MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling compatriots to brace for a fateful week, Western military officials warned Monday that Russian forces will likely resort to even more brutal tactics against civilians in a looming offensive in the country’s south and east.
Nearly seven weeks into a war in which the Kremlin has attained virtually none of its strategic objectives, Russian President Vladimir Putin was expected Monday to hold his first face-to-face talks with a European leader since launching the Feb. 24 invasion. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced the planned meeting, declaring that Russia’s “war of aggression” must cease.
Austria is a member of the European Union, which has imposed stringent sanctions against Russia, but is militarily neutral and not a member of NATO — a status that in the past has allowed it to maintain closer links with Moscow. But Nehammer, who met over the weekend with Zelenskyy, has demanded a war-crimes investigation against Russia, which has denied its troops have committed atrocities against civilians.
