April 6, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Police work on the identification process following the killing of civilians in Bucha, before sending the bodies to the morgue, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, April 6.

Leaders from around the world are strongly condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian forces following horrifying images of civilian casualties from Bucha, Ukraine.

Some leaders are labeling Putin a “war criminal” and consider the violence that occurred in the town of Bucha “genocide.”

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly accused Russian forces of committing genocide in his country, other leaders have stopped short. The claim carries a complex legal weight and investigations are underway into war crimes alleged to have been committed by Russian forces.

Evidence of civilian deaths in Bucha at the hands of Russian forces have nonetheless sparked global condemnation and triggered fresh responses from the West. 

Here are how some leaders are reacting to the civilian casualty reports coming out of Bucha:

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday called Putin a war criminal, saying no world leader should speak to him again after the many “massacres” carried out by the Russian forces in Ukraine, including the violence in Bucha which he said, “fulfill the feature of a genocide.” 

“We hear about the de-Nazification of Ukraine, it is nonsense, rubbish, blatant Russian propaganda looking for a false pretext in order to carry out a massacre and kill people, and the fact that civilians are being killed shows best what the goal of Russian invasion is: To extinguish the Ukrainian nation,” Duda told CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview in Warsaw.  

The Polish leader said the scenes from Ukraine are unseen since World War II and they echo the “same model of Soviet crimes,” adding that war crimes were committed by Moscow not only in Bucha “but all over Ukraine.” 

“I hope that nobody in the international community, after what we have seeing in Ukraine, will never again talk to Vladimir Putin. I hope nobody will consider him a decent and fair leader or politician simply,” he said. 

France has called the deaths of civilians in Bucha “a new step in horror” and has vowed to ensure such an act “does not remain unpunished.”

France is also in favor of a tougher sanctions regime against Russia, French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said during a news conference on Wednesday.

“After these massacres, we must go further,” he said. “President [Macron] has told President Zelensky that we have no taboos in terms of sanctions, and he repeated that we are ready for drastic measures on imports of Russian coal and oil.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested Russia’s atrocities in Bucha and elsewhere are close to resembling “genocide” and vowed more sanctions are on the way. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid described the killings in Bucha as “war crimes.”

As has been the case since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Lapid’s comments — first made while speaking alongside his Greek and Cypriot counterparts — were in marked contrast to those of Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. While Bennett also condemned the killings in Bucha, he did not blame Russia. 

India’s ambassador to the United Nations condemned the killings of civilians in Bucha, marking a noticeable shift in Indian officials’ public approach to the invasion of Ukraine by its long-time partner Russia. 

T.S. Tirumurti, India’s permanent representative to the UN, called reports of the killings “deeply disturbing” during a UN Security Council meeting Tuesday. 

A vote on whether or not to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council will happen on Thursday, the spokesperson for the president of the United Nations General Assembly said.

The UN General Assembly will resume its Emergency Special Session Thursday morning. The meeting will be open and speeches will be available on camera through UNTV, Paulina Kubiak Greer said.

The United States ambassador to the United Nations made a case for seeking the suspension of Russia from the Human Rights Council in front of the UN Security Council Tuesday, something she and other UN member states are calling for. 

The Human Rights Council sits in Geneva. The UN General Assembly would need to vote in favor by two-thirds to remove Russia from the HRC.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations told CNN on Wednesday that she is confident that the US has the support from other member states required to suspend Russia from the UN’s Human Rights Council. 

“We’ve been working very hard since this war started to build a coalition of countries who are prepared to condemn Russia,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “I know that we’ll get the two thirds required to win this.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers on Wednesday that a complete ban on Russian oil would cause significant pain for consumers around the world.

“The issue with blocking oil exports from Russia is that many countries, especially in Europe, are very dependent on that oil,” Yellen said during the hearing. “And we’re likely to see skyrocketing prices if we did put a complete ban on oil.”

Yellen said that because demand for oil is generally steady, too many restrictions on supply can have “very large price effects.”

“In designing sanctions, we want to impose the maximum pain we can on Russia, but also taking care not to impose undue pain on Americans” and our partners, Yellen said.

Meanwhile, oil company executives pledged during the hearing Wednesday to move quickly to cut ties with Russia and defended their investments in the country. 

Exxon CEO Darren Woods reiterated that his company plans to terminate its final project in Russia, a promise it made a month ago.

“It’s rather complex because we are operating offshore rigs in deep waters and environmentally-sensitive areas,” Woods said during the hearing. “We are working our way through that as expeditiously as possible.” 

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth was asked to commit to terminating all operations in Russia, including supplying Russian companies with lubricants and other materials. “We’ve halted all those sales, and for the foreseeable future, there is no way those will resume,” Wirth said. 

David Lawler, the president of BP America, said that within 96 hours of the invasion, his company announced its intention to exit its stake in Russia’s Rosneft, taking a write down of up to $25 billion. “BP was horrified with the military action in the war against Ukraine,” Lawler said. “The company is quite serious about our response.” 

Gretchen Watkins, the president of Shell USA, said Shell has stopped buying all spot crude and all spot liquefied natural gas (LNG). Watkins said the company is moving as “fast as we possibly can” to fully divest from Russia

CNN’s Anneken Tappe contributed to this report.

Countries are moving ahead to release an additional 60 million barrels of oil storage — in addition to 60 million barrels contributed by the US — as part of its overall draw from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, said Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of The International Energy Agency (IEA.)

Last week, the US released a record-shattering 180 million barrels of oil. 

US Presidential Coordinator for Global Energy Security Amos Hochstein told CNN earlier that the United States and Europe are working “around the clock” to make sure pressure continues to build on Vladimir Putin, but that all costs can’t be mitigated.

“President Biden has been very clear that when you’re in a war like this, initiated by Putin and Russia, there are going to be costs. We can’t mitigate all the costs, but what we’re doing is working together as an international community to do as much as we can to mitigate,” he told CNN’s Becky Anderson in an interview.

Hochstein highlighted the unity between the US and Europe in the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but said both sides don’t need to enact the same sanctions package, because of “different circumstances”, alluding to Europe’s heavy reliance on Russian gas. 

Executive Director of the IEA Fatih Birol tweeted:

Washington has so far tapped oil reserves from its emergency stockpile twice this year, but that has done little to cool prices since the start of Russia’s invasion. Amos Hochstein told CNN prices are now back to $100 a barrel, down from $130, which marks a “significant reduction in price”.

“Just a few weeks ago, some of the leading banks in the United States and around the world predicted $185 a barrel of oil, which would have been very disruptive to our economy, and we’re now talking about lower prices. So it’s not about bringing the price down to where we wish it was, but making sure that it is lower than it was before and changing the trajectory from increasing to holding steady,” said Hochstein.

“We will continue to work to make sure that we have diversified our resources away from Russia, and we have to use every crisis as an opportunity to realize where our threats are. We’re vulnerable, and we need to start reducing our demand on oil altogether,” he continued.

A bakery is seen in Beirut, Lebanon, on April 6.

Lebanon, which lost its wheat reserves following the 2020 Beirut port blast, is struggling to find new markets that meet its bread qualifications due to the war on Ukraine, the country’s minister of trade and economy told CNNs Becky Anderson. 

Lebanon imports 80% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, and is “the most vulnerable state” in the Middle East and North Africa region due to its weakened economy, said the trade and economy minister, Amin Salam. 

The minister said the country is looking for support from these wheat producers as it struggles with challenges related to the economy and low purchasing power. 

“Lebanon has not recovered yet from the global inflation on food and commodities after Covid-19, now we have this issue that adds another layer of difficulty at a time where Lebanon is struggling with the economy,” Salam said.

An International Monetary Fund negotiating delegation is currently in Lebanon meeting officials in extensive meetings to reach an agreement for an economic rescue deal, Salam said. 

“We are hoping that we will have very soon a staffing agreement in place,” he said. 

“We know that our national reserves are at a very difficult place, but we are very confident that the IMF agreement will help Lebanon get out of the crisis,” Salam said.

Salam denied that Lebanon’s Central Bank is bankrupt but it is at a stage that is looking at the national reserves directly impacting all depositors.

“That it is why it is very important to put IMF together now to avoid getting into this difficult spot,” he said. 

The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told CNN on Wednesday that Beijing is “uncomfortable” in supporting Russia in relation to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.  

“I can tell you that they’re [China] uncomfortable in this position, and you will note that in most of the votes they abstained, they did not vote with Russia, they abstained,” Thomas-Greenfield told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview.  

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for Russia to be removed as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and questioned whether the institution was fit for purpose.  

“It is obvious that the key institution of the world designed to combat aggression and ensure peace cannot work effectively,” Zelensky said, addressing the council directly via videolink. 

Speaking to Amanpour from her UN office in New York, Thomas-Greenfield said that she understood the Ukrainian leader’s frustration and acknowledged that the security council has been unable to stop the war. However, she said that the council should be “recognized” for isolating Russia. 

“No one believes it. There were 14 countries speaking yesterday, all 14 countries called for Russia to cease this effort against Ukraine. So while we can’t stop the war, we can make it very difficult for Russia to sit comfortably in this council and promote the lies and the propaganda,” she continued.  

The ambassador said that Russia’s aggression has led to a united front among NATO countries and “a strong coalition of condemnation.”    

“I don’t think Russia is winning this propaganda war. They are succeeding inside their own country, and we have to make a greater effort to get information in to Russians themselves, so they know their young boys are dying, their bodies are being left in the streets, they are not being brought home. That’s the message we have to get to the Russian people,” she told Amanpour.  

Amanpour asked Thomas-Greenfield about the UN Security Council’s historic failures, and cited Srebrenica, a town that the security council had designated a “safe area” under UN protection before it fell to Bosnian Serb forces in 1995. When pressed on whether she thinks about these failures when addressing the issue of Ukraine, the US ambassador said that it goes through her mind “every single day.”   

Thomas-Greenfield pointed to the fact that the US has this week called for a suspension of Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.  

Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said Wednesday authorities would evacuate two towns in the southern part of the region, Lozova and Barvinkove, as a precaution amid escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine. 

Russia was focusing efforts to surround Ukraine’s Joint Forces Operation troops in the country’s east and capture the city of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said earlier this week.

Syniehubov said no decision had been made for the centralized evacuation of the city of Kharkiv. 

People walk in front of a destroyed building in Chernihiv on April 5.

The US assesses that Russian forces have completely withdrawn from areas near Kyiv and Chernihiv to “reconsolidate and refit in Belarus and in Russia,” according to a senior US defense official.

The official also said Russia has still not “secured” Mariupol despite isolating the city.

Russia has now launched more than 1,450 missiles against Ukraine since the invasion, the official said.

The alleged atrocities in Bucha appear to be “premeditated,” “planned” and “very, very deliberate,” the official added, saying it’s “difficult to know” what motivated Russian forces to commit such acts, but that they sent a message to the world of “Russia’s brutality.”

The United Kingdom on Wednesday announced a new set of sanctions against Russia “to starve Putin’s war machine,” according to a statement by the British Foreign Office.

Britain’s fifth package of sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine include a full asset freeze on Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, and Credit Bank of Moscow, as well as a ban on new British investment in Russia which was worth over $14 billion in 2020, the statement said.  

Britain will end all its dependency on Russian coal and oil by the end of 2022, and end imports of gas “as soon as possible thereafter,” as well as exports of oil equipment and catalysts and imports of iron and steel products, it added.

The UK also sanctioned eight additional Russian oligarchs, whom Russian President Vladimir Putin “uses to prop up his war economy,” the statement added.  

“Our latest wave of measures will bring an end to the UK’s imports of Russian energy and sanction yet more individuals and businesses, decimating Putin’s war machine,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said, calling the newest sanctions the “toughest” yet.  

“Together with our allies, we are showing the Russian elite that they cannot wash their hands of the atrocities committed on Putin’s orders. We will not rest until Ukraine prevails,” she added. 

The town of Severodonetsk has been heavily shelled, the head of the Luhansk region’s military administration said Wednesday, adding that 10 high-rise buildings in the town were on fire. 

“The Russians fired on Severodonetsk — 10 high-rise buildings are on fire,” regional governor Serhii Haidai said on Telegram. “Information about casualties is being clarified.”

While the shelling did not hit any strategic or military facilities, it did hit a factory workshop in Lysychansk and a house in Rubizhne, Haidai said.

Russian forces had hit towns and villages of Luhansk region a total of 81 times over the previous night, Haidai added.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces were observing the arrival of new Russian forces, in preparation for what Ukrainian officials have warned may be an offensive in the coming days, he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Haidai issued a statement calling for the evacuation of several towns in the region.

“To date, about 30,000 people have been evacuated,” he said. “How many people have left on their own is impossible to calculate.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

The United States won’t participate in G20 meetings that Russia is participating in, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday.

Speaking at the House Financial Services Committee, Yellen said she’d made that position clear to other finance ministers in the group.

Yellen was referring in her remarks to a number of upcoming G20 finance ministers meetings scheduled for later this month, a person familiar with the matter said.

Another official said the White House had not ruled out US President Joe Biden attending this year’s G20 summit should Russia participate. The leaders’ summit is not for another seven months.

Biden said during a news conference in Brussels last month that Russia should be ejected from the G20, but there would need to be agreement among other members to formalize the move.

The next G20 leaders summit is set for November in Indonesia. There are ministerial meetings ahead of that gathering. 

US sanctions on Russia are not permanent and may be reversed if Moscow changes course in Ukraine, a senior administration official said.

“It’s a negative feedback loop. So we deny capital, we deny technology, we deny talent that can flow into Russia, and the combination of the steps that we’re taking create this downward spiral that accelerates the more that Putin escalates,” the official said.

The White House has not said specifically what Russian President Vladimir Putin must do to see the sanctions reversed, but the official said Wednesday they are willing to scale down should Russia “change course.”

“But the sanctions are designed to be able to respond to the conditions on the ground and to create leverage for the outcome we seek,” the official went on.

US officials have seized control of a vast Russian government-controlled “botnet” — or army of thousands of infected computers that can be used for cyberattacks, saying that the Russians have used “similar infrastructure” against Ukranian targets.

The botnet was controlled by a unit within the Russian GRU military intelligence agency known for disruptive cyberattacks such as the 2015 and 2016 hacks that cut power in Ukraine, FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

Botnets have a range of potential uses, from knocking websites offline to more disruptive hacks that render computers inoperable. It was not immediately clear what specific hacks may have been thwarted, but Wray said that thousands of small businesses around the world had been infected with the GRU malware. 

US officials have been on high alert for potential Russian cyberattacks, particularly following President Joe Biden’s recent warning to business executives that “Russia’s cyber capacity is fairly consequential and it’s coming.”

The US is targeting Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters in the latest round of sanctions because they believe the Russian president may be hiding some of his assets with them, according to the senior administration official.

Without detailing which of Putin’s assets could be hiding with Mariya Putina and Katerina Tikhonova, the official said the practice was common among the Russian elite.

“That’s why the coordination, the coordinated efforts to freeze their assets and seize their physical luxury goods — their cars, their yachts, their homes, etc — that’s why it’s so important that we act together,” the official went on.

The US is taking additional actions to increase economic pressure on Russia and President Vladimir Putin following horrific images from the Ukrainian city of Bucha, announcing new sanctions Wednesday on Russian financial institutions, as well as some people, including Putin’s adult daughters and the wife and daughter of his foreign minister. 

Sberbank holds nearly one-third of Russia’s total banking sector assets, the official noted, adding that the US has now fully blocked “more than two-thirds of the Russian banking sector.”  

Second, the senior official announced, “In alignment with the G7 and the EU, we’re announcing a ban on new investment in Russia.” That will be implemented with an executive order signed by US President Joe Biden. 

The administration is also putting full blocking sanctions on a new set of Russian elites and their family members, including Putin’s adult daughters Mariya Putina and Katerina Tikhonova, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s wife and daughter and members of Russia’s Security Council, including former President and Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The US has already sanctioned more than 140 oligarchs and their family members and over 400 Russian government officials, the senior official said. 

The US will also apply full blocking sanctions on critical major Russian state-owned enterprises, which will be announced by the Department of Treasury on Thursday. The official also noted Tuesday’s announcement that the Department of Treasury has blocked Russia from making debt payments with dollars stockpiled at US banks. 

The senior official noted the crippling effect of US measures on the Russian economy since its invasion of Ukraine. 

“Russia’s GDP is projected to shrink by double digits this year… It’s not in the process of being isolated as a pariah state. The economic shock this year alone is projected by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to wipe out the past 15 years of economic gains,” the official said. 

Pressed about the efficacy of sanctions in ending Putin’s war in Ukraine, the senior official sought to underscore the effect they are having on life in Russia and said Putin would eventually have to reckon with his people. 

“The question really is not so much: What can we do and when will that have an effect? I think it’s: What’s the endgame here for Putin? What’s he playing for?” the official added. “This is very clearly becoming a failure for him and at some point he will have to recognize that reality.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland, center, accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, left, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, right, speaks at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington D.C, on April 6.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday the Justice Department had successfully disrupted of a botnet, or a network of infected devices, that was being controlled by the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU. 

Garland touted the disruption among several actions the Justice Department has taken against the Russian regime that he highlighted at news conference with Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, FBI Director Chris Wray and other DOJ officials.

Garland also announced that that the Department was charging Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev with sanctions violations.  

“As the indictment charges, the Treasury Department previously identified Malofeyev as one of the main sources of financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea, and for providing material support for the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic,” Garland said. “After being sanctioned by the United States, Malofeyev attempted to evade the sanctions by using co-conspirators to surreptitiously acquire and run media outlets across Europe.” 

The new actions come in addition to a yacht — owned by another Kremlin tied oligarch facing sanctions, Viktor Vekselberg — that was seized earlier this week. 

Additionally, Garland said Wednesday, the department, in coordination with its German law enforcement partners, seized the “Russia-affiliated Hydra darknet market — the world’s largest illegal marketplace on the dark web.” Charges had been brought, according to Garland, against a Russian national who allegedly administered the market’s technical infrastructure.

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.

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. 

A resident searches for the graves of relatives in a cemetery in Chernigiv, northern Ukraine, on April 5.

At least 1,563 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The UN agency has recorded 3,776 civilian casualties in Ukraine so far: 1,563 killed and 2,213 injured, it said in its latest update posted Wednesday. 

It listed Mariupol and Volnovakha (Donetsk region), Izium (Kharkiv region), Popasna (Luhansk region), and Borodianka (Kyiv region) as examples of places where there have been “allegations of numerous civilian casualties.”

On Tuesday, OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell spoke of the UN’s condemnation of images that emerged last weekend of civilian bodies strewn across the town of Bucha, saying they showed “all the signs” that civilians “were directly targeted and directly killed.” 

At least 89 people have been killed, including four children, and 167 homes damaged in Kyiv since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Kyiv City State Administration wrote in a statement on a verified Telegram page on Wednesday.

Another 398 people, including 20 children, were injured in the war.  

Since Feb. 24, Russian troops have damaged 44 schools, 11 administrative buildings, 26 kindergartens and an orphanage.

In addition to that, two sports facilities, five social facilities, 17 health care facilities, 10 cultural facilities and 48 facilities of transport infrastructure were hit by Russian attacks. 

The administration urged its residents not to lose vigilance and to take shelter at the first signs of air alarms.  

Those who left the capital are asked to refrain from returning for the time being.

Katerina Tikhonova, deputy director of the Institute for Mathematical Research of Complex Systems at Moscow State University and daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is seen on a screen as she takes part in a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 4.

The US is expected to announce it is sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adult children when it rolls out the new sanctions package today, according to sources familiar with the package.  

CNN reported last night that the US could apply sanctions on Putin’s adult children as early as Wednesday, according to a western official familiar with the plans. Putin has acknowledged two adult daughters.

The Biden administration is also eyeing an expansion of sanctions on Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution, and Alfa Bank, another large lender, the official said.

France's Secretary of State and Government's spokesperson Gabriel Attal holds a press conference after the weekly cabinet meeting at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, France, on April 6.

France has called the deaths of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, “a new step in horror” and has vowed to ensure such an act “does not remain unpunished.”

France is also in favor of a tougher sanctions regime against Russia, French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said during a news conference on Wednesday.

“After these massacres, we must go further,” he said. “President [Macron] has told President Zelensky that we have no taboos in terms of sanctions, and he repeated that we are ready for drastic measures on imports of Russian coal and oil.”

Asked by a journalist why France wasn’t blocking natural gas imports from Russia, Attal said that sanctions were “being discussed and worked on at the European level,” and added that it is easier for “us French who only depend on it for 20% [of energy needs] than for other countries who depend on it for 50, 60 or even 100% of theirs.” 

France “has always said that we are in favor of taking sanctions to the maximum level possible, and dialogue continues at the European level,” he said. 

Treasure Secretary Janet Yellen appears before the House Financial Services Committee on April 6 in Washington, DC.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Wednesday about the economic shockwaves set off by the war in Ukraine, including disruptions to the flow of food and energy.

The war – and the West’s response – have already sent food and energy prices soaring and have raised concerns about an economic slowdown or even recession.

Appearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Yellen described Russia’s invasion as “brutal and unprovoked” and emphasized the Treasury Department is committed to holding Russia “accountable for its actions.”

“Globally, spillovers from the crisis are heightening economic vulnerabilities in many countries that are already facing higher debt burdens and limited policy options as they recover from Covid-19,” Yellen said.

The Treasury secretary noted that Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly one-third of the world’s wheat exports.

Yellen said Treasury will press multilateral development banks to speed up food aid to “vulnerable” countries.

Energy prices have been driven higher by concerns about supply from Russia, the No. 1 exporter of crude oil in the world. 

“We are witnessing the vulnerability that comes from relying on one fuel source or one trade partner,” Yellen said, which is why it is imperative to diversify energy sources and suppliers.

European ambassadors are meeting in Brussels to debate the European Commission’s proposal on new sanctions against Russia.

According to an EU source, there is an agreement to adopt this package very quickly, but there are a lot of technical questions, which “is normal as it is a very dense package,” according to the source.

The source said that the ambassadors are going to work with member states all day and are expected to meet again tomorrow to examine some adjustments with the aim of reaching an agreement as soon as possible.

The European Commission on Tuesday proposed a fifth package of sanctions against Russia, which aims to “cut even deeper into the Russian economy.”

The proposed measures include among other things an import ban on coal from Russia worth 4 billion euros per year (or about $4.3 billion).

A NATO foreign ministers meeting will take place in Brussels today, as US officials warn that Russia’s war in Ukraine could be entering a protracted new phase. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was “an important moment” to coordinate with allies and partners “on a number of fronts.”

Recent advances by Russian forces in Kharkiv could be setting the stage for the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk to become the next target of the offensive, according to a report issued by military experts at the Institute for the Study of War. They say these efforts could give Russian troops potential paths to cutting off Ukrainian forces in the east and advancing further into the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

And the world is continuing to react to alleged atrocities committed by Russian forces in recent weeks on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine today:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (on screen) addresses the Dutch House of Representatives in The Hague on March 31, in hopes of getting support in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Netherlands has detained 14 super-yachts with Russian ownership, frozen 516 million euros ($563 million) assets and blocked 155 million euros ($169 million) in transactions as part of the sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra said Wednesday.

In a letter to the Dutch Parliament, Hoekstra explained 12 yachts were currently under construction at five shipyards in the Netherlands for “so-called Russian ‘ultimate beneficial owners.’”

While some of the owners do not appear on the European sanctions list, “due to the current export measures, these vessels are not allowed to be delivered at the moment,” he said, adding that “the ownership structures of these yachts are under further investigation.”

In addition to those 12, Hoekstra said two yachts under maintenance at Dutch yards had been placed under stricter customs supervision, and “the relationship of one of these yachts to a person named on the European sanction lists is being investigated.”

Since the first sanctions were introduced, “almost 30,000 containers in transit to Russia/Belarus have been stopped,” at the Port of Rotterdam, and they were investigated to “determine whether they fall under the sanctions measures,” he added.

Of those investigations approximately 5,500 containers have been held on suspicion of containing luxury goods with a value of 300 euros ($350) per item. “If that is the case, these goods may not be sent to Russia/Belarus,” said Hoekstra.

Dutch customs officials have also made 3,300 checks on cargo shipments. Following investigations, nine shipments were held as they included, “parts for diesel engines, equipment for the oil industry and cryptographic goods (data security),” noted Hoekstra, adding that, “these goods are returned to the exporter and therefore not to the originally specified destination.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested Russia’s atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha and elsewhere are close to resembling “genocide” and vowed more sanctions are on the way. 

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly accused Russian forces of committing genocide in his country, other leaders have stopped short. The claim carries a complex legal weight and investigations are underway into war crimes alleged to have been committed by Russian forces.

Evidence of civilian deaths in Bucha at the hands of Russian forces have nonetheless sparked global condemnation and triggered fresh responses from the West. 

“I have no doubt that the international community, Britain very much in the front rank, will be moving again in lockstep to impose more sanctions and more penalties on Vladimir Putin’s regime,” Johnson vowed.

Regarding phasing out dependency on Russian energy imports, Johnson said, “I think it was a great mistake not to invest long term in nuclear power” and added it is “possible to be more urgent” in rolling out renewables.

Local residents cook food in a courtyard in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 5.

Russia is using hunger as “a weapon” in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Irish lawmakers on Wednesday, highlighting the impact of the Russian blockade of exports. 

Zelensky told Irish lawmakers of how Russian forces have targeted agricultural equipment and fields and blocked exports from leaving Ukrainian ports. 

“Ukraine is one of the leading food supplying countries in the world… This is not just about the deficit and the threat of hunger, hunger for more than dozens of countries. Asia and Africa. But even more because there will be a shortage of food and the prices will go up,” the president said.

Zelensky listed the besieged southern city of Mariupol as the “worst” example of the crisis, highlighting the plight of the city’s half a million residents. 

“They have blocked the access to the soil, to the sea. They are blocking the humanitarian cargo. They are not allowing anything to come through, neither water nor medication. While it was snowing, people would melt the snow to get water. Now they don’t have even that,” he continued. 

NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on April 5.

Russia’s recent strategic change may not mean President Vladimir Putin has given up on trying to capture the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv, according to US and Western officials.

Putin is set to launch a brutal new offensive in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

Putin’s long-term goals are unclear, according to a senior defense official, yet US and European officials have told CNN that a reinvasion of the Kyiv region is still a possibility – despite Russia’s strategic shift and ongoing talks with Ukraine.

The US expects Russia to continue launching air and missile strikes across Ukraine, including against the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Lviv, Sullivan added.

“Russia’s goal, in the end, is to weaken Ukraine as much as possible,” he said.

Read the full story here:

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech on July 25, 2021, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Related article It's too soon to say Putin has given up on capturing Kyiv, despite strategy shift, Western officials warn

At least 55 people were injured in Mykolaiv Region from Russian shelling in the past 24 hours, the head of Mykolaiv regional administration, Hanna Zamazejeva, wrote in a statement on a Telegram page.

All the victims were taken to hospitals and are receiving the necessary assistance, she said.  

As of Wednesday, 306 people injured in attacks on the Mykolaiv region are getting treatment in local hospitals, Zamazejeva added.

The body shell of a Skoda Auto AS Radi automobile passes along the production line at the Volkswagen Group Rus OOO plant in Kaluga, Russia, on September 19, 2017.

As the backlash against Russia’s actions in Ukraine starts to bear consequences, sales of new cars fell by almost 63% in Russia in March compared to the same month a year earlier, according to data out Wednesday from the Association of European Businesses (AEB), a group representing foreign investors in Russia.

A number of foreign carmakers stopped operations in Russia in March and banned vehicle exports to the country. Volkswagen suspended production at its two plants and banned exports. Ford stopped operations at its joint venture and Renault, which owns Russian carmaker Avtovaz, recently said it was suspending all activities at its Moscow factory, and “assessing the available options” regarding its stake in Avtovaz.

Avtovaz, whose Lada brand represented nearly 21% of the car market in Russia in 2021, is facing severe parts shortages. The company has brought forward a company-wide summer vacation to April, and announced it will move to a four-day week for three months from June to try to save the jobs of its more than 40,000 employees. The company says it is also designing new versions of several Lada models to be less reliant on imported parts.

Meanwhile, the average price of a new car in Russia rose by 35-40% in March, according to Russian car market analytics website Avtostat.

Local residents walk past an apartment building in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 4.

The mayor of the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol has compared the city to a Nazi concentration camp, calling the situation a “new Auschwitz or Majdanek.” 

In a statement Wednesday, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said:

“Unfortunately, the eerie analogy is gaining more and more confirmation. This is no longer Chechnya or Aleppo. This is the new Auschwitz and Majdanek. The world should help punish Putin’s villains.”

Dire humanitarian situation: Hundreds of thousands have evacuated the city, which had a pre-war population of more than 400,000. Ukrainian officials have said around 100,000 people still require evacuation from the city, demolished by weeks of shellfire. Russian forces have not allowed evacuation buses to reach the city. 

In an intelligence update issued Wednesday, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said the humanitarian situation in the city is “worsening,” and added “most of the 160,000 residents remaining have no light, communication, medicine, heat or water.”

“Russian forces have prevented humanitarian access, likely to pressure defenders to surrender,” said.

Over 1.1 million men, women and children perished at Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration and extermination camps, according to the Auschwitz Memorial. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the Russian war in Ukraine a “genocide.” 

Shocking images and review into war crimes: The White House has assessed that the world will see more shocking images such as those emerging from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Biden National Security Council official Matthew Miller said Tuesday. Pressed on whether crimes allegedly committed by Russia rise to the level of genocide, Miller said there will be a “full review from the State Department,” which is just beginning to collect evidence. 

The Mariupol City Council released a statement Wednesday claiming that Russian forces had started operating mobile crematoria to dispose of bodies in Mariupol. CNN could not verify that claim. 

The statement noted earlier estimates that put the civilian death toll in Mariupol at 5,000, figures that have not been independently verified. 

The Turkish government has offered to evacuate people trapped in the besieged city by sea, the country’s defense minister announced previously.

Ludmyla Verginska, 51, attends a burial of her friend Igor Lytvynenko in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 5.

Shocking images showing the bodies of civilians scattered across streets in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha have sparked global horror in recent days and raised the urgency of ongoing investigations into Russian war crimes. But a starkly different narrative is playing out on China’s state-run media.

Domestic media reports in China on the civilian casualties in Bucha have been quick to emphasize the Russian rebuttal, with two prominent televised reports from national broadcaster CCTV this week highlighting unsubstantiated claims from Moscow that the situation was staged after Russian forces withdrew from the area.

In one report, a caption citing Russia with the words “Ukrainians directed a good show,” flashes over heavily blurred footage from the Ukrainian town.

There is no evidence to suggest this is the case. Satellite images suggest some bodies had been there since at least March 18, while eyewitnesses have said the carnage began weeks ago.

Read the full story here:

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 11: Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China, speaks during the U.N. Security Council meeting discussing the Russian and Ukraine conflict at the United Nations Headquarters on March 11, 2022 in New York City. The U.N. Security Council met at Russia's request to discuss Russia's claim of U.S.-supported chemical and biological weapon labs in Ukraine. Both Kyiv and Washington have denied the allegations and have called them Russian disinformation. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Related article As the world reacts in horror to Bucha, China's state media strikes a different tone

A woman walks past a church that was damaged during heavy shelling in the town of Derhachi outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on April 6.

Russian troops carried out 27 strikes on residential areas of Kharkiv overnight, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleg Synegubov, said in a statement on a verified Telegram page.

“The enemy wants to demoralize us and continues to carry out chaotic attacks on civilian infrastructure,” he said.

Currently, there are active battles taking place in the direction of the city of Izium and there is an ongoing evacuation of civilians, Synegubov added, claiming that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding their positions while Russian troops are failing in their attempt to break through and are suffering “heavy losses.”

He also warned residents of the Kharkiv region to not touch unexploded ammunition.

“Do not try to transfer them, eliminate them alone, etc. As soon as you see the ammunition – call 101. Also, please do not ignore the alarms and immediately go into a shelter. The danger is not over,” he said.

A drone video taken before March 10 has captured the moment a person riding a bicycle is gunned down by Russian soldiers in Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv. 

The incident occurred on the same street where the bodies of at least 20 civilian men were found Saturday following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area. 

The suburb’s name has this week become a byword for war crimes, after accounts of summary executions, brutality and indiscriminate shelling emerged in the wake of Russia’s hasty retreat, as the Kremlin shifts its focus away from the Ukrainian capital to the country’s east.

A second video posted to Twitter and geolocated by CNN to the same street shows a body sprawled alongside a bike and two more lying prone on the road. Buildings have been extensively damaged, and an electricity pole has been uprooted. Burned-out cars have been abandoned and debris litters the street. 

Read more about the situation in Bucha here:

BUCHA, UKRAINE - APRIL 4: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Image depicts death) Civilians' bodies, which were found dead in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, were gathered to be buried on Monday, on April 4, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine. The bodies of 5 civilians that had been killed in a kindergarten depot in Bucha, where the Ukrainian army retakes control, were placed in a vehicle for burying. Ukrainian authorities sent the bodies of civilians, who were killed with their hands tied, to the cemetery. (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Related article Bodies tied up, shot and left to rot in Bucha hint at gruesome reality of Russia's occupation in Ukraine | CNN

The Caribbean island of Dominica has condemned an “indiscriminate” attack by Russian troops on a Dominica-flagged civilian cargo ship which was “completely destroyed” before sinking in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.  

Dominica’s Maritime Administration alleged that the vessel was “intentionally” struck by two missile shells while berthed in the port on Sunday and “heavily fired upon by Russian armed forces” on Monday in another attack.

“The crew reported shelling, bombing and repeated hits by missiles, causing a fire in engine room,” according to Dominica maritime officials. The crew was evacuated and are currently staying onboard neighboring vessels.

Dominica officials warned that heavy fighting and intensive shelling by Russian armed forces is still ongoing in the port area. The crew members are under an “immense amount of fear and stress,” it said in a statement and urged for their immediate evacuation to a safe area.

Eric R. Dawicki, deputy administrator of Maritime Affairs of the Commonwealth of Dominica Maritime Administration, said in the statement: “An act of war is an act of cowards, bullies and fragile men. The indiscriminate shelling of a merchant vessel with a civilian crew with no place to seek refuge is the lowest of lows. It is an act of war against all of humanity and basic human rights.” 

Dominica “deplores” the attack and “insists that the emotionally and intellectually stunted men behind this heinous act look themselves closely in the mirror and discover how to end such senseless motives. There is nothing good that comes out of war – NOTHING,” he added.

A woman and children eat a meal after their arrival at at a displaced persons' hub in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on April 5.

A convoy of buses and private cars carrying more than 500 civilians who had fled Mariupol has arrived in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Wednesday.

The group led by the ICRC had left Berdiansk on Tuesday and reached Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday. The civilians in the convoy had fled the besieged city Mariupol on their own, the ICRC said.

“It’s clear, though, that thousands more civilians trapped inside Mariupol need safe passage out and aid to come in. As a neutral intermediary, we’re ready to respond to this humanitarian imperative once concrete agreements and security conditions allow it,” he added.

Humanitarian situation worsens: Russian airstrikes and heavy fighting continue in the city, and most of the 160,000 residents remaining have no light, communication, medicine, heat or water, according to an intelligence update from the UK Ministry of Defence issued Wednesday. 

The ICRC said that it had tried to reach Mariupol over the course of five days and four nights, coming within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the city. Security conditions on the ground, however, have made it impossible to enter, it added.

At least 167 children have been killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but that number is likely higher, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address to the Irish parliament on Wednesday. 

“The fact is that in the 42 days of the all-out Russian war, at least 167 children were killed in Ukraine. We don’t know yet all the atrocities of Mariupol and the victims in other areas of Ukraine where the fighting is still going on,” Zelensky told Irish lawmakers.

On Monday, Russian forces shelled a children’s hospital in Mykolaiv, according to the region’s military governor Vitalii Kim. A video posted by Kim appears to show footage of a blast hitting parked ambulances whilst aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said both an oncology and pediatric hospital in Mykolaiv were hit by shelling. 

According to Zelensky, 927 educational institutions, 258 hospitals and 78 ambulances in Ukraine have been targeted by Russian forces. 

Russian forces were “targeting even churches and shelters” where they knew there was “nobody but women and children,” he added.

The new gas-fired power plant in the chemical park at Leuna in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, on March 17. Leuna is the industry's largest site in Germany in terms of area and is directly connected by pipeline to suppliers from Russia.

Germany will stop using Russian oil and gas “as quickly as possible” but doing so straight away would cause too much economic damage at home, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Wednesday.

EU Commission chief Ursula Von der Leyen said Wednesday that the European Union would be placing further sanctions on Russia, likely on gas and oil.

On Tuesday, the EU announced its plans to impose a fifth package of sanctions on Russia including an import ban on Russian coal.

“These sanctions will not be our last sanctions. As I said already yesterday. Yes, we’ve now banned coal, but now we have to look into oil,” she said.

Lindner stressed that, according to the German Economics Minister Robert Habeck, if gas exports were stopped immediately Germany would be threatened not with a loss of growth but with an economic structural break. “That would be unacceptable,” Lindner said.

“The question is, at what point do we do more harm to Putin than to ourselves? After all, we are pursuing a strategy that we cannot sustain for a few weeks, but probably for years,” Lindner said in an interview with Die Zeit.

“If I could only follow my heart, there would be an immediate embargo on everything. However, it is doubtful that this would stop the war machine in the short term,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his office in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked Ireland to put pressure on the European Union to place “more rigid sanctions” on Russia. 

In a virtual address to the Irish parliament on Wednesday, Zelensky said he cannot “tolerate any indecisiveness” after “everything that Russian troops have done” in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president asked Ireland to show “more leadership” and “convince EU partners to introduce even more rigid sanctions against Russia that would really make sure that the Russian war machine will stop.”

The European Commission on Tuesday proposed a fifth package of sanctions against Russia which aims to “cut even deeper into the Russian economy”.

The proposed measures include an import ban on coal from Russia worth 4 billion euros per year ($4.3 billion).

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter Wednesday that more needs to be done.

Some background: On March 29, Ireland joined multiple European nations in announcing they would be expelling Russian diplomats from the country.

The country rmoved four senior Russian diplomatic officials due to their activities not being “in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behavior,” Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said in a statement.

The Russian embassy in Ireland condemned the move, calling it “arbitrary” and “groundless.”

The expulsions “only deteriorate further Russian-Irish relations already damaged by the Irish participation in illegitimate EU sanctions against Russia,” the Russian embassy in Ireland said in a statement posted to its Twitter account.

A building damaged after recent shelling in a northern part of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on April 5.

Ukrainian officials said major fighting was underway in Ukraine’s east, with the regional military governor of eastern Luhansk region urging civilians to evacuate some towns.

On Wednesday, Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior, said, “If we talk about the key directions where combat will be ongoing – it’s the Sloviansk [Donetsk region] and Barvinkove [Kharkiv region] directions, in the Luhansk region it’s in the Popasna and Rubizhne areas and, of course, in Mariupol.”

Some background: Southeastern Mariupol has been under heavy bombardment for many weeks, with Ukrainian officials calling the situation in the encircled city a humanitarian catastrophe. According to officials, around 100,000 civilians require evacuation from Mariupol.

Further north, Serhii Haidai, the military governor of the Luhansk region issued a statement Wednesday calling for the evacuation of several towns in the region.

Haidai said five evacuation corridors would be open Wednesday for getting civilians out of the region.

“We will take everyone out if the Russians allow us to get to the gathering places,” he said. “As you can see, they do not always observe the ‘ceasefire regime.’”

Haidai added: “I appeal to every resident of Luhansk region – evacuate while it is safe. We cannot always get even to the southern part of Rubizhne.”

He added in a separate statement that the town of Popasna was under shelling by Grad rockets.

“There is no ‘ceasefire mode’ in Popasna,” he said. “The Russians are shelling with Grads, mortars, artillery. A significant number of private houses are on fire. Evacuation from Popasna is under threat today.”

Elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said a humanitarian distribution point in the town of Vuhledar had been shelled by Russian rocket artillery, killing two and injuring five.

Pope Francis holds the Ukrainian flag that was sent to him from the town of Bucha during the weekly general audience at the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on April 6.

Pope Francis has condemned the killing of civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha by the Russian military and renewed his call for an end to the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at his Wednesday general audience at the Vatican, the Pope appealed for an end to the “atrocities” seen in Bucha, where the bodies of civilians were found strewn across the streets.

Russia has repeatedly denied the alleged atrocities, despite increasing evidence suggesting otherwise. Responding to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s accusations at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia called the claims against the Russian military “ungrounded.”

Pontiff joined by group of Ukrainian children refugees: The Pope proceeded to unfurl a Ukrainian flag, which he said “came from the martyred city of Bucha,” and kiss it. The move was received with wide applause from the audience.

Francis then invited a group of about a dozen Ukrainian children, who are now refugees in Italy, to come up on the stage with him.

“These children had to flee, and have come to a strange land. This is one of the fruits of war. Let us not forget them, and let us not forget the Ukrainian people,” he said.

Francis also strongly criticized failures by international organizations to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

Some background: While the Pope has not yet visited Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, he told journalists on April 2 that a trip “is on the table.”

Francis’ comments at his general audience on Wednesday echoed his previous shows of support for Ukrainian refugees and calls for an end to the war.

On March 19, Francis visited 19 Ukrainian refugee children at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome, Italy. They were receiving treatment for oncological and neurological diseases among others, as well as severe injuries from blasts, Vatican Press Director Matteo Bruni said at the time.

“Enough. Stop. Let the weapons fall silent. Negotiate seriously for peace,” Francis said at the end of March, during his weekly Angelus address.

“War cannot be something that is inevitable. We cannot get used to war,” he added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gestures as she speaks during a debate at a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on April 6.

China has a “special responsibility” to uphold international peace and not “undermine” sanctions against Russia, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday.

Addressing the European Parliament in Brussels, von der Leyen said the European Union expects “the rest of the world to take a clear stance against Putin’s war of choice.” 

She added that the bloc has sent a message to China calling for sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU to be respected, or at the least, not to be circumvented and undermined.

She warned that the “war that Russia has unleashed” is “not limited to Europe” and will define how violations of international law are treated in the future.

“China has to take a clear stance on that,” she added.

Some context: Von der Leyen said Wednesday that the EU would be placing further sanctions on Russia, likely on gas and oil.

The announcement came a day after the EU revealed its plans to impose a fifth wave of sanctions on Russia, including an import ban on Russian coal.

Read more on the subject here:

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 11: Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China, speaks during the U.N. Security Council meeting discussing the Russian and Ukraine conflict at the United Nations Headquarters on March 11, 2022 in New York City. The U.N. Security Council met at Russia's request to discuss Russia's claim of U.S.-supported chemical and biological weapon labs in Ukraine. Both Kyiv and Washington have denied the allegations and have called them Russian disinformation. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Related article As the world reacts in horror to Bucha, China's state media strikes a different tone

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced 11 evacuation routes had been agreed upon with Russia on Wednesday.

In the southeastern region of Ukraine, she said the corridors open would be:

Evacuation attempts stalled: Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said Monday his city was “on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe,” with more than 100,000 people still requiring evacuation.

Bus convoys for evacuating civilians from the besieged port of Mariupol have not been able to reach the city, and aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were detained in Russian-held territory while attempting to evacuate desperate residents of Mariupol, a spokesperson told CNN Tuesday.

Vereshchuk announced the ICRC team’s release in a statement posted to Telegram earlier on Tuesday, remarking that “despite the promises of their leadership, the [Russian] occupying forces do not allow anyone to go to Mariupol.”

They were later released after negotiations, Vereshchuk added.

Meanwhile, the eastern region of Luhansk has seen intense fighting, with settlements coming under heavy shelling. According to Vereshchuk, the corridors open Wednesday in the Luhansk region are:

Greece has announced it is removing 12 Russian diplomats.

“The Greek authorities have declared 12 members of the diplomatic and consular missions of the Russian Federation accredited in Greece as personae non gratae,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a press release Wednesday.

The Russian Ambassador in Greece was informed earlier today about this decision, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Estonia, Denmark and Latvia all announced Tuesday that they would expel Russian diplomats and staff members from their respective territories.

Firefighters work at a site of burning fuel storage facilities damaged by an airstrike in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on April 6.

The Russian military announced a series of strikes around Ukraine targeting what they described as fuel storage and supply bases around the country.

“On the morning of April 6, high-precision air- and ground-based missiles destroyed five bases for storing fuel and lubricants in the areas of the settlements of Radekhiv [Lviv region], Kozyatyn [Vinnytsia region], Prosiana [Dnipropetrovsk region], Mykolaiv and Novomoskovsk [Dnipropetrovsk region],” Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said in a statement Wednesday.

Konashenkov claimed those installations provided fuel to Ukrainian troops in the areas of Kharkiv and Mykolaiv and in the Donbas region of Ukraine’s east.

Some context: Ukrainian officials earlier confirmed strikes and explosions overnight in several regions, including in the Lviv, Vinnytsia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

A fuel depot in east-central Ukraine was destroyed in a Russian airstrike overnight, according to Valentyn Reznichenko, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration. 

Meanwhile, Russian strikes on Saturday interrupted rail service and sparked a fire in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and the office of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General said a criminal investigation has been opened into the attack.

There were no military facilities on the territory of the railway hub, the statement added.

A satellite image shows destroyed homes and armored vehicles along Vokzalna Street, in Bucha, Ukraine, on March 31.

The Russian column of tanks and armored personnel carriers sped along a residential street in Bucha, a tree-lined suburb of the capital Kyiv. That was February 27th.

A short time later, that same line of vehicles lay in ruins, the wreckage smoldering, after being ambushed by Ukrainian forces.

There was no sign of the column’s soldiers. In a video showing the destruction, a man could be heard muttering: “I wish you all to burn in hell.”

But that Ukrainian victory was to be short-lived; a month-long occupation of Bucha by Russian forces followed.

The suburb’s name has this week become a byword for war crimes, after accounts of summary executions, brutality and indiscriminate shelling emerged in the wake of Russia’s hasty retreat, as the Kremlin shifts its focus away from the Ukrainian capital to the country’s east.

Devastation mirrors incidents across the country: In recent days, Moscow has claimed – without evidence – that the atrocities in Bucha were staged – calling it “fake,” and part of a “planned media campaign.”

But witnesses who spoke to CNN said the carnage in the town began weeks ago.

And the devastation there bears similarities to Russia’s playbook in other towns and cities in Ukraine, where officials say civilian infrastructure has come under attack – with power supplies knocked out, water cut off and communications towers damaged – making it harder for local residents to hold out against Russian troops. But Ukraine has not surrendered.

There have also been reports of looting, disappearances, and evidence of the indiscriminate killings of civilians since the war began.

Read our full report here:

BUCHA, UKRAINE - APRIL 4: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Image depicts death) Civilians' bodies, which were found dead in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, were gathered to be buried on Monday, on April 4, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine. The bodies of 5 civilians that had been killed in a kindergarten depot in Bucha, where the Ukrainian army retakes control, were placed in a vehicle for burying. Ukrainian authorities sent the bodies of civilians, who were killed with their hands tied, to the cemetery. (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Related article Bodies tied up, shot and left to rot in Bucha hint at gruesome reality of Russia's occupation in Ukraine | CNN

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech including the latest developments of the war against Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia, on April 6, in Strasbourg, France.

The European Union will place further sanctions on Russia, likely on gas and oil, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday.

“At this critical point in the war we must increase the pressure on Putin again,” von der Leyen said in an address to the European Parliament in Brussels.

On Tuesday, the EU announced its plans to impose a fifth package of sanctions on Russia including an import ban on Russian coal.

The EU also needs to look at the “revenues that Russia gets from fossil fuels,” she added.

Her remarks were echoed by European Council chief Charles Michel in a tweet Wednesday, saying that EU “measures on oil, and even gas will also be needed sooner or later.”

Read more:

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

Explosions were reported late Tuesday in the Radekhiv area of Lviv region in western Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials.

A fire followed the explosion and was immediately extinguished by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Kozytskyi said. No casualties were reported.

Air Command West of the Ukrainian Air Force also issued a statement on Wednesday saying two Russian cruise missiles were downed Tuesday night in the Lviv region.

“Last night, the occupiers’ fighter jets flying from Belarus hit the territory of Ukraine with cruise missiles,” the statement read. “Ruscists [Russian fascists] were aiming for civil infrastructure objects of Lviv region. But due to the successful actions of the anti-aircraft missile forces of Air Command West, two cruise missiles were destroyed, making it impossible for the enemy missiles to hit the target.”

Recent advances by Russian forces in Kharkiv could be setting the stage for the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk to become the next target of Russia’s offensive, according to a report issued Monday by military experts at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank tracking the conflict. 

Russian forces withdrawn from the northern Kyiv region are likely a “spent force” and “unlikely to be effective elsewhere,” despite efforts to redeploy them, the report said.

Russian efforts to generate reserves and replace officer casualties continue to face serious challenges, it also said, citing the Ukrainian General Staff.

Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid attends a news conference following a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens, Greece, on April 5.

In the country’s strongest denunciation yet of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid described the killings in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, as “war crimes.”

As has been the case since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Lapid’s comments — first made while speaking alongside his Greek and Cypriot counterparts — were in marked contrast to those of Israel’s Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett. While Bennett also condemned the killings in Bucha, he did not blame Russia. 

Some context: Israel is one of the few countries that maintains good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv. It is particularly wary of upsetting Russia, whose blessing it needs to carry out strikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria.

On March 5, Bennett flew to Moscow — on the Jewish Sabbath — to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He’s since held at least three calls with Putin, and half a dozen with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as Israel attempts to mediate between the two and bring an end to the fighting. 

Yet the country’s stance — tacitly supporting international sanctions while providing only humanitarian aid to Ukraine — is coming under increasing pressure. Addressing Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset, last month, Zelensky criticized Israel for not doing more to help his country, warning that it would “have to live” with its decisions.

A fuel depot in east-central Ukraine was destroyed in a Russian airstrike overnight, according to Valentyn Reznichenko, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration. 

Some context: Earlier Russian strikes interrupted rail service and sparked a fire Saturday in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and the office of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General said a criminal investigation has been opened into the attack.

There were no military facilities on the territory of the railway hub, the statement added.

Police officers stand guard as crime scene investigators check the area where a car crashed into the gate of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, Romania, on April 6.

A car crashed into the gate of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, Romania, on Wednesday morning, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. 

The incident happened around 6:30 a.m. local time, TASS said, citing Radio Romania. According to the radio station, the car subsequently caught fire, TASS reported. 

According to police, the driver has died, the Russian state news agency said.  

Traffic has been restricted on the street where the embassy is located and law enforcement is investigating the causes of the incident, the report added.

People stand in lines to buy food from mobile kiosks outside of a damaged supermarket in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Tuesday.

Russian airstrikes and heavy fighting continue in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to an intelligence update from the UK Ministry of Defence issued Wednesday. 

Some context: On Monday, Mayor Vadym Boichenko said the southern port city was “on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe,” with more than 100,000 people still requiring evacuation.

Ukrainian officials have consistently decried the Russian military for blocking humanitarian aid and reneging on pledges to allow evacuation corridors for civilians.

An evacuation convoy of seven buses accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross was held up Monday in Manhush, a Russian-held town to the west of Mariupol, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

T. S. Tirumurti, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, speaks during a meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

India’s ambassador to the United Nations condemned the killings of civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, marking a noticeable shift in Indian officials’ public approach to the invasion of Ukraine by its long-time partner Russia. 

T.S. Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, called reports of the killings “deeply disturbing” during a UN Security Council meeting Tuesday. 

Some context: Previous statements issued by the Indian government have fallen short of condemning Russia’s aggression, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi instead appealing for a “cessation of violence.”

India has also abstained from various UN resolutions condemning Russia, maintaining that peace talks should be held and the two nations focus on “diplomacy and dialogue.”

Criticism from opposition at home: Tirumurti made his statement on the same day as India’s opposition Congress Party expressed concerns over the nation’s position on the war. 

During a parliamentary discussion on the issue, Shashi Tharoor described India’s first UN statement in February as “deplorable.” 

Fellow Congress Party lawmaker Manish Tewari spoke on the evolving geopolitics, saying “this new Iron Curtain has the potential of actually dividing the world,” and added that India “may not have the option of being able to sit atop this new Iron Curtain.” 

Discussion is scheduled to continue Wednesday with India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar to respond.

Volunteers collect the body of a man who was shot while driving his car in Borodianka, Ukraine.

Ukraine’s president told the UN Security Council that Russian troops killed for “pleasure,” while scenes of devastation from the Russian occupation have emerged from the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, with bodies of civilians and ransacked homes among the rubble.

Here are the latest developments on the war in Ukraine:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the United Nations Security Council via video on April 5.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian troops of indiscriminately killing civilians “just for their pleasure” in an emotionally charged address Tuesday to the United Nations Security Council during which he questioned the very mandate of the Security Council itself.

Here’s what to know about his UN speech:

Read more on Zelensky’s UN speech here.

The US will announce new sanctions on Russia Wednesday in coordination with Group of Seven nations and the European Union, according to an administration official.

The official said the sweeping package “will impose significant costs on Russia and send it further down the road of economic, financial, and technological isolation.”

The new sanctions package will:

The new sanctions package will mark the latest escalation in efforts by the US and its allies to impose costs on Russia for its invasion and, over time, cut off critical economic sectors the country utilizes to wage the ongoing war.

They also follow new revelations of further atrocities committed by Russian forces in northern Ukraine, with the images of the atrocities committed in Bucha serving as an accelerator to ongoing discussions between the US and its European allies to ramp up the economic costs, officials said.

The official added, “We had already concluded that Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine, and the information from Bucha appears to show further evidence of war crimes. And as the President said, we will work with the world to ensure there is full accountability for these crimes. One of those tools is sanctions — and we have been working intensively with our European allies on further sanctions.”

More context: The expected sanctions come after the US Treasury announced it will no longer allow Russia to pay down its debt using dollars stockpiled at American banks. While Washington had imposed sanctions on the Russian Central Bank freezing their foreign currency at US banks, the Treasury Department had previously allowed Russia to use those reserves to repay its debt.

It’s a move that officials say will substantially raise the risk of default and undercut urgent efforts by the central bank to stanch the economic bleeding that immediately arrested the Russian economy in the wake of the Western response to the invasion.

Read more about the sanctions here and watch CNN’s reporting below:

European leaders have planned to phase out Russian coal imports in response to harrowing scenes in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv.

On Tuesday, the European Commission proposed a phased ban of €4 billion ($4.3 billion) worth of Russian coal imports per year as part of a fifth package of sanctions designed to further diminish Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest. Other proposals target Russian technology and manufacturing imports, worth another €10 billion ($10.9 billion).

Europe has imposed punishing sanctions on Russia’s economy since Putin’s tanks rolled into Ukraine in late February, but stopped short of targeting Russia’s energy sector — until now. Images of unarmed civilians, bound and shot, lying along Bucha’s roads — which were until recently under Russian occupation — have convinced leaders to change tack.

More details on the new round of sanctions, including the timeline for the ban on coal, are expected Wednesday when EU ambassadors meet for talks. The measures still need the approval of all 27 member states.

Sanctioning coal will bite some European countries, but it’s among the easiest energy sources to wean off — much of the world is already doing just that. The trickier question is: What happens next?

How much Russian coal goes to Europe? Russia was the world’s third-largest exporter of coal in 2020, behind Australia and Indonesia, according to the International Energy Agency, with Europe by far its biggest customer.

The continent received 57 million tons of Russian hard coal that year, compared to 31 million tons for China, IEA data shows. This amounted to more than half of Europe’s coal that year, according to Eurostat.

But the EU was already turning away from the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel.

The amount of electricity generated by coal has decreased steadily across the block in recent years, falling 29% between 2017 and 2019, according to analysis by energy think tank Ember.

And despite a brief uptick last year as gas prices hit record highs, the IEA anticipates that European demand for coal will resume its steady decline. Total imports were expected to drop 6% by 2024 even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Other countries could step in to buy Russian coal. The IEA expects India’s coal imports to rise 4% in 2024, and more than 6% in Southeast Asia. Russia has already benefited from a jump in exports to China following Xi Jinping’s block on Australian imports, the agency said in a December report.

Read more:

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

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian troops of indiscriminately killing civilians “just for their pleasure” in an emotionally-charged address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, before questioning the very mandate of the Security Council itself.

Zelensky’s speech came a day after he visited the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where shocking images of bodies in the streets emerged over the weekend.

On Tuesday, he related the aftermath of Russia’s retreat from the town in horrifying detail, describing entire families killed, people with their throats slashed, and women raped and killed in front of their children. Zelensky said Russia’s actions were no different from those of a terror group, except that Russia is a permanent member of the UNSC.

At least 1,480 civilians have been killed and at least 2,195 have been injured in Ukraine between the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 and April 4, a UN official said at the meeting, citing updated numbers from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The latest figures on the number of Ukrainian civilians in the conflict had “more than doubled” since the last briefing to the UNSC on March 17.

In Bucha, bodies strewn across the streets and in basements were found by human rights groups and documented by independent journalists. Satellite images suggest some bodies had been there since at least March 18.

In his damning speech, Zelensky said there was “not a single crime” that the Russians “would not commit,” alleging that Russian troops had “searched for and purposefully killed anyone who served our country.”

Read more:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appears on a screen as he addresses the United Nations Security Council via video link during a meeting, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., April 5, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Related article Ukraine President Zelensky details alleged Russian atrocities in hard-hitting UN speech

Oksana Kostychenko walks down a narrow pathway, leading to her back garden in Borodianka. The flower beds on one side are surprisingly well arranged, contrasting with the wanton destruction all around.

Near her garden shed is the body of a man laying face-down with a bag over his head and hands tied behind his back. His trousers are pulled down. There are large bruises on his left leg and a large wound on his head.

Next to his body is a single bullet casing.

There are no documents on the man, but authorities on site say all indications show he was another civilian casualty of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.

The body is one of many recently found in cities to the east of Kyiv that were occupied by Russian forces.

Borodianka was home to 13,000 people before the war, but most fled after Russia’s invasion. What was left of the town, after intense shelling and devastating airstrikes, was then occupied by Russian forces, which moved in on Feb. 28.

Yuriy Pomin was still in town when the Russian attack started.

Today, the 33-year-old is cleaning up his fourth-floor apartment. The multi-story building next to his was razed to the ground by a Russian strike, and he’s moving what’s left of his possessions to another house outside the city.

“I cannot stay here,” he said. “It’s not safe.”

Read more:

Volunteers collect the body of a man, shot through his heart while driving his car. They tell us he was transporting medical supplies. (Vasco Cotovio/CNN)

Related article 'We're not finding soldiers, just innocent people': The horror of Russian occupation revealed in Borodianka