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Ukraine war: Zelenskyy urges UN to act; Russian diplomats expelled | Top points
India also condemned the killings of civilians in Bucha and called for an independent investigation, having earlier declined to explicitly criticise the invasion of Ukraine by its long-time partner Russia.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its 41st day on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reached out to the UN Security Council and accused Moscow of gruesome atrocities in his country, urging that those responsible should immediately be brought up on war crimes charges in front of a tribunal like the one set up at Nuremberg after World War II. India also condemned the killings of civilians in Bucha and called for an independent investigation, having earlier declined to explicitly criticise the invasion of Ukraine by its long-time partner Russia.
A Ukrainian human rights ombudswoman said that between 150 and 300 bodies may be in a mass grave by a church in the town of Bucha, where Ukraine accuses Russian troops of killing civilians.
Meanwhile, the US and its European allies decided to impose stiff new sanctions, including a ban on new investments in Russia on Wednesday, in retaliation for Russia’s “war crimes”.
Here are top updates from the Russia-Ukraine war:
>Zelenskyy, appearing via video from Ukraine, told council members that civilians had been shot in the back of the head after being tortured, blown up with grenades in their apartments and crushed to death by tanks while in cars by Russian troops in the cities and towns they captured.
“They cut off limbs, cut their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children. Their tongues were pulled out only because their aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear from them,” he said, recounting what he described as the worst atrocities since World War II.
Zelenskyy told the security council there was “not a single crime” that Russian troops hadn’t committed in Bucha, and he likened their actions to those of the Islamic State.
>India condemned the killing of civilians at Bucha and backed the call for an independent investigation into the incident, the first time New Delhi has publicly censured actions blamed on Russian forces. Speaking at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council that was also addressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, TS Tirumurti, the Indian representative to the UN, described reports of civilian killings in Bucha as “deeply disturbing”.
>The proposed EU sanctions, which the bloc's 27-member states must approve, would bar Russian imports worth 9 billion euros ($9.84 billion) and exports to Russia worth 10 billion euros, including semiconductors and computers, and stop Russian ships entering EU ports. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was working on banning oil imports too.
>EU nations expelled dozens more Russian diplomats, in coordinated moves that have seen more than 200 envoys and staff sent home in 48 hours. After Germany and France announced around 75 expulsions between them Monday, countries including Italy, Spain and Slovenia followed suit Tuesday -- while the European Union itself declared "persona non grata" a group of Russian officials working with its institutions.
>The US Internal Revenue Service has suspended information exchanges with Russia's tax authorities in a bid to hamper Moscow's ability to collect taxes and fund its war against Ukraine. Under a 30-year-old tax treaty, the IRS and Russia's Federal Tax Service have shared information to aid domestic tax collections and enforcement of tax laws in both countries. The IRS can request information about US taxpayers from Russian authorities and vice-versa.
>US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the killing of Ukrainians in Bucha was part of a deliberate campaign "to kill, to torture, to rape." "As this Russian tide is receding from parts of Ukraine, the world is seeing the death and destruction left in its wake," he told reporters as he flew to Brussels.
> Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that any move by foreign countries to nationalise Russian stakes in companies would be “a double-edged sword.” “We are already hearing statements from officials about a possible nationalization of some of our assets,” he said. “How far will that get us? Let no one forget that it is a double-edged sword.”
>Satellite images taken in March and provided to Reuters by US company Maxar Technologies showed bodies of civilians on a street in Bucha, which was occupied by Russian forces until about March 30, undercutting claims that the scenes were staged.
>Ukraine said it was bracing for about 60,000 Russian reservists to be called in to reinforce Moscow's offensive in the east, where Russia's main targets have included the port of Mariupol and Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city.
(With inputs from agencies)
