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| Happy Monday, OnPolitics readers! |
| Russian and Ukrainian delegations began talks in Belarus Monday to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, which has reached its 12th day. |
| Two prior attempts at talks failed. Russia has demanded that Ukraine halt its military activity, change its constitution to include neutrality so it can't join the European Union or The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, recognize Crimea as Russian territory and recognize independence for the separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday. |
| Russia also continued assaults on residential areas of Ukrainian cities Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy, despite a vow to cease fire and open humanitarian corridors in several cities. |
| Nearly 100% of the Russian combat forces President Vladimir Putin deployed to Ukraine's borders are now inside the country, according to estimates from The Pentagon. |
| Want updates on the Russia-Ukraine War?: Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date. |
| It's Amy and Chelsey with today's top stories out of Washington. |
Ukrainian border city Lviv prepares for battle |
| Most refugees fleeing the violence in Ukraine for neighboring Poland will take trains from Lviv, a historic city on Ukraine's border and a potential seat of power if capital city Kyiv falls to Russian forces. |
| USA TODAY spent nearly two days on the ground with a team of overseas nurses, engineers and logistics personnel invited by Ukraine's authorities to build a field hospital for emergency and specialized trauma care in the city. The exact location is being withheld over fears it could become a target for Russian missiles. |
| Although nearby towns have been targeted, Lviv has so far not been hit by Russian bombs, but the city is preparing for a siege. Checkpoints line roads between Lviv and Poland and armed volunteers patrol the highway as people flee on buses and in civilian cars. |
| Maksym Kozytskyy, governor of the region, said while it was "impossible not to fear the war," his staff and the area's civilian population more generally were keeping focused and motivated because "they are not doing this for me or anyone else but for their own country and freedom. People here are not ready to lose this war. They are not going to fight and die, but to win." |
Real quick: stories you'll want to read |
| • | SCOTUS won't review Cosby case: Bill Cosby will remain free and the overturning of his conviction on two sex crimes will stand after the U.S. Supreme Court said it will not review it. | | • | Harris honors 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday: Vice President Kamala Harris and civil rights leaders, including the families of Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis, were joined by hundreds to mark the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. | | • | Inflation takes stage in Virginia midterms: Rep. Abigail Spanberger and other Democrats are facing an uphill battle with Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections given President Joe Biden's abysmal polling numbers, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and rising prices. | | • | Potential good news for student loan debtors: President Joe Biden's administration is considering extending the freeze on federal student loan payments before it expires in May, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said in an interview last week. | |
Elections officials scrambling amid paper shortage |
| American elections are the latest industry to feel the squeeze of inflation and global supply chain disruptions. |
| As voters begin to cast ballots in the 2022 primaries, the election industry has been scrambling to get enough paper products to print ballots, stuff envelopes and produce other materials critical to the voting process. |
| Warnings about the availability of paper have circulated among election officials for months. But in February, a working group of election industry officials said in a report that orders typically filled in days or weeks now are taking months. |
| Prices, too, have spiked. With demand ticking up ahead of the election and a smaller supply from paper mills, election officials say they are paying more for paper products, putting more strain on an elections system that advocates say has been underfunded for years. |
| The shortage already is making it harder on voters. In Texas, some vote-by-mail ballots went out later than usual because local elections officials could not get their stock of paper early enough. |
| Industry experts told USA TODAY they now expect to have enough specialized ballot paper for jurisdictions that need it, but the paper used for instructional material, envelopes and registration cards is increasingly difficult to procure. Even "I voted" stickers are at risk. |
| A view from the sky: These satellite images and surveillance footage show how the conflict in Ukraine is playing out. -- Amy and Chelsey |
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