". . . When asked how Russia would perceive Biden’s presence in Poland, Hodges says, “If the President uses the trip just to say, ‘We’re with Ukraine for as long as it takes,’ it will have been a wasted opportunity and the Russians will then know that we do not have the required sense of urgency or clarity of purpose to help Ukraine win this year. That would be a disappointment."
✓ Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, told reporters that the White House alerted Russian officials to Biden’s trip to Kyiv several hours before he arrived for “deconfliction purposes.”
President Biden Makes Surprise Visit to Ukraine
President Joe Biden arrived in Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv on Monday in an early morning surprise visit to underscore American support for President Volodymyr Zelensky and his war efforts against Russia. Shrouded in secrecy, and coming days before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the trip marks the first time Biden has traveled to Ukraine as president.
“One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands,” Biden said.
Armed with billions of dollars’ worth of weapons from Western countries, and in desperate need for more, Ukraine has fought the Russians to a bloody standstill. Despite American sanctions and the devastating battlefield losses of people and equipment, Moscow continues its assault on Ukrainian defenses.
Multiple government agencies and officials in the U.S. and Ukraine did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s inquiries about Biden’s trip. A senior White House official and a U.S. government official with knowledge of the trip confirmed the visit on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Despite claims from the White House for Biden having “no plans” to cross into Ukraine during his trip to Poland, plans to cross the Polish-Ukraine border began more than a month ago, after Biden told staffers he wanted a public display to show solidarity between the United States and embattled Ukraine as it enters its second year of war. Politically, this trip “needed to happen,” a senior White House official tells Rolling Stone. . .
In Ukraine, fear looms large of shortages of ammunition and other material needed to continue the war.
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“Ukraine can win this year if we are serious about it but the [U.S.] administration has not proposed a clear endstate,” retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who formerly served as head of U.S. Army Europe, tells Rolling Stone via email. “They lack clarity and the messaging is muddled, especially with regard to… the idea of winning.”
He adds: “Having said that, the administration has done a very good job bringing together more than 50 nations to support Ukraine.”
Biden’s trip to Kyiv occurs as Western leaders wrap up the Munich Security Conference, where questions linger over how this brutal war of attrition between Russia and Ukraine will end, if at all, and at what cost. Vice President Kamala Harris told conference attendees on Saturday that the United States had formally determined that Russian forces had committed crimes against humanity.
Complicating matters further, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday said the United States is concerned about the potential flow of weapons and ammunition to Russia by way of China. With U.S.-China relations already strained over the “spy balloon” fiasco, Blinken warned top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi of potential consequences, Reuters reported.
The Kremlin now claims it could throw 300,000 more troops into the breach — a force almost doubled in strength from what Moscow mounted last year.
Earlier this month, the White House said Biden also plans to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and other leaders from the region. Biden will deliver remarks ahead of the official anniversary on Feb. 24.
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When asked how Russia would perceive Biden’s presence in Poland, Hodges says, “If the President uses the trip just to say, ‘We’re with Ukraine for as long as it takes,’ it will have been a wasted opportunity and the Russians will then know that we do not have the required sense of urgency or clarity of purpose to help Ukraine win this year. That would be a disappointment…I hope he’ll use it to lay out very clearly America’s strategic objectives for Ukraine.”
Jim LaPorta covers national security and military affairs. He is a
former U.S. Marine infantryman and a veteran of the Afghanistan war. You
can follow him on Twitter @JimLaPorta
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Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery
Dr Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery (Михайлівський Золотоверхий монастир; Mykhailivskyi Zolotoverkhyi manastyr).(Photos: Saint Michael's Monastery before demolition; restored Saint Michael's Monastery.) An Orthodox men's monastery in Kyiv. Little is known about its early history. In the 1050s Prince Iziaslav Yaroslavych built Saint Demetrius's Monastery and Church in the old upper city of Kyiv, near Saint Sophia Cathedral. In 1108–13 his son, Sviatopolk II Iziaslavych, built a church at the monastery dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel. The monastery probably came under the control of the Kyivan Cave Monastery ca 1128; it was mostly destroyed during the Tatar invasion of 1240 and ceased to exist.
Written records confirm that the monastery was reopened by 1496. Soon afterward it began to be known as Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, its name being taken from the church built by Sviatopolk II Iziaslavych (although historians are not certain which church survived the Tatar invasion, Saint Demetrius's or Saint Michael's). Restored and enlarged over the 16th century, it gradually became one of the most popular and wealthy monasteries in Ukraine. In 1620 Yov Boretsky made it the residence of the renewed Orthodox metropolitan of Kyiv, and in 1633 Isaia Kopynsky was named supervisor (both men were buried there). It enjoyed the patronage of hetmans and other benefactors and acquired many valuable artifacts (including the relics of Saint Barbara, brought to Kyiv from Byzantium in the 11th century and kept in a silver sepulcher donated by Hetman Ivan Mazepa, and an iconostasis funded by Hetman Ivan Skoropadsky). Although most of the monastery's properties were secularized in the late 18th century, in the 19th and 20th centuries as many as 240 monks have lived there, and after 1800 it served as the residence of the bishop of Chernihiv (who was also vicar of Kyiv). A precentor's school was located there, and many prominent composers (eg, Kyrylo Stetsenko and Yakiv Yatsynevych) studied or taught at the school.
The main church of the monastery (built in either 1654–7 or 1108–13) was an important architectural and cultural monument. Originally it had three naves and three apses on the eastern side and was topped by a single large gilded cupola. It was rebuilt in a baroque style and expanded with a new façade and six additional cupolas in the 18th century. The most striking elements of the interior were the 12th–century frescoes (such as the Annunciation fresco) and mosaics (such as the Angel mosaic), probably done by Kyivan artisans (including perhaps Master Olimpii). Although many of these were destroyed in the 13th to 16th century, some—notably the mosaics of Saint Demetrius of Thessalonika, the Eucharist, and Archdeacon Stephen—survived and were partially restored in the late 19th century. Several other frescoes were restored by Adrian Prakhov. Other buildings in the monastery complex included a bell tower and three residences and refectories. Several Kyivan princes were buried in the church, including Sviatopolk II Iziaslav.
After the Soviet seizure of power the monastery was closed, and in 1936, during the Stalinist antireligious campaign, the main church was demolished by the authorities. (Photo: Ruins of Saint Michael's Church, 1936.) Before the church's demolition, some of its art works were removed and deposited in the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow or stored at the Saint Sophia Cathedral. The items at the cathedral were seized by the Nazis during the Second World War and taken to Germany. There they fell into American hands at the end of the war and were ‘returned’ to Moscow. The reconstruction of the Saint Michael’s Church began on 24 May 1997. It was officially opened on 30 May 1999 (photo: restored Saint Michael's Church), but the interior decorations, mosaics, and frescoes were not completed until 2000. Subsequently (2001 and 2004), 18 of 29 art pieces in Moscow from the original church were returned after years of discussion. The monastery was officially ceded to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate.
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