Russia-Ukraine war latest: Biden calls for Putin war crimes trial; Borodyanka worse than Bucha, says Ukrainian prosecutor

The United States will request Russia’s removal from the UN human rights council, Reuters reports. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, called for the international body to suspend Russia ideally some time this week.

“Russia’s participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce,” said Thomas-Greenfield. “And it is wrong, which is why we believe it is time the UN General Assembly vote to remove them.

“My message to those 140 countries who have courageously stood together is: the images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us to now match our words with action,” she continued.

Read the rest of Reuters’ coverage here.

Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser told said that the newest phase of Russia’s invasion could go on for months if not longer.

Russia is likely to send thousands of troops to the Eastern regions of Ukraine, according to Reuters.

It’s just after 11pm in Ukraine. I’m Abené Clayton and I’ll be taking over the blog from the US west coast. So far today:

• Ukraine has accused Russian forces of committing war crimes and a “massacre” in Bucha after the bodies of unarmed Ukrainian civilians and mass graves were found on Sunday. Bodies of civilians – many with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture – were found on the streets after Ukrainian troops reclaimed the town just 30km north-west of the capital, Kyiv.

• Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Bucha, wearing body armour and surrounded by military personnel. Speaking on national television, the Ukrainian president said it had become harder for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia since Kyiv had become aware of the scale of alleged atrocities carried out by Russian troops.

• Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said the town of Borodyanka would be the worst-hit by the Russian invasion in the Kyiv region. Speaking on national television, Venediktova said the number of victims in Borodyanka, about 23km west of Bucha, would be higher than anywhere else, but did not provide further details.

• The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said the evidence of civilian killings from the town of Bucha were just the “tip of the iceberg”. Speaking at a joint press conference with the UK foreign minister, Liz Truss, he said the “horrors of Bucha, Mariupol, and other places” demand “serious G7 and EU sanctions”.

• Joe Biden called for Vladimir Putin to be tried for war crimes and said he would seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine. “You may remember I got criticised for calling Putin a war criminal,” Biden told reporters at the Fort McNair army post in Washington. “Well, the truth of the matter – we saw it happen in Bucha – he is a war criminal.” The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the bloc was urgently working on a new round of sanctions against Moscow.

Three hundred and fifty-five dogs died in animal shelters in the Kyiv Oblast during the Russian invasion, reported the Kyiv Independent.

From the Kyiv Independent:

355 dogs die in animal shelters in Borodyanka in Kyiv Oblast during Russian occupation. Food and water couldn’t be brought to the shelters.

Only 150 dogs survived the occupation, according to animal rights organization UAnimals.

The US will announce new sanctions against Russia this week, reports Reuters.

Today, White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that the US will bring a new round of sanctions against Russia as its invasion of Ukraine continues.

Sullivan also said that the US will announce additional military assistance to Ukraine in the coming days.

Russia is likely to deploy thousands of soldiers to eastern Ukraine, reports Reuters.

Russia is ramping up its campaign against eastern Ukraine, with probable plans to “deploy tens of thousands of soldiers” to that region, the White House said on Monday, as it works will allies to unload fresh sanctions against Moscow.

Speaking to reporters, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also said that images emerging from Bucha, a town recently recaptured by Ukrainian troops as Russian forces regroup, were tragic and shocking.

The White House said today that images of killings from Bucha, Ukraine, are “further evidence of war crimes” taking place during the Ukraine invasion.

During a briefing, White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that the reports of killing in Bucha today were upsetting but “not surprising” given evidence of war crimes Russia has committed.

Sullivan said:

We had already concluded that Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine, and the information from Bucha appears to show further evidence of war crimes.

Russia has backed a new, self-proclaimed mayor of Mariupol, who is collaborating with Russian forces, reports Reuters.

The announcement came from Mariupol’s city council in an online post.

Mariupol is surrounded by Russian forces who have taken over parts of the city, but do not have full control, said Ukraine’s defense ministry.

The US state department said today that the US is concerned by reports of Trevor Reed’s deteriorating health, reported Reuters.

Reed, a former US marine who is jailed in Russia, recently ended his hunger strike, reported Russian news agencies today.

Reed is reportedly being treated in a prison medical facility, but his family told several news outlets that Reed is not getting proper medical care.

The state department called on Russian officials to either provide Reed with proper medical assistance or release him to the US.

The US is supporting a team of international prosecutors to collect evidence of atrocities in Ukraine, reports Reuters.

The United States, at the request of Ukraine, is supporting a multi-national team of international prosecutors to the region to help collect and analyze evidence of atrocities with a view toward pursuing accountability, the State Department said on Monday.

“We are tracking and documenting atrocities and sharing information with institutions working to hold responsible those accountable,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.

German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier admitted today that economic cooperation with Russia was a mistake, reports NEXTA.

Specifically speaking about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that was dissolved when Russia invaded Ukraine, Steinmeier said:

I did not believe that Vladimir Putin would accept the complete economic, political and moral collapse of his country for the sake of his imperial madness.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that Russian forces are still blocking an evacuation convoy being escorted by the International Committee of the Red Cross in the eastern town of Manhush, reported Reuters.

An ICRC spokesperson confirmed earlier today that one of its teams was stopped while trying to reach the besieged city of Mariupol today, and was being held by Russian forces.

Ukraine said today that Russia is preparing to launch an attack in eastern Ukraine to capture the city of Kharkiv and surround Ukraine’s eastern frontline, reports Reuters.

At a briefing today, Ukraine’s defense ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk also said that Russia is currently attacking the cities of Rubizhne and Popasna in the eastern Luhansk region, while preparing an attack on the city of Severodonetsk and working to capture Mariupol.

Reuters was not able to verify Motuzyanyk’s claims and he did not provide any evidence during his briefing.

Motuzyanyk also noted that Russian forces have set up medical facilities to prepare for a potential increase in military casualties.

Moscow will respond to France’s decision to expel Russian diplomats, reports Reuters, citing Russia’s Interfax news agency.

France decided today to remove the Russian diplomatic staff “whose activities are against our interests”, said the French ministry of foreign affairs, following a similar move made by Germany today.

A total of 35 Russian diplomats will be expelled, reported AFP.

It is 9pm in Kyiv. Before I hand the live blog over to my US colleague, Gloria Oladipo, here’s a summary of today’s developments so far:

• Ukraine has accused Russian forces of committing war crimes and a “massacre” in Bucha after the bodies of unarmed Ukrainian civilians and mass graves were found on Sunday. Bodies of civilians – many with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture – were found on the streets after Ukrainian troops reclaimed the town just 30km north-west of the capital, Kyiv.

• Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Bucha today, wearing body armour and surrounded by military personnel. Speaking on national television, the Ukrainian president said it had become harder for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia since Kyiv had become aware of the scale of alleged atrocities carried out by Russian troops.

• Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said the town of Borodyanka will be the worst-hit by the Russian invasion in the Kyiv region. Speaking on national television, Venediktova said the number of victims in Borodyanka, around 23km west of Bucha, would be higher than anywhere else, but did not provide further details.

• The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said the evidence of civilian killings from the town of Bucha are just the “tip of the iceberg”. Speaking at a joint press conference with the UK foreign minister, Liz Truss, he said the “horrors of Bucha, Mariupol, and other places” demand “serious G7 and EU sanctions.

• Joe Biden called for Vladimir Putin to be tried for war crimes and said he would seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine. “You may remember I got criticised for calling Putin a war criminal,” Biden told reporters at the Fort McNair army post in Washington. “Well, the truth of the matter – we saw it happen in Bucha – he is a war criminal.” The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the bloc was urgently working on a new round of sanctions against Moscow.

• The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU was ready to send joint investigations teams to Ukraine to document the alleged Russian war crimes and crimes against humanity. She said she had spoken with Zelenskiy about the “dreadful murders” that were uncovered over the weekend.

• The Kremlin said it categorically denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians in Bucha and said Ukrainian allegations on the matter should be treated with doubt. Russia’s foreign ministry said that footage of dead civilians in the town had been “ordered” by the United States as part of a plot to blame Russia. Russian state media dismissed the horrifying images and testimonies that emerged from Bucha as western-orchestrated “fakes” and “planned provocations”, claiming “Ukrainian Nazis” were responsible for the deaths of the civilians.

• Russian forces are sending Ukrainian citizens to “filtration camps” before forcibly relocating them to Russia, according to the accounts of two women who said they were transported to Russian territory from the besieged city of Mariupol last month.

• Buses meant for the rescue of civilians from Mariupol were not able to reach the besieged southern Ukrainian city, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said. A spokesperson from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said a team is being “held by police” in the town of Manhush, 20km west of Mariupol.

• The US will ask the United Nations general assembly to suspend Russia from the human rights council, US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said. The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, also called for Russia to be expelled from the UN’s human rights council.

The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said the evidence of civilian killings from the town of Bucha are just the “tip of the iceberg”.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the UK foreign minister, Liz Truss, he said the “horrors of Bucha, Mariupol, and other places” demand “serious G7 and EU sanctions.

Kuleba called for the “most severe” sanctions to be imposed against Russia, and demanded Russia’s expulsion from the UN Human Rights Council.

He said:

The horrors that we’ve seen in Bucha are just the tip of the iceberg of all the crimes (that) have been committed by the Russian Army.

Half measures are not enough any more. I demand most severe sanctions this week, this is the plea of the victims of the rapes and killings. If you have doubts about sanctions go to Bucha first.

Addressing foreign ministers who will attend Nato, EU and G7 meetings this week, Kuleba said:

If you have doubts, reluctance, or arguments about the need to keep doing business with Russia, go to Bucha first and then talk to me.

A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is being “held by police” in the Ukrainian town of Manhush, 20km west of the besieged city of Mariupol, a spokesperson said.

A statement by the ICRC said:

The team was stopped on Monday while carrying out humanitarian efforts to help lead a safe passage corridor for civilians.

The ICRC has been in direct contact with our colleagues and is speaking with the parties on all sides to bring clarity to the situation and allow them to resume their humanitarian work.