The southern city of Mariupol has been under attack by Russian forces and has been under constant bombardment since the first days of the invasion almost six weeks ago, trapping tens of thousands of residents without food, water or electricity. “The humanitarian situation in the city is deteriorating,” the British military said in a statement on Wednesday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Most of the remaining 160,000 residents have no electricity, communications, medicine, heat or water. Russian forces have blocked humanitarian access, possibly forcing defenders to surrender.” Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the largest attack on a European nation since World War II, gained new momentum this week after dead civilians were shot dead at close range in the northern city of Bukha. seized by Russian forces. Moscow has denied that it targeted civilians in Bukhara and described the allegations as “monstrous forgery” organized by the West to discredit it. read more The new sanctions, to be unveiled on Wednesday, are partly a response to Bucha, the White House said. The measures, coordinated between Washington, the Group of Seven advanced economies and the European Union, will target Russian banks and officials and ban new investment in Russia, the White House said. read more The proposed EU sanctions, which must be approved by the bloc’s 27 member states, would ban the purchase of Russian coal and prevent Russian ships from entering EU ports. EU official Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was also working to ban oil imports. Europe, which supplies about a third of its gas from Russia, was wary of the economic consequences of a complete ban on Russian energy. read more However, signaling the strengthening of the EU determination, the German Foreign Minister said that the carbon ban was the first step towards an embargo on all Russian imports of fossil fuels. Ukraine says banning Russian gas is vital to securing an agreement to end the war in peace talks. After a passionate speech to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Zelensky said the new sanctions “against Russia must be commensurate with the gravity of the occupiers’ war crimes”, calling it a “critical moment” for Western leaders. New Zealand announced on Wednesday that it would impose tariffs of 35% on all imports from Russia and extend export bans on industrial products linked to strategic Russian industries. “The images and reports of atrocities committed against civilians in Bhutan and other parts of Ukraine are appalling and reprehensible, and New Zealand continues to respond to the reckless actions of (Russian President Vladimir Putin) Putin,” she said. Nanaia Mahuta. . The United States has agreed to provide an additional $ 100 million in aid to Ukraine, including Javelin anti-terrorism systems, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. US chip maker Intel Corp (INTC.O) has said it has suspended operations in Russia, bringing together a number of companies to leave the country. read more In the small Russian city of Kaluga, thousands of car workers have been laid off and food prices soar as Western sanctions hit foreign flagships. read more BOUHA TOMB Ukrainian officials say between 150 and 300 bodies may be found in a mass grave near a church in Bucha, north of the capital Kiev. Satellite images taken weeks ago show the bodies of civilians on a city street, a private US company has said, undermining Russia’s claims that Ukrainian forces caused the deaths or that the scene was directed. read more Reuters reporters saw at least four victims being shot in the head in Bucha, one with his hands tied behind his back. Residents have recounted cases of many others being killed, some being shot in the eye and one apparently beaten to death and mutilated. On Tuesday, Ukrainian Serhii Lahovskyi buried the body of a child friend who had been shot in the mouth at close range after disappearing when Russian troops occupied the city. read more Lahovsky and others grabbed shovels and dug a shallow grave in the grass. They used a rug to transport the remains, placing it in a ditch before covering it with wooden planks and shoveling soil from above. “Why did these animals shoot him like that?” said Lahovsky weeping. “This is not Russia, this is a monster.” Reuters could not independently verify the details of Lahovskyi’s account or who was responsible for the Bucha killings. Since the beginning of its invasion, Russia has failed to capture a single large city in what it calls a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing and “denationalizing” Ukraine. The Kremlin’s position is rejected by Ukraine and the West as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion that has uprooted a quarter of the country’s population. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Additional reports from Reuters’s offices. Written by Rami Ayyub and Michael Perry. Editing by Lincoln Feast Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
