As Russia attacks Ukrainian civilians, Putin tells his people that war is just

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — As Ukrainian rescue teams searched for survivors of a Russian attack on a bombed-out apartment building, Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to reassure his citizens Thursday in a speech calling for his nation’s victory over Nazi Germany. that it was another virtuous war.

Efforts to get people out of the attack on apartments in the city of Kramatorsk were halted by a fresh barrage of Russian rockets that hit a clinic, school and other buildings, amid signs that a further Russian offensive could take shape .

About 300 miles to the east, Putin told a televised event in Volgograd, Russia: “The legacy of generations, values ​​and traditions – all this is what makes Russia different, what makes us strong and confident.” ourselves, in our righteousness and in our victory”.

Putin’s attempt to give a veneer of nobility to an unprovoked invasion that killed thousands of civilians and turned millions more into refugees was made in the Russian city, formerly known as Stalingradon the 80th anniversary of a victory against Nazi Germany that changed the course of World War II.

The number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded since Putin launched his invasion nearly a year ago is approaching 200,000., according to estimates by US and other Western officials, down from an estimate of more than 100,000 in November, swelled by intense but largely stalemate fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. The staggering losses reflect both how poorly Russia fared in what the Kremlin hoped would be a quick and easy takeover, and Putin’s ability and determination to devote vast resources to the fight.

In Kramatorsk, Donbass, on Thursday, rescue teams were digging through the rubble of a four-story building hit by rockets the night before when incandescent light streaked across the sky. Firefighters, police officers and passersby froze.

Then came the explosions, sending people scattering in all directions, looking for whatever shelter they could find.

A woman was sobbing. Another cursed. “Fascists!” she said.

The night attack on Kramatorsk had killed at least three people and wounded more than a dozen.. Thursday’s blast, which hit more than a dozen buildings, injured five others, according to local authorities.

Scattered among the bricks and cinder blocks were the remains of human lives: a collection of colorful bras, a red volleyball, a teddy bear, and a red, blue, and yellow children’s tent.

Among those injured in the attack were a couple. Her husband suffered a severe concussion and his wife a broken arm, said a friend of hers, Anna Olendarenko, 51.

“Horrible doesn’t even describe it,” she said. “You can’t believe it.”

In recent days, Kremlin supporters have claimed that there have been scattered Russian attacks and breakthroughs along the front line in the Donbass. A major Moscow-aligned war blog called Rybar on Thursday described several Russian advances in villages near the town of Bakhmut, the area of ​​the most intense fighting recently.

Visiting Kiev on Thursday, in a show of support for Ukraine and its president, Volodimir Zelensky, Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Union’s executive branch, announced the creation of an international center in The Hague to investigate the “crime of aggression” in Ukraine. Last year, the EU made Ukraine a candidate for membership, a move that angered the Kremlin and was considered highly unlikely before the war.

“Russia must answer in court for its heinous crimes,” von der Leyen said. “Prosecutors from Ukraine and the European Union are already working together. We are collecting evidence.”

In his speech in the former Stalingrad – now called Volgograd – Putin repeated his baseless claims that Moscow is once again fighting the Nazis, this time in Ukraine. Assuring the Russians that victory was certain, he said nothing of the heavy losses he had suffered. by the Russian army in its unexpectedly difficult struggle, not to mention the many Ukrainians who have been killed, wounded or seen their hometown reduced to ruins.

However, Putin issued a warning to Germany, long considered by the Kremlin to be Russia’s most important link with the West. He made his most blunt comments in response to Germany’s recent decision to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 main battle tanks, calling them part of “the collective aggression of the West.”

“We will not send our tanks to your borders,” Putin said. “But we have the means to respond, and this will not end the use of armored vehicles. Everyone should understand that.”

Stalingrad has totemic significance for Russians as a symbol of wartime suffering, sacrifice, and heroism. In 1942 and 1943, the Soviets turned the tide of the German invasion in a 200-day battle that cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians.

Now, Russian soldiers are shedding blood again, and Putin tried to spread the halo of the 1940s “Great Patriotic War” on today’s invasion. He has come to describe it as a defensive war.

After landing in Volgograd on Thursday, Russian state media showed Putin laying red flowers on the grave of a Soviet commander under the gigantic Motherland Calls monument, which, at almost 90 meters high, is one of the largest statues in the world. world. He was also shown kneeling before a wreath at a nearby memorial flame.

However, after the attack on the Kramatorsk apartment building, Zelenskyy called the war a modern horror.

“This is not a repeat of history; it is the daily reality of our country,” Zelensky said. in a statement after the attack late Wednesday evening.

Kramatorsk has come under frequent rocket attacks by Russian forces since the start of the war in February, but attacks on the city center have intensified in recent weeks as Russian forces prepare for a planned offensive to take the entire Donbass region in Ukraine. The city, a vast industrial center home to some 200,000 people before the war, is a serious obstacle to Russian control of the region.

Kramatorsk is also only 20 miles northwest of a more immediate Russian target, the smaller city of Bakhmut, and is vital to Ukraine’s efforts to supply its forces holding Bakhmut. Kremlin forces have fought for months to conquer Bakhmut, at great cost in Russian losses, and his fall would mark Moscow’s first significant military victory since the summer.

Both sides, whose forces have been slowed down by winter conditions, are expected to attempt major offensives in the coming weeks.. But Zelensky said the increase in artillery strikes in the east, coupled with a large buildup of Russian troops in occupied eastern Ukraine, suggests the Russians may be launching one now.

Addressing Ukrainians on Thursday evening, Zelenskyy expressed confidence his country would prevail, but acknowledged the Russians could still inflict pain.

“Tactically,” he said, “they still have resources to attempt offensive actions. They look for options to try to change the course of the war, and they try to serve the potential of any territories they still control with aggression.”

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