“We have reached a certain level of agreements in Istanbul, which stated that security guarantees for Ukraine. . . “It will not spread to Crimea, Sevastopol and Donbas,” Putin said on Tuesday, speaking publicly about Russia’s military activity following a prolonged silence on the issue. “We acted to create the conditions for the talks to continue,” he added. “Instead, we faced the challenge in Bucha and, most importantly, the Ukrainian side deviated from the Istanbul agreements.” Now, “security requirements are one thing and the issues of normalization of relations in Crimea, Sevastopol and Donbas are taken out of these agreements,” Putin said. “So we return to the impasse.” Speaking later on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said for the first time that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was tantamount to genocide. Biden used the term genocide in a speech at an ethanol plant in Iowa and later went on to describe it as he prepared to board Air Force One. “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,” he told reporters. Late Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed that Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian oligarch-politician and close friend of Putin, had been detained after escaping from house arrest during a full-scale Russian invasion of the country. “A special operation was carried out thanks to the SBU [state security service]”, Wrote Zelensky in a post on Telegram. The post included a photo of Medvedchuk sitting in a chair wearing a Ukrainian army camouflage uniform with his hands handcuffed. In previous comments, Putin described the massacre of civilians in Bukha, a city near Kyiv, as a “provocation” against Moscow. He said allegations that people had died at the hands of Russian soldiers were “fake news” from the United States. Ukraine, meanwhile, has said Russia is responsible. Putin said his military operation in Ukraine was proceeding according to plan. “I often hear questions if it is possible to move faster. Possible. “It depends on the intensity of the military action and the intensity of the military action is unfortunately linked in one way or another to losses,” Putin told a news conference with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, according to Interfax. “Our task is to achieve the goals we have set by minimizing losses. “And we will move rhythmically, calmly, according to the plan, which was originally proposed by the general staff,” said the Russian president. The activity in Ukraine “was aimed only at immobilizing forces, attacking and destroying military infrastructure,” he added.

The latest figures from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights show that more than 1,800 civilians have been killed and nearly 2,500 injured since the conflict began in February.