Biden says Putin’s war in Ukraine “certainly seems to him” like genocide
US President Joe Biden boarding Air Force One to travel to Iowa at the Andrews Joint Base in Maryland, April 12, 2022.
Alexander Drago Reuters
President Joe Biden says growing evidence of atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine is beginning to look worse than isolated war crimes. It looks like genocide, the president said.
“I called it genocide because it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to erase the idea that he might even be Ukrainian,” Biden said late Tuesday.
“The evidence is growing. It looks different from last week. There is more evidence literally of the terrible things the Russians did in Ukraine,” he said.
Hours earlier, Biden shocked the world by calling Putin’s war “genocide” for the first time.
Speaking at an event on inflation in Iowa, Biden told the audience: “Your family budget, your ability to fill your tank, none of this should depend on a dictator declaring war and committing genocide halfway around us.
A White House adviser quickly went on television to clarify that Biden’s words did not reflect a change in US policy toward Ukraine.
Biden acknowledged that the legal definition of “genocide” is separate from his impression of what is happening in Ukraine.
However, the president did not reconsider his initial assessment. “We will only learn more and more about the devastation and leave it up to lawyers to decide internationally whether it qualifies as genocide under international law.” “But it definitely seems that way to me,” Biden said.
The statement was immediately praised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who tweeted Biden moments after he spoke on the track.
“Christina Wilkie.”
Biden calls Putin’s actions in Ukraine “genocide”
US President Joe Biden addresses the North American Construction Trade Unions (NABTU) Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, USA, April 6, 2022. REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque
Kevin Lamarck Reuters
President Joe Biden on Tuesday called the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine “genocide.”
In a speech in Iowa, the president blamed Putin for the recent rise in pump prices. “Your family budget, your ability to fill your tank, none of this should depend on a dictator declaring war and committing genocide in half the world,” Biden said.
On April 5, the president stopped calling the atrocities in Bucha genocide when asked by reporters whether Russia’s actions there met that definition. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at the time that the documented killings in Ukraine had not reached the level of “genocide”, as defined by the US government.
The State Department has a long internal process to determine whether mass killings constitute genocide, including gathering evidence over a period of time.
– NBC News
Russian troops patrol the Mariupol Drama Theater
Russian soldiers are patrolling the Mariupol Drama Theater, which was hit by an air strike on March 16th.
Editor’s note: These photos were taken during a trip organized by the Russian military.
A Russian soldier patrols the Mariupol Drama Theater, which was hit by an air strike on March 16, in Mariupol on April 12, 2022, while Russian troops step up their campaign to capture the strategic port city, part of an expected massive attack in eastern Ukraine. Editor’s note: This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military.
Alexander Nemenov AFP | Getty Images
A Russian soldier patrols the Mariupol Drama Theater, which was hit by an air strike on March 16, April 12, 2022 in Mariupol. Editor’s note: This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military.
Alexander Nemenov AFP | Getty Images
A Russian soldier collects weapons found during a patrol at the Mariupol Drama Theater, which was hit last March 16 by an air strike on April 12, 2022 in Mariupol. Editor’s note: This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military.
Alexander Nemenov AFP | Getty Images
A Russian soldier patrols the Mariupol Drama Theater, which was hit by an air strike on March 16, in Mariupol on April 12, 2022, while Russian troops intensify a campaign to capture the strategic port city. Editor’s note: This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military.
Alexander Nemenov AFP | Getty Images
Ukraine says the Russian cyberattack was aimed at shutting down its energy grid
The Russian flag shown on the laptop screen with a binary code overlay.
Nurfoto | Getty Images
Russian military hackers tried and failed to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure last week, the country’s government and a major cybersecurity company said on Tuesday.
The attack is intended to infiltrate computers connected to multiple substations and then delete all files, which would close this infrastructure, according to Ukraine’s summary of the incident.
ESET, a Slovak-based cybersecurity company that works to help secure Ukrainian infrastructure, said in a summary of the attack that it was carried out by the same Russian military intelligence unit, the GRU, which had previously carried out similar attacks. in 2014 and 2015
In both incidents, some Kyiv residents temporarily lost electricity.
– NBC News
Zelenski posted a photo of captured pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk
President Zelensky posted on social media a photo of Viktor Medvedchuk with “A special operation was carried out thanks to the SBU. Well done! Details later. Glory to Ukraine!” Written below.
Courtesy: Office of the Presidency of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has announced the apparent capture of Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Kremlin politician who lived in Ukraine under house arrest on charges of treason but is said to have fled shortly after Russia launched its invasion.
“Thanks to the SBU, a special operation was carried out,” Zelensky wrote in Russian in his confirmed account on the social media platform Telegram, citing the Security Service of Ukraine. “Well done! Details later. Glory to Ukraine!”
Above this inscription, Zelenski posted a photo showing a shaggy Medvedchuk sitting next to a radiator with his hands clasped in handcuffs.
Medvedchuk was the leader of a pro-Russian opposition party in Ukraine and a staunch opponent of Kyiv’s calls for NATO membership.
“Kevin Brewinger.”
A new Russian military convoy has been spotted in eastern Ukraine, the Pentagon said
Satellite image shows armored vehicles at the northern end of a military convoy moving south through the Ukrainian city of Veliky Burluk, Ukraine, April 8, 2022.
Maxar Technologies | Reuters
A senior U.S. defense official told reporters during a conversation that a new convoy of Russian vehicles is about 57 miles north of Izyum, in eastern Ukraine.
The city of Izyum is located on the main road between Kharkiv and the Russian-separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
The official, who wished to remain anonymous to share new details from US intelligence reports, said the Pentagon believed the long mile convoy was working to supply Russian forces.
Satellite photos of the convoy have surfaced as the Kremlin appears to be reorienting its war in Ukraine to the east after failing to take Kyiv.
Satellite image shows armored vehicles and trucks at the southern end of a military convoy moving south through the Ukrainian city of Veliky Burluk, Ukraine, on April 8, 2022. Photo taken on April 8, 2022.
Maxar Technologies | Reuters
“We estimate that it is moving, but not at breakneck speed,” the official said, adding that it was not clear how many vehicles were in the convoy and how fast it was moving.
The official added that it was not entirely clear where the convoy was going, but reiterated that according to Western intelligence reports, Russia would soon step up its military campaign in eastern and southern Ukraine.
“Amanda Macias.”
Russian strikes on Mariupol are intensifying
Russia’s national flag flies near the ruined buildings in Mariupol on April 12, 2022, as Russian troops step up their campaign to capture the strategic port city, part of an expected mass attack in eastern Ukraine, as the Russian president makes defiant arguments for war against a neighbor. Russia. – * EDITOR’S NOTE: This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military. *
Alexander Nemenov AFP | Getty Images
The coastal Ukrainian city of Mariupol is bearing the brunt of Russia’s ongoing siege, as Western security officials warn that the Kremlin will soon step up its military campaign there.
“Obviously, the Russians want Mariupol because of its strategic location,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, noting that it is a large port city that gives them unhindered and unimpeded access to the land between Donbass and Crimea. Both territories are held by Russian-backed separatists.
Kirby said the Pentagon had observed Russian forces focusing much of their strikes on Mariupol and the Donbass region.
“I do not have a perfect knowledge of every long-range missile or fire that the Russians launch at Mariupol. He continues to be attacked by air strikes, “Kirby added. Earlier in the day, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters during a conversation that Russian forces had fired more than 1,540 missiles at Ukraine since the Kremlin’s invasion on February 24.
Ukrainian authorities said on Monday that Russian forces had used chemical weapons in Mariupol.
“Amanda Macias.”
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom told Biden about a surprise visit to Kyiv
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson shake hands before a meeting as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 9, 2022.
Press service of the President of Ukraine Reuters
President Joe Biden held a defensive 45-minute conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this morning, just days after Johnson returned from a surprise trip to Ukraine.
Johnson told Biden that he was “humiliated” by the “strength and determination” of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky …
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