Russia-Ukraine war: Biden accuses Putin of committing ‘genocide’
• Chemical weapons watchdog says closely monitoring situation in Ukraine
Daily Courier – US president’s remarks come amid rising concerns over civilian casualties, fears of renewed Russian offensive in east.
US President Joe Biden says Russia is committing “genocide” in Ukraine by seeking to “wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised that Moscow will triumph in its “noble” war aims.
The mayor of Mariupol claims about 21,000 civilians have been killed in the besieged Ukrainian city to date.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) expresses concern about the unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use in Mariupol.
More than 3,000 criminal proceedings against Russian troops in Kyiv region
Ukraine has opened more than 3,000 criminal proceedings against Russian troops in the Kyiv region since the Russian invasion started, Ukraine’s national news agency reports, citing a statement made by the head of the Kyiv regional police Andrii Niebytov.
This includes 1,463 cases of violating the laws and customs of war.
“The number of the civilian bodies found and examined in Kyiv region has already exceeded 720. Meanwhile, 200 more people are reported as missing,” Niebytov added.
Putin says Russia ‘had no other choice’ in Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia’s military action in Ukraine was “unavoidable” and pledged that its goals in the conflict will be achieved.
His comments on Tuesday came after he flew into Russia’s far east Amur region where he met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Speaking at the Vostochny space launch facility, Putin charged that Ukraine was turned into an “anti-Russian bridgehead” where “sprouts of nationalism and neo-Nazism were being cultivated”.
“This new generation of Ukrainian nationalists are especially clashing with Russia. You see how Nazi ideology became a fact of life in Ukraine,” he argued.
‘World must respond now’: Zelenskyy on reports Russia used chemical weapons
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the world to respond “preventively” to unconfirmed reports Russia used chemical weapons in Mariupol.
“Obviously it is impossible to conduct a full investigation and full analysis in the besieged city,” he said in his night-time address.
But he added that given “Russian propagandists” repeated threats to use chemical weapons in Mariupol and the Russian army’s repeated use of phosphorus munitions in Ukraine, “the world must respond now. Respond preventively”.
“Because after the use of weapons of mass destruction, any response will not change anything. And it will only look like a humiliation for the democratic world.”
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