Humanitarian groups on the scene in Bucha

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Apr 05, 2022 View in browser   By Myah Ward Presented by Human Rights Watch A Ukrainian military vehicle drives through the street in Borodianka, Ukraine. | Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images 'THEY NEED ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING' — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council today that Russian soldiers have tortured and shot Ukrainian civilians in the head. Other civilians have been killed by grenades thrown into their apartment or crushed to death by tanks while in their cars, Zelenskyy said. Mothers have been raped and killed in front of their children. International Committee of the Red Cross workers were in Bucha today, where Alyona Synenko, a spokesperson for the ICRC, talked to residents who choked up with tears when they recounted what they'd seen in recent days, she said in an interview with Nightly. Synenko saw unexploded bombs in the streets. Reports of atrocities in Bucha this week outraged the globe, prompting President Joe Biden to say that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be put on trial for war crimes. Humanitarian groups have been calling for safe passage for evacuation and aid deliveries in Ukraine for over a month now — a request that has yet to be met by both parties on the ground. Ukrainians seeing the brutality unfold in their cities are "extremely traumatized," Synenko said. In Bucha, residents were cooking the little food they have over a fire outside because they no longer have gas in their apartments. As alleged atrocities surface and the fighting continues, particularly in the southeast region of the country, some Ukrainians who originally stayed put are now attempting to flee, heading west for safety, UNICEF spokesperson Toby Fricker told Nightly today. "Now you see extremely vulnerable people coming out of areas of heavy fighting," Fricker said. "Children, very traumatized, and mothers who had been essentially stuck in those areas and who are still trying to get out." Families are facing huge risks as they leave their homes behind. There's a 4-year-old boy receiving care in an intensive care unit in Zaporizhzhya this week, Fricker said. The boy's family packed nine people into a car to leave a village about an hour away when bullets struck the car and hit the child. There was a mass exodus at the beginning of the crisis, Fricker said, but now it's a slower trickle of people trying to leave their homes in cities like Mariupol, Kherson and surrounding villages in southeast Ukraine. More than 10 million Ukrainians, roughly 25 percent of the population, have fled their homes, according to the United Nations. The port city of Mariupol is a key priority for the ICRC, whose workers are trying to evacuate Ukrainians who want to flee, Synenko said. Ukraine has accused Russian forces of shelling the safe routes, a claim Moscow has denied. Aid groups have had more success in places around Kyiv, where the fighting has died down. Left behind in these cities are largely the elderly, the homeless and people with disabilities. In Irpin, a city northwest of Kyiv, Synenko said a homeless man had been lying in the streets without food or water for days, with advanced gangrene on both of his legs. "They need absolutely everything," Synenko said. "They need the most basic things. They need water. They're asking for bread. They're asking for a little bit of electricity, like a generator, to be able to charge their phone." The ICRC and other aid groups aren't involved in political negotiations between the Russians and Ukrainians to end the war, Synenko said. They're focused on negotiating with both parties to guarantee safe passage for evacuees and aid groups delivering supplies. "It is much more difficult obviously to access the areas where there's still fighting," Synenko said. "We need agreements. We need for both sides to agree, to provide us the humanitarian access that we need. And those must not just be declarations — they need to be very precise, concrete agreements about the date, the hour, the road to use." An ICRC team will travel to Chernihiv on Wednesday, about 90 miles north of Kyiv, where water and electricity are mainly cut off and civilians have been without aid. Weeks of a Russian siege have left the city in ruins, and hundreds have been buried in makeshift graves. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight's author at mward@politico.com, or on Twitter at @MyahWard.   A message from Human Rights Watch: There is food in the market, but families have no cash to buy it. Health workers are ready to save lives, but there are no salaries or supplies. Learn More.   What'd I Miss? — U.S. struggles to contain global food crisis: As Russian forces refocus the brunt of their military assault on Ukraine's food-producing southeast, U.S. officials and lawmakers are struggling to help ward off a deepening crisis both inside Ukraine and for fragile economies around the world already reeling from climate disasters and Covid-19 . Russia's military is pushing further into Ukraine's wheat fields, which could jeopardize millions of tons of grain set to be harvested in July — threatening sustained shortages in countries across Africa and the Middle East that rely on Ukraine as a major source of their grain and sunflower oil to feed millions of people. — 'Terrible' messaging on lifting of Trump-era border restriction alarms Dems: Many Democrats were caught flat-footed last week by the Biden administration's plan to lift the Trump-era border restriction known as Title 42. The problem wasn't that they were blindsided by the announcement. Rather, the party has been unable to settle on a unified message on immigration and border policy — a disconnect the party cannot afford with their slim Senate majority hanging in the balance. — GOP Rep. Fred Upton to retire: Michigan's Upton was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump in January 2021 , saying in a statement that "our country cannot and will not tolerate any effort by any president to impede the peaceful transfer of power." Upton is the fourth of those 10 to retire, joining Reps. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), John Katko (R-N.Y.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) in exiting Congress. A message is projected on the outside of the U.S. Department of Education asking Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to cancel student debt. | Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We The 45 Million — White House to extend the student loan moratorium once again: Biden administration officials are considering furthering the policy begun as part of Covid pandemic relief until the end of August, those people said, though they caution that could still change. An August timeframe would be considerably shorter than what many Democrats have been requesting. — Biden to take second crack at filling top gun official role: Biden is expected to announce a new nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as early as this month , according to multiple people familiar with the White House's planning. Deliberations are ongoing but Steve Dettelbach, a former federal attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, is seriously being considered by the White House for the post, two of those people and one official within the Senate Democratic Caucus, told POLITICO.   INTRODUCING DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR MORNING TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED:  Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.     — EPA moves to ban asbestos after decades of failures: EPA proposed banning nearly all remaining uses of asbestos , a material known to cause lung cancer when inhaled and that still lingers in millions of U.S. homes and schools. — Top military leaders split with Biden over nuke cruise missile: Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley told lawmakers that he still supports the development of a nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile that the Biden administration wants to cancel. The comments from Milley make him the latest senior officer to break with the administration's plan to scrap the missile, after top officers in Europe and overseeing the nuclear force backed it.   A message from Human Rights Watch:   Nightly Number 0 The number of women who have led an American military service branch. Biden plans to nominate Adm. Linda Fagan to be the next commandant of the Coast Guard. If confirmed, she would be the first. Since June 2021, Fagan has served as the vice commandant, the service's No. 2 position. At the time, she became the first woman to become a four-star admiral in the Coast Guard.   DON'T MISS ANYTHING FROM THE 2022 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is excited to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage and insights from the 25th annual Global Conference. This year's event, May 1-4, brings together more than 3,000 of the world's most influential leaders, including 700+ speakers representing more than 80 countries. "Celebrating the Power of Connection" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect influencers with the resources to change the world with leading experts and thinkers whose insight and creativity can implement that change. Whether you're attending in person or following along from somewhere else in the world, keep up with this year's conference with POLITICO's special edition "Global Insider" so you don't miss a beat. Subscribe today.     Parting Words CREATURE DISCOMFORTS — The Office of the Sergeant at Arms prompted some uproar around the Hill today after it reported multiple "individuals being attacked or bitten by a fox" on Monday and "possibly several fox dens" on the Capitol complex, Anthony Adragna, Nicholas Wu and Nancy Vu write. An actual fox roaming Capitol Hill bit Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) outside the Russell Senate Office Building Monday evening, he told reporters today. "I didn't see it, and all of a sudden I felt something lunge at the back of my leg. It was the most bizarre day in Congress," Bera told reporters. Bera, a doctor, added he had to undergo rabies shots after being bitten. Capitol Police have issued warnings about the fox and have urged Hill denizens to stay away from the territorial animal. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told reporters at the Republican weekly press conference she's also seen the creature. Our colleague, Ximena Bustillo, also got bit by the fox from behind. She sent along this comment to Congress Minutes : "It bit me. All I wanted was to write Morning Ag." The U.S. Capitol Police eventually caught the creature. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) pretty much summed up the mood: "There are three kinds of days here. There's West Wing days, when we do some really cool stuff. There's House of Cards days, where the place just seems like it's falling apart. Then there are Veep days. Today's sort of like a Veep day. The fox bites Ami, Fred [Upton's] leaving. It just sucks."   A message from Human Rights Watch: This is Afghanistan today. The Taliban are carrying out extrajudicial killings and abductions, repressing media, and imposing draconian restrictions that violate the rights of women and girls. On March 23, they reneged on promises to allow girls to go back to secondary school. At the same time, the US government has cut off Afghanistan's economy from the rest of the world and suspended support for salaries for teachers and health workers. The country is on the brink of economic collapse. Millions are at risk of starvation - especially women and girls, who face greater obstacles to getting food. Without a functioning economy, most families have lost their ability to feed themselves. Their most basic rights - to food, health, and life itself - are under assault. Learn More.   Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Chris Suellentrop @suellentrop Tyler Weyant @tweyant Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam Myah Ward @myahward   Follow us

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