The last:
- Zelensky from Ukraine will speak about the meeting of the Security Council, which should begin at 10 am ET.
- The governor of Luhansk warns residents after the alleged Russian strike on a nitric acid storage tank.
- Spain, Italy, Denmark are among the last countries to expel Russian diplomats.
- The president of the European Commission will travel to Kyiv to meet with Zelensky this week.
The President of Ukraine plans to address the most powerful UN body on Tuesday, after even more frightening evidence of the massacre of civilians in areas that Russian forces have recently left. Western nations have expelled dozens of other Moscow diplomats and weighed additional sanctions while expressing disgust at what they say are war crimes.
President Vladimir Zelensky’s speech to the Security Council will be rich in symbolism, but the invitation and other manifestations of Western support are unlikely to change the situation on the ground. He says his forces are in desperate need of more powerful weapons, some of which the West is reluctant to provide.
Russia’s veto guarantees that the body will not take any action, and it was unclear whether its representatives would even remain in the video room.
Ukrainian authorities say the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in cities around Kyiv that have been captured by Russian forces, and that a “torture chamber” has been found in a town called Bucha, from which some of the the darkest details.
An elderly woman prepares lunch on Monday in the basement of a building in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Dozens of bodies have been found in the city after Russian troops withdrew, sparking war crimes charges. (Rodrigo Abd / Associated Press)
Journalists from the Associated Press in Bucha counted dozens of corpses in civilian clothes. Many appear to have been shot at close range, and some have had their hands tied or their flesh burned. There were bodies wrapped in plastic in a mass grave in the churchyard. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said the bodies of five men were tied up in the basement of a children’s sanatorium, where civilians were tortured and killed.
High-resolution satellite imagery from retailer Maxar Technologies showed many of the bodies lay in the open for weeks while Russian forces were in the city. The New York Times reported for the first time on images showing the dead.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie has promised that “these terrorist acts will not go unpunished,” and US President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin should be tried for war crimes.
Millions have fled their homes in Ukraine
“Only non-humans are capable of that,” said Angelika Chernomor, a refugee from Kyiv who moved to Poland with her two children and who had seen the Bucha photos. “Even if people live under a totalitarian regime, they must retain feelings, dignity, but they do not.
Chernomor is among more than four million Ukrainians who fled the country after the February 24 invasion. More than seven million people have been displaced in Ukraine, according to the UN Migration Agency.
People arrive at Lviv Central Station from Zaporizhia on Tuesday. More than four million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, and millions more have been internally displaced. (Joe Redl / Getty Images)
Russia has denied allegations of atrocities, with officials repeatedly saying without evidence that the scenes were forged. Moscow said it would talk about Bucha at the UN on Tuesday, saying its representatives would attend at least part of the meeting.
Russia has tried to refute similar accusations against its forces in the past, accusing its enemies of falsifying photos and videos and using so-called crises. Western officials and independent reporters say Russia is spreading misinformation to cover up its actions.
WATCH Russia rejects photos of the dead in Bucha as fake:
Russia says the photos of the dead Ukrainians in Bucha are fake
Journalist Stuart Smith, who reports under restrictions from Moscow, says Russia’s official position on the video of the dead in Bucha, Ukraine, is that it was manipulated and possibly created by troll factories and public relations agencies to discredit Russia. . 2:17
Western countries are expelling Russian diplomats
As Western leaders condemned the killings in Bucha, Italy, Spain and Denmark expelled dozens of Russian diplomats on Tuesday after actions by Germany and France. Hundreds of Russian diplomats have been sent home since the invasion began, many accused of being spies.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the expulsions “short-sighted” a measure that would complicate communication during the crisis, and warned that they would be met with “reciprocal steps”.
WATCH Biden says Putin should be tried for war crimes:
World leaders have condemned Russia for allegedly killing civilians in Bucha
Amid condemnation of world leaders, US President Joe Biden did not back down, calling for a war crimes trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin over the deaths of civilians in Bucha. Despite growing evidence, it is still unclear whether Putin can be tried at all. 1:49
In another show of support, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to travel to Kyiv to meet with Zelensky this week. The 27-member EU has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24th and has already passed four rounds of sanctions. A fifth round is being considered this week.
But Western nations are divided over how far to go. Some are calling for a boycott of Russian oil and gas imports, while Germany and others fear such a move could plunge the continent into a severe economic crisis. And NATO allies have refused to hand over some of the most powerful weapons Zelensky has demanded, such as fighter jets.
Their provision of other weapons and equipment is credited with helping Ukraine build stronger-than-expected resistance to Russia’s superior firepower.
A Ukrainian soldier walks with children passing destroyed cars in Bucha on Monday. (Rodrigo Abd / Associated Press)
This resistance has stopped Russian forces from capturing the capital and their troops are now withdrawing from areas around Kyiv. About two-thirds of Russian troops around the city have left and are either on their way to or on their way there, said a U.S. defense official who requested anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment.
The official said they were probably receiving more supplies and reinforcements. Other Western and Ukrainian officials have warned that many are simply regrouping. Some are already redeploying to the east, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces in the Donbass region since 2014.
People remain in the yard while the smoke rises in the background after the shooting in Odessa on Sunday. (Petros Janakouris / Associated Press)
The Ukrainian president called for more weapons
Zelenski again called on Monday for more weapons to deal with the upcoming offensive.
“If we already had what we needed – all these planes, tanks, artillery, anti-missile and anti-ship weapons – we could have saved thousands of people,” he said.
The president’s video addresses to European capitals, in which he seeks diplomatic, financial and military support for his country, have become almost a daily affair, and he was expected to address the Spanish parliament on Tuesday.
But the speech to the Security Council could be even more dramatic, with all eyes on the reaction of all Russian representatives present.
Victoria Mukhina, 33, planted tulips with her daughter Miroslava near a damaged apartment building in the southern port city of Mariupol on Monday. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters)
The Ukrainian military says Russia in Donbass is focused on capturing the cities of Popasna and Rubezhne in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the port of the Sea of Azov, Mariupol, which has witnessed weeks of heavy fighting at a staggering cost to the city and its residents.
“The enemy is regrouping its troops and concentrating its efforts on preparing an offensive operation in the eastern part of our country,” the statement said. “The goal is to establish full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” which Russia has declared independent.
Ukraine’s Luhansk governor on Tuesday urged residents to stay inside, close windows and doors and prepare wet face masks after a Russian strike hit a nitric acid storage tank near Rubezhne that Russians are trying to seize.
Sergei Haidai warned that the chemical, which is used in fertilizers and explosives, “is dangerous if inhaled, ingested and in contact with skin and mucous membranes.” The Russian military has not commented on the alleged attack and it cannot be verified independently.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said seven humanitarian corridors would be opened on Tuesday, including from besieged Mariupol, from which 1,500 civilians escaped in personal vehicles on Monday, and from Russian-controlled Berdyansk.
WATCH Residents of besieged Mariupol are fighting every day:
Residents of Mariupol, Ukraine bury their dead, fighting for survival
Residents of the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol are struggling daily, burying the dead, searching for food and water, and trying to maintain their mood amid intense fighting. 1:32
But it was not immediately clear whether Russia had agreed to stop fighting in the corridors. Previous efforts to bring civilians safe through humanitarian corridors have failed due to renewed fighting.
An international team of the Red Cross refused to enter Mariupol at least for Tuesday, after several days of trying to deliver aid to the besieged city and help escort civilians …
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