“Yes, I called it genocide because it has become increasingly clear that Putin is simply trying to dispel the idea that he may be Ukrainian and the evidence is growing,” Biden told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One on Tuesday. . Biden has repeatedly called Putin a war criminal, but in a speech at an ethanol plant in Iowa earlier on Tuesday, the US president escalated his rhetoric accusing Russia of genocide. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “We will let the lawyers decide internationally whether they meet the conditions or not, but it certainly seems so to me.” Russia has denied that it targeted civilians and said Ukraine and the West’s allegations of war crimes were fabricated. Many cities from which Russia has retreated to northern Ukraine were filled with the bodies of civilians killed in a campaign of killings, torture and rape, according to Kyiv. Ukraine’s Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Kyiv region police chief, that 720 bodies had been found in the area around the capital, with more than 200 people missing. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement on Wednesday that Russian forces were conducting rocket attacks and bombings on civilian infrastructure in the northeastern Kharkiv region and in the Zaporizhzhia region of central Ukraine. Reuters could not verify the reports. The Moscow invasion, which lasted almost seven weeks, the largest attack on a European state since 1945, led to more than 4.6 million people fleeing abroad, killing or injuring thousands and leaving Russia increasingly isolated on the world stage. The Kremlin says it launched a “special military operation” on February 24 to demilitarize and “demilitarize” Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies reject it as a false pretext for invasion. Putin on Tuesday used his first public comments on the conflict after more than a week to say that Russia would continue to operate “rhythmically and calmly” and expressed confidence that his goals, including security, would be achieved. . Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ridiculed Putin in a speech early Wednesday morning: “How could a plan to kill tens of thousands of their own soldiers in just over a month of war be implemented?” Putin said that the on-off peace talks “returned to a dead end for us.” The Russian leader often seemed to stutter or stutter. Only occasionally did he adopt the icy, confident demeanor that was his trademark for 22 years in power. Putin, who was ubiquitous on Russian television in the early days of the war, was largely withdrawn from public view after Russia withdrew from northern Ukraine two weeks ago. Russian forces have not been able to capture a large city and have suffered heavy casualties since launching an invasion in late February. Russia’s appointment of General Alexander Dvornikov as warlord in Ukraine shows how Ukrainian resistance and ineffective pre-war planning are forcing Russia to reassess its operations, British military intelligence said Wednesday. BATTLE FOR DONBAS CRITICAL Russia says it now intends to occupy more territory on behalf of the separatists in two eastern provinces known as Donbas, which include the besieged port of Mariupol. The attack on the industrial heart of Donbass lays the groundwork for a protracted battle that is sure to inflict heavy losses on both sides and ultimately determine the course of the war, analysts said. read more Ukraine says tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped inside Mariupol without food or water, and accuses Russia of blocking aid convoys. As Russia redoubles its efforts in the east, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai has urged residents to evacuate. “It is much scarier to stay and burn in your sleep than a Russian shell,” he wrote on social media. Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, said he had seen reports of possible use of chemical weapons in Mariupol, but could not confirm them. The United States and Britain have said they are trying to verify the reports. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it was closely monitoring the situation. The production, use and storage of chemical weapons is prohibited under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia’s Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Russian-backed separatist forces in the east have denied using chemical weapons in Mariupol, the Interfax news agency reported. The United States is expected to announce an additional $ 750 million in military aid, two officials told Reuters, which is likely to include heavy ground artillery systems against Ukraine, including shells, as a sign that the war is expected to last. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Steve Holland, DES MOINES, Iowa, Jeff Mason, WASHINGTON and Reuters. Writes Michael Perry. Editing by Stephen Coates & Simon Cameron-Moore Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
