Your Friday Briefing: Putin’s defensive speech

April 22, 2022

By Amelia Nierenberg

Writer, Briefings

Good morning. We're covering Vladimir Putin's statements on Mariupol, a flurry of strikes between Israel and Gaza and a landmark ruling on gay sex in South Korea.

A Ukrainian family who fled Mariupol arrives in Zaporizhzhia.Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

Putin steps back, but claims victory

President Vladimir Putin of Russia said it was "impractical" for Russian forces to attack the steel factory in Mariupol where Ukrainian forces and roughly 1,000 civilians are stuck in bunkers. Instead, Putin ordered a complete blockade.

In so doing, he claimed victory there, presenting his strategy in a meeting aired Thursday on state television. With news of heavy Russian casualties in Ukraine spreading on social media in Russia, the tightly choreographed meeting allowed Putin to present himself as a rational and cautious wartime leader.

But Ukrainians in the steel plant are holding firm, despite dire conditions. "I'm alive and healthy for now, but the situation is very difficult," a 25-year-old soldier told The Times from inside the plant. "We're at the end of our food and water." Here are live updates.

Analysis: Putin's statement may be an effort to quash growing domestic frustration. Families whose sons were listed as missing after the Russian flagship in the Black Sea sank a week ago are demanding answers, a liability for the Kremlin's propaganda machine.

U.S.: President Biden announced an additional $500 million in emergency funding to Ukraine and $800 million in military aid on Thursday, an effort to help fend off Putin's eastern offensive, and laid out a new program to accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.

Saber rattling: Russia's test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile fueled U.S. fears that the Russian leader is more isolated than ever.

State of the war:

Russian forces made minor gains across a 300-mile front in eastern Ukraine, according to military analysts.
Satellite images show what appears to be a growing mass grave near Mariupol. People who escaped its ruins said "the city is gone."
At least two people died when a rocket strike slammed into a residential neighborhood in northern Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Thursday.

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted rockets launched from Gaza Strip on Thursday.Amir Cohen/Reuters

Rockets fly over Israel and Gaza

Gaza militants and Israeli forces exchanged fire on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. It is the most intense fighting since the end of an 11-day war in May, though no deaths were reported.

The flare-up followed the deadliest wave of Arab attacks within Israel in more than a half decade. Arabs killed 14 people in Israel; Israel's resulting crackdown in the occupied West Bank killed at least 15 Palestinians.

Early Thursday, tensions between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters also erupted at the Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. The site is holy to both Jews and Muslims, and Passover and Ramadan are happening simultaneously.

Context: Last week, confrontations also rocked the Jerusalem site. Since then, Israel has taken steps to minimize clashes between far-right Jews and Muslim residents of the Old City and plans to close the mosque to Jews and tourists during the last 10 days of Ramadan.

Analysis: Israel and Hamas have both indicated that they want to avoid another mini-war. For Hamas, firing rockets without killing civilians allows militants to express anger without provoking a more violent reaction. Israel's nonlethal retaliation avoids cornering the militants into escalation.

The court said that punishing two male soldiers who had sex off base was a violation of "their sexual autonomy."Kim In-Chul/Yonhap, via Associated Press

A landmark ruling in South Korea

The country's Supreme Court said that the military should not punish consensual, same-sex sexual activities that took place in a nonmilitary setting.

In the landmark ruling, the court struck down guilty verdicts for two male soldiers who were indicted on a charge of having consensual sex while off their base.

Until now, soldiers who engaged in "anal intercourse or other indecent acts" had been punished and faced up to two years in prison — regardless of whether there was mutual consent or where the conduct took place.

Reaction: Rights groups have long condemned the law, saying it permitted a "witch hunt" against gay soldiers. On Thursday, they hailed the verdict, calling it "a major step forward" or "a huge victory" for L.G.B.T.Q. people in South Korea.

Background: Same-sex marriage is not recognized in South Korea. In recent years, powerful right-wing Christian groups have intensified a campaign against homosexuality, arguing that gay soldiers would spread AIDS and undermine the military's readiness to fight North Korea.

Continue reading the main story

THE LATEST NEWS

World News

Queen Elizabeth's grandson, Prince Harry, stirred drama when he said he wanted to make sure she was "protected."Tim Ireland/Associated Press

Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 96th birthday on Thursday.
An explosion at a mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, killed at least 10 people on Thursday. An ISIS affiliate claimed responsibility for the blast, the latest in a series of attacks against one of Afghanistan's religious minority groups.

A plane carrying Army parachutists, part of a celebration at a nearby baseball stadium, caused an evacuation at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

What Else Is Happening

Chona Kasinger for The New York Times

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The new owners of CNN+ are shutting down the new streaming service, just weeks after its splashy debut.
In a yearlong study, scientists found no benefits to time-restricted eating.
New Jersey began selling recreational cannabis on Thursday.
Manchester United appointed Erik ten Hag as coach, an effort to resurrect English soccer's fallen giant.

A Morning Read

A rescued kangaroo in a wild animals park this month.North Bengal Wild Animals Park

Scared, hungry kangaroos have been turning up in eastern India, confusing residents. The misplaced marsupials were most likely bred to be exotic pets and trafficked into the country. Legislative efforts to close loopholes in India's roaring wildlife trade have intensified recently.

Lives Lived: Jimmy Wang Yu changed the nature of Asian martial arts movies, which had been relying on sword fighting and fantasy, by bringing hand-to-hand combat to the fore. He died at 79.

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ARTS AND IDEAS

11 book shops for 100 people?

There is no butcher and no baker in the tiny Spanish town of Urueña — both recently retired. The local school has just nine students. Only abuot 100 people live there full-time.

But Urueña has become something of a literary hub: 11 of its shops sell books. Nine are dedicated bookstores. Tourists flock to the rural setting, even during the coronavirus pandemic, for cultural exploration.

That's no accident.

Since 2007, provincial authorities have invested in turning the town into a rural literary magnet, like Montmorillon in France and Hay-on-Wye in Wales, an effort to bring visitors and stem the tide of depopulation. (Urueña, like villages across the Spanish countryside, has struggled with an aging and dwindling population, a phenomenon known as "España vacía," or "empty Spain.")

It comes as Spain is struggling to find a path forward for its 3,000 independent bookstores, about 40 percent of which are barely getting by. Novels are a far cry from the farms that once dotted the area — but the residents are adapting.

"Life is much easier now in the Spanish countryside than 50 years ago," said a longtime resident, Joaquín Díaz, who is a Spanish folk singer and ethnographer. "Nobody could ever imagine that books could ever get sold and help save this village when I arrived here."