Russia-Ukraine live news: Biden says Putin committing ‘genocide’ | Russia-Ukraine war News
US president’s remark comes amid rising concerns over civilian casualties in Ukraine, fears of fresh Russian offensive in east.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised that Moscow will triumph in its “noble” war aims in Ukraine.
- The mayor of Mariupol says about 21,000 civilians have been killed in the besieged Ukrainian city to date.
- The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says it is concerned by the unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use in Mariupol.
- The United Nations is demanding an independent investigation into allegations that Russian forces have committed acts of sexual violence, including rape, in Ukraine.
Here are all the latest updates:
Biden says Russia is committing ‘genocide’
US President Joe Biden has accused his Russian counterpart Putin of committing “genocide” in Ukraine.
“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank – none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away,” Biden said at an event in Iowa on rising gas prices in the United States.
Biden had previously described Putin as a “war criminal“, drawing rebuke from Moscow, but this is the first time he has used the word “genocide” to describe events in Ukraine.
World Bank to send Ukraine $1.5bn as food, energy prices spike
The World Bank is preparing a $1.5bn support package for Ukraine, President David Malpass has said.
In remarks at the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland, Malpass said the bank was helping Ukraine provide critical services, including paying wages for hospital workers, pensions and social programmes.
“The World Bank was created in 1944 to help Europe rebuild after World War Two. As we did then, we will be ready to help Ukraine with reconstruction when the time comes,” Malpass said.
Chemical weapons watchdog says it is monitoring situation in Ukraine closely
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has said it is concerned by the recent unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use in Mariupol.
A spokesperson for the chemical weapons watchdog said the OPCW “is monitoring closely the situation in Ukraine”.
The group also said it had “uninterruptedly been monitoring the situation around declared chemical industrial sites” in the country.
Top US diplomat says Washington cannot confirm use of chemical weapons in Ukraine
The United States is “not in a position to confirm” recent reports of chemical weapons use in Ukraine but is working to determine what happened, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
Ukraine said earlier it was checking unverified information that Russian forces may have used chemical weapons while besieging the city of Mariupol.
“We’re in direct conversation with partners to try to determine what actually has happened,” Blinken told reporters.
Zelenskyy publishes photo of pro-Russian politician in handcuffs
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has published a photo of prominent pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk in handcuffs after what he said was an operation by security forces.
Kyiv said in February that Medvedchuk, the leader of the Opposition Platform – For Life party, had escaped from house arrest. Last year, authorities opened a treason case against Medvedchuk, who says Putin is the godfather to his daughter, and who denies wrongdoing.
Ivan Bakanov, the head of Ukraine’s national security agency, said on the agency’s Telegram channel that Medvedchuk had been detained.
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Read all the updates from Tuesday, April 12 here.
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