March 9, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

A group of senior retired US military officers and former chiefs of defense of three Eastern European countries are advocating for supplying the Ukrainian military with air defense capabilities to defend against attacks by the Russian air force, according to an open letter obtained by CNN.

Supplying the Ukrainians with such weaponry would be effective in allowing them to shoot down aircraft or missiles in their airspace, and it is something that Ukrainians have specially asked the US and western countries to provide.

This move should would stop short of creating a no-fly zone, which the US and NATO have so far resisted supporting due to concerns that this could embroil the alliance in a war with a nuclear-armed power.

Earlier this week 27 foreign policy experts published an open letter calling on the Biden administration and the international community to establish a limited no-fly zone in Ukraine surrounding the humanitarian corridors.

The retired military leaders say that NATO’s decision to reject a no-fly zone was “devastating to the Ukrainian government and people’s morale.” They go on to assert that supplying the mid- and high-altitude air defense capability would prevent the Russians from dominating Ukrainian “airspace while delivering devastation of Ukraine’s cities.”

They note that, “Some nations have air defense systems similar to those which were previously destroyed in the opening days of the Russian campaign. Those nations could transfer existing stocks of Soviet-era and Russian-produced weapon systems to include radars. Other nations can purchase them on the international market and expedite their delivery to Ukraine.”

This proposal may have a better chance of success than implementing a no-fly zone because supplying the Ukrainian military with advanced air defense capabilities, 

The Ukrainians already have some S300 missile systems — which are a type of air defense — which means they are trained in operating these. The Croatians and few either other NATO nations have S300s in their inventory. 

Turkey could use this an opportunity to offload the S400s they bought from Russia, which was a purchase that created deep tensions within the NATO alliance. 

The letter's signatories: They include General Phillip M. Breedlove, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and General Sir Richard Shirreff, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

The former chiefs of defense of three Eastern European countries also signed on to the letter Lieutenant General Raimonds of Latvia; Lieutenant General Vytautas Jonas Žukas of Lithuania, and General Riho Terras of Estonia.

A number of key former leaders of US Special Operations Forces also signed the letter including Lieutenant General John F. Mulholland, former Deputy Commander, Special Operations Command, Vice Admiral Sean Pybus, former Deputy Commander, Special Operations Command; Lieutenant General Francis M. Beaudette, former Commanding General, Army Special Operations Command, and Major General Michael S. Repass, former Commander, Special Operations Command Europe.

CNN military analyst, Lieutenant General, Mark P. Hertling, was also a signatory to the letter.

More background: Their letter comes just a day after the  Chair of Ukraine's Parliament requested surface-to-air defense systems, no-fly zones over critical areas and fighter jets for Ukraine in a letter to US lawmakers on Tuesday, according to the letter reviewed by CNN. 

The chair, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said that there is a need for “military assistance suitable for countering Russian attacks and military advances,” citing the Iron Dome as one example of the military equipment that Ukraine needs. 

When asked about providing this type of additional military assistance to Ukraine State Department Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, told lawmakers that some of it could be possible but cited challenges with certain highly advanced equipment. 

“I would only say with regard to Iron Dome, you can't just, you know, snap your fingers and you have an Iron Dome. It takes training, it takes the ability to emplace it and all of those kinds of things. But there are other things on your list, on their list, which we think that we can do,” Nuland said. She added that she could get into more detail in a classified setting. 

Read the full letter below:

France is preparing accommodations for the first 10,000 refugees from Ukraine, French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said.

The French national defense council has activated an inter-ministerial unit to prepare for and coordinate the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in France, he added.

On Tuesday, the French Citizenship Minister Marlene Schiappa said that 5,000 Ukrainians have already arrived in France. A website has been established for French people to volunteer to host Ukrainian families fleeing the war.

“Today, nothing indicates a quick end to this tragic war. The bombings and Russian military manoeuvres could very easily get stronger in the days and weeks to come,” Attal said. “Our concern is quite obviously at its highest levels.”

China's Red Cross will provide 5 million yuan (or around $791,000 USD) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, China's Foreign Ministry said in a briefing, adding that the first batch of the aid left Beijing on Wednesday,

The aid, which includes food and daily necessities, comes at the request of Ukraine and will be delivered to the Ukrainian Red Cross "as soon as possible," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Wednesday.

Remember: China has repeatedly called for parties to exercise "maximum restraint" to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis. Beijing has also consistently refused to call the war in Ukraine a Russian invasion.

The city council of Bucha, just north of Kyiv, has accused Russian forces of blocking the evacuation of people through an agreed evacuation corridor.

"We remind you that the "green corridor" was an agreement at the highest level," it added.

While there has been no progress in getting an evacuation convoy moving from the beleaguered Kyiv suburb of Bucha, the evacuations agreed for two other nearby towns appear to have got underway.

Oleksandr Markushyn, mayor of Irpin, said on Facebook: "The evacuation from the city continues. There are buses in the center of Irpin. We are evacuating as many people as possible."

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, an adviser in the president's office, says that all the children stranded in an orphanage in nearby Vorzel have been rescued and evacuated, as has the local maternity hospital.

Britain is increasing its supply of weapons systems to Ukraine in “response to further acts of aggression by Russia,” UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace said Wednesday.  

Britain has now supplied 3,615 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, and will also shortly be supplying a small consignment of Javelin anti-tank missiles, he told lawmakers in parliament. 

Wallace said the “initial supply was to be 2,000 New Light anti-tank weapons, small arms and ammunition,” but that has been increased and the UK will continue to deliver more.

The UK is also considering supplying Ukraine with Starstreak high velocity anti-air missiles “in response to their request. The ministry of defence believes that this system “will remain within the definition of defensive weapons, but will allow the accredit force to better defend their skies.”

Russia has only been successful in one of its original objectives in Ukraine, according to UK intelligence and failed to take out Ukrainian air defenses, Wallace said. 

“The Ukrainian armed forces have put up a strong defense while mobilizing the whole population. President Putin's arrogant assumption that he would be welcomed as the Liberator has deservedly crumbled as far as his troops morale.”  

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said there has been "no critical impact" to the safety of Chernobyl, following warnings by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and the country's security and intelligence service of a possible radiation leak, after the plant was disconnected from the state's power grid. 

The warnings came in response to reports from Ukraine’s energy operator Ukrenergo and state-run nuclear company Energoatom that Chernobyl’s power had been “fully disconnected,” threatening cooling systems that are integral for preventing a “nuclear discharge.”

In a tweet Wednesday, the IAEA said it had been informed by Ukraine that Chernobyl had lost power, but that it saw “no critical impact” on the plant’s safety. 

“IAEA says heat load of spent fuel storage pool and volume of cooling water at #Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sufficient for effective heat removal without need for electrical supply,” it added. 

Ukraine’s foreign minister repeated Energoatom’s warnings, saying that Chernobyl had “lost all electric supply” and calling on the international community to demand Russia “cease fire” to “allow repair units to restore power.”

“Reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power the Chornobyl NPP. After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent,” Kuleba said in a tweet Wednesday. 

Ukraine’s technical security and intelligence service echoed Kuleba’s concerns, warning that “all nuclear facilities” in the Chernobyl exclusion zone were without power, and that if the pumps could not be cooled, a “nuclear discharge” could occur. 

Neither Kuleba nor the intelligence service commented on whether the diesel generators could be sustained beyond the 48-hour period.

On Tuesday, the IAEA said it had lost contact with remote data transmission from safeguards monitoring systems installed at Chernobyl. 

In a statement Tuesday, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed his willingness to travel to Chernobyl and expressed his concern for the staff operating the nuclear plant.

Deputy US national security adviser Daleep Singh called on oil producers to boost supply as the United States continues to crack down on Russia with sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, saying “this is the time” to dip in to reserves. 

Singh pointed to US President Joe Biden’s recent conversation with King Salman of Saudi Arabia as one way the US is looking to boost production.

“We want more supply in the world, more oil supply. We want it from producers that have spare capacity. They're about 3 to 4 million barrels per day of spare capacity. Saudi has some of that spare capacity,” Singh said during an appearance on CNN’s "New Day."

The US, he added, wants supply of oil “wherever it can be produced – that’s at home, that’s abroad.”

Pressed on comments from the Kremlin this morning, Singh stopped short of calling the US’s actions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine an “economic war.”

“This is a brutal and needless war of aggression. We said all along that the aggression escalates, so will the costs. And the strategic failure for Putin continues to mount. We have imposed the most severe and coordinated economic sanctions in history,” Singh said, noting a Russian economy in “tatters” and citing the “exodus” of global companies from Russian markets.

He said he "wouldn’t call it an economic war," adding, "this is our way of demonstrating resolve.” 

Pressed by CNN's John Berman on the Polish fighter jet situation, Singh deferred to the Department of Defense but touted defense and security assistance to Ukraine more broadly. Asked again whether the US has ruled out allowing MiG-29 aircraft into Ukraine, he again declined to comment but reiterated the US will not escalate the situation into a direct conflict with Russia, as has been the administration’s stance.

In the village of Nemishayevo on the outskirts of Kyiv, residents have been sheltering in their homes while Russian shelling continues on a regular basis.

One local, Yaroslava Kaminska, says she remained in Nemishayevo with her family — her husband and his parents and grandmother — after Russia’s invasion of the village on February 28, and says they were “naïve idiots” for first thinking Russian troops wouldn’t come.

Since the invasion, she says residents have been scared to leave their homes.

“If you come out from your house, you should stand behind the house so that you can't be seen and heard, you should stand where the bullets won't reach you,” Kaminska says.

Kaminska says shelling has been constant since the arrival of Russian troops -- who, like other Ukrainians, she refers to as "Orcs" after the creatures in The Lord of the Rings.

Residents have been shot at by snipers and tanks have fired at houses on the family's street, she says.

Having been without water, electricity and heating since February 28, the village lost gas this week.

After that, Kaminska says the family “broke down” -- “we shouted at each other, we brought war to the house” -- and took the decision on Tuesday to leave, although she won’t say where they departed for or how in order to protect the safety of others trying to escape Nemishayevo.

“We haven’t washed ourselves for a week. But it didn’t bother me for a long time. It does not matter. Only life is important, my family’s life and mine … I know what Russia is doing to us. This is not war; this is extermination.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called for the people of Ukraine to “defend our future” against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire to “rebuild the Russian empire.”

Speaking on CNN's New Day, Klitschko said Kyiv would have enough resources to last one or two weeks if Russian troops managed to encircle the capital, where recently he has been visiting defense posts of the Ukrainian military.

“The reason of the war, from the Russian side, is actually senseless. The reason Putin does this war is because we want to be a democratic European country and Putin wants to rebuild the Russian empire," he said.

“Without Ukraine it’s difficult to do it. It’s his dream to rebuild the Soviet Union. We were in the USSR and don’t want to go back to the USSR," he continued.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military agreed to a new 12-hour ceasefire with Russia to allow civilians to escape through evacuation corridors from several citi

Watch a part of the CNN interview:

es.