WASHINGTON — The United States and its allies are pushing ahead with sanctions aimed at forcing Vladimir Putin to spend Russia ’ s money propping up its economy rather than sustaining its “ war machine ” for the battle in Ukraine, a clear Treasury Department official said Tuesday .
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, one of the main U.S. coordinators on the russian sanctions strategy, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the goal is to make Russia “ less able to project power in the future. ”
On the like day that inflation notched its steepest addition in decades, Adeyemo said reducing supply range backlogs and managing the pandemic are key to bringing down soaring prices that he related to the ongoing kingdom war in Ukraine, which has contributed to rising energy costs.
Adeyemo discussed the following steps the U.S. and its allies will take to inflict fiscal pain on Russia — and the complications the war has on rising costs to Americans rear home plate .
Adeyemo said the U.S. and its allies will next target the provision chains that put up to the construction of Russia ’ south war car, which includes “ everything from looking at ways to go after the military devices that have been built to use not merely in Ukraine, but to project office elsewhere. ”
key DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR :
— Ukraine probes claim poisonous kernel dropped in Mariupol
— A attend at Russia ’ s military objectives and challenges it faces
— ‘ It ’ s not the end ’ : The children who survived Bucha ’ s horror
— Russian war worsens fertilizer crunch, risking food supplies
— Czechs provide free shooting educate for local anesthetic Ukrainians
— Go to https : //apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine for more coverage
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other DEVELOPMENTS :
KYIV, Ukraine — More than 720 people have been killed in Bucha and other Kyiv suburbs that were occupied by russian troops and more than 200 are considered neglect, the Interior Ministry said early Wednesday .
In Bucha alone, Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said 403 bodies had been found and the toll could rise as minesweepers comb the area .
Ukraine ’ s prosecutor-general ’ randomness function said Tuesday it was besides looking into events in the Brovary zone, which lies to the northeast .
Authorities said the bodies of six civilians were found with gunfire wounds in a basement in the village of Shevchenkove and russian forces are believed to be responsible .
Vladimir Putin vowed Tuesday that Russia ’ s bloody offense in Ukraine would continue until its goals are fulfilled and insisted the campaign was going as planned, despite a major withdrawal in the face of stiff ukrainian enemy and significant losses .
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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is preparing yet another, more divers, package of military support possibly totaling $ 750 million to be announced in derive days, a senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday .
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans not yet publicly announced .
The extra help is a sign that the administration intends to continue expanding its back for Ukraine ’ s war effort .
pitch is ascribable to be completed this workweek of $ 800 million in military aid approved by President Joe Biden fair one month ago .
— reported by Associated Press writer Robert Burns .
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KYIV, Ukraine — ukrainian officials say fleeting ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is both the erstwhile leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a airless associate of russian drawing card Vladimir Putin, has been detained in a special operation carried out by the country ’ s SBU hidden service .
In his nightly video address to the nation Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed that Russia could win Medvedchuk ’ sulfur freedom by trading Ukrainians immediately held in russian prisons .
Ivan Bakanov, the head of Ukraine ’ s national security means, said on the means ’ south Telegram channel that Medvedchuk had been detained .
The affirmation came soon after Zelenskyy posted on social media a photograph of Medvedchuk sitting in handcuffs and wearing a disguise uniform with a ukrainian masthead patch .
Medvedchuk was the erstwhile leader of the pro-Russian party Opposition Platform – For Life. He was being held under house check before the war began and disappeared shortly after hostilities broke out .
Putin is the godfather to Medvedchuk ’ s youngest daughter .
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the world Tuesday to respond to Russia ’ mho use of a poisonous substance in Mariupol .
“ Given the repeated threats by russian propagandists to use chemical weapons against the Mariupol defenders and given the repeated use by the russian army, for exercise, of phosphorus munitions in Ukraine, the universe must react now, ” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video savoir-faire to the nation Tuesday .
Phosphorus munitions cause awful burns but are not classed as chemical weapons .
Zelenskyy said experts were still trying to determine what had been used in Mariupol .
Zelenskyy said in addition to the killings in Bucha, more evidence was appearing of the “ cold cruelty ” of russian soldiers toward women and children in other Kyiv suburbs and other towns in the north and east .
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DES MOINES, Iowa —President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that Russia ’ s war in Ukraine amounted to a “ genocide, ” accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to “ wipe out the idea of even being a ukrainian. ”
Speaking in Iowa concisely before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, Biden said he meant it when he said at an earlier consequence that Putin was carrying out a genocide against Ukraine .
“ Yes, I called it genocide, ” he told reporters. “ It ’ s become clear and clear that Putin is merely trying to wipe out the mind of evening being a ukrainian. ”
Biden added that it would be up to lawyers to decide if Russia ’ s lead met the international criterion for genocide, but said “ it certain seems that way to me. ”
“ More testify is coming out literally of the atrocious things that the Russians have done in Ukraine and we ’ re entirely going to learn more and more about the devastation and let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, ” Biden said .
Biden had previously said he did not believe Russia ’ s actions amounted to genocide, equitable that they constituted “ war crimes. ”
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MENLO, Iowa — President Joe Biden for the first time referred to Russia ’ second invasion in Ukraine as a “ genocide ” Tuesday .
Speaking in Iowa at an event about steps his administration is taking to staunch rising fuel costs because of the war, Biden termed the conflict, which has seen Russia carry out atrocities against ukrainian civilians, as a “ genocide. ”
Said Biden : “ Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a earth away. ”
Biden has previously stated that he did not believe Russia ’ sulfur actions amounted to genocide, as ukrainian government officials have argued, but rather were “ war crimes. ”
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WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. Congress said the Biden presidency and its allies will not stand by if chemical weapons were used in the Russian war with Ukraine .
Lawmakers monitoring developments during a tripper to Poland said Tuesday that the U.S. is investigating reports that a poisonous message had been dropped in Mariupol. But they cautioned that determining the nature of the fire in the besiege interface city could take time .
“ We ’ re taking those reports badly and I know the United States government and others are trying to determine if that did indeed occur, ” said Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo .
Crow said the government “ has been very clear that the practice of chemical weapons will not be tolerated. ”
The democratic lawmakers, all members of the House Intelligence Committee, are bracing for a potential long war in Ukraine. They said at a press brief that Congress is looking at future steps in sending extra military and other help to Ukraine .
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken besides addressed the reports coming from Mariupol .
“ We ’ re not in a position to confirm anything, I don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate think Ukrainians are either, ” Blinken told reporters. “ But let me say that we had credible information that russian forces may use a diverseness of riot dominance agents, including tear gasoline mix with chemical agents, that would cause stronger symptoms to weaken, incapacitate … ukrainian fighters and civilians, as region of the aggressive campaign ” in Mariupol .
“ We share that information with … Ukraine and other partners, ” Blinken said. “ And we ’ re in aim conversation with partners to try to determine what what actually is happening. ”
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The ball-shaped chemical weapons watchdog says it is “ concerned by the late unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use in Mariupol ” and is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine .
The spokesperson for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says in a statement that the allegations follow “ reports in the media over the past few weeks of shelling targeted at chemical plants located in Ukraine, together with accusations levelled by both sides around possible misuse of toxic chemicals. ”
The spokesperson said in Tuesday ’ s statement that the “ consumption of chemical weapons anywhere by anyone under any circumstances is condemnable and wholly contrary to the legal norms established by the international community against such practice. ”
Both Russia and Ukraine are among the organization ’ s 193 member states .
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning administration says that it “ remains ready to assist any State Party upon its request, in case of use or terror of use of chemical weapons. ”
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WARSAW, Poland – Germany ’ second president of the united states has called on Russia ’ mho leader Vladimir Putin to pull out his troops from Ukraine and stop the “ atrocity ” there as he stressed that Germany will not restore its previous ties with Russia a retentive as Putin is in office .
Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Warsaw on Tuesday to talk with Poland ’ s President Andrzej Duda about supporting Ukraine ’ s fight and aiding millions of refugees fleeing the war .
“ This atrocity which we see every day must stop, ” Steinmeier said at joint newsworthiness league .
“ This can lone happen by President Putin ordering his army to stop and I believe that only then ( armistice ) talks can be successful, ” Steinmeier said .
“ One thing is clean : a restitution to normal is not potential with Russia under Putin, ” Steinmeier said, adding that war crimes in Ukraine must be investigated and “ those who committed them and those who are politically responsible must be held accountable. ”
Steinmeier end week admitted mistakes in policy toward Russia in his previous high-level jobs, when Germany pursued negotiation with Putin and cultivated near department of energy ties .
Steinmeier served as ex-Chancellors ’ Gerhard Schroeder ’ s head of staff and Angela Merkel ’ s extraneous minister. Schroeder is now head of the board of directors of Russia ’ mho express anoint giant Rosneft .
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VIENNA — Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer pledged continue “ political and human-centered accompaniment ” for Ukraine in a telephone conversation with ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, Nehammer said in a instruction .
The call came a day after Nehammer became the first european drawing card to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
“ It ’ s important to me to immediately inform all key proponents in this conflict about my talks, ” Nehammer said, according to the statement released Tuesday evening by the austrian chancellery .
Nehammer said he recounted his merging in Moscow to Zelenskyy, telling the ukrainian drawing card about the most crucial messages he relayed to Putin .
Among those messages are that the war needs to stop, that those creditworthy for “ unplayful war crimes ” like those committed in the ukrainian city of Bucha will be held to account, and that the European Union is “ deoxyadenosine monophosphate unite as it ’ randomness always been ” on maintaining its sanctions against Russia .
He besides told Zelenskyy he believes the sequel of talks in Istanbul are an authoritative footfall toward bringing an end to the violence, and that Austria will “ continue to support all ongoing efforts for peace. ”
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KYIV, Ukraine — An adviser to ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has paid tribute to ukrainian troops defending the besieged south-eastern port of Mariupol but acknowledged they are running low on supplies .
Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter that “ for more than 1.5 months our defenders protect the city from ( russian ) troops, which are 10+ times larger. They ’ rhenium fighting under the bomb for each meter of the city. They make ( Russia ) pay an exorbitant price. ”
Mariupol was a key target for russian forces soon after the invasion began in late February. It has symbolic meaning as one of the largest cities in eastern Ukraine. It is besides strategically valuable as a major harbor and as region of a state corridor between territory held by Russia-backed separatists to the east and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 .
“ Our soldiers remain blocked and have issues with supplies, ” Podolyak wrote, adding that Zelenskyy and the ukrainian general staff are working “ to find a solution and help our guys. ” He did not give details, citing operational reasons .
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KYIV, Ukraine — The mayor of the ukrainian town of Bucha, where corpses of civilians with bound hands and gunfire wounds to the lead were found after russian forces pulled out, says 403 bodies have been found so far and that he fears the toll will rise .
“ today, at 10 ante meridiem we started unearthing the second batch dangerous, there are 56 bodies there. Plus, there are four private graves. But I ’ d like to repeat that as of nowadays, we have 403 bodies, ” Anatoliy Fedoruk told reporters in Kyiv. “ Taking into report that our armed forces, our minesweepers are working in the forests between villages and settlements in our territorial community, we hope that those who are missing are inactive alert but most credibly we will find their bodies somewhere between the villages, in those forests. ”
Fedoruk besides said 31 multi-story residential buildings had been destroyed or damaged beyond animate during the war, along with 243 individual houses .
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BERLIN — Germany ’ s president of the united states says his polish counterpart suggested that they travel to Ukraine together with other leaders to show solidarity, but that proposed visit “ apparently wasn ’ t wanted in Kyiv. ”
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier ’ s comments Tuesday, during a chew the fat to Poland, came after german newspaper Bild quoted an unidentified ukrainian diplomat as saying that he ’ s not welcome in Kyiv at the here and now because he had close relations with Russia in the past .
Steinmeier said polish President Andrzej Duda had suggested that they travel to the ukrainian capital with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to send “ a strong bespeak of joint european solidarity with Ukraine. ” He said he had been prepared to do indeed .
Steinmeier final week admitted mistakes in policy toward Russia in his former job as extraneous minister .
Steinmeier served twice as ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel ’ s foreign minister, most recently from 2013 to 2017, and ahead that as ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder ’ randomness headman of staff. In that clock time, Germany pursued negotiation with russian President Vladimir Putin and cultivated cheeseparing energy ties .
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KHARKIV, Ukraine — A strike hit a what is believed to be a culinary educate near the airport in Ukraine ’ s second-largest city on Tuesday, destroying the build and damaging others nearby, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene .
It wasn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate clear what hit the build in Kharkiv, with witnesses describing a loudly woosh followed by an explosion. There were no immediate reports of fatalities .
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BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania ’ s President Klaus Iohannis used a speech to his country ’ mho delegating of Invictus Games participants on Tuesday to admonish russian aggression in Ukraine .
“ The russian Federation has been waging war against Ukraine for about 50 days, and shocking evidence of atrocities and horrors is impossible day by day, ” Iohannis told the hurt and hurt military personnel, who will compete in the 2022 Invictus Games set to begin in the Netherlands on Saturday .
“ You know best what destruction and loss of animation and the drama of war mean, how much families and communities are affected forever, ” he said .
Iohannis said that Russia ’ mho acts of “ awful, unjustified cruelty ” must be punished by the external department of justice arrangement .
The Invictus Games, an international clean event for hurt servicemen and women, was launched in London in 2014 .
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KYIV, Ukraine — ukrainian prosecutors are expanding their war crimes investigations in northeastern suburbs of Kyiv after russian forces withdrew .
Reports of killings of civilians have chiefly focused so far on the northwestern suburbs such as Bucha, but the Prosecutor-General ’ s Office said Tuesday it was besides looking into events in the Brovary district, which lies to the northeast .
russian troops advanced into that area last month before retreating to focus on fighting in eastern Ukraine .
The Prosecutor-General ’ south Office said the bodies of six civilians had been found with gunfire wounds in a basement in the greenwich village of Shevchenkove and that russian forces were believed to be responsible .
Prosecutors are besides investigating an incident in which they allege russian forces fired on a convoy of civilians trying to leave by car from the village of Peremoha in the Brovary zone, killing four people including a 13-year-old male child. In another incident near Bucha, five people were killed, including two children, when a car was fired upon, prosecutors said .
Prosecutors did not say when they believed the incidents occurred .
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MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin says that Russians ’ one will only grow stronger in the face of westerly sanctions and it will be the West that will face instability .
Putin said during a visit to the Vostochny space launch facility in Russia ’ s Far East on Tuesday that the West mistakenly expected its sanctions to undermine Russia ’ s stability. He said that “ the russian people always strengthen their one in a unmanageable situation. ”
He insisted that it will be the West that will be shaken by growing imbalance, fueled by public dismay over galloping inflation. The russian leader besides lashed out at european leaders, describing them as Washington ’ randomness stooges and saying that they are conducting policies harmful to their nations .
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MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin says that Russia will press on with its military action in Ukraine until its goals are fulfilled .
Putin said Tuesday that the political campaign is going according to plan. He said it is not moving faster because Russia wants to minimize losses .
He said during a sojourn to the Vostochny space establish facility in Russia ’ s Far East that the “ military operation will continue until its full completion and the fulfillment of the tasks that have been set. ”
Putin claimed that Ukraine backtracked on proposals it made during talks with russian negotiators in Istanbul, resulting in a deadlock in talks and leaving Moscow no other choice but to press on with its offensive .
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MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin says the russian economy has successfully resisted newly western sanctions over Ukraine .
Speaking Tuesday on a visit to the Vostochny space plunge facility in Russia ’ s Far East, Putin said that Russia ’ s economy and fiscal system withstood the impingement of what he called the westerly sanctions “ blitz ” and the ruble has recovered its losses .
Putin argued that the sanctions will backfire against the West. For case, he said that western restrictions on fertilizer exports from Russia and ally Belarus will drive up ball-shaped fertilizer prices, finally leading to food shortages and increase migration flows .
Putin said that “ common feel should prevail ” and added that the West should “ come back to reason and make well-adjusted decisions without losing its face. ” He contended that “ they won ’ triiodothyronine be able to shut all the doors and windows. ”
He argued that new western restrictions on high-tech exports will encourage Russia to move faster to develop modern technologies, opening a “ fresh window of opportunities. ”
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BOSTON — ukrainian officials say a planned cyberattack by russian military hackers on the state ’ randomness power grid has been foiled .
They say the nation ’ s calculator hand brake reception thwarted an attack planned by hackers from Russia ’ s GRU military intelligence agency that intended to knock electrical substations offline end Friday .
The State Service of Special Communications said on its web site that malware was discovered designed to destroy data on computers .
There was no immediate explanation of how the fire was defeated, though the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine thanked Microsoft and the cybersecurity firm ESET in a offprint bulletin. Nor was the telescope immediately explained .
GRU hackers doubly successfully attack Ukraine ’ s might grid, in the winters of 2015 and 2016 .
Russia ’ second practice of cyberattacks against ukrainian infrastructure has been limited compared to experts ’ pre-war expectations. In the early hours of the war, however, an attack Ukraine blames on Russia knocked offline an important satellite communications link that besides impacted tens of thousands of Europeans from France to Poland .
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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Slovakia ’ mho politics has approved increasing the count of troops in a multinational NATO battlegroup in the country from 2,100 to 3,000 .
The first 800 military service members have already arrived in Slovakia. The Czech Republic took charge of the battlegroup, with the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia besides contributing .
Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad says the increase in the plan parade numbers is related to Patriot air travel defense mechanism systems that the United States, Germany and the Netherlands are deploying in Slovakia .
The move should boost Slovakia ’ second defensive structure capabilities after the nation donated its Soviet-era S-300 air defense system to Ukraine concluding week .
The alliance stationed troops in the baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — and Poland after the 2014 annexation of Ukraine ’ s Crimean Peninsula by Russia. After Russia attacked Ukraine, NATO decided to boost its presence along the entire eastern flank by deploying forces in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia .
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GENEVA — The World Trade Organization is predicting that trade in goods will grow much less than previously expected this year, saying prospects for the ball-shaped economy have darkened since the attack of Russia ’ s war in Ukraine .
The Geneva-based WTO on Tuesday pointed to multiple uncertainties in its calculate over the next two years because russian and ukrainian exports of items like food, oil and fertilizers are under menace from the war. It besides cited the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic –- notably from lockdowns in China .
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala described a “ double whammy ” from the dispute and the coronavirus. She said the war has caused “ huge human suffering ” in the region and its impression has rippled around the worldly concern, notably in poor countries .
The WTO said its projections for world trade take into history factors like the affect of the war, sanctions on Russia, and lower demand around the world from lower business and consumer confidence. It said world merchandise deal bulk is expected to grow 3 % this year, down from a bode of 4.7 % before the war began .
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MOSCOW — The russian military says it has hit ukrainian arsenals with long-range cruise missiles .
russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday that the military used air- and sea-launched missiles to destroy an ammunition storehouse and a reinforce airdock for warplanes at Starokostiantyniv in the Khmelnytskyi region .
Konashenkov said that another hit destroyed a ukrainian ammunition terminal in Havrylivka, near Kyiv .
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NICOSIA, Cyprus — The mind of Cyprus ’ Orthodox Christian Church is “ unreservedly ” condemning Russia ’ randomness invasion of Ukraine, saying there ’ s “ no justification ” for russian President Vladimir Putin to “ destroy a country, to raze it to kill. ”
Archbishop Chrysostomos II told state broadcaster CyBC Tuesday that the invasion is “ an unacceptable situation ” and that Putin ’ s actions have “ no logic. ” The archbishop said he ’ s distraught that people are being killed and questioned whether the russian leader is “ in his correct mind. ”
The archbishop added that he ’ d be the “ first to go and bless a defensive war, ” but the “ egotism, if not the stupidity ” of the russian leadership “ knows no bounds. ”
Chrysostomos besides questioned Putin ’ s embrace of Orthodox Christianity, including the sincerity of his travels to the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was baptized .
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