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Russia's war in Ukraine entered its fourth week Thursday with civilian areas battered from the air, Moscow's military offensive stalled on the ground and little sign of an imminent end to the conflict or the humanitarian crisis it has fueled.
Ukraine accused Russian forces of bombing a theater in besieged Mariupol that was sheltering hundreds of people and, according to satellite images from the U.S. government-linked technology firm Maxar, appeared to have the word "CHILDREN" written outside the building in huge white letters.
"The building was fully damaged, but the shelter fortunately withstood. It did not turn into one of more mass graves," Ukraine's representative to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said Thursday.
Also Thursday, it was confirmed by the U.S. that an American citizen was killed in Ukraine. A Minnesota family said that Jim Hill of Idaho was killed in Chernihiv.
Russia's bombardment of its democratic neighbor has already forced more than 3 million people to flee and stoked an intense global backlash. President Joe Biden labeled Russian President Vladimir Putin "a war criminal" on Wednesday, and matched his rhetoric with a promise of fresh military support for Kyiv after its leader pleaded with the United States and its allies to do more to help his country defend itself against the Russian onslaught.
Zelenskyy says some Russian troops captured by Ukraine ‘refuse to go back to Russia’
Russia's U.N. ambassador won't ask for vote on heavily criticized Ukraine resolution
Russia’s U.N. ambassador says he is not asking for a vote Friday on its resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, which has been sharply criticized by Western countries for making no mention of Russia’s responsibility for the war against its smaller neighbor.
Vassily Nebenzia told the U.N. Security Council Thursday that Russia decided at this stage not to seek a vote because of pressure from the United States and Albania on U.N. members to oppose it, but he stressed that Moscow is not withdrawing the resolution.
Nebenzia said Russia plans to go ahead with a council meeting Friday to discuss again its allegations of U.S. “biological laboratories” in Ukraine with claiming new documents. His initial charge was made without any evidence and repeatedly denied by U.S. and Ukrainian officials.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield responded to Nebenzia’s announcement by saying “their farcical humanitarian resolution ... was doomed to fail.”
“We know if Russia really cared about humanitarian crises, the one that it created, it could simply stop its attacks on the people of Ukraine,” she said. “But instead, they want to call for another Security Council meeting to use this council as a venue for its disinformation and for promoting its propaganda.”
At last Friday’s council meeting on Russia’s initial allegations of U.S. “biological activities,” Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of using the Security Council for “lying and spreading disinformation” as part of a potential false-flag operation by Moscow for the use of chemical or biological agents in Ukraine.
House passes bill to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus
The House passed legislation Thursday that would suspend normal trade relations with Russia, a move designed to further isolate Moscow’s economy in response to President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The measure passed 424-8, with all opposition coming from Republicans.
The bill would revoke Russia’s “most favored nation” status in the World Trade Organization and pave the way for President Joe Biden to introduce higher tariffs on Russian goods such as steel, aluminum and plywood. It’s the latest in a series of punitive actions in coordination with the European Union and the Group of Seven industrial nations after Russia invaded Ukraine last month.
Detained WNBA star Brittney Griner OK, has seen legal team, source says
American basketball star Brittney Griner, who is being detained in Russia, is doing OK and has regularly seen her legal team, a person close to the situation said.
Griner's detention was extended until May 19, Russian state media TASS reported Thursday.
The person familiar with the situation said the decision was not unexpected and that Griner has seen her legal team multiple times a week.
The arrest of Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was made public March 5. Russian officials said she was arrested after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were found in her luggage at Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow.
The order to continue her detention until May 19 was not made on the merits of the case, said the person close to the situation, who said it was instead about her lawyers’ challenging her detention and seeking house arrest.
Ukrainian refugees taking shelter in churches
WHO: At least 43 attacks on health care facilities; 12 killed and 34 injured
The World Health Organization has verified 43 attacks on health care facilities in Ukraine, with 12 people having been killed and 34 others injured, including health care workers, the WHO's director-general said Thursday.
"In any conflict, attacks on health care are a violation of international humanitarian law," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the U.N. Security Council.
A maternity hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol was attacked last week, drawing new condemnation of Russia, which attacked and invaded Ukraine three weeks ago.
Ukraine's president said three people died in the attack. A pregnant woman who was seen carried from the hospital died along with her unborn baby, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry said Monday. It was unclear whether the unnamed woman was included in that number.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal." Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that Russia has been attacking civilian sites, including, in this week alone, a hospital, three schools and a boarding school for visually impaired children in the Luhansk region.
Russia has denied targeting civilians.
The U.N. human rights office said Thursday it has recorded 2,032 civilian casualties in Ukraine. Of those, 780 people were killed, including 58 children, and 1,252 others were injured, it said.
"Actual toll is much higher," the U.N. office said.
American killed in Chernihiv while waiting for food, family says
A U.S. man was killed this week in Ukraine while waiting in a bread line for food in the northern city of Chernihiv, his family said.
Jim Hill, of Driggs, Idaho, who had been living in the capital city, Kyiv, went two hours north to Chernihiv to seek medical care for his partner, who has multiple sclerosis, the family told NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis on Thursday.
Hill's sister, Cheryl Hill Gordon, wrote Thursday on Facebook: “My brother Jimmy Hill was killed yesterday in Chernihiv, Ukraine. He was waiting in a bread line with several other people when they were gunned down by Russian military snippers. His body was found in the street by the local police.”
Zelenskyy: Captured Russian conscripts 'refuse to return to Russia'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russian conscript soldiers are being captured in his country and some are refusing to return to Russia.
"More Russian conscript soldiers have been taken prisoners. Among those there are soldiers who refuse to return to Russia," Zelenskyy said in a video address.
A spokesman for Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged last week that conscript soldiers were being used in Ukraine, despite previous denials by the government, but said "almost all of them" had been returned to Russian territory.
Zelenskyy also thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for coordinating steps toward peace and U.S. President Joe Biden for "new effective support for our country." Biden on Wednesday announced $800 million more in military support for Ukraine.
President Putin calls Russians against invasion ‘scum and traitors’
PayPal makes change so Ukrainians can receive funds
PayPal users will now be able to send money to Ukrainians, both in the war-ravaged country and those who are now refugees across Europe, the company said Thursday.
Previously, people in Ukraine were able to use the payments platform only to send money out of the country. They will now be able to receive funds, as well as make transfers within Ukraine and abroad.
It’s the latest measure by banks and other financial services companies looking for ways to help Ukrainians affected by Russia’s invasion. PayPal cut Russia off from its services last week.
Since the war began, Americans and other supporters of Ukraine have been looking for ways to financially support Ukrainian refugees, as well as those still in the country. Money transfer companies like MoneyGram and Western Union have had surges in demand as people look for ways to send money to friends and family in the region.
PayPal said it will waive fees on transfers of funds to Ukrainian accounts or for anyone receiving funds in Ukrainian accounts until June 30.
