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How Ukrainian civilians are defending their country · Apple News Today

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  [MUSIC FADES IN]
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  Duarte Geraldino, Narrating: Good morning! It's Monday, February 28th. I'm Duarte Geraldino.
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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: And I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
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  There's reports of Russian rocket strikes today in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city. It comes after a weekend of intense fighting as the Russia military attempts to capture both this city and the capitol city, Kyiv. So far, this war has not gone Russia's way, though that could all change quickly. "The Washington Post" reports that both in the air and on the ground, the Russian military has struggled, despite having the second largest air force in the world and a far superior military to Ukraine's. Russian forces have been met with heavy resistance. Here's "Washington Post" reporter Sudarsan Raghavan, who spoke to us from the ground in Ukraine.
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  Sudarsan Raghavan: The Russians were expected to enter and take over places quickly. In fact, that's what even they vowed to do. But what they instead found, the Russians found, was very determined, very resilient Ukrainian civilians. They've risen up to the challenge and they've slowed the Russian forces down.
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  Geraldino: Raghavan explains Ukrainians are defiant in the face of long odds. Ordinary civilians have vowed to pick up arms and defend their country.
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  Raghavan: So, it's pretty remarkable. What we're seeing in the past three days are, you know, thousands of Ukrainians, men and women, lining up at police centers and other security service centers to sign up to join these territorial self-defense units. They go in, they sign up and they walk out with guns.
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  Many of these civilians, they've had no military training.
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  Raghavan: We spoke to one man, a 31-year-old mechanic, the other day, who had never fired a gun, and his only knowledge of weaponry was playing video games. He was so confident that he could get up and use a gun, even though he's never fired an actual one before. And so you have people like that too, with zero experience, but just a lot of confidence and a desire, a will to fight against Russian forces to protect their motherland.
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  Basu: And among the people taking to the streets is Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Raghavan told us that before the invasion, Zelenskyy wasn't doing well in the polls. His popularity had been dwindling, and he had downplayed the likelihood of a Russian attack. But since the Russian invasion, Raghavan says Zelenskyy's become something of a national hero.
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  Raghavan: Probably the most important thing of all he did, and which Ukrainian people appreciated, is that he didn't flee. He could easily have fled the country. The Americans offered him to take him out to safety, but he said, "No, I'm not gonna leave. Send me ammunition instead."
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  Geraldino: Despite being outgunned and outnumbered by Russian forces, Raghavan says morale is fairly high among Ukrainian civilian fighters. They managed to hold off Russian troops over the weekend, and that success is emboldening them.
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  Raghavan: There's this determination not to give up. You know, every Ukrainian who has a gun, who's playing a part and a role is saying, you know, "We are gonna fight until we die. The Russians are not gonna take over our homeland."
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  Basu: Amid reports of Russia's faltering military position, Vladimir Putin announced over the weekend that he was putting his nuclear forces on high alert. Meanwhile, Belarus, which is a Russian ally, is preparing to send soldiers to support the Russian military. Today is a crucial day in the war. Ukraine and Russia are meeting in the hopes of negotiating a peaceful outcome, although Zelenskyy says he is not optimistic. He's also asking the E.U. to fast-track membership for Ukraine to join the European Union, a process that typically takes years.
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  Geraldino: Let's turn now to the global response to this crisis. Around the world this weekend, people took to the streets to protest Russia's invasion and to call for peace.
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  [START TWITTER ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Protester: Stop Russian aggression!
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  Crowd Members: [IN UNISON] Stop Russian aggression!
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  Protester: We want to live in peace!
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  Crowd Members: [IN UNISON] We want to live in peace!
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  [END TWITTER ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting the United States and European Union are enacting the most aggressive package of sanctions ever levied against a major economy. Some of these sanctions directly target Vladimir Putin, some will paralyze the assets of Russia's central bank. And just this morning, the Treasury Department announced it's banning all people in the U.S. and E.U. from doing business with Russia's central bank or its Finance Ministry. The goal here is to cut the Kremlin off from international reserves. And there's also a plan to block some Russian institutions from SWIFT. That's the international payment system. The White House estimates nearly 80% of the country's banking assets have been targeted.
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  Basu: And we're starting to see the impact of those sanctions. The Russian ruble crashed to a record low against the U.S. dollar this morning, losing as much of a quarter of its value within hours. Russia's central bank hiked up interest rates, and it closed the Moscow stock exchange for the day because of the "developing situation." This morning, the European Central Bank declared that a subsidiary of Russia's largest bank is failing or likely to fail. And we saw videos on social media this weekend of Russians waiting in long lines at ATMs, trying to withdraw money.
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  Geraldino: And oligarchs, they should feel the economic pain too. The U.S. and its allies issued a joint statement saying they would limit access to so-called "golden passports." These are the passports that historically have let wealthy Russians connected to the government become citizens of other countries and gain access to outside financial systems. Now the U.S. and its allies said they would set up a task force to ensure sanctions against oligarchs are effectively put in place.
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  Basu: And financial pressure, it isn't just coming from governments. We're also starting to see it come from the private sector. Over the weekend, BP said it would walk away from its 20% stake in Russia's state-controlled oil company.
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  Geraldino: Though the Russian economy pales in comparison to the United States or China's, it's still the world's 11th-largest economy, and Russia is one of the worlds' largest suppliers of natural gas and oil. So hitting the Russian economy hard could have implications for the global economy too.
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  [PENSIVE MUSIC]
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  Basu: Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are fleeing for other European countries. "The Washington Post" says the scale of the exodus is one the world hasn't seen in Europe for years.
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  Geraldino: Thousands of Ukrainians are trying to get into Poland. They're driving, walking, just trying to get to safety. According to the United Nations, this weekend there was a nine-mile-long line at the country's border with Poland. Celebrity Chef José Andrés is at the border with his foundation, helping to feed refugees. Here's what he posted on Twitter.
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  [START TWITTER ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
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  José Andrés: The people don't stop arriving. People are cold, families are cold. They carry with them whatever they can bring. Usually a suitcase, but they are bringing children. It's freezing cold. I don't know how people make it.
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  [END TWITTER ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  The United Nations is warning up to five million people could become refugees. That's more than 10% of the Ukrainian population.
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  Basu: For the most part, Ukrainians are being welcomed by neighboring countries, even countries that have been resistant to refugees coming from countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in the past. Poland, for example, is in the middle of building a border wall to block refugees and migrants from the Middle East. But this weekend, the interior minister said Poland is prepared to take in Ukrainians.
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  Geraldino: It's a similar story in Hungary. President Viktor Orbán described past waves of refugees as a threat to his country. His government has been accused of human rights abuses against refugees from the Middle East and Africa. But in response to Putin's aggression, Hungary announced all Ukrainian citizens and third-country nationals legally living in Ukraine will be entitled to protection in Hungary. And as for the United States, on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Biden is, quote, "certainly prepared" to accept refugees from Ukraine.
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  Basu: Despite many countries welcoming Ukrainians, there is one group of people inside Ukraine who feel like they have nowhere to turn. Students from Africa. Tens of thousands of students from African countries attend universities in Ukraine. As "Business Insider" reports, many African students are calling on their embassies and pleading for help. For many who have tried to leave Ukraine, they find that they're being stopped. "The Globe and Mail" reports the story of one woman from Ghana who's studying medicine in Ukraine. And she says she walked for eight hours to reach the Polish border, but when she got there, she was held up. She watched as Ukrainians were allowed to pass through, but she waited in line for nearly two days with little water and nothing to eat. Eventually, she says, she was allowed to cross.
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  Geraldino: Let's turn now to some other news stories we're following. Today, the Supreme Court is gonna hear a case that could have huge consequences for the future of our planet. The Court will decide whether the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector. Now, this is significant because the power sector is the second-largest source of emissions in the U.S.
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  Basu: Today is the big deadline for Major League Baseball and the players' union. The two sides have been in contentious contract negotiations. If they don't reach a deal today, MLB, which locked out the players back in December, says it will start canceling games for the regular season.
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  Geraldino: And finally, a man from Texas will be the first January 6th defendant to face a jury. His trial, which begins today, is gonna be the first time the Justice Department presents evidence from that day to the public.
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  Basu: You can find all these stories and more on the Apple News app, where we have all the latest developments coming out of Ukraine.
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  Geraldino: And when you're in the app, keep listening to hear narrated articles from our News+ partners.
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  Basu: We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
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