Warning: These updates contain details that are of concern.
LVIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that French President Emmanuel Macron had agreed to provide technical and expert support for an investigation into crimes committed by Russian troops in Bucha and elsewhere.
Zelensky said Tuesday that he also asked Macron to help people trapped in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.
In an interview with Turkish television station Haberturk in Kyiv, Zelensky accused Russia of trying to hide its actions in Mariupol and that it did not want humanitarian aid to enter the city “until everything is cleared”.
Zelensky spoke after the discovery of civilian bodies in cities around Kyiv that had been recaptured by Russian forces.
Zelensky also said he expects European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to visit Kyiv soon.
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LVIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces are still trying to push deep into Ukraine to the east, but the Ukrainian army is holding them back.
In his daily overnight address to the nation late Tuesday, Zelensky said Ukraine knew Russia was raising funds for another attack.
Zelensky also said that Ukraine is outnumbered by both troops and equipment.
“We have no choice – the fate of our land and our people is being decided,” he said. “We know what we are fighting for. And we will do everything to win.”
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LVIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Tuesday that he and Western leaders had discussed a new round of sanctions against Russia.
“After what the world has seen in Bukhara, sanctions against Russia should be commensurate with the gravity of the war crimes committed by the occupiers,” Zelensky said in his daily overnight address to the nation.
In coordination with the European Union and the Group of Seven, the United States will impose more sanctions on Russia on Wednesday. This is said to include a ban on all new investment in the country.
The EU’s executive branch has also proposed a ban on coal imports from Russia, the first time the 27-nation bloc has imposed sanctions on the country’s lucrative energy industry over the war.
Coal imports are estimated at 4 billion euros (US $ 4.4 billion) per year.
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KYIV, Ukraine – A Ukrainian official says Russian troops have allowed 1,496 civilians to evacuate the besieged city of Mariupol in a private vehicle but prevented an evacuation bus convoy from entering.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Russian forces had stopped buses accompanied by International Committee of the Red Cross staff traveling to the Sea of Azov port on Tuesday. Citizens who were able to leave in their own vehicles traveled to Zaporizhzhia.
Mariupol has been under siege by Russian forces for a month, has been cut off from food, water and energy supplies, and has faced relentless artillery barricades and airstrikes that have killed thousands.
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LVIV, Ukraine – A regional official in western Ukraine says a Russian rocket has hit fertilizer tanks, contaminating groundwater.
The governor of the Ternopil region, Volodymyr Trush, said on Tuesday that the Russian missile attack had destroyed six tanks full of fertilizers, causing ammonia to leak into groundwater and the Ikva River.
Authorities are advising residents not to use water wells and to stop fishing, and officials have organized drinking water deliveries. Trush reports that the environmental situation is expected to stabilize in a few days.
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MOSCOW – The Russian Foreign Minister accuses the Ukrainian government of sabotaging talks to end the fighting in Ukraine, warning that Moscow will not “play cat and mouse”.
Sergei Lavrov specifically warns that Moscow will not accept the Ukrainian demand to include a future peace agreement with the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and to hold a referendum in Ukraine on the acceptance of the agreement.
In television comments on Tuesday, he said that if the peace deal failed to win approval in a referendum, a new deal would have to be negotiated. He says “we do not want to play such a cat and mouse”.
Lavrov pointed to a peace agreement on eastern Ukraine in 2015 signed in Minsk, Belarus, mediated by France and Germany but never implemented. “We do not want a repeat of the Minsk agreements,” he said.
He also says Ukraine is “sabotaging” talks by stoning Russia’s demands for “demilitarization” and “denationalization” of the country.
Lavrov’s harsh statements run counter to optimistic messages sent by both Ukrainian and Russian representatives following the latest round of talks in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 29th.
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KYIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged all Spanish companies to suspend all trade with Russia and called for tougher Western sanctions against Moscow that would include a ban on Russian oil imports.
Speaking in a video speech to the Spanish parliament on Tuesday, Zelensky denounced Russian atrocities against civilians in Ukrainian cities, saying they represented war crimes for which Russian officers would have to face an international tribunal.
Zelensky said “sanctions must be really strong.”
“How are Russian banks allowed to generate income, even when the Russian army is torturing ordinary citizens to death in Ukrainian cities, how can European companies do business with the state that is deliberately destroying our people?” asked.
In an emotional speech, he drew parallels between Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and the 1937 bombing of the Basque city of Guernica by Nazi aircraft during the Spanish Civil War.
Zelensky said that “the fate of the whole European venture, the values that unite us all” is decided in Ukraine and urged Spanish lawmakers “to do even more to force Russia to start seeking peace and respecting international law.”
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LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called on the Russian people to seek the truth about a war he has described as a “stain on Russia’s honor”.
In a video message, Johnson said the Russians were being held in the dark over the invasion of Ukraine because Russian President Vladimir Putin “knows that if you could see what was happening, you would not support his war.”
Johnson said Russian authorities were hiding the truth about the “sick” killings of civilians and other crimes, which “betray the confidence of every Russian mother who proudly bids farewell to her son as he heads to join the army.”
He told the Russians that they only needed a VPN internet connection to gain access to independent information from around the world.
Switching from English to Russian, Johnson said: “Your president is accused of committing war crimes. “But I can not believe he is acting in your name.”
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WASHINGTON – The United States and its European allies will impose tough new sanctions, including a ban on new investment in Russia on Wednesday, a US official said in retaliation for Russia’s “war crimes” in Ukraine.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.
The joint action will include a ban on new investment in Russia, tougher sanctions on its financial institutions and state-owned enterprises, and more sanctions on Russian government officials and members of their families.
The official said they would promote Russia’s economic, financial and technological “isolation” from the rest of the world as punishment for its attacks on civilians in Ukraine.
– AP author Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
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ANKARA, Turkey – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that everyone in the Russian leadership and army involved in the war is responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
In an interview with Turkish television station Haberturk in Kyiv on Tuesday, Zelensky also accused Russia of trying to hide its actions in the besieged southern city of Mariupol and did not want humanitarian aid to enter the city “until everything is cleared”.
Zelensky spoke after the discovery of civilian bodies in cities around Kyiv that had been recaptured by Russian forces.
“In my opinion, the Russian military-political leadership and all those who took part in planning this war and all those who gave this order committed war crimes,” Zelensky said in comments translated into Turkish. “We are not dealing with a situation where only one person can be prosecuted and found guilty.”
Regarding the situation in Mariupol, Zelensky said thousands may have been killed or injured there.
“I think Russia is afraid that we will successfully send humanitarian aid to Mariupol and that everyone will see what is happening there,” he said. “Russia does not want anything to be seen until they take control of the city (and) until everything is cleared.”
Zelenski said Turkish ships were involved in efforts to evacuate injured civilians from Mariupol, but gave no further details.
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BUCHAREST, Romania – Authorities in Romania said on Tuesday that the country was deporting 10 diplomats from the Russian embassy in Bucharest.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry said the actions of 10 embassy staffers, who have been declared persona non grata, “violate the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.
Romania’s move follows a series of deportations of Russian officials from the 27-nation European Union following a wave of criticism and shock following the indictment of Russian troops for war crimes in Ukraine.
As of Tuesday, more than 200 Russian diplomats or …
