LVV, Ukraine, April 6 (Reuters) – The United States and its allies on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on Moscow over civilian killings described by President Volodymyr Zhelensky as “war crimes” as fierce fighting and Russian airstrikes hit the besieged port of Mariupol.
The southern city of Mariupol has been under attack by Russian forces and has been bombed continuously since the early days of the invasion nearly six weeks ago, leaving tens of thousands of residents without food, water or electricity.
“The humanitarian situation in the city is deteriorating,” British military intelligence said Wednesday.
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“Most of the remaining 160,000 residents have no access to light, communications, medicine, heat or water. Russian forces have blocked humanitarian access, which could force the guards to surrender.” Reuters could not immediately confirm the news.
Western sanctions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the largest attack on a European nation since World War II, have received new impetus this week as civilians were found shot dead near the northern city of Pucha and recaptured from Russian forces.
Moscow refused to target civilians in Pucha and described the evidence presented as a “vicious sham” staged by the West to discredit it. read more
The White House has said the new sanctions, which will be released on Wednesday, are part of Pucca’s policy.
The White House has said that integrated measures between Washington, the seven advanced economies and the European Union will target Russian banks and officials and ban new investment in Russia. read more
The proposed sanctions by the EU would require the ratification of 27 member states, banning the purchase of Russian coal and barring Russian ships from entering EU ports.
EU executive Ursula von der Leyen said the group was also working to ban oil imports. Europe, which receives one-third of its natural gas from Russia, is wary of the economic impact of a total embargo on Russia’s energy. read more
But as a signal of strengthening the EU’s determination, Germany’s foreign minister said the coal embargo was the first step towards a ban on all Russian fossil fuel imports. Ukraine says a ban on Russian gas is essential to reaching an agreement to end the war in peace talks.
On Tuesday, the UN. After an emotional speech to the Security Council, Zhelensky said that “new sanctions against Russia must be conducive to the attraction of the war crimes of the occupiers”, adding that this was an “important moment” for Western leaders.
New Zealand said on Wednesday that it would impose a 35% tax on all goods imported from Russia and would extend export restrictions on industrial products linked to strategic Russian industries.
“Pictures and reports of atrocities against civilians in Pucha and other parts of Ukraine are hateful and reprehensible, and New Zealand continues to respond to Putin’s relentless aggression,” said Foreign Minister Nanaya Mahuta in a statement. .
This still, taken from a video uploaded on a social media website on April 4, 2022, shows members of the state emergency service collecting weapons after Russia left the area in Puja, Ukraine. Guide through the State Emergency Service / REUTERS in Kiev province
The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the United States has agreed to provide an additional $ 100 million in aid to Ukraine, including anti-spear shield systems.
American chipmaker Intel Corp. He said he had stopped doing business in Russia and had joined several companies to leave the country. read more
Thousands of auto workers have been laid off in the small Russian city of Kaluga, and food prices are rising as Western sanctions hit its primary foreign carmaker. read more
Bucha burial
Ukrainian officials say a church in Pucha, north of the capital Kiev, may have contained a mass grave of 150 to 300 bodies.
Satellite images taken weeks ago show the bodies of civilians on a street in the city, underestimating Russia’s claims that Ukrainian forces caused the deaths or staged the scene, a private U.S. company said. read more
Reuters reporters saw at least four people shot in the head in Pucha, with one hand tied behind his back.
Residents have described cases in which many were killed, some were shot in the eyes and one was beaten to death and mutilated.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian Sergei Lahovsky buried the body of a childhood friend who had been shot in the mouth after disappearing when Russian troops occupied the city. read more
Lahovsky and others grabbed shovels and dug a shallow grave on the edge of the grass. They used a carpet to carry the remains, put him in a ditch before covering him with wooden planks and put soil on top.
“Why did these animals shoot him?” Lahovsky cried. “This is not Russia, this is a monster.”
Reuters has not been able to independently verify Lahowski’s account details or who was responsible for the killings in Pucha.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion, it has failed to capture a large city in Ukraine, which it calls a “special military operation” with the aim of militarizing and “reducing” it.
The Kremlin’s position was rejected by Ukraine and the West as an excuse for an unprovoked invasion that has uprooted a quarter of the country’s population.
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Additional reporting from Reuters bureaus; Written by Rami Job and Michael Perry; Editing Lincoln Feast
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