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NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as Moscow faces growing condemnation over atrocities it has been accused of committing in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is scheduled to attend the two-day summit Thursday and provide an update on peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The mayor of the besieged port city of Mariupol said at least 5,000 people have died since Russia invaded in February.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday in a speech before Ireland's Parliament that he could not tolerate "indecisiveness" from the West over sanctions against Russia. He accused Russia of deliberately provoking a food crisis to use hunger as a weapon against civilians.
U.S., others submit draft to suspend Russia from U.N. Human Rights Council
The U.S. and other countries have submitted a draft resolution to suspend Russia from the United Nations’ Human Rights Council.
The U.N. General Assembly emergency session is scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Thursday.
The draft resolution lists reports of “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights” and “violations of international humanitarian law” after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The U.S., the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada were among the countries seeking consideration of the resolution.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in an address in Romania cited the images out of Bucha, Ukraine, in calling for Russia to be suspended from the Human Rights Council.
“We see every day, including yesterday, heartbreaking reports about how little they care about human rights. Russia’s participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce," she said.
Photos and video of bodies in Bucha, near Kyiv, left after Russian forces withdrew have been met with shock and outrage, and they have renewed accusations that Russian forces have committed war crimes. Russia has denied targeting civilians. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed photos were “staged.”
House passes bill that calls for report on war crimes in Ukraine
WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly passed legislation Wednesday calling for a federal government report on evidence of war crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Lawmakers backed the measure amid gruesome reports of atrocities in towns around Kyiv, particularly Bucha, and new accounts of the civilian death toll in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
The legislation calls for the president to submit a report to Congress about efforts to preserve evidence related to war crimes.
The Senate passed a resolution last month seeking an investigation of Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes.
In his daily nighttime video address to the nation late Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to hide evidence of war crimes to interfere with the international investigation.
Zelenskyy: Russia trying to hide evidence of killed civilians
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday accused Russia of trying to hide evidence of the killing of civilians in parts of Ukraine that Russian forces control.
“We have information that the Russian military changed tactics and that they are trying to clear the streets and basements in the occupied territories of the bodies of the dead people, dead Ukrainians," Zelenskyy said in a video address. "It is their efforts to hide the evidence, nothing more. But they will not succeed, because they killed a lot of people.”
The video did not expand on the information. Photos and video of the recaptured Kyiv area town of Bucha, which purported to show the bodies of dead civilians, have sparked shock and outrage and accusations that Russian forces have committed war crimes.
Survivors and eyewitnesses from Bucha have also described arbitrary executions of civilians by Russian forces.
Red Cross: Convoy of 500 reaches Zaporizhzhia, but thousands still need help in Mariupol
A convoy of more than 500 people, fleeing in buses and private vehicles, reached the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday, Red Cross officials said.
The civilians fled the besieged city of Mariupol, where many more people need help, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.
“This convoy’s arrival to Zaporizhzhia is a huge relief for hundreds of people who have suffered immensely and are now in a safer location,” the Red Cross said. “It’s clear, though, that thousands more civilians trapped inside Mariupol need safe passage out and aid to come in.”
The convoy left Berdyansk, which is west of Mariupol. Zaporizhzhia is northwest of both cities. A team from the Red Cross has repeatedly tried to reach Mariupol, “but security conditions on the ground made it impossible to enter,” the Red Cross said.
Polish president: Russia's goal is to 'extinguish the Ukrainian nation'
Polish President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday he agrees with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the Russian atrocities in the suburbs of Kyiv and elsewhere in the country constitute genocide.
"It is hard to deny this, of course. This is a crime which fulfills the features of genocide, especially if you look at the context of different conversations that are being conducted," Duda told CNN in a taped interview that aired Wednesday evening.
"The goal of that invasion is simply to extinguish the Ukrainian nation," Duda added.
Five thousand people have died in Mariupol, mayor says
Five thousand people have died in the southeast Ukrainian city of Mariupol since Russia invaded the country, the city's mayor said in a roundtable discussion that was broadcast live on Facebook on Wednesday.
The death toll there includes some 210 children, Vadym Boychenko said.
Boychenko described the war's devastation in Mariupol, recounting some of the most horrific allegations, including that Russian forces dropped "several heavy bombs" on a children's hospital and shelled a drama theater where more than 900 people had been hiding.
"These are just a few examples of the deliberate destruction of the civilian population of Mariupol," the mayor said.
Ukraine conflict could 'last for a long time,' NATO secretary general says
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the "atrocities" perpetrated in the town of Bucha, and warned that the conflict only appears to be ramping up.
"We need to support Ukraine, sustain our sanctions, and strengthen our defenses and our deterrence, because this can last for a long time and we need to be prepared for that," Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of a meeting in Brussels of foreign ministers of NATO allies.
He said fighting could last "many months" or even years, and "we need also to be prepared for the long haul."
His comments are in line with remarks made Tuesday by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark Milley, who told Congress that "I do think this is a very protracted conflict, and I think it's measured in years. I don't know about decades, but at least years, for sure."
