Russia has been charged with war crimes in Ukraine. Here’s what we know now. Ukraine made urgent calls for “weapons, weapons, weapons” on Thursday as the United States prepared to revive a World War II-era program, making it easier for the president to provide the war-torn nation with desperately needed Russian firepower to repel invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Greek parliament his country needed a lot of anti-aircraft defense systems, artillery systems, ammunition and armored vehicles to repel the Russian army. In Brussels, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba pressed NATO for help: “I came here today to discuss three most important things: weapons, weapons and ammunition.” In Washington, D.C., Congress was busy reviving a World War II-era program to facilitate arms shipments to Ukraine. A bill passed unanimously by the Senate and pending action by Parliament will temporarily lift requirements related to the power of President Joe Biden to lend or lease weapons or other supplies to the Ukrainian government. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the bill “is not only inspiring, but also marks a new stage in repelling the Russian aggressor.” TELEGRAM USA TODAY: Subscribe to our new Russia-Ukraine war channel to receive updates directly on your phone. Latest developments Ρ Russians and Belarusians admitted to the 2022 Boston Marathon and living in either country will be barred from participating in the April 188 race, the Boston Athletic Association said. . The Russian Defense Ministry said it struck fuel storage sites around the cities of Mykolaiv and Zaporozhe in the south and Kharkiv and Chuguev in the east at night using cruise missiles fired from ships in the Black Sea. . The UN General Assembly is voting on Thursday on a US-initiated resolution to suspend Russia from the world body’s top human rights body over allegations that Russian soldiers killed civilians as they withdrew from the area around the Ukrainian capital. Είπε Russia has said it owed a ruble debt this week, a move that could not be accepted by Russia’s foreign debt holders and could put the country on a historic bankruptcy course. According to several media outlets, German intelligence authorities blocked the broadcast of a Russian military radio station covering the killing of civilians in Bucha. Some of the intercepted radio footage may have been linked to corpses photographed there, the German media outlet Der Spiegel reported. Hundreds of bodies were found in Bucha and other cities in the Kiev region when Ukraine recaptured the cities in recent days. Russia has denied any involvement in the killings, saying they were either organized or carried out by Ukrainian troops. Der Spiegel, citing sources familiar with the audio, said it was revealing that Russian troops had spoken of the atrocities as if they were discussing their daily lives. In one of the intercepted conversations, one soldier apparently told another that they had just shot a man on a bicycle. A photo of the dead man next to a bicycle has been shared around the world. In another intercepted conversation, a man is apparently heard saying that you are interrogating soldiers and then shooting them. The US Senate will vote on Thursday on banning oil imports from Russia and ending normal trade relations with the country in response to the atrocities in Ukraine during the monthly Russian siege. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Sumer has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of war crimes, echoing other US and international officials, urging the Senate to pass bills to hold the Kremlin accountable for its actions. The trade suspension bill would allow the United States to impose higher tariffs on Russian imports, while a bill banning Russian oil would codify an executive order signed by President Joe Biden. Both bills have stuck in the Senate, disappointing lawmakers who have called for an intensified US response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some European countries are considering banning Russian oil imports at great economic cost: Russia produces about 40% of the European Union’s gas for heating and electricity, among other needs, and about 25% of the required oil for fuel of its vehicles. President Joe Biden said the new economic sanctions imposed on Russia on Wednesday, including those of President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters, were “intensifying the pain” in Russia following the discovery of atrocities committed by its troops. “Nothing less than major war crimes are happening,” Biden said, describing scenes of corpses left on the streets of the Ukrainian city of Bucha, including civilians executed with their hands tied behind their backs. “Responsible nations must unite to hold these organizers accountable. “And together with our allies and partners, we will continue to increase economic costs and intensify the pain for Putin and further increase Russia’s economic isolation.” The Biden government has announced sanctions against 21 Kremlin officials and Russian elites, in addition to Putin’s two adult daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, and the wife and daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Other measures include a complete ban on sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institution, Sberbank, and Russia’s largest private bank, Alfa Bank, as well as a ban on US investment in Russia. The European allies did similar things. – Joey Garrison Contribution: Associated Press
