U.S. warns Russia may annex more Ukrainian territory - The ...

Russia planning to annex new areas of Ukraine, U.S. intelligence finds Analysis: Soviet flags keep rising over Russian-occupied Ukraine Britain’s Johnson to address Ukraine’s parliament on TuesdaySchumer calls Russian diplomat’s Hitler claim ‘dangerous,’ antisemiticUpdates from key cities: Teenager killed in Odessa, officials sayPhotos: Ukrainians from Mariupol and beyond arrive in Zaporizhzhia200 civilians still at Mariupol steel plant, official saysRussia plans to annex more Ukrainian territory in coming days, U.S. envoy saysNATO not fighting a ‘proxy war’ with Russia in Ukraine, White House saysThey support Ukraine. So they can’t support Alex Ovechkin.Evacuees from Mariupol plant could be taken to Russian territory, Zelensky saysMore than 70 U.S. howitzers have been delivered to Ukraine, Pentagon says Russia making ‘minimal progress, at best,’ in Donbas, Pentagon assesses Russia’s top general visited Ukraine last week, Pentagon says Ukrainian villages mark days with funerals as bodies found, identifiedRussia planning to annex new areas of Ukraine, U.S. intelligence finds Analysis: Soviet flags keep rising over Russian-occupied Ukraine Britain’s Johnson to address Ukraine’s parliament on TuesdaySchumer calls Russian diplomat’s Hitler claim ‘dangerous,’ antisemiticUpdates from key cities: Teenager killed in Odessa, officials sayPhotos: Ukrainians from Mariupol and beyond arrive in Zaporizhzhia200 civilians still at Mariupol steel plant, official saysRussia plans to annex more Ukrainian territory in coming days, U.S. envoy saysNATO not fighting a ‘proxy war’ with Russia in Ukraine, White House saysThey support Ukraine. The move to formally seize control of the regions would come as U.S. defense officials assess Russia’s progress elsewhere in Donbas as “minimal” and “anemic.”Meanwhile, Ukrainians anxiously awaited news of the first convoy of civilian evacuees from a surrounded steel plant in Mariupol, which has for weeks suffered under a relentless Russian siege.Here’s what else to knowNews•News•News•Moscow is preparing to annex vast new swaths of Ukrainian territory in coming days, the United States said on Monday, potentially moving to cement control of much of the country’s east even as Russian forces struggle to capture key areas on the battlefield.A move by the Kremlin to formally claim as part of Russia the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, along with the southern city of Kherson, amid an intense ongoing military battle could thrust the conflict into an unpredictable, even more explosive phase.It is not clear how Ukrainian forces and their allies would respond to such an attempt, which would echo the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 but, in a crucial difference, occur as forces loyal to Ukraine fight to retain control of their territory.The Russian offensive may be getting bogged down, but facts on the ground are changing rapidly. Some cars bore “children” signs meant to discourage attacks.MUKACHEVO, Ukraine — About 200 civilians, including 20 children, remain at the Mariupol steel plant where Ukrainian soldiers have refused Russian demands to surrender, a Ukrainian official told The Washington Post late Monday local time.Mykhailo Vershynin, head of the Donetsk regional patrol police, said a convoy of buses was supposed to leave Monday for Zaporizhzhia, a city to Mariupol’s northwest and a hub for Ukrainians fleeing areas under Russian occupation or blockade.But “something didn’t work out,” Vershynin said, and now the convoy is set to leave Tuesday.Civilians at the steel plant began evacuating this weekend, according to Ukrainian officials, but had yet to arrive in Zaporizhzhia Monday. But the Ukrainian leader said he remained wary because of “low” trust in Russia.Despite the challenges and risks, there are around 50 buses at Azovstal’s gates ready to take people from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, Zelensky added.The “safe passage” operation is being led by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.The Russian military said Monday that since the Mariupol evacuations began this weekend, 57 people who left the steel plant and surrounding areas chose to stay in areas under Russian control, while 69 civilians decided to leave for Ukrainian-controlled territory and were handed over to U.N. and ICRC personnel.The figures could not be independently verified.More than 70 of the 90 American howitzers that the Pentagon has earmarked for Ukraine have been delivered, the Pentagon said Monday, part of a stepped-up international effort to flow weapons to Ukraine to help it defend against Russia.The cannons have been delivered along with about half of the 140,000 155 mm artillery rounds that the United States has promised Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.Additional weapons are on their way each day. Russian forces continue to withdraw an unknown number of troops from the largely destroyed southern port city and send them northwest for expected participation in the Donbas offensive, the official said.Russia’s top military officer, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, visited Ukraine for a few days last week, the Pentagon said Monday, but is believed to have returned home.Gerasimov visited the eastern region of Donbas, where Russia has shifted its military operations after failing to capture Kyiv and other cities in its nine-week-old invasion of Ukraine, said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.