Defense & National Security — Key Russian warship suffers explosion
Ukraine on Thursday claimed that it struck a key warship in Russia’s Black Sea fleet, dealing Moscow a heavy blow as its invasion drags on.
We’ll break down the attack. Plus, we’ll talk about the fight between President Biden and the GOP heating up as a second bus of migrants from Texas arrived in Washington, D.C., today.
This is 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 this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.
Ukraine claims to strike key Russian warship
Ukrainian forces on Thursday claimed to have struck the Moskva, seriously damaging what’s known as the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
The heavily damaged ship appears to be another blow to Moscow, which has struggled in its invasion of Ukraine that began Feb. 24.
What exactly happened? Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the Odesa region, said two Neptune missiles struck the ship, according to The Associated Press.
Russia later acknowledged that the entire crew of the Moskva — which can carry 500 sailors — was forced to evacuate due to an overnight fire. Russia’s Defense Ministry did not mention an attack, only that ammunition on board detonated as a result of a fire, “seriously” damaging the ship.
Russia’s defense ministry later said that the Moskva sunk while it was being towed to port, according to the BBC.
What the Pentagon had to say: Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. can’t confirm that the ship was hit by a Ukrainian missile. However, he said Washington believes there was a “significant explosion” on the ship that caused a fire.
Kirby said that Washington further assesses that “at least some” of the crew had been evacuated from the ship and were placed aboard other ships.
Switching things up: After failing to take the capital of Kyiv, Kremlin forces have retreated from much of the north and are now trying to regroup for a renewed offensive in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for more weapons from the U.S. and NATO to help force back the Russian invasion. The Biden administration responded to that call on Wednesday when it announced another $800 million in military aid to the country.
Director sounds alarm over nuclear weapons threat
CIA Director William Burns said Thursday that the U.S. cannot “take lightly” the possibility that Russia could use tactical nuclear weapons as it grows more desperate in its military attack on Ukraine.
Burns was referring to Putin’s statements earlier in the invasion that he was putting Russia’s nuclear forces on a heightened state of alert. The U.S. did not change its nuclear posture in response to Putin’s directive.
The U.S. has warned that Ukraine could use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, but Burns’ comments were the most extensive public warning about the potential threat of nuclear weapons.
The warning: “Given the potential desperation of [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons,” Burns said Thursday following a speech at Georgia Tech.
The CIA chief noted, however, that the U.S. has not yet seen “practical evidence” of Russia moving to use such weapons.
What else Burns said: During his prepared remarks, Burns spoke at length about Russia’s war in Ukraine and the way in which the U.S. intelligence community has declassified and publicly released intelligence information in order to throw off Putin’s war plans.
He also said President Biden is concerned with avoiding a third world war in Europe, a worry that has kept the U.S. from establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine or accepting a Polish plan to transfer Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine.
Immigration fight heats up with migrant busses to DC
A second bus of Latin American asylum applicants arrived in Washington, D.C., from Texas early Thursday as part of GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) push to augment the national visibility of the Biden administration’s asylum policies.
Where were the migrants sent? The bus, which transported Nicaraguan, Cuban, Venezuelan and Colombian nationals, dropped off the prospective asylees outside of the building that houses the Washington bureau of Fox News, which broke the story. Other media organizations are also in the building.
While the first bus that arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday was carrying at least 20 people, the bus that arrived near the Capitol on Thursday had 14 people in it.
Why is Abbott doing this? Abbott last week directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to bring migrants to Washington due to the Biden administration’s move to wind down Title 42, a sweeping border restriction policy implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Title 42, which is slated to end on May 23, allowed migrants to be expelled at the border due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision to rescind the order came amid pressure from immigration advocacy groups and Democratic allies. At the same time, it was met with backlash from Republicans and some centrist Democrats who are facing tough reelection bids.
The fight over asylum-seekers: Many border communities in Texas have for years complained that they are burdened with a disproportionate share of the costs of receiving asylum-seekers while also serving as a first landing spot for many undocumented immigrants who surreptitiously cross the border.
And a wide array of politicians, immigration restrictionist groups and others have made claims connecting asylum-seekers to illegal immigration and local crime rates.
TENSIONS FLARE AFTER FIRST BUS ARRIVES
Temperatures in the immigration fight between Republicans and Biden rose Wednesday after Abbott sent a bus of migrants to Washington in an effort to bring issues at the southern border to the White House’s doorstep.
The Biden administration called the move a “publicity stunt,” a term that White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated on Wednesday when asked about the bus’s arrival.
Psaki also appeared to mock Abbott’s intentions.
“These are all migrants who have been processed by CBP [Customs and Border Protection] and are free to travel, so, it’s nice that the state of Texas is helping them get to their final destination,” Psaki told reporters, adding that the passengers were awaiting outcomes of immigration proceedings.
ON TAP FOR TOMORROW
Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova will participate in a Washington Post Live discussion at 4 p.m.
WHAT WE’RE READING
- Midterms raise fears of Russian cyberattacks
- Russia warns of new nuclear deployments in Baltics if Finland, Sweden join NATO
- Trio of lawmakers calls on Army chief to address military suicides in Alaska
- White House weighs sending senior officials to Ukraine
- The Associated Press: ISIS militant found guilty of kidnapping, killing four Americans
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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