Russia-Ukraine live news: Biden says Putin committing ‘genocide’

US president’s remarks come amid rising concerns over civilian casualties, fears of fresh Russian offensive in east.

Crosses are placed at a burial site in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 12, 2022 [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]

By Jihan Abdalla- 12 Apr 2022

 

• US President Joe Biden says Russia is committing “genocide” in Ukraine by seeking to “wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian”.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised that Moscow will triumph in its “noble” war aims.
• 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.

(Al Jazeera)

 

Biden stands by ‘genocide’ remark: ‘Sure seems that way to me’

Biden has stood by his characterisation of Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “genocide”, saying Putin “is trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian”.

“I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting,” Biden told reporters.

“We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me,” he said.

Read more here.

Biden spoke to reporters while departing Des Moines International Airport in Iowa [Al Drago/Reuters]

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39 mins ago (22:24 GMT)

FIFA warned court of World Cup chaos if Russia played

Letting Russia try to qualify for the World Cup risked doing “irreparable and chaotic” harm to the competition, FIFA has argued successfully at sport’s highest court.

The legal debate between FIFA and the Russian soccer federation was published by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, explaining why its judge denied an urgent Russian request to freeze a ban that excluded its teams from the men’s and women’s World Cups.

“Those decisions are both fully understandable and cannot be criticised from either a legal or moral point of view,” FIFA lawyers said in a submission to the court.

Russia, China seek to undercut US in space, US agency finds

A report on space and security conducted by the US’s Defense Intelligence Agency has shown that Russia and China may be taking steps to undercut the US in its advantage in space, with both nations seeing space as a requirement for winning modern wars.

Those conclusions were spelled out at the Pentagon in the release of “Challenges in Security in Space Report – 2022”.

“Evidence of both nations’ intent to undercut the United States and allied leadership in the space domain can be seen in the growth of combined in-orbit assets of China and Russia,” said Kevin Ryder, a senior analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

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54 mins ago (22:10 GMT)

Ukrainians return home to widespread destruction

Areas that were retaken by Ukrainian forces north of the capital, Kyiv, have sustained widespread damage by Russian shelling.

A few people have returned to see the devastation for themselves, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan reports from Irpin, Ukraine:

60 mins ago (22:04 GMT)

Zelenskyy proposes swapping pro-Russian politician for prisoners

Zelenskyy has proposed swapping Medvedchuk for male and female prisoners of war being held by Moscow’s forces.

In his daily address, the Ukrainian president said it was “important for our security forces and military forces to consider such a possibility”.

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1 hour ago (22:03 GMT)

US to announce $750m more in weapons for Ukraine: Officials

The Biden administration is expected to announce another $750m in military assistance for Ukraine for its fight against Russian forces, two US officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The equipment would be funded using Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, in which the president can authorize the transfer of articles and services from US stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency.

One of the officials said final determinations were still being made about the mix of equipment.

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2 hours ago (21:11 GMT)

Biden says Russia is committing ‘genocide’

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,” the US president said at an event in Iowa on rising gas prices in the US.

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.

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3 hours ago (19:56 GMT)

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.

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3 hours ago (19:50 GMT)

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.

A woman carries the portrait of Dmytro Stefienko, 32, a civilian killed during the war with Russia, during his funeral in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv [Rodrigo Abd/AP]

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3 hours ago (19:37 GMT)

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.

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4 hours ago (19:32 GMT)

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.