people,” Kirby said. “No one is fooled by this. [Russian President Vladimir Putin] dusts off the playbook from 2014.” Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters) Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24 in what it calls a “special military operation” to ensure its own security. Russia is also trying to gain control of broadcasting towers, he said. At the same time, Kirby said, the United States in the coming days will announce a new weapons package for Ukraine as it engages Russia in fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine. It will be the 16th such withdrawal of money authorized by Congress and made available under presidential authority, he said. The package is expected to include US mobile missile launchers known as HIMARS and cartridges for multiple launch missile systems, as well as artillery ammunition, the sources said. Ukrainian troops open fire on Russian positions in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region on Tuesday. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images) The United States has provided $8 billion in security assistance since the war began, including $2.2 billion in the last month. Washington will sanction officials involved in acting as proxies, Kirby said. He predicted that these proxies would try to hold “fake referendums” that seek to legitimize Russian control.
Zelensky fires another top official
Ukraine’s parliament fired its internal security chief and prosecutor general on Tuesday, two days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suspended them for failing to root out Russian spies. Ivan Bakanov was fired from his post at the helm of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) by a comfortable majority, several lawmakers said on the Telegram messaging app. The head of Zelenskyy’s political faction said Iryna Venediktova had also been voted in as prosecutor general. Ivan Bakanov, left, head of Ukraine’s security service, and Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova attend a news conference in Kyiv in May 2021. Ukraine’s parliament fired both officials on Tuesday, two days after President Volodymyr Zelensky suspended them because they didn’t root out Russian spies. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters) Zelensky later announced that he had fired one of the deputy heads of the SBU, but gave no details. In a late-night speech, he also said he had appointed five new SBU regional directors. In a statement posted on Telegram minutes before his dismissal was confirmed, Bakanov said there had been “miscalculations” during his tenure but that he was proud of his record. After the vote, the leader of the ruling parliamentary party and a close ally of Zelensky, David Arahamia, wrote on Telegram that Venediktova “remains in the team” and hinted that it was a diplomatic posting. “Her experience will serve the state in a new place, which must be strengthened by professional managers and lawyers,” he wrote.
Russia is hitting the East, the South of Ukraine
Russian missiles pounded towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine, hitting homes, a school and a community center on Tuesday. In Kramatorsk, a city in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province considered a possible target of Russian occupation, one person was killed and 10 injured in an airstrike that hit a five-story apartment building, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Fresh blood stained the concrete amid green leaves ripped from trees as nearby apartments burned on at least two floors. Debris was placed in a small pile near an empty playground. Ukrainian soldiers stand in front of a residential building damaged by a rocket attack in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday. (Nariman El-Mofty/The Associated Press) The midday strike came after Kirilenko had cited four previous Russian raids in Kramatorsk and urged civilians to leave. In the east, Ukrainian forces are fighting to keep dwindling territory under their control. Donetsk has been cut off from natural gas and partly from water and electricity as the Russians try to complete their takeover of the province. Russia’s ground advance has slowed, in part because Ukraine is using American weapons more effectively and in part because of what Putin called an “operational pause.” Russia has focused more on aerial bombardment using long-range missiles. In the Odesa region of southern Ukraine, Russian forces fired seven Kalibr cruise missiles overnight. The Russian Defense Ministry said the strikes in the village of Bilenke hit a legitimate military target and “destroyed ammunition depots for weapons supplied by the United States and European countries.” A local official disputed Moscow’s claim and said six people were injured. With signs that Ukraine is planning counter-attacks to recapture occupied territories, the Russian military in recent weeks has targeted Odesa and parts of southern Ukraine where its troops seized towns earlier in the war.
