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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s military has made small gains in the east, Russian forces out of four villages near Kharkiv, as his country’s foreign minister suggested Ukraine could go beyond just forcing Russia back to areas it held before the invasion began 11 weeks ago.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba voiced what appeared to be increasing confidence — and expanded goals — amid Russia’s stalled offensive in the east, telling the Financial Times that Ukraine initially believed victory would be the withdrawal of Russian troops to positions they occupied before the Feb. 24 attack. But that’s no longer the case.

“Now if we are strong enough on the military front, and we win the battle for Donbas, which will be crucial for the following dynamics of the war, of course the victory for us in this war will be the liberation of the rest of our territories,” Kuleba said.

Russian forces have made advances in the Donbas and control more of it than they did before the war began. But Kuleba’s statement — which seemed to reflect political ambitions more than battlefield realities — highlighted how Ukraine has stymied a larger, better-armed Russian military, surprising many who had anticipated a much quicker end to the conflict.

One of the most dramatic examples of Ukraine’s ability to prevent easy victories is in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters holed up at a steel plant have denied Russia full control of the city. The regiment defending the plant said Russian warplanes continued bombarding it, striking 34 times in 24 hours.

In recent days, the United Nations and the Red Cross organized a rescue of what some officials said were the last civilians trapped at the plant. But two officials said Tuesday that about 100 were believed to still be in the complex’s underground tunnels. Donetsk regional gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said those who remain are people “that the Russians have not selected” for evacuation.

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Kyrylenko and Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor, did not say how they knew civilians were still in the complex — a warren of tunnels and bunkers spread over 11 square kilometers (4 square miles). Others said their statements were impossible to confirm.

Fighters with the Azov regiment released photos of their wounded comrades inside the plant, including some with amputated limbs. They said the wounded were living in unsanitary conditions “with open wounds bandaged with non-sterile remnants of bandages, without the necessary medication and even food.”

In its statement on Telegram, the regiment appealed to the UN and Red Cross to evacuate the wounded servicemen to Ukrainian-controlled territories.

The photos could not be independently verified.

Ukraine said Tuesday that Russian forces fired seven missiles at Odesa a day earlier, hitting a shopping center and a warehouse in the country’s largest port. One person was killed and five wounded, the military said.

Images showed a burning building and debris — including a tennis shoe — in a heap of destruction in the city on the Black Sea. Mayor Gennady Trukhanov later visited the warehouse and said it “had nothing in common with military infrastructure or military objects.”

Since President Vladimir Putin’s forces failed to take Kyiv early in the war, his focus has shifted to the eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas. But one general has suggested Moscow’s aims also include cutting Ukraine’s maritime access to both the Black and Azov seas.

That would also give Russia a swath of territory linking it to both the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in 2014, and Transnistria, a pro-Moscow region of Moldova.

Even if Russia falls short of severing Ukraine from the coast — and it appears to lack the forces to do so — continuing missile strikes on Odesa reflect the city’s strategic importance. The Russian military has repeatedly targeted its airport and claimed it destroyed several batches of Western weapons.

Odesa is also a major gateway for grain shipments, and its blockade by Russia already threatens global food supplies. Beyond that, the city is a cultural jewel, dear to Ukrainians and Russians alike, and targeting it carries symbolic significance.

With Russian forces struggling to gain ground in the Donbas, military analysts suggest that hitting Odesa might serve to stoke concern about southwestern Ukraine, thus forcing Kyiv to put more forces there. That would pull Ukrainian units away from the eastern front as Ukraine’s military stages counteroffensives near the northeastern city of Kharkiv in an attempt to push the Russians back across the border there.

Meanwhile, Kharkiv and the surrounding area have been under sustained Russian attack since the early in the war. In recent weeks, grisly pictures testified to the horrors of those battles, with charred and mangled bodies strewn in one street.

The bodies of 44 civilians were found in the rubble of a five-story building that collapsed in March in Izyum, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Kharkiv, said Oleh Synehubov, the head of the regional administration, said.

Russian aircraft twice launched unguided missiles Tuesday at the Sumy area northeast of Kharkiv, according to the Ukrainian border guard service. The region’s governor said the missiles hit several residential buildings, but no one was killed. The Chernihiv region, along the Ukrainian border with Belarus, was hit by mortars fired from Russian territory. There was no word on consequence there.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the military was gradually pushing Russian troops away from Kharkiv. The Ukrainian military’s general staff said its forces drove the Russians out of four villages to the north of Kharkiv as it tries to push them back toward the Russian border.

Zelenskyy also used his nightly address to pay tribute to Leonid Kravchuk, the first president of an independent Ukraine, who died Tuesday at 88. Zelenskyy said Kravchuk showed courage and knew how to get the country to listen to him.

That was particularly important in “crisis moments, when the future of the whole country may depend on the courage of one man,” said Zelenskyy, whose own communication skills and decision to remain in Kyiv when it came under Russian attack helped make him a strong wartime leader.

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Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, Kelvin Chan in London and AP’s worldwide contributed staff.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

The US Navy sent a ship through the Strait of Taiwan after China practiced military drills

The United States Navy sent its second ship in as many weeks through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday as tensions with China flared up again in the seas of eastern Asia.

The US 7th Fleet said the USS Port Royal, a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, sailed near Taiwan “in accordance with international law”.

The US Navy and its allies conduct regular freedom of navigation patrols around Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy which China claims as its own.

Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command said that it shadowed the US cruiser on Tuesday, according to state media, and accused the US of showing support for “Taiwan independence secessionist forces”.

The Eastern Theater Command made similar statements at the end of April after the US Navy sailed another warship through the 180-kilometre-wide Taiwan Strait.

The drill appears to be the latest in a tit-for-tat exchange with Beijing, said Michael Mazza, a non-resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, although not yet reason to worry.

“I think these interactions are becoming the new normal – frequent moments of somewhat heightened tension, but nothing all that dangerous,” he told Al Jazeera.

The PLA has, meanwhile, been engaged in its own military drills.

On Friday, Beijing sent 18 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, an area of ​​land and sea around southern China and Taiwan monitored by Taiwan’s military.

It was the biggest sortie since January 23, when Beijing sent 39 planes.

On Tuesday, the PLA flew 100 sorties from its Liaoning aircraft carrier, stationed off the coast of Okinawa, a Japanese island that lies to the north of Taiwan and which is also home to a US military base.

The PLA was probably testing the capability of the Liaoning and how fast aircraft can take off and land, said Liao “Kitsch” Yen-fan, a military and cyber-affairs consultant for Doublethink Lab in Taiwan.

“They’re testing out the endurance and capacity, and the last few cruises were testing things such as underway replenishment and endurance,” he said, in order to optimize performance.

But the Liaoning test carried a political meaning as well, he said, after the US State Department also angered Beijing by changing the language about Taiwan on its official website this week.

The website previously stated that the US does not support Taiwan’s independence and acknowledged there is “one China” made up of both China and Taiwan. In its place, it simply refers to Taiwan as a close ally in Asia.

The policy has long been seen as a workaround to the disputed political status of Taiwan, whose formal name is the Republic of China, although it has all but dropped claims to represent China since its transition to democracy in the 1990s.

While largely symbolic, dropping these references is the latest show of support for Taiwan by the US. Under President Donald Trump and now President Joe Biden both sides have grown closer, and the change is reflected in more vocal support as well as arms sales.

Tokyo, Japan – Tatsuya Yonekura has not raised the prices at his Tokyo cafe since it opened three years ago. But as Japan’s inflation rises and the yen languishes at a 20-year low against the dollar, Yonekura may be left with no other choice.

“I might have to raise the price of alcohol because the distributors are paying more money to import it,” he told Al Jazeera. “It is a difficult situation, I’m worried that people will stop coming if they have to pay more.”

The cafe owner’s dilemma comes as more Japanese are practising kakeibo, an approach to budgeting that translates as “household financial ledger”, or otherwise cutting back on spending.

Japan’s household spending fell in March for the first time in three months, declining 2.3 percent from the previous year, as rising prices and the weakening currency prompted the country’s famously frugal citizens to tighten their belts more.

Japan’s consumer prices rose 2.5 percent year-on-year in April, fueled by inflationary pressures including the Ukraine war, surpassing the 2 percent target long aimed at by the Bank of Japan (BOJ). While inflation remains low by international standards, Japanese consumers are famously sensitive to rising prices after decades of economic stagnation that followed the collapse of an asset price bubble in the early 1990s.

Naomi Yakushiji, who recently left her salaried job at a cooking school to pursue freelance writing, said she planned to cut back on her spending after already committing to eating foods that are in season and therefore cheaper, a practice known as shun.

“The current economic climate definitely makes it that little bit more daunting,” the 29-year-old Tokyo resident told Al Jazeera.

“[Due to Covid-19] I think we have all had to learn to tighten our purse strings,” she said. “I have also massively reduced my spending on luxury, such as clothes, jewellery, salons and recreational activities … I will not spend as much money on these things as I did before.”

Yakushiji has plans to move to Ireland at the end of the year, adding to her financial concerns. The yen has slumped to nearly 138 to the euro, down from 125 in March.

“I am very much considering leaving my account open in Japan and leaving money here with hopes that the situation improves,” she said.

negative sentiment

John Beirne, vice chair of research at the Asian Development Bank Institute, said the yen’s rapid slide has stoked market uncertainty and negative sentiment.

“While the depreciation is positive for exporters, it could potentially weigh on consumer demand if imported inflation via higher energy prices curtails spending,” Beirne told Al Jazeera.

Last month, a survey of 105 major food and beverage companies carried out by Teikoku Databank found that the cost of 6,100 popular foodstuffs would increase by an average of 11 percent this year.

Processed food items, often viewed as a penny-pinching alternative to fresh produce, accounted for almost half of the predicted cost increases, with prices of cooking oil, bread, meat, cheese, ham and spices and toilet paper also expected to climb. The research group pointed to Russia’s war in Ukraine as the “main culprit” for the rising prices.

In April, Japan banned imports of 38 products from Russia, although trade ministry officials said the move would have little effect on the Japanese economy due to the existence of alternative supply routes.

Japan has also banned imports of Russian coal and pledged to phase out Russian oil, which last year accounted for 4 percent and 11 percent, respectively, of the country’s supplies. Tokyo also sources 9 percent of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia.

Energy prices, which were already on the increase, are now rising even faster. Seven of Japan’s 10 major energy providers raised household energy prices last month. Among them, the number one player, TEPCO, increased its rates by an average of 115 yen compared with the previous month.

New homebuyers are also getting hit. The average price of a home in the Tokyo metropolitan area in 2021 reached 43.3 million yen, the highest figure since 2014, according to a survey conducted by Recruit. The average mortgage last year also surpassed 40 million yen ($307,000) for the first time.

Not all economists, however, see Japan’s rising cost pressures as bad news.

Jesper Koll, a Tokyo-based economist and expert director of Monex Group, said he believes Japan has hit an “economic sweet spot” with demand for the first time surpassing in a generation.

“The fact that retailers and producers are actually passing on higher input costs tells you they trust consumers will bear and accept price hikes,” Koll told Al Jazeera. “In my view, chances are good the newfound confidence in pricing power will actually stick because the metabolism of Japan’s domestic demand has fundamentally changed for the better.”

While some economists argue the BOJ’s insistence on maintaining low-interest rates to spur consumption, especially as central banks around the world tighten policy, Koll believes Japan’s economy could be about to enter a “virtuous cycle” where rising prices do not reduce consumption.

“[BOJ Governor] Kuroda’s reputation and legacy is on the line,” Koll said. “He has nothing to lose by staying on the accelerator for longer until we can be certain Japan has hit escape velocity; escape from the one-generation deflation trap it was in since the collapse of the bubble economy.”

Japan’s relatively low wages are part of the complex dynamic. Japan’s average wage rose to $38,400 in 1997 but has remained effectively stagnant since then – whereas the current OECD average, after decades of steady growth, is close to $50,000.

Since Japan’s asset price bubble burst in the early 1990s, companies have eschewed mass hiring and raising salaries.

Compounding Japan’s economic stagnation has been one of the world’s most rapidly graying populations.

The proportion of aged citizens below 14 fell for a 41st year straight in 2021, hitting a record low of 14.65 million. Meanwhile, a third of the population is projected to be above 65 by 2050, with deleterious effects on productivity.

Beirne, the Asian Development Bank Institute economist, said more Japanese firms could soon have to pass on price increases to customers if the cost pressures continue to rise.

“This may also help to stimulate aggregate demand,” he said. “[Which] would then make wages rises more feasible for Japanese firms.”

For Japanese like Yakushiji, the hope is that prices mark the beginning of a long-awaited economic revival.

“These times have definitely forced us to cut back on our discretionary spending and it will be interesting to see how the country will recover economically in the light of this,” she said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House emphatically approved a fresh $40 billion Ukraine aid package Tuesday as lawmakers beefed up President Joe Biden’s initial request, signaling a magnified, bipartisan commitment to thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bloody three-month-old invasion.

The measure sailed to passage by a lopsided 368-57 margin, providing $7 billion more than Biden’s request from April and dividing the increase evenly between defense and humanitarian programs. The bill would give Ukraine military and economic assistance, help regional allies, replenish weapons the Pentagon has shipped overseas and provide $5 billion to address global food shortages caused by the war’s crippling of Ukraine’s normally robust production of many crops.

The measure was backed by every Democrat and by nearly 3 out of 4 Republicans. House debate reflected a perspective, shared broadly by both parties, that the US has even more at stake than standing by Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian people, they need us, they are in desperate need of our support,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., chair of the House Appropriations Committee. This bill does that by protecting democracy, limiting Russian aggression and strengthening our own national security.”

“As China, Iran and North Korea watch our response, we must show the world that America stands firm with its allies and will do what is necessary to protect our interests abroad,” said Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, top Republican on that committee.

The new legislation would bring American support for the effort to nearly $54 billion, including the $13.6 billion in support Congress enacted in March. That’s about $6 billion more than the US spent on all its foreign and military aid in 2019, according to a January report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which studies issues for lawmakers. It’s also around 1% of the entire federal budget.

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The measure was released as Washington has become assertive about its goals and its willingness to help Ukraine with more sophisticated weapons. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said recently the US wants a “weakened” Russia that can’t quickly restore its ability to attack other countries.

Russian attacks on Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa have intensified in what seems an attempt to hamper deliveries of Western arms. Those weapons have helped Ukraine hold its own surprisingly well against its more lethal foe, but the grinding war is taking its toll.

Senate approval of Ukrainian aid seems certain, and members of both parties have echoed the need for quick action. “As Putin desperately accelerates his campaign of horror and brutality in Ukraine, time is of the essence,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

But it was unclear when the Senate would act, and changes there were possible, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., insisting that the measure be narrowly focused on the war.

“I think we’re on a path to getting that done,” McConnell told reporters. “It needs to be clean of extraneous matters, directly related to helping the Ukrainians win the war.”

Some Republicans used the election-season debate to accuse Biden of being unclear about his goals.

“Honestly, do we not deserve a plan?” said Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas. He said he agrees that Western countries must help Ukraine stand up to Russia but added, “Does the administration not need to come to us with where we are going with this?”

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, attended Tuesday’s separate Democratic and Republican Senate lunches and expressed gratitude for the support they’ve received. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Markarova told them her country has depleted its stockpiles of Soviet-era weapons and said continued NATO support is vital.

Coons said the Ukrainian’s message was: “Thank you, do more. We have a hard fight ahead. With your support, we can win.”

The new measure includes $6 billion to arm and train Ukrainian forces, $8.7 billion to restore American stores of weapons shipped and $3.9 billion for US forces to the area.

There’s also $8.8 billion in economic support for Ukraine, $4 billion to help Ukraine and allies finance arms and equipment purchases and $900 million for housing, education and other help for Ukrainian refugees in the US

To enhance the measure’s chances in Congress, the House bill dropped Biden’s proposal to ease the pathway to legal permanent residency for qualifying Afghans who fled to the US after last summer’s American withdrawal from that country. Some Republicans have expressed concerns about the adequacy of security screenings for applicants.

In their biggest concession, Biden and Democrats abandoned plans Monday to include additional billions of dollars to build up US supplies of medicines, vaccines and tests for COVID-19. Republican support for more pandemic spending is waning and including that money would have slowed the Ukraine measure in the 50-50 Senate, where at least 10 GOP votes will be needed for passage.

Democrats hope to produce a separate COVID-19 package soon, though its fate is unclear.

Biden met in the White House Situation Room Tuesday with Pelosi and six other House Democrats who recently traveled to Ukraine and Poland. Afterward, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a member of that delegation and a former Army Ranger, said the Ukrainians need advanced drones and longer-range weapons like artillery, rockets and anti-ship missiles that will help them push back the Russians.

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Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.

Marcelo Pecci, 45, was fatally shot while relaxing on a beach on Colombia’s Carribean island of Baru, his wife says.

Paraguayan anti-drug prosecutor Marcelo Pecci has been shot dead while honeymooning on a Colombian Caribbean island by men who fled by sea, police and his widow said.

Paraguay’s president denounced the crime as a “cowardly murder” and a fellow prosecutor said the modus operandi was reminiscent of “the [drug] mafia”.

Pecci, 45, was felled by two shots on Tuesday while relaxing on a beach on the tourist island of Baru, according to his wife, Paraguayan journalist Claudia Aguilera, whom he married on April 30 in the nearby city of Cartagena.

“Two men attacked Marcelo. They came in a small boat, or on a jet ski, the truth is I did not see well,” she told the El Tiempo newspaper.

One of the assailants got out and “without a word he shot Marcelo twice, one [bullet] hit him in the face and another in the back”, Aguilera said.

She said her husband of less than two weeks had not received any threats.

The Decameron hotel, where the couple was staying, said in a statement that “assassins arrived on the beach … and attacked and murdered one of our guests”.

The motive for the killing was not immediately known, but Paraguayan prosecutor Augusto Salas, a colleague of Pecci, said the modus operandi was “typical of the [drug] mafia, so that is what I will think until the contrary is proven.”

Colombian police chief Jorge Luis Vargas said five homicide investigators have been dispatched to Baru, and will receive backing from Paraguayan and US experts.

“There is information being collected … that will help us identify those responsible,” Vargas said.

Colombian President Ivan Duque “denounced” the killing on Twitter. Duque said he had offered a concession to his Paraguayan counterpart Mario Abdo Benitez and promised “cooperation to find those responsible”.

For his part, Benitez said on Twitter: “The entire Paraguayan nation mourns the cowardly murder of prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in Colombia.

“We condemn this tragic event in the strongest terms, and we redouble our commitment to fighting organized crime,” he added.

Pecci’s office said in a statement that steps were being taken “to provide assistance and guarantee the safety of his family”.

Pecci had specialized in organised crime, drug trafficking, financing money laundering and the of terrorism.

He was involved in investigations against Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho, held in Paraguay for several months in 2020 over a fake passport scandal.

He also led an operation that led to the seizure of dozens of properties acquired through money laundering, and the arrest of some 30 people this year.

The US embassy in Paraguay offered its condolences to Pecci’s loved ones and hailed his “commitment, professionalism and dedication to the fight against organized crime”.

Paraguay’s ambassador to Colombia, Sophia Lopez, said Pecci was on a “private” trip and had no work meetings scheduled.

Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer, is contending with a wave of violence despite a 2016 peace deal that disarmed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) group and ended a near six-decade civil conflict.

Fighting over territory and resources continues in parts of the country between dissident FARC armed fighters, the ELN rebel group, paramilitary forces and drug cartels.

For its part, landlocked Paraguay – nestled between Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina – has become an important launchpad for drugs headed for Europe.

Paraguay and Colombia have recently strengthened their alliance in the fight against organized and cross-border crime.

Intelligence officials told lawmakers on Tuesday that China is watching closely how Russia’s war in Ukraine unfolds and the global response as Chinese President Xi Jinping weighs the risks of taking over Taiwan.

We’ll break down the testimony. Plus, we’ll talk about why the former Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he would not vote for the former President Trump in 2024.

Welcome to Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Jordan Williams. A friend forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

China closely watching Russia invasion of Ukraine

Chinese President Xi Jinping is watching closely how Russia’s war in Ukraine unfolds and the global response as Beijing weighs the risks of taking over Taiwan, top intelligence officials told lawmakers on Tuesday.

lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines tested before the Senate Armed Services committee hearing on worldwide threats.

Watching ‘very, very carefully:’ “The Chinese are going to watch this very, very carefully,” Berrier told the committee.

“It’s going to take some time for them to sort out all elements of — diplomatic, information, military, economic — that have occurred with this crisis,” he added.

What will China learn? Berrier and Haines said it is too soon to tell what lessons China is taking away from the US-led global response against Russia, between the coordinated sanctions imposed by Europe and the Group of Seven nations, isolation at the United Nations, and the success of Ukraine’s military.

Still, China is unlikely to accelerate its plans to take over Taiwan, officials said.

“They’re thinking about future operations probably against Taiwan and how difficult that might be. They’re probably also thinking about the scrutiny they would come under should they entertain thoughts or operations like that,” Berrier said.

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He added that one of those lessons he hoped the Chinese take away from Russia’s war in Ukraine is “just how difficult a cross-strait invasion might be and how dangerous and high risk that might be.”

What else was said: Berrier and Haines said that Beijing would rather subsume Taiwan through diplomatic and economic pressure, but the threat of a military takeover between now and 2030 remains acute.

“It’s our view that they are working hard to effectively put themselves in a position in which their military is capable of taking Taiwan over our intervention,” Haines said.

“They would prefer not to use military force to take Taiwan. They’d prefer to use other means,” she added.

What to do in Taiwan: “There are some things we can do with Taiwan. I think they’re learning some very interesting lessons from the Ukrainian conflict,” Berrier said, pointing to how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership has inspired the forces, the success of small tactical military units against Russian units incapable of acting independently and “effective training” with the right weapons systems.”

Yet Berrier said that the Taiwan military is not “where it should be,” pointing to a large script force with a short enlistment period.

“I think we have to engage with our [Indo-Pacific Command] partners within the Department of Defense, the Taiwan military and leadership to help them understand what this conflict has been about, what they can learn and where they should be focusing their dollars on defense lessons and their training,” Berrier said.

Read the full story here.

Esper passes on Trump in 2024

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday said in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he would not vote to reelect the former President Trump in 2024, saying, “We need a new generation of Republican leaders.”

What Esper said: “No, and I’ll tell you why. Because in my view, any elected leader needs to meet some basic criteria: they need to be able to put country over self, they need to have a certain amount of integrity and principle, they need to be able to reach across the aisle and bring people together and unite the country. Look, Donald Trump doesn’t meet those marks for me.”

Esper said that the US needs a “new generation of Republican leaders” who can both advance a Republican agenda and unite the country.

“We need a new generation of Republican leaders who will advance those core items for any Republican, right: stronger military, lower taxes, deregulation, conservative judges, you name it, we need people who can do it while also growing the Republican base and uniting the country,” Esper said.

Esper tells all: Esper has been a regular critic of the former president and made some shocking revelations in interviews while promoting his book, “A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times,” which was released Tuesday.

In one excerpt of the book obtained by Talking Points Memo, Esper says that Trump wanted to reactivate a retired Navy admiral and a former Army general so he could court martial them over their criticism of him.

Congress to hold first UFO hearing in years

Congress next Tuesday will hold a hearing on UFOs for the first time in more than 50 years.

Details, please: The House Intelligence Committee’s subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation will hear testimony from:

What the intelligence community says: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a highly anticipated report last June on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), which also fell short of drawing any conclusions about what the 144 UAPs might have been.

ODNI did not rule out extraterrestrial life or alien technology but said the UAPs could also be linked to highly advanced tech from adversaries such as Russia and China. Some of the UAPs flew near US military facilities, and officials said they would continue monitoring for more of the mysterious phenomena because it could pose a national security risk.

History of UFO hearings: Congress has not held a hearing on UFOs since the 1969 closure of Project Blue Book, an investigation into mysterious aerial phenomena based on an Air Force report.

In the ’50s and ’60s, subcommittees “fielded thousands of requests” about “every imaginable topic” related to aerial phenomena but did not draw any explicit conclusions, according to House archives.

Read more here.

ON TAP TOMORROW

SENATE

• The Veterans Affairs’ Committee will hold a hearing “Examining Quality of Care in VA and the Private Sector” at 3 pm

• The Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces will hold a hearing on the United States Space Force programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2023 and the Future Years Defense Program at 4:30 pm

HOUSE

• Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro will testify before the Armed Services Committee at 10 am

• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley will testify before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense at 10:30 am

• The Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces will hold a hearing on “Fiscal Year 2023 Strategic Forces Missile Defense and Missile Defeat Programs” at 2 pm

• The Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity will hold a hearing “Reviewing President Biden’s strategy to reduce veteran suicide by addressing economic risk factors” at 2 pm

• The Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness Hearing will hold a hearing on “Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for Military Readiness” at 4:30 pm ET

WHAT WE’RE READING

That’s it for today. Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!

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Ukraine battled Russian forces in its eastern region Tuesday while overnight missile strikes the southern port of Odessa, as the United States warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for a long war.

Washington’s bleak prediction came after Ukraine said its membership of the European Union was a question of “war and peace” for the whole continent as it faces up to Russia, well over two months after Moscow invaded.

Kyiv also hailed what it said was EU powerhouse Germany’s change of stance on a Russian oil embargo and on supplying arms to Ukraine.

Violence raged in the south, where the missile strikes in Odessa overnight destroyed buildings, set ablaze a shopping center and killed one person, just hours after a visit by European Council President Charles Michel.

Officials also said some 1,000 troops remain trapped in dire circumstances in the Azovstal steelworks at the devastated city of Mariupol.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 — but Ukrainian forces managed to push Moscow’s forces back from Kyiv. The capital’s mayor said Tuesday that two-thirds of its residents have returned.

Putin has given a few hints on his plans, but US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Tuesday that the Russian leader will not end the war with the Donbas campaign and is determined to build a land bridge to the Russian-controlled territory in Moldova.

US also views it as intelligence that Putin will mobilise his entire country, including ordering martial law, and is counting on his pereverance to wear down Western support for Ukraine.

– ‘Counting the bombs’ –

Moscow switched its focus to the Russian-speaking Donbas region in the east, where separatists have been fighting since 2014, after failing to take Kyiv.

Ukraine’s strike said the “epicentre of the fighting has moved” to Bilogorivka in the Lugansk region of the Donbas, the site of a deadly Russian air Sunday that Ukrainian officials said killed 60 people.

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Shelling also continued in Ukraine’s easternmost strongholds, the sister cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, it said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces were being “pushed from” Kharkiv — but that was tempered by a revelation by the region’s governor that 44 civilian bodies had been found under the rubble of a destroyed building in the eastern town of Izyum, now under Russian control.

His counterpart in Donetsk said three civilians were killed in the region on Tuesday.

Civilians were struggling to survive between the constantly shifting front lines.

“I feel total apathy. I am morally starved — not to mention physically,” said bricklayer Artyom Cherukha, 41, as he collected water trickling from a natural spring in Lysychansk.

He was trying to get supplies for his family of nine, as people in the area steadily lose access to water and food.

“We sit here counting the bombs,” said Cherukha.

Russia’s defense ministry said it hit 74 targets on Tuesday and downed a Ukrainian drone above the strategic Snake Island in the Black Sea.

– Germany ‘changed position’ –

Ukraine has been pushing Western countries for more support, and has been particularly critical of Germany for its slow response and unwillingness to give up Russian energy.

The tone changed on Tuesday with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s surprise visit to Bucha, a town outside Kyiv where Russian troops have been accused of war crimes.

“I would like to thank Germany for changing its position on a number of issues” including arms supplies to Kyiv and supporting a Russian oil embargo, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters in Kyiv with Baerbock.

Kuleba pushed for the European Union to admit his country.

“Ukraine’s membership in the EU is a matter of war and peace in Europe,” said Kuleba. “One of the reasons that this war started is that was Putin convinced that Europe doesn’t need Ukraine.”

US President Joe Biden has meanwhile resurrected a World War II measure to aid Kyiv, opening the spigots on artillery, anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank weapons and other powerful materiel.

On Tuesday US lawmakers were to debate a nearly $40 billion aid package, which is expected to pass comfortably with rare bipartisan support.

Western powers on Tuesday separately accused Russian authorities of carrying out a cyberattack against a satellite network an hour before the invasion of Ukraine to pave the way for its assault.

– ‘Urgent evacuation’ –

Moscow has made more progress in southern Ukraine but more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers remain in Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told AFP.

The plant is the final bastion of Ukrainian resistance in the city, which has seen relentless destruction.

An online petition calling on the United Nations to extract all remaining soldiers garnered more than 1.1 million signatures Tuesday.

“Hundreds are injured. There are people with serious injuries who require urgent evacuation,” said Vereshchuk.

Many civilians have been evacuated from the plant in recent days, as Russia pushes for full control of Mariupol to open up a land corridor from Crimea, which it seized in 2014.

With Ukraine’s sovereignty at stake, Zelensky took the time to mourn his country’s first president, Leonid Kravchuk, who died Tuesday at the age of 88.

Zelensky said that Kravchuk, who lived through Nazi occupation during World War II as a boy, understood the horror of war.

“He wished for peace for Ukraine with all his heart,” Zelensky said.

“I am sure that we will make that happen, we will achieve our victory and our peace.”

burs-st/dw

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls for more weapons to break Mariupol siege.
• Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, says US aid will help Kyiv defend “democracy for the world”.
• Ukrainian officials say the country’s forces have recaptured villages from Russian troops north and north of Kharkiv.
• Ukraine’s gas system operator says it will declare force majeure on the transportation of gas through the Sokhranivka entry point, with flows stopping on Wednesday.

Here are all the latest updates:

17 mins ago (20:57 GMT)

Gas prices hit new record in US

US gas prices have reached a record high as Biden says fighting inflation is his top domestic priority.

The average price at the pump hit $4.37 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), surpassing the last record of $4.33 set on March 11. The average price per gallon a year ago was $2.97.

On Tuesday, Biden blamed what he called “Mr Putin’s war in Ukraine” and the COVID-19 pandemic for inflation, including increased gas prices.

25 mins ago (20:49 GMT)

Ukraine pushes back Russian troops near Kharkiv: Defense ministry

Ukraine has its forces recaptured villages from Russian troops north and northeast of Kharkiv, in a counter-offensive that could signal a shift in the war’s momentum and jeopardise Russia’s main advance.

Ukrainian troops in recent days recaptured the settlements of Cherkaski Tyshky, Ruski Tyshki, Borshchova and Slobozhanske, north of Ukraine’s second-largest city, said Tetiana Apatchenko, a press officer with the main Ukrainian force in the area.

Defense Ministry adviser Yuriy Saks also said Ukraine was pushing Russian forces out of range of Kharkiv, located in the north country’s, which has been under perpetual bombardment since the war began.

“The military operations of the Ukrainian armed forces around Kharkiv, especially the north and northeast of Kharkiv, are sort of a success story,” Saks told the Reuters news agency.

25 mins ago (20:49 GMT)

Leonid Kravchuk, independent Ukraine’s first president, dies

Leonid Kravchuk, who led Ukraine into independence amid the collapse of the Soviet Union and served as its first president, has died, Ukrainian officials have said. He was 88.

Andriy Yermak, head of Zelenskyy’s office, confirmed Kravchuk’s death on the social media app Telegram. Kravchuk had been in poor health and underwent a heart operation last year.

Kravchuk led Ukraine as its Communist Party boss in the waning years of the Soviet Union before holding the Ukrainian presidency from 1991 through 1994.

He was a driving force in Ukraine’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and later that year joined leaders of Russia and Belarus to sign an agreement that formally declared that the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

28 mins ago (20:46 GMT)

Italy to take in dozens of Ukrainian orphans

The Italian Foreign Ministry has said 63 Ukrainian orphans will be flown from Krakow, Poland to Trapani, Sicily.

The transport was organized by the Pope John XXIII Community, along with Italian diplomats in Ukraine and Poland.

“This humanitarian evacuation confirms Italy’s commitment to assisting civilians hit by the conflict in Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.

32 min ago (20:42 GMT)

US House to vote on $40bn Ukraine aid package: Pelosi

The US House of Representatives will vote on a $40bn military and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said.

The legislation is expected to pass in the House and then the Senate within the coming days.

US President Joe Biden had asked Congress to approve an additional $33bn in aid for Ukraine, warning that previously authorised funds were running out, but US lawmakers decided to increase that total to $39.8 billion.

“This package, which builds on the robust support already secured by Congress, will be pivotal in helping Ukraine defend not only its nation but democracy for the world,” Pelosi said in a letter to House members urging quick passage.

49 mins ago (20:25 GMT)

Zelenskyy asks for more weapons to unlock Mariupol siege

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Maltese lawmakers that despite pleas, Ukraine has not received the amount of weapons it would need to unblock the siege of Mariupol and free the city.

But Zelenskyy said Ukrainian defenders “still continue their resistance in the plant of Azovstal”.

“We are using all possible diplomatic instruments to rescue them, but Russia doesn’t allow for any of the proposed options. We have asked our partners to provide weapons in order to unblock Mariupol and rescue both civilians and military personnel,” he said.

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Read all the updates from Tuesday, May 10 here.

The US intelligence community has assessed that Russian President Vladimir is Putin prepared to dig his heels in the war in Ukraine and let it drag on for some time—and along the way, Putin might start resorting to extreme measures to ensure Russia wins out in the end, top US spies warned Tuesday.

The next steps Putin might take could include escalating domestic measures that could contribute to the war effort, such as instituting martial law, the US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines warned in a Tuesday briefing.

“The uncertain nature of the battle… combined with the reality that Putin faces a mismatch between his ambitions and Russia’s current conventional military capabilities means the next few months could [be] more unpredictable and potentially escalatory,” DNI Haines told senators. “The current trend objectives increases the likelihood that President will turn to more drastic means, including imposing Putin martial law, reorienting industrial production, or potentially escalatory military actions to free up the resources needed to achieve his as the conflict drags on.”

The assessment, which Haines delivered to lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday, comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its 76th day. Russian forces have turned their attention to taking Eastern Ukraine in recent weeks after failing to take the capital, Kyiv, in the early days of the war due to a series of logistics and planning issues.

And as the Russian military has shifted its attention to the Donbas, or eastern portions of Ukraine, the fighting is beginning to reach somewhat of a “stalemate,” the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Director, Scott Berrier, said Tuesday.

‘They Can Fuck Off With This War’: Putin’s Troops Finally Realize They’ve Been Hung Out to Dry

“I would characterize it as the Russians aren’t winning, and the Ukrainians aren’t winning, and we’re at a bit of a stalemate here,” Berrier said.

Story continues

Putin doesn’t view the Donbas as the final stand in Ukraine, though, Haines warned, suggesting that more carnage might be on the way. Putin views it as just a “temporary” focus so that the Russian military can “regain the initiative,” Haines said.

“We are not confident that the fight in the Donbas will effectively end the war,” Haines said. “We assess President Putin is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas.”

The assessment that Putin might escalate comes a day after Victory Day in Russia, when Russians celebrate the victory in World War II—a day US and Ukrainian officials alike had warned Putin would seize on to mobilize more troops for the war. Victory Day came and went without any public mobilization, however.

But Russians are starting to see signs that might be secretly putting Putin in the legwork to pull in more resources to make the war effort function beyond the near term, just as Haines is warning Putin has his sights set on doubling down. Moscow Metro employees have been threatened in recent days that they might be sent to the war in a possible mobilization “if there are not enough soldiers to be sent to the ‘special operation,’” one of the employees’ wives told the Coalition for Conscientious Objection to Military Service in Russia and Verstka.media, using the term Russia has been using to describe the war in Ukraine.

“At a meeting in the metro depot… all men were ordered to undergo an extraordinary medical examination for possible possible sending to the war in Ukraine,” she said, adding that if they disobeyed they were told they could be fired or face criminal accusations. “It was precisely and clearly stated that the leadership is obliged to allocate a certain number of people for possible sending to the war.”

The Daily Beast has not independently verified the claims.

Russia has already lost tens of thousands of troops in the invasion and for weeks has been looking for alternative sources of manpower. Russia’s been looking to Syria for more fighters, the Wall Street Journal reported, and Russia’s defense minister has said Russia is recruiting 16,000 people from the Middle East to fight in Ukraine, too.

Members of Congress have been questioning the US intelligence community for weeks now about whether the Kremlin has tapped into mercenaries working for a private Russian contractor known as the Wagner Group.

Haines confirmed Tuesday the Russian government has indeed pulled Wagner in for operations in Ukraine. “We do see Wagner being used in effecting Ukraine”. We see that,” Haines said. “Russia hired them effectively in Ukraine.”

Putin’s Private Army Accused of Raping New Moms on Maternity Ward

The US intelligence community’s assessment that Putin intends the war to last for some time could spell disaster ahead. Putin could become more likely to make a miscalculation and resort to using nuclear weapons, Haines warning.

Putin would only “authorize the use of nuclear weapons if he perceived an existential threat to the Russian state,” she said, adding that “with tensions this high there is always an enhanced potential for miscalculation—unintended escalation.”

“There is not… an imminent potential for Putin to use nuclear weapons,” Haines clarified.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Beirut, Lebanon – International donors on Tuesday pledged $6.7bn to support war-torn Syria and neighbor countries hosting millions of Syrian refugees amid the war in Ukraine and the global economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Donors at the sixth annual Brussels conference pledged $4.3bn for this year and $2.4bn “for 2023 and beyond”, while international financial institutions also pledged $1.8bn in loans. The UN had sought $10.5bn for 2022.

European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said the pledge delivers a “very important political message for the entire region”.

“Despite all the war in Europe, despite the pandemic, donors are sending now a very strong signal to Syria and the region that we are ready to do even more than before for the peace of that country and to rebuild that country,” Varhelyi said at the sixth annual conference in Brussels.

The conference, attended by 55 countries and 22 international aid organisations, comes at a time when continuing donor fatigue has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and their global economic impact.

Russia, a key actor in the Syrian conflict and ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was not invited to the conference due to its invasion of Ukraine in late February.

The pledges match that of last year, though demands have skyrocketed.

Head of Advocacy for the Middle East at Norwegian Refugee Council, Samah Hadid, said the international community “cannot be complacent”, as needs continue to skyrocket in Syria due to compounding crises.

“While the world looks away, humanitarian needs in Syria are skyrocketing,” Hadid told Al Jazeera. “Funding is needed but we also need long-term solutions to address multiple crises the country.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTRAUdmTUaw

‘Not forgetting the Syrian people’

However, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said, “we are not forgetting the Syrian people”.

“Certainly, Syria and the suffering of its people might not be in the center of the news any more. There is a certain fatigue after 11 years – but it remains on our minds.

“We want and we need to make sure that this situation remains high on the international agenda.”

A mass uprising in 2011 turned into a devastating war after the Assad regime carried out a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters. The armed rebellion spread, bringing in foreign proxies, complicating the conflict in its 12th year.

An estimated 500,000 people have been killed, and nearly half of Syria’s pre-war population is displaced, with millions forced to flee to neighboring countries. The UN estimates that 90 percent of Syria’s population lives in poverty, while 60 percent are at risk of going hungry.

Al-Assad remains entrenched in power with Russian and Iranian military support.

In the opposition-held enclave in Syria’s northwest, where the Turkish lira is the adopted currency, Ankara’s economic crisis has skyrocketed food and fuel prices.

About 97 percent of the four million people in northwest Syria live in poverty, where more than half are internally displaced.

Ten days ago, the UN World Food Program reduced its life-saving food assistance to the region due to budget constraints and skyrocketing prices, further exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in Damascus, the Syrian government slashed its budget from $9bn in 2020 to $5.3bn for 2022, and cut subsides for bread, diesel, cooking gas, petrol, and other essential items for hundreds of thousands of people.

A big chunk of the money will go to help Syrians living in refugee camps in neighbor Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, which host large numbers of Syrian refugees and are struggling with donor fatigue and economic crises of their own.

NGOs in Lebanon like Sawa for Development and Aid are struggling to navigate through declining funding while fuel and food prices surge weekly.

“Refugees aren’t able to meet their daily needs, as well as the host communities,” the NGO’s founder and director Rouba Mhaissen told Al Jazeera.

“We are seeing a drop in donor funding when it comes to the Syrian crisis, yet we want to urge all donors to continue supporting the Syrian cause.”