Washington/Kyiv: US President Joe Biden said he has moved 12,000 troops along the borders with Russia, such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania while asserting that Vladimir Putin will not be victorious in the war he has waged against Ukraine.
Addressing members of the House Democratic Caucus on Friday, Biden stressed over “not fighting a third World War in Ukraine” but avowed sending an “unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory”.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a group of 30 North American and European nations.
According to NATO, its purpose “is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.”
Biden said the people of Ukraine have demonstrated remarkable bravery and courage in the face of a Russian military offensive but the security assistance that the US provides has been critical in their defence.
“And as we provide support to Ukraine, we’re going to continue to stand together with our allies in Europe and send an unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory with a united galvanized NATO,” the US president said.
“That’s why I’ve moved 12,000 American forces along the borders with Russia — Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania et cetra. Granted, if we respond, it is World War three. But we have a sacred obligation on NATO territory. Although we will not fight a third World War in Ukraine.”
Russia’s aeroplanes and artillery widened their assault on Ukraine on Friday, striking airfields in the west and a major industrial hub in the east, as Moscow’s forces tried to regroup from recent losses and their onslaught fast reduced crowded cities to rubble.
American defence officials offered an assessment of the Russian air campaign, estimating that invading pilots are averaging 200 sorties a day, compared with five to 10 for Ukrainian forces, which are focusing more on surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and drones to take out Russian aircraft.
New commercial satellite images appeared to capture artillery firing on residential areas between Russian forces and the capital. The images from Maxar Technologies showed muzzle flashes and smoke from the big guns, as well as impact craters and burning homes in the town of Moschun, outside Kyiv, the company said.
In a devastated village east of the capital, villagers climbed over toppled walls and flapping metal strips in the remnants of a pool hall, restaurant and theatre freshly blown apart by Russian bombs.
On the ground, Russia’s forces appeared to be trying to regroup and regain momentum after encountering heavier losses and stiffer resistance than anticipated over the past two weeks. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Russia is trying to “re-set and re-posture” its troops, gearing up for operations against Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said authorities were working on establishing 12 humanitarian corridors and trying to ensure food, medicine and other basics get to people across the country. Thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed in the invasion, along with Ukrainian civilians.
He accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of one city, Melitopol, calling the abduction “a new stage of terror.”
So far, the Russians have made the biggest advances on cities in the east and south while struggling in the north and around Kyiv.
Russia said it used high-precision long-range weapons to put military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west “out of action.” The attack on Lutsk killed four Ukrainian servicemen, the mayor said.
Russian airstrikes also targeted for the first time Dnipro, a major industrial hub in the east and Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, with about 1 million people. One person was killed, Ukrainian officials said.
In images of the aftermath released by Ukraine’s emergency agency, firefighters doused a flaming building, and ash fell on bloodied rubble. Smoke billowed over shattered concrete where buildings once stood.
The bombardment continued in Mariupol, where a deadly strike on a maternity hospital this week sparked international outrage and war-crime allegations.
Unrelenting attacks have thwarted repeated attempts to send in food and medicine and evacuate civilians from Mariupol, a city of 430,000. In a statement, the Mariupol mayor’s office said Friday that the toll of people killed during the now 12-day siege had risen to 1,582.
About 400 apartment buildings in Kharkiv lost heat, and Mayor Ihor Terekhov appealed to remaining residents to descend into the subway or other underground shelters where blankets and hot food were being distributed.
The latest assaults came a day after satellite photos appeared to show that the huge armoured column that was stalled for over a week outside Kyiv had spread out near the capital.
Military analysts were divided over whether the manoeuvring by the Russian convoy signalled the imminent start of a siege of Kyiv or was just an effort to disperse some vehicles to more protected positions. The photos showed howitzers newly set up in firing position, and armoured units staged near the Antonov Airport north of the city, according to Maxar.
Some 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the United Nations.
(Photo: This multispectral satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows buildings and fuel storage tanks on fire at Antonov Airport, in Hostomel, Ukraine, March 11, 2022.)