April 7, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russia circulated a note to member states threatening “consequences” ahead of the vote for the US-led push to suspend Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council, according to multiple sources at the council.

The note, shared with CNN, stated, “It is worth mentioning that not only support for such an initiative, but also an equidistant position in the vote (abstention or non-participation) will be considered as an unfriendly gesture.”

The United Nations General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council during a meeting Thursday. The vote was 93 in favor of the move and 24 against the action, with 58 abstentions.

Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said Thursday Russian forces struck a railway overpass near Barvinkove, blocking an evacuation route for civilians from eastern Ukraine.

Haidai called the rail line the “only Ukrainian-controlled railway exit from Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Lyman. The road of life for tens of thousands of our citizens now.”

Three evacuation trains were temporarily blocked in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, both in Donetsk region, Haidai said. 

Ukraine authorities have reported heavy shelling throughout the eastern Donbas region, ahead of what they are warning may be a major Russian offensive. 

“We are waiting for the shelling to end,” Haidai said. “People are placed at the station until the situation is clarified. The local authorities of Donetsk region cities have declared their readiness to accommodate non-locals for the night.”

Germany’s foreign intelligence service told a parliamentary committee Wednesday that it has intercepted radio communications where Russian soldiers talked about shooting soldiers and civilians in Ukraine, a source with knowledge of the meeting said.

The briefing was the top item at the Wednesday meeting, the source added.

Those intelligence findings — first reported by Der Spiegel — appear to implicate Russian troops in a pattern of apparent war crimes despite denials from Moscow, most recently in the indiscriminate killing of civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.

Der Spiegel reported that the BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, intercepted Russian radio chatter about the killing of civilians in Bucha, and that some of the conversations could be tied directly to specific killings in Bucha that have been documented since news first emerged of an apparent massacre there.

German intelligence has satellite images that point to the involvement of Russian troops in the Bucha killings, the Washington Post reported, citing an unnamed intelligence official, though the paper said the radio transmissions have not been linked to that location.

Read the full story here.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a news conference in Moscow on Thursday.

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukrainian negotiators of changing the most important provisions that both sides had agreed upon during Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul last month.

Lavrov said that a draft agreement presented on Wednesday by Ukrainian negotiators “showed a departure from the most important provisions fixed at the meeting in Istanbul,” adding that the new Ukrainian draft agreement did not include an earlier proposal by Kyiv to exclude Crimea and Sebastopol from the future security guarantees Ukraine is demanding.

Lavrov also said Ukrainians suggested that “the problems of Crimea and Donbas should be brought to the meeting of the presidents of Russia and Ukraine,” a proposal deemed “unacceptable” by Russia, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that such a meeting is possible only after the cessation of hostilities.

“At the next stage, the Ukrainian side will certainly ask for the withdrawal of troops and will put forward new preconditions,” Lavrov said.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the Ukrainian side has also changed its stance on a provision that Moscow could oppose any future military maneuvers involving foreign forces in Ukrainian territory.

Lavrov said that the inability to find a negotiated agreement with Ukraine “demonstrates the true intentions of Kyiv, its line to drag on and even make the negotiations fail, rejecting the agreements that had been found.”

Lavrov said the Russian delegation would “continue the negotiation process,” promoting its draft agreement, which according to Lavrov “clearly and in full, sets out all the key positions and demands.”

Lavrov did not reveal the details of that draft agreement.

All medical institutions and hospitals in the Luhansk region, in eastern Ukraine, have been destroyed by the Russian forces, the head of the Luhansk state administration said on Thursday.

In the same post, the leader posted several pictures of the damaged Rubizhne hospital, a medical facility that was “new” and filled with “high-tech equipment.” 

Gaida accused that hospital’s chief doctor of treason after he agreed with Russia’s statement that Ukrainian forces were behind the destruction of that facility. 

A Ukrainian serviceman walks amid destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha on Wednesday, April 6.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov briefly admitted Thursday that Russia had suffered “significant” losses of its troops in Ukraine, calling the losses “a huge tragedy” for the country in an interview with Sky News.

Asked whether the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv and its region could be seen as “a humiliation” for the Kremlin, Peskov said using those words would be “a wrong understanding of the situation.”

The Kremlin spokesperson added that Russia did so to “lift tension from those regions in order to show Russia is really ready to create comfortable conditions for the continuation of the negotiations.”

The US Congress is poised to pass two bipartisan bills in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the latest move for lawmakers before they’re set to begin a two-week recess on Friday. 

Moments from now the House will take up both bills just passed in the Senate:

The Senate unanimously passed the two bills Thursday morning. 

The Senate had been mired for weeks over Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s objections to proposed changes to the Magnitsky Act, fearing that the new language would give too much power to the executive branch to pursue those accused of human rights abuses.  

The Senate eventually gave in to Paul’s demands, retaining the more narrowly defined statute regarding human rights violations, but made the language permanent despite the wishes of some Republicans. 

The trade relations bill is the latest effort by Congress to crack down on Russia and help Ukraine. On Wednesday night, the Senate passed a bill to more quickly provide military aid to Ukraine.  

Once the House passes the Senate-passed bills, they’ll be sent to US President Joe Biden’s desk for signature, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office.  

CNN’s Manu Raju, Betsy Klein, Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins contributed reporting to this post.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Thursday, April 7.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said publicly for the first time that the US is providing intelligence to Ukrainian forces to conduct operations in the Donbas region.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Austin was asked whether the US was providing intelligence to help Ukraine carry out attacks against Russian forces in the occupied Donbas region or occupied Crimea.

Why this matters: It is the first time a US official has publicly acknowledged the US role in Ukraine’s operations in the contested region as the fighting shifts away from the capital of Kyiv and towards southeast Ukraine. 

“We continue to provide useful information and intelligence to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their fight,” a senior defense official told CNN Thursday after Austin’s remarks. “As that fight migrates more to the Donbas region, we will adjust our information content and flow as required.” 

Austin then said at the hearing that the Pentagon would send “updated guidance” today, but he does not explicitly say what the guidance would entail.

Cotton asked if the current guidance is not to provide such intelligence to Ukraine.

“Certainly, the current guidance was not clear in that regard, so we’ll make sure it’s clear,” answered Austin.

Earlier this month, the White House acknowledged that the US has sent “a significant amount of detailed, timely intelligence” to Ukraine regarding Russia’s plans and movements. 

Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya speaks during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council during a meeting Thursday. The voting result: in favor 93; against 24; abstention 58.

In a draft of the resolution, the UNGA said the General Assembly would “suspend the rights of membership in the Human Rights Council of a member of the Council that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights.”

The General Assembly needed to vote in favor by two-thirds to remove Russia from the council.

The Deputy Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Gennady Kuzmin said Russia considers the resolution adopted by the General Assembly on the suspension of its membership in the Human Rights Council “an illegitimate and politically motivated step.” Kuzmin also claimed it is Russia that decided to end or suspend its membership in the council before the end of its term on the Thursday.

Before the vote, China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun said the country would vote against the move.

“China calls on all parties to work together in the same direction so as to create opportunities for peace and prospects for negotiation. China will continue to hold an objection and impartial position and play a responsible and constructive role in this regard,” Zhang added.

Estonia wants to end its reliance on Russian gas “within this year,” Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets told CNN Thursday.

The images of civilian killings from Bucha had “changed public opinion in our societies and because of that, we go quickly forward with these decisions to end financial flows to Russia,” Liimets said.

The government said Thursday that it made a decision in principle that Estonia would stop importing Russian gas this year.

Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications announced earlier today that Estonia and Finland had agreed to a joint leasing of a floating LNG terminal, guaranteeing a supply for both countries without relying on Russia.

“The supply of natural gas to both Estonia and Finland is highly reliant on Russia, and given the uncertain times we are facing, that means we have to cover our backs and make preparations to do without Russian gas altogether,” Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas said in a statement.

Highlighting the need for such an agreement, the statement said “almost half a year’s consumption would not be covered if the supply lines were cut.”

The floating terminal is planned to be in place by the fall.

The Deputy Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Gennady Kuzmin called upon all United Nations member states to reject the resolution suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council, calling the draft resolution “a dangerous precedent.”

Kuzmin was the second speaker at the UN General Assembly Thursday morning, following the representative from Ukraine. 

“Today is not the time nor the place for theatrics,” he said. “The draft resolution we are considering today has no relationship to the actual human rights situation on the ground.” 

The vote on suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council “is an attempt by the United States to maintain its dominate position and total control to continue its attempt at human rights colonialism in international relations,” the Russian representative said. “The possible exclusion of the Russian Federation from the Human Rights Council could be a dangerous precedent.”

Russia “has consistently defended the principle of cooperation based on mutual respect and equal status as one of the main foundations of the human rights architecture,” he claimed.

The Russian representative said his country “reject the untruthful allegations against us based on staged events and widely circulated fakes.”

Ukraine continues to negotiate with Russia “to prevent more Buchas,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, and again called on the international community to increase pressure on the Kremlin, suggesting that as long as the war continues, sanctions cannot be seen as fully efficient.

The positions of each side in the diplomatic negotiations “will be defined by the successes of relevant armies and the impact of sanctions imposed on Russia,” Kuleba said.

“These are the two main criteria which make either our or their position stronger,” he said at a news conference in Brussels following a meeting of the NATO foreign ministers. “Of course, we are focused on making sure that we will be stronger and we will eventually prevail.”

Kuleba reiterated his plea to the international community to stop buying Russian gas and oil. 

“The damage that is being inflicted on Russia by sanctions now has … long term implications for Russia,” the foreign minister acknowledged. “But people are dying today. Their offensive is unfolding today. And we need steps which will stop Russia’s war machine today. As long as this hasn’t been done, we cannot speak about efficiency, full efficiency of sanctions.”

Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, April 7 in Washington, DC.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley said he expects Russia’s war with Ukraine to “be a long slog” as Ukraine fights to maintain its territorial integrity with no signs on the horizon that the Kremlin will stop its aggression. 

Ukraine has successfully defeated Russia’s initial onslaught on Kyiv, Milley said, but he noted there’s a battle ahead in the southeastern part of the country as Russia has refocused its war efforts there.

“They’ve managed to defeat the Russian onslaught on to Kyiv, but there is a significant battle yet ahead down in the southeast, down around the Donbas-Donetsk region where the Russians intend to get mass forces and continue their assault,” Milley said. “So I think it’s an open question right now, how this ends. Ideally, Putin decides to ceasefire, stop his aggression, and as some sort of diplomatic intervention. But right now that doesn’t look like it’s on the horizon, the immediate horizon.”

Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya speaks during a UN General Assembly vote on a draft resolution seeking to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council in New York on Thursday, April 7.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya called upon all United Nations member states to support the resolution suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council. 

Kyslytsya was the first speaker at the UN General Assembly Thursday morning and likened the Human Rights Council to a sinking Titanic. 

“Now the world has come to a crucial juncture. We witness that our liner is going through treacherous fog towards deadly icebergs. It might seem that we should have named it the Titanic instead of the Human Rights Council,” Kyslytsya said. “We need to take an action today to save the council from sinking.”

The Ukrainian ambassador said Russia’s actions in Ukraine “would be equated to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

While he noted that a vote to suspend a country from the Human Rights Council is “a rare and extraordinary action,” he said “Russia’s actions are beyond the pale.” 

The draft resolution is co-sponsored by more than 50 UN member states, Kyslytsya said.

US security assistance is flowing into Ukraine “faster than most people would have ever believed conceivable,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday, adding that at times, it is arriving in Ukraine within days of receiving authorization.

“From the time authorization is provided, four or five days later, we see real capability begin to show up,” Austin said during a hearing on the Defense Department budget request before the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

Austin’s comments came in response to questioning from lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee. GOP Sen. Roger Wicker pressed Austin on why all of $3 billion in congressional authorization for US arms to Ukraine has yet to be provided.  

“We’ve only used $900 million of this — less than a third of the amount authorized. Why hasn’t the administration provided the full $3 billion?” 

Austin told Wicker that the US has provided Ukraine with “those capabilities that are relevant and effective in this fight.”  

“You’ve seen us provide a tremendous amount of anti-armor, anti-aircraft capability and also communications capabilities, as well as UAVs. And we’re also looking to help them in a number of other ways,” he said.

The United Nations General Assembly is expected to vote Thursday on whether to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council.

In a draft of the resolution on whether to suspend Russia from the Geneva based Human Rights Council seen by CNN, the UNGA said the General Assembly may “suspend the rights of membership in the Human Rights Council of a member of the Council that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights.”

The Council has “grave concern” regarding reports of “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights” and “violations of international humanitarian law” committed by the Russian Federation during its aggression against Ukraine, the draft resolution adds.

The General Assembly would need to vote in favor by two-thirds majority to remove Russia from the HRC.

If the vote is passed, it will decide to suspend the rights of membership in the Human Rights Council of the Russian Federation.

A number of countries are expected to speak at the UNGA ahead of the vote, including representatives from Russia and Ukraine.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - 2021/09/16: Aeroflot Russian Airlines Airbus A320 civil jet aircrafts at Moscow-Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, on September 19, 2021.

The US Commerce Department on Thursday moved to block three Russian airlines from receiving exported parts from the US in the department’s first move to punish alleged violations of export controls since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The move — which applies to Russian flagship carrier Aeroflot, along with airlines Azur Air and Utair — is an effort to cut off the airlines from the global economy.

It follows US sanctions announced Wednesday against two of Russia’s biggest banks and the adult children of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as US President Joe Biden accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine.

The Commerce Department’s so-called Temporary Denial Orders, which are valid for six months and can be renewed, effectively bar the use of US parts to service the planes, as well as maintenance contracts for planes that are subject to US export regulations. 

As result of the orders, the Russian airlines would over time “largely be unable to continue flying either internationally or domestically,” said Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary of Commerce for export enforcement.

“[I]t’s obviously difficult to keep flying if you can’t service your planes,” Axelrod said Thursday at a press briefing, adding that the three Russian airlines would commit “imminent” violations of export controls by flying “US origin aircraft” into Russia without authorization for continuing to fly those aircraft within Russia without authorization.

CNN has requested comment from the three Russian airlines.

“The battle for Donbas” is underway, and it “has not reached its maximum scale,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Thursday.

“Every day, the heaviest fighting takes place in that part of Ukraine and more is to come, unfortunately,” Kuleba said at a press conference in Brussels.

“Russia has its plan, we have ours, and the battlefield will decide the outcome,” Kuleba said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks during a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on April 7.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was “very specific” in his requests to NATO on Thursday, and said he was “cautiously optimistic about the outcomes of our discussions.” 

Speaking to the press after attending the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, Kuleba said he believed there was a growing understanding that Ukraine was not fighting just for its own security but for that of the countries in the alliance.

Kuleba reiterated his earlier remarks, saying the deal Ukraine is proposing to NATO is simple: “You provide us with everything we need and we will fight for our security and your security so that President Putin has no chance to test Article V.” 

He would not go into specific details about those discussions, but said he did not raise future security guarantees “because we know exactly the list of allies that who we see as potential security guarantors” and that would be negotiated bilaterally.

The “the most difficult situation” Ukraine now faces is in the country’s east, Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to the Interior minister of Ukraine, warned Thursday.

Ukrainian military officials say they have observed a buildup of Russian forces here.

“The most difficult situation now is, of course, in eastern Ukraine,” he said in televised remarks. “This is the Luhansk region — in the area of ​​Rubizhne, in the area of ​​Popasna … [where] there is, in fact, the destruction of cities. Unfortunately, the Russians continue to do everything they did before in Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, and so on — to destroy civilian infrastructure. And, of course, this is Mariupol, which is still under Ukrainian control and which is still fighting.”

Recent advances by Russian forces in the Kharkiv region could be setting the stage for the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk to become the next target of Russia’s offensive, said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.

The heads of the Donetsk and Luhansk regional military administrations have asked residents in some of those eastern regions to evacuate, Denysenko noted.

“All the humanitarian corridors that are being opened are officially declared by the state,” he said. “Keep this in mind, and if you have the opportunity to go through these corridors — be sure to use them. Because we realize that the only strategy of the Russian Federation is the strategy of destruction of settlements.”

U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo speaks at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on March 29.

Russia’s efforts to prop up the ruble will eventually “deplete” its resources to fight the war in Ukraine, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNN.

“We’ve worked with our European allies and partners to level a set of devastating sanctions against the Russian economy and what they’ve done because of our sanctions is they’ve taken the money that they’re earning from selling things abroad and they’re forcing those exporters to take that money and to bring it back to Russia and to buy Rubles,” Adeyemo said.

Adeyemo wouldn’t directly answer whether Europe should stop buying gas from Russia, saying that Europe has a “commitment to removing themselves from Russian energy and that’s what they started to do” citing the ban of Russian coal Wednesday. 

The treasury is now focused on making sure they stop sanctions evasion and going after the “Russian war machines,” including its aerospace and military industries, Adeyemo added. 

“The key thing for us is to make sure that we do this in a way that hurts the Russian economy more than it hurts our economy,” he said.

A general view of the second meeting of the North Atlantic Council with participation of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on April 7.

The foreign ministers of the G7 countries jointly condemned “in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces in Bucha and a number of other Ukrainian towns.”

“We underscore that those responsible for these heinous acts and atrocities, including any attacks targeting civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure, will be held accountable and prosecuted,” the statement added.

Underlining their “unwavering support for Ukraine,” the foreign ministers stressed the importance of “further increasing the economic pressure” on Russia and its ally, Belarus.

“Together with international partners, the G7 will sustain and increase pressure on Russia by imposing coordinated additional restrictive measures to effectively thwart Russian abilities to continue the aggression against Ukraine,” the statement continued. “We will work together to stop any attempts to circumvent sanctions or to aid Russia by other means. We are taking further steps to expedite plans to reduce our reliance on Russian energy, and will work together to this end.”

An aerial view shows residential buildings that were damaged during the Russian attack in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 3.

Russian military forces are trying to wipe the besieged southern city of Mariupol “off the face of the Earth,” a Ukrainian military commander currently in Mariupol told CNN Wednesday night.

“It is a humanitarian catastrophe. The military that were involved in active hostilities here are completely surrounded. There are supply problems with water, food, medication and general supply. It’s a very difficult situation,” said Serhiy Volyna, deputy commander of the Marine Battalion in Mariupol, who has been fighting in the region since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

“We have been encircled in Mariupol for more than 40 days. The enemy outnumbers us and in terms of weaponry, their artillery, they have sea-based artillery, tanks, armored vehicles and of course mortars. It is difficult for us,” Volyna said.

Volyna served with Ukrainian forces during the Crimean annexation of 2014 and also served with Ukrainian forces and took part in military operations in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, now partially controlled by Russian backed separatists.  

When asked if he may now be fighting against former colleagues who crossed over to the Russian side, he replied: “Yes, of course it is entirely possible.”

He called it a “strange situation” that former members or the Ukrainian marines and the Coast Guard of the Black Sea Fleet are “now fighting” in Russian units, labelling them “enemies of our country.”

As far as what Russia’s goals are when it comes to Mariupol, he said that first, Russia wants to use the city to “provide water supply to Crimea.” Russia’s second goal in Mariupol is “to seize the entire coastal territory, near the Azov and the Black Sea and to cut Ukraine off from access to the sea,” he said.

Russia has only made the gains it has due its significant air power, calling their forces less skillful than the Ukrainian troops as far as ground combat is concerned, he said. 

“Whenever they approach us, they suffer huge losses. That’s why after this, having suffered the initial defeat, their marines are demoralized so they’re trying to enter a city only when it’s destroyed,” he added.

Facebook parent company Meta detailed Thursday an array of shady cyber tactics that it says groups linked to Russia and Belarus are using to target Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.

The tactics the groups are using include posing as journalists and independent news outlets online to push Russian talking points, attempting to hack dozens of Ukrainian soldiers’ Facebook accounts, and running coordinated campaigns to try to get posts by critics of Russia removed from social media, according to Meta.

A hacking group known as “Ghostwriter,” which cyber experts believe is linked to Belarus, attempted to hack into the Facebook accounts of dozens of Ukrainian military personnel, the company said.

Meta also noted that actions by groups linked to the Russian and Belarusian government appeared to intensify shortly before the invasion, adding that it had observed that accounts linked to the Belarusian KGB “suddenly began posting in Polish and English about Ukrainian troops surrendering without a fight and the nation’s leaders fleeing the country on February 24, the day Russia began the war.”  

Meta also said it had removed a network of about 200 accounts operated from Russia that repeatedly filed false reports about people in Ukraine and Russia in an attempt to get them and their posts removed from the platform. The accounts regularly falsely reported to Meta that people in Ukraine and Russia had broken the company’s rules on hate speech as well as other policies. This tactic, known as “mass-reporting,” is commonly used by people trying to have an opponent’s social media accounts shut down. 

Russia’s invasion brought a “huge surge in attacks against social media accounts via mass reporting,” said Vadym Hudyma, co-founder at Digital Security Lab Ukraine, an organization that helps secure the online accounts of journalists and activists.

Many of the targeted Twitter and Facebook accounts were not verified, which made it harder to recover the accounts of organizations that were, for example, raising money and coordinating medical supplies in response to the Russian invasion, Hudyma told CNN. “Many social media pages were temporarily shut down. We’ve probably recovered most of them quite quickly. But that was a mess.” 

Meta also said it continues to see the use of fake profile photos in disinformation campaigns. 

In a previous announcement in February, Meta said it had had discovered and shut down a covert Russian influence operation that ran accounts posing as people in Kyiv, including news editors, and targeting Ukrainians. 

“They claimed to be based in Kyiv and posed as news editors, a former aviation engineer, and an author of a scientific publication on hydrography — the science of mapping water,” Meta said in a blog post. 

It tied the fake accounts to people previously sanctioned by the US government. The accounts and websites run by this influence operation do not appear to have been very successful in reaching a lot of people, according to data reviewed by CNN.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday that “people looking at what has been happening in Ukraine” can see “that this is systematic slaughter of innocent people, whatever term you want to use.”

He was responding to a question about the use of the word “genocide,” and whether that was his “assessment” in relation to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The UK will continue with our friends and partners to do everything that we can to help,” he added. “We are certainly looking at what more military assistance we can give.” 

Greek MP's listen to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during his virtual address to the Greek Parliament in Athens, Greece, on April 7.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Greek Parliament Thursday that “those who blackmail Europe with an economic and energy crisis always lose.”

In a virtual address, Zelensky urged the Greek Parliament to “do more” and use its “opportunities as a member of the European Union to organize the salvation of Mariupol.”

Zelensky said that Russia’s actions were not only directed at Ukraine, but also at Europe. 

Russia is trying to ensure that “energy poverty becomes a new reality on this continent,” he said, adding that Russia is “doing all they can to provoke inflation for many people.”

The Ukrainian President also called for the blocking of all Russian banks from the world financial system.

“While the Russian troops block peaceful cities and deport our people, no Russian bank has the right to earn money in the world financial system,” Zelensky said. “They need to be blocked. All of them must be blocked and not only some of them.”

He added that “no Russian ship should have a possibility of entering any part in the democratic world.”

Anatoliy Trubin of FC Shakhtar Donetsk plays in a match between FC Internazionale and Shakhtar Donetsk at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on November 24, in Milan, Italy.

Anatoliy Trubin should be enjoying life as a professional footballer. Instead, the 20-year-old is doing his part to help Ukraine survive the Russian invasion.

The Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper, who has also played for the national team, was living in the city of Lutsk, western Ukraine, as he spoke to CNN about life in his war-torn country.

Lutsk has been the target of Russian missile strikes over the past month and Trubin has been left heartbroken by the devastation he’s seen across his homeland.

Now, he wants to use his platform to send messages of hope to those faced with the brutal reality of war.

Read the full story here:

MADRID, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 03: Anatoliy Trubin of Shakhtar Donetsk looks on during the UEFA Champions League group D match between Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on November 03, 2021 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Diego Souto/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

Related article 'Putin is a killer,' says Ukrainian goalkeeper as he sends a message of hope to his country

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, second right, speaks at a ministerial meeting at the premier's office in Tokyo, Japan, on April 5.

Japan has requested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate the killing of civilians in the Kyiv region by Russia as a possible war crime, the country’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday. 

“The killing of these innocent civilians is a war crime, and our country has requested the International Criminal Court investigate this. I believe that Russia must be held strictly accountable,” Kishida told reporters.

On Monday, Kishida expressed shock and dismay in response to the “terrible atrocities” perpetrated against Ukrainian civilians in the town of Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv. 

Some background: Images of bodies strewn across the street in Bucha emerged over the weekend following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for an end to Russian “war crimes.” On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden declared “major war crimes” were being discovered in Ukraine as Russian forces retreat from areas around Kyiv.

World leaders have continued to condemn the ongoing violence in Ukraine as Russian forces ramp up their attacks in the east of the country.

As a result of the fighting, 10 evacuation corridors have been agreed for Thursday as civilians try to flee the violence, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced.

Here are the latest developments from the war in Ukraine:

Bucha curfew: Curfews have been announced in the vicinity of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, due to looting, a senior Ukrainian official said Thursday, adding that the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance remained a problem in areas recently wrested from Russian control. Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, said more than 1,500 explosive devices were demined in the Kyiv region alone on Wednesday.

Missiles shot down near Zaporizhzhia: Ukraine says its anti-air defense shot down three cruise missiles near the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday night as the Russian military shifts its focus to the east of the country. A CNN team in the city heard what sounded like an aircraft and one loud explosion around 11 p.m. local time. It comes as the civilian evacuation of Zaporizhzhia has been stepped up after Russian forces occupied a nearby nuclear power plant last week.  

Refugees flee to Poland: More than 2.5 million refugees have crossed the border into Poland, the Polish Border Guard said Thursday. While it is unclear how many remain in the country, an interior ministry spokesperson told CNN that 700,000 Ukrainians had registered in a Polish database allowing refugees to take up employment or continue their education. More than 4.3 million people have now fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion started on February 24, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

EU sanctions: The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has expressed his hope that the bloc’s fifth round of sanctions against Russia will be agreed by either Thursday or Friday. It comes after the EU announced proposed plans for a five-pillar package of sanctions, including a ban on Russian coal imports and a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks.

Global condemnation: Australia unveiled new sanctions on 67 Russian officials on Thursday as world leaders continue to condemn the violence in Ukraine. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden declared “major war crimes” were being discovered as the White House announced new sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institutions and a number of individuals tied to the Kremlin. It comes as the UK’s top diplomat told NATO foreign ministers that the “age of engagement with Russia is over.” 

NATO warning: Despite Russia focusing its attentions to the east, NATO’s chief warned the war could stretch on for years, as Russian President Vladimir Putin wants “to control the whole of Ukraine.” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also said NATO will “address the need for more air defense systems, anti-tank weapons, lighter but also heavier weapons, and many different types of support to Ukraine.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on March 23.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Friday, according to Ukrainian presidential spokesman Sergei Nikiforov.

“I cannot tell you the exact time due to security reasons. But sometime during the day, the President of Ukraine will meet with Ursula von der Leyen,” Nikiforov told Ukrainian TV program “UAtogether” on Thursday.

Von der Leyen and the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, will meet with Zelensky in Kyiv this week, spokesman Eric Mamer announced on Tuesday.

He did not specify which day the meeting would take place.

Some background: Zelensky has been making the rounds with global leaders in recent weeks, pushing for harsher sanctions and war crimes investigations on Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.

He made an emotionally charged address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, in which he accused Russian troops of indiscriminately killing civilians “just for their pleasure,” and questioned the very mandate of the Security Council itself.

Iryna Filkina had big plans for the year. She was turning 53 in April and planned to start focusing on herself after spending the past three decades working tirelessly and raising her two daughters between the towns of Bucha and Irpin, in the suburbs of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.

But her plans stalled at the end of February when Russia invaded Ukraine. Her daughters decided to cross the border into Poland, but Filkina stayed back to help people.

On March 5, Filkina tried to get a seat in one of the cars that was evacuating people from the shopping center out of the town. But when there was no room, she decided to cycle home.

One of Filkina’s daughters, 26-year-old Olga Shchyruk, said she begged her mother not to ride her black bike home that day. She asked her to take the train out of the city instead.

“Olga, don’t you know your mom? I can move mountains!” Filkina replied, according to Shchyruk, a child psychologist who was in Poland at the time helping other Ukrainian refugees.

It was the last conversation they had. Filkina never made it home that day.

Read the full story:

Iryna

Related article A Ukrainian mother had plans to change her life this year. Russian forces shot her as she cycled home.

Ukrainian refugees queue for food in the welcome area after their arrival at the main train station in Berlin, Germany, on March 8.

More than 300,000 refugees have arrived in Germany from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion six weeks ago, according to Germany’s Interior Ministry.

As of Thursday, the ministry said it had registered 316,453 refugees from Ukraine in the country.

The actual number of incoming refugees could be significantly higher due to the absence of border checks between Poland and Germany, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry told CNN.

The majority of refugees arriving in Germany are women, children and elderly people, the spokesperson added.

Arrivals at a center for displaced persons in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on April 6.

Ten evacuation corridors have been agreed for Thursday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced in a Facebook post.

In the Donetsk region, she said there would be one corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia for private vehicles.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, Vereshchuk said four corridors would open:

In the Luhansk region, five corridors were listed by Vereshchuk:

This comes after Vereshchuk said that 4,892 people were evacuated through evacuation corridors on Wednesday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told CNN on Wednesday that a Red Cross convoy of buses and private cars carrying more than 500 civilians fleeing Mariupol had arrived in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

Some background: While some evacuation attempts across Ukraine have been successful, others have been disrupted. Earlier this week, the ICRC said its aid workers were detained in Russian-held territory while attempting to evacuate desperate residents of Mariupol. They were later released.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, center left, speaks with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, center right, at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on April 7.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, according to the State Department public schedule.

The two most recently met in person along with their defense department colleagues in Warsaw, Poland.

Kuleba met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday morning at NATO headquarters.

The meeting with Blinken is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. ET.

Refugees from Ukraine arriving at the railway station in Przemysl, southeastern Poland, on April 6.

More than 2.5 million refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine have crossed the border into Poland, the Polish Border Guard said on Thursday.

While it is unclear how many of the 2.5 million refugees are still in Poland, an interior ministry spokesperson told CNN on Thursday that 700,000 Ukrainians had registered in a Polish database allowing refugees to take up employment or continue their education.

Those registering for the database “are mainly people who wish to stay in Poland,” the spokesperson added.

More than 4.3 million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion started on February 24, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

In addition, more than 7.1 million people are internally displaced in Ukraine having been forced to flee their homes, according to the latest International Organization for Migration report.

Ukraine’s anti-air defense shot down three cruise missiles Wednesday night, Secretary of Zaporizhzhia City Council Anatoly Kurtev announced on Telegram.

A CNN team in Zaporizhzhia heard what sounded like an aircraft and one loud explosion around 11 p.m. local time Wednesday.

Some context: The pace of civilian evacuations from the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia has escalated in the past week, after the nearby nuclear power station in Enerhodar was captured by Russian soldiers.

In a Facebook post last week, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian troops of committing a “terror attack” by intentionally firing at the power plant – potentially risking the lives of millions.

Volunteers of the Territorial Defence Forces walk next to destroyed Russian tanks and armoured vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 6.

Curfews have been announced in the vicinity of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, due to looting, a senior Ukrainian official said Thursday, adding that the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance remained a problem in areas recently wrested from Russian control.

An official statement from the Kyiv region’s military governor announced a stricter curfew in Hostomel, near Bucha, ending at 6 a.m. local time on April 14.

Denysenko suggested that the Ukrainian government faces a staggering task to collect and dispose of mines and unexploded ordnance.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the Australian federal parliament via video link on March 31, in Canberra, Australia.

Australia is preparing to deliver more lethal aid to Ukraine following President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to the nation’s parliament last week, its foreign ministry announced Thursday. 

“Australia has delivered five C-17 loads of military support – lethal and non-lethal – to Ukraine. We’re in the process of preparing the Bushmasters that President Zelensky requested in his address to our parliament – his momentous address – last week. They will be transported as soon as possible,” Foreign Minister Marise Payne said. 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that additional military assistance would be sent to Ukraine following Zelensky’s impassioned speech to the nation’s parliament last Thursday. 

The new package includes, “tactical decoys, unmanned aerial and unmanned ground systems, rations and medical supplies,” according to a statement from Morrison’s office.  

In February, the Australian government committed to providing lethal and non-lethal military equipment, medical supplies, and financial assistance to support Ukraine, as well as contributing $3 million in US dollars to NATO’s Trust Fund. Since then, shipments of lethal aid – including missiles, ammunition, and armored vehicles – have made their way into the country. 

Australia has provided close to $70 million in US dollars in lethal aid to Ukraine since the war began.

Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev speaks during a meeting at the Russian National Defense Management Center in Moscow, Russia, on July 20, 2018.

Australia unveiled new sanctions on 67 Russian officials on Thursday, bringing the total number of sanctioned “individuals and entities” since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “close to 600,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The latest sanctions target prominent Russian businessmen, as well as senior military and government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, and senior Russian politician Alexander Babakov.

Among those in the latest listings is Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, named responsible for attacks on “innocent civilians,” including the “bombing of the theater” in Mariupol.

“This latest round of sanctions follows the emergence of evidence of war crimes committed by Russia in Bucha and other towns around Kyiv,” the statement said. “Australia condemns these atrocities in the strongest possible terms.”

“The horror is almost unspeakable, and we see it every day. But I do think Australians can be proud of the effort that our country is making to support Ukraine,” Foreign Minister Marise Payne told local radio station 2GB.

Some background: A chorus of world leaders have called for increased sanctions and war crimes investigations on Russia, following the alleged atrocities in the town of Bucha, northwest of the capital Kyiv.

Shortly after the withdrawal of Russian troops from Bucha, civilian bodies were found strewn across a street and a mass grave was discovered, with the mayor of the town saying that there could be up to 300 victims buried on site.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden declared “major war crimes” were being discovered in Ukraine as the White House announced new sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institutions and a number of individuals tied to the Kremlin – including Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks to the media as he arrives for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 7.

The European Union’s top diplomat has expressed his hope that the bloc’s fifth round of sanctions against Russia will be agreed by Thursday or Friday.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the bloc is still looking at “the list of people and the sectors affected” but will hopefully agree on the final measures by “this afternoon or tomorrow at the latest,” he told reporters on his way into a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the bloc announced proposed plans for a five-pillar package of sanctions, including a ban on Russian coal imports and a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks.

A potential embargo on Russian oil “will be discussed on Monday” at the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Borrell said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Wednesday the fifth package “will not be our last sanctions.”

Read more about the proposed EU sanctions:

A bucket loads coking coal from the yard at the Moscow coke and gas plant, operated by Mechel PJSC, in Vidnoye, near Moscow, Russia, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.

Related article Europe is finally coming after Russia's energy

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, left, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speak to the media as they arrive for a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 7.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, where NATO and G7 foreign ministers are meeting this week to discuss sanctions against Russia and ways to support Ukraine.

Providing Ukraine with weapons was the best way to “contain Putin and to defeat Russian army in Ukraine, in the territory of Ukraine so that the war does not spill over further,” Kuleba said.

He called on NATO and G7 Foreign Ministers to “put aside their hesitations, their reluctance to provide Ukraine with everything it needs,” concluding that “as weird as it may sound, today weapons serve the purpose of peace.”

Speaking beside Kuleba, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO countries “are providing equipment support to you to uphold your right for self defense, which is enshrined in the UN Charter and it is an urgent need to further support Ukraine.”

Stoltenberg said he was certain that NATO will “address the need for more air defense systems, anti-tank weapons, lighter but also heavier weapons, and many different types of support to Ukraine.”

Ukraine-US meeting: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Kuleba on Thursday, according to the US State Department’s public schedule.

The two last met in Warsaw in late March.

Blinken on Wednesday met with his NATO counterparts, plus foreign ministers from countries including Australia and Japan.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this post.

Austria declared four Russian diplomats “personae non gratae” and expelled them for conducting activities not “in accordance with their diplomatic status,” Austria’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday in a statement.

They are required to leave the country by April 12 at the latest, according to the statement.

Three of the diplomats were staffers at Russia’s Embassy in Vienna and the other was a staff member at Russia’s consulate in Salzburg, the ministry said.

Some context: Multiple European nations have expelled Russian diplomats in the past week, including Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Sweden.

The expulsion of Russian diplomats is a “short-sighted step” that will “inevitably lead to retaliatory steps,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Tuesday.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno speaks at a news conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on April 7.

Any Russian countermeasures against Japan in response to sanctions imposed on Moscow by Tokyo would be “unacceptable,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.  

Matsuno’s remarks came after Russian Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Moscow was considering countermeasures against Tokyo, which has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.  

Japan’s government “is stoking anti-Russian hysteria in Japanese society,” Zakharova told reporters at a news conference. She also criticized Japan for “obediently following instructions received from across the ocean” and said Tokyo was undermining Russia-Japan relations.  

Some context: Last month, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it would suspend peace treaty talks to formally end World War II hostilities between Moscow and Tokyo due to the sanctions over Ukraine.

“Under the current conditions Russia does not intend to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said at the time, citing Japan’s “openly unfriendly positions and attempts to damage the interests of our country.”

The Kuril Islands, referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan, were captured by Soviet forces following Japan’s surrender to Allied Forces in 1945. The resulting disagreement over who has rightful ownership of the islands has soured relations between the two countries, contributing to their continued failure to sign a World War II peace treaty.

Ukrainian lawmaker Sviatoslav Yurash (right) speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper.

As Ukrainians find bodies of slain civilians in areas previously occupied by Russian forces, those on the ground say the shocking images emerging from places such as Bucha may only be the start of what is discovered.  

“I think Bucha is just the beginning as we liberate more of our country,” Sviatoslav Yurash, Ukraine’s youngest member of parliament, told CNN’s Jake Tapper early Thursday morning.

Yurash, 26, who spoke from Kyiv, said he was in nearby Borodianka on Wednesday, which was “badly mauled by the Russians.”

Borodianka was a jumping-off point for Russian units as they advanced on Kyiv through suburbs like Bucha and Irpin. They faced staunch resistance from Ukrainian forces and were forced to retreat.

A CNN team in Borodianka was present as volunteers discovered and removed the bodies of civilians killed during Russian attacks.

Supply lines: As Russian forces withdraw from northern Ukraine and focus efforts toward the country’s east, Kyiv is becoming a hub to distribute supplies to other places under attack, Yurash said.

CNN’s Corey James contributed to this post.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is transforming into a grinding war of attrition that portends months of more human carnage and will transmit shockwaves from Vladimir Putin’s onslaught to millions of people across the globe.

Rapid reassessments of the duration, character and costs of the war are being prompted by Russia’s strategic shift away from a bogged down attempt to take Kyiv and topple the government to a refocusing of military force in southern and eastern areas.

In the early days of the war six weeks ago, it seemed possible a Russian blitzkrieg could quickly storm the country and seize the capital. But fierce Ukrainian resistance, backed by Western arms, and heavy Russian casualties has led to a change of plan by Moscow.

Yet the redeployment, which allowed a horrific trail of atrocities to be unveiled to the world, doesn’t mean a vicious war that Putin cannot afford to lose is anywhere near over. In fact, it ensures that economic, political and international forces unleashed by the conflict will last for months and exact a deeper toll.

And the consequences of Russia’s ruthless mission will not be contained in Europe.

Read the full analysis:

A woman walks next to a destroyed Russian armor vehicle in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Ukraine's president plans to address the U.N.'s most powerful body after even more grisly evidence emerged of civilian massacres in areas that Russian forces recently left.

Related article A long war of attrition in Ukraine will have huge global consequences | CNN Politics

Policemen work to identify civilians who were killed during the Russian occupation in Bucha, Ukraine, before sending the bodies to a morgue on Wednesday.

As Russian forces ramp up their attacks on eastern Ukraine and the civilian death toll rises, NATO officials met in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss sanctions against Moscow and support for Kyiv.

Here’s the latest:

A still from the video shows abandoned Russian military positions in a highly radioactive area near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Abandoned Russian military positions in a highly radioactive area of the exclusion zone near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant can be seen in drone video released Wednesday by Ukrainian authorities.

The video — filmed by the Ukrainian military and released on Telegram by Energoatom, the state-owned operator of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants — shows vacant pits and trenches of abandoned military fortifications in an area known as the Red Forest.  

According to Reuters, the Red Forest got its name when dozens of square kilometers of pine trees turned red after absorbing radiation from the 1986 explosion at Chernobyl — the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

Tank tracks and heavily disturbed ground can also be seen in the forest — considered the most polluted area in the entire Chernobyl exclusion zone — and off limits to anyone who does not work there or have special permission.

Radiation dangers: Last Friday, Energoatom said it was unclear what Russian troops were doing in the Red Forest and it is possible they could have received significant radiation exposure when digging or entrenching there. 

Thick radioactive dust kicked up by heavy Russian vehicles could have been inhaled by the troops, who were not wearing anti-radiation protective equipment, plant workers said.

Chernobyl fell into the hands of Russian troops in the first week of the war in Ukraine. On Thursday, Russian troops announced their intention to leave and handed over control to Ukrainian personnel. The plant is now back under the control of Ukrainian authorities.

Left to right: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss pose for a photo at NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 6.

Foreign ministers from NATO member states are meeting in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss sanctions against Russia and ways to support Ukraine.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his NATO counterparts, plus foreign ministers from non-NATO countries, including Australia and Japan.

Here’s what you need to know:

The “age of engagement with Russia is over,” UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said at a dinner with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, according to a statement from the UK Foreign Office released ahead of the dinner.

In her remarks, Truss told her NATO counterparts the “NATO-Russia Founding Act is dead and it is time to cast off an outdated approach to handling Russia,” the foreign office said.

The Act, signed in 1997, rules that “NATO and Russia do not consider one another adversaries”, according to the original document.

NATO meeting: Truss’s remarks come as NATO foreign ministers convene in Brussels to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the statement sent to CNN, Truss underlined that NATO cannot allow “security vacuums” at the alliance’s Eastern borders and should “rethink” support for countries “caught in the web of Russian influence” such as Georgia, Moldova, Sweden and Finland. 

The foreign secretary also urged her partners to toughen sanctions and arm Ukraine “quickly and decisively … to ensure Putin fails.”

Truss also said she is working with her G7 counterparts to impose more sanctions on further Russian banks, according to an op-ed published in The Telegraph on Wednesday. In the article, Truss defended increasing NATO spending and presence in Eastern Europe.

President Joe Biden declared “major war crimes” were being discovered in Ukraine as Russian forces retreat from areas around Kyiv, citing scenes of brutal, cold-blooded executions as rationale for ratcheting up US sanctions on Moscow.

“Responsible nations have to come together to hold these perpetrators accountable,” Biden told a union crowd in Washington as the White House announced new sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institutions and a number of individuals tied to the Kremlin, including Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters.

Horrific images from the Ukrainian city of Bucha imparted “a sense of brutality and inhumanity left for all the world to see, unapologetically,” Biden said in his remarks as he announced new steps the US was taking to punish those responsible.

The sanctions are designed to tighten the vise on Russia’s economy, which has been kneecapped by Western punishment. Still, ever-harsher consequences for the invasion of Ukraine have not appeared to force Putin to ease a brutal campaign that has increasingly targeted civilians.

Biden has previously said he believes Putin to be a war criminal, and this week called for a trial to hold Moscow accountable. Still, the process for prosecuting war crimes is complex and lengthy, and questions remain about how and when such accountability could be delivered.

Read more:

President Joe Biden speaks about the March jobs report in the State Dining Room of the White House, Friday, April 1, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Related article Biden administration imposes new sanctions on Putin's daughters and Russian banks

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks as he arrives for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on April 6.

Although Russia is now concentrating its assault on eastern Ukraine, NATO has seen “no indication” that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aim of controlling the whole country has changed, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters before a meeting in Brussels of foreign ministers of NATO allies, Stoltenberg also warned the war in Ukraine could last for years.

Weapons for Ukraine: The foreign ministers of NATO countries are meeting Wednesday and Thursday to discuss ramping up support for Ukraine.

Kyiv has been calling for tanks and fighter jets on top of the defense systems already provided by the West.

“I will not go into all details of exactly what kind of weapons equipment allies are providing, but I can say the totality of what the allies are doing is significant, and that includes some heavier systems combined with lighter systems,” Stoltenberg said.

He warned the Ukraine war will have long-term security implications for Europe regardless of when it ends.