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The U.S on Wednesday said it believes Russian forces have committed war crimes in the country's invasion of Ukraine, a statement made as President Joe Biden traveled to Europe to meet with allies and as a new round of sanctions is expected in an attempt to pressure Moscow to end the war.
The Biden administration and U.S. allies are discussing whether Russia should be removed from the G-20 group of countries that tackles global economic issues, sources familiar with the matter said.
NATO will meet at a summit Thursday, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to give an address via video link.
In a sign that a Russian assault on the capital has failed to gain traction, Ukrainian forces have rolled back Russian troops east of Kyiv by at least 25 kilometers and stymied the Russians to the northwest of the city, a senior U.S. defense official said.
At least 7,000 Russian troops have died in the first month of the war in Ukraine, but the actual number could be roughly double that amount, a NATO official said.
Also Wednesday, Biden called Russia's potential use of chemical weapons a "real threat." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to rule out the possibility that Russia could use nuclear weapons in the conflict, telling CNN that his country would consider doing so if it were facing an "existential threat."
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has changed the world in 4 weeks, and it's far from over
One month ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television to announce he was invading Ukraine and warned the West that attempts to intervene could be met with nuclear retaliation.
In the four weeks since, Russian forces have launched airstrikes, laid siege to its cities, and prompted millions to flee the worst violence Europe has seen in decades. The conflict has reshaped the geopolitical landscape, widening a divide between Moscow and the West redolent of the Cold War. And it has already raised fears of global economic and food crises.
The invasion was predicted for months by Western intelligence agencies and analysts on social media, but while its effects have shaken the world, perhaps the biggest surprise has been a Russian military campaign widely regarded as disastrous to this point.
That's contrasted with a staunch Ukrainian defense, bolstered by support from dozens of allies including the United States, and inspired by the talismanic Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Britain sending thousands more missiles to Ukraine
LONDON — Britain will send thousands more missiles to Ukraine’s government as Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Western allies to boost the supply of military aid to Ukraine.
Johnson is traveling to Brussels on Thursday for talks with NATO and leaders of the Group of Seven. He is expected to provide further details of the new British aid during the visit, including the donation of 6,000 more missiles comprising anti-tank and high-explosive weaponry.
“The United Kingdom will work with our allies to step up military and economic support to Ukraine, strengthening their defenses as they turn the tide in this fight,” Johnson said.
Britain has already sent more than 4,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.
The U.K. government also says it is providing some 4 million pounds ($5.3 million) in emergency funding to the BBC World Service to counter disinformation in Russia and Ukraine.
Zelenskyy calls on world to show support for Ukraine as war nears a month
NATO secretary general: Russia must stop nuclear saber-rattling, nuclear war cannot be won
NATO's secretary general on Wednesday called on Russia to "stop its nuclear saber-rattling," calling the rhetoric dangerous and irresponsible and saying a nuclear war cannot be won.
"Any use of nuclear weapons will fundamentally change the nature of the conflict, and Russia must understand that a nuclear war should never been fought and they can never win a nuclear war," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said days after the invasion of Ukraine that he had ordered his nuclear deterrent forces to be on alert.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused in an interview with CNN on Tuesday to rule out the use of nuclear weapons, saying only that nuclear weapons could be used "if it is an existential threat for our country."
Defense Department press secretary John Kirby said Tuesday that potential uses of nuclear weapons or changes in nuclear posture are dangerous. "It's not the way a responsible nuclear power should act. So we've been very clear about that," he said.
Almost 1,000 civilian deaths recorded in Ukraine, but real numbers considerably higher, U.N. says
The United Nations has recorded 977 civilians killed in Ukraine since Russia attacked almost a month ago, its human rights office said Wednesday — but it said the real figures are likely to be much higher.
Of the dead, 81 were children. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded 2,571 civilian casualties in all, which includes 1,594 injured.
Those are numbers that have been recorded by the office, but it noted that reports of casualties in some areas — including besieged Mariupol — have been delayed by intense fighting and that other reports must be corroborated.
The human rights office "believes that the actual figures are considerably higher," it said in an update. Most of the recorded casualties are being caused by weapons that affect large areas, like artillery, rockets and airstrikes.
The U.S. said it has assessed that members of Russia's armed forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Wednesday's announcement cited what he called credible reports of indiscriminate attacks and attacks deliberately targeting civilians.
Blinken said officials in Mariupol said that more than 2,400 civilians had been killed in the city alone. The U.N. said that there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties in Mariupol, as well as several other cities, and that those figures are being further corroborated and are not included in its numbers.
Russia moves to expel U.S. diplomats and staff in latest tit-for-tat
Russia declared some U.S. diplomats and staff "persona non grata" and moved to expel them from the country, in the latest in a back-and-forth between the two nations.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that the U.S. Embassy received a list of diplomats, and the spokesperson called on the Russian government to end its “unjustified expulsions” of U.S. diplomats and staff.
The move is the latest in a series of tit-for-tats that has left both nuclear powers with a skeletal diplomatic presence at a high point of tension between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“This is Russia’s latest unhelpful and unproductive step in our bilateral relationship,” the State Department spokesperson said. “Now more than ever, it is critical that our countries have the necessary diplomatic personnel in place to facilitate communication between our governments."
Russia on Wednesday said the deportation was in response to Washington’s expulsion of 11 Russian diplomats from their Mission to the UN in New York, as well as one Russian employee in the UN Secretariat.
The U.S. said the Russians were intelligence operatives “who have abused their privileges of residency in the U.S. by engaging in espionage activities that are adverse to our national security.”
Ukrainian forces push back Russian forces near Kyiv, U.S. official says
Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian forces east of the capital of Kyiv by at least 15 miles and have stymied Russian forces to the northwest of the city, a U.S. defense official said Wednesday.
Russian forces to the east of Kyiv are about 34 miles from the city after the counterattack, the senior defense official said.
But east of Ukraine, in the Donbas area, Russian forces "have applied a lot more energy, particularly around Luhansk," the official said.
There are indications that Russian troops may be trying to prioritize that part of eastern Ukraine, the official said.
Russia attacked and invaded Ukraine almost a month ago in what has been condemned as an unprovoked and unjustified attack. Since the invasion began, Russia has launched more than 1,200 missiles, the U.S. official said.
Doctors treat patients by candlelight in basement of Mariupol's last hospital
Medical staff in the last functioning hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol are treating patients in the basement largely by candlelight, officials said Wednesday.
In an effort to save fuel for diesel generators, doctors and nurses at City Hospital No. 1 are only using the machines for complex operations and hemodialysis for cleaning blood, the City Council said.
“Right now it is no longer possible to provide the necessary medical procedures for blood purification in renal failure,” the council said.
The officials added that, in addition to medical staff and patients, roughly 600 to 700 residents from nearby neighborhoods are sheltering in the facility.
“Despite the extremely difficult situation, doctors continue to heroically fulfill their mission — saving lives,” the council said.
Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said nearly 3,000 people evacuated the city after weeks of Russian bombardment and allegations Tuesday that civilians were captured while trying to flee.
Vereshchuk said buses and other vehicles that successfully left Mariupol were blocked on the outskirts of their destination, Zaporizhia, and unable to enter the city. They would try again Thursday, she said.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said roughly 100,000 people remained in a city that once had a population of nearly half a million.
