The United States and its allies are pushing for sanctions to force Vladimir Putin to spend Russian money to support its economy instead of maintaining its “war machine” for the struggle in Ukraine, a senior official said on Tuesday. Ministry of Finance.
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, one of the top US coordinators for the Russian sanctions strategy, told the Associated Press that the goal is to make Russia “less capable of projecting power in the future.”
On the same day that inflation soared in recent decades, Adeyemo said reducing supply chains and pandemic management was key to reducing the rapid prices associated with the ongoing land war in Ukraine. which contributed to the increase in energy costs.
Adeyemo discussed the next steps the United States and its allies will take to cause financial pain in Russia – and the implications of war for the growing cost to Americans at home.
Adeyemo said the United States and its allies would then target supply chains to build Russia’s war machine, which includes “everything from looking for ways to build military equipment for use not only in “Ukraine, but it is projecting its power elsewhere.”
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KIEV, Ukraine – More than 720 people have been killed in Bukha and other suburbs of Kiev occupied by Russian troops and more than 200 are missing, the interior ministry said early Wednesday.
In Bucha alone, Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk said 403 bodies had been found and the toll could rise as miners combed the area.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine said on Tuesday that it was also investigating incidents in the northeastern Brovary region.
Authorities say the bodies of six civilians were found with gunshot wounds in a basement in the village of Shevchenkove and are believed to be the fault of Russian forces.
Vladimir Putin promised on Tuesday that Russia’s bloody offensive in Ukraine would continue until its goals were met, and insisted that the campaign was proceeding as planned, despite a major withdrawal in the face of fierce Ukrainian opposition and heavy losses.
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WASHINGTON – The Biden administration is preparing an even more diverse $ 750 million military assistance package to be announced in the coming days, a senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been made public.
The additional assistance is a sign that the government intends to continue to extend its support to Ukraine’s military effort.
Delivery of $ 800 million in military aid approved by President Joe Biden just a month ago is expected to be completed this week.
– quoted by the author of the Associated Press, Robert Burns.
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KYIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian officials say fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is also a former leader of the pro-Russian opposition party and a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been arrested in a special operation in the country.
In his overnight video address to the nation on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Russia could gain Medvedchuk’s freedom by exchanging Ukrainians now being held in Russian prisons.
Ivan Bakanov, head of Ukraine’s national security service, told the agency’s Telegram channel that Medvenchuk had been arrested.
The statement came shortly after Zelenskyy posted on social media a photo of Medvedchuk sitting in handcuffs and wearing a camouflage uniform with a Ukrainian flag patch.
Medvedchuk was the former leader of the pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life party.  He was held under house arrest before the start of the war and disappeared shortly after the outbreak of hostilities.
Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter.
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KIEV, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the world on Tuesday to respond to the use of poison by Russia in Mariupol.
“Given the repeated threats by Russian propagandists to use chemical weapons against Mariupol defenders and the repeated use by the Russian military of, for example, phosphorus munitions in Ukraine, the people must now react,” he said. in video.  the nation on Tuesday.
Phosphorus munitions cause horrible burns but are not classified as chemical weapons.
Zelensky said experts were still trying to determine what had been used in Mariupol.
Zelensky said that in addition to the killings in Bucha, there was more evidence of Russian soldiers’ “inhuman cruelty” to women and children in other suburbs of Kiev and other cities in the north and east.
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DES MOINES, Iowa – US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Russia’s war in Ukraine was tantamount to “genocide”, accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to “extinguish the idea of ​​even being Ukrainian”.
Speaking in Iowa shortly before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, Biden said he meant it when he said at a previous event that Putin was committing genocide against Ukraine.
“Yes, I called it genocide,” he told reporters.  “It is becoming increasingly clear that Putin is simply trying to dispel the idea of ​​even being Ukrainian.”
Biden added that it would be up to lawyers to decide whether Russia’s behavior meets international standards for genocide, but said “it certainly seems so.”
“More evidence is coming out of the horrific things the Russians have done in Ukraine and we will learn more and more about the disaster and let lawyers decide internationally whether they qualify or not,” Biden said.
Biden had previously said he did not believe Russia’s actions were tantamount to genocide, simply that they constituted “war crimes.”
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MENLO, Iowa – US President Joe Biden first referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “genocide” on Tuesday.
Speaking in Iowa at an event about his government taking steps to stem rising fuel costs from the war, Biden described the conflict, which has seen Russia committing atrocities against Ukrainian civilians, as “genocide.” .
Biden said: “Your family budget, your ability to fill your tank, none of this should depend on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away.”
Biden has previously said he did not believe Russia’s actions were tantamount to genocide, according to Ukrainian government officials, but rather “war crimes.”
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KYIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian officials say fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is also a pro-Russian opposition leader and a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been arrested in a special operation carried out by his country’s secret service.
Ivan Bakanov, head of Ukraine’s national security service, told the agency’s Telegram channel that Medvenchuk had been arrested.  The statement came shortly after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on social media a photo of Medvedchuk handcuffed and wearing a camouflage uniform with a Ukrainian flag patch.
Medvedchuk leads the pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life party.  He was held under house arrest before the start of the war and disappeared shortly after the outbreak of hostilities.
Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter.
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WASHINGTON – Members of the US Congress have said the Biden administration and its allies will not stand idly by if chemical weapons are used in Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Lawmakers monitoring developments during a trip to Poland said Tuesday that the United States was investigating reports that a poisonous substance had been dropped on Mariupol.  But they warned that determining the nature of the attack on the besieged port city could take time.
“We take these allegations seriously and know that the United States government and others are trying to determine if this really happened,” said Jason Crow, D-Colo.
Crowe said the government “was very clear that the use of chemical weapons would not be tolerated.”
Democratic lawmakers, all members of the House Intelligence Committee, are preparing for a possible protracted war in Ukraine.  They told a news conference that Congress was considering the next steps in sending additional military and other aid to Ukraine.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also referred to reports from Mariupol.
“We are not in a position to confirm anything, I do not think the Ukrainians are either,” Blinken told reporters.  “But let me say that we had reliable information that Russian forces could use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, to weaken the strongest symptoms, impotence … Ukrainian fighters, civilians part of the offensive campaign “in Mariupol.
“We are sharing this information with … Ukraine and other partners,” Blinken said.  “And we are in direct conversation with the partners to try to determine what is really going on.”
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The International Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says it is “concerned about the recent unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use in Mariupol” and is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine.
A spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a statement: toxic chemicals. “
The spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday that “the use of chemical weapons anywhere by anyone under …