CIVILIAN DEATHS RISE IN UKRAINE
U.S. moves to investigate war crimes and apply more sanctions on Russia as carnage worsens
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appeared to reach new depths of brutality through the weekend, with reports that civilians were being targeted by the deadly violence.
Russian forces struck hospitals, nurseries and schools, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna told the BBC.
As of Sunday, 364 civilians had been killed since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, according to United Nations monitors, although the actual death toll was likely much higher.
The dire situation prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to call on NATO countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, along with imposing sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports.
Members of Congress voiced support for the sanctions but resisted the call to send aerial support, saying that would be too risky.
“I don’t think it’s in our interest, the interest of Europe, to have the United States and Russia — the two world’s biggest, most equipped nuclear superpowers — going to war directly against each other,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio made similar remarks, telling ABC’s “This Week” that deploying fighter jets would mean “starting World War III.”
European Union leader Charles Michel echoed the same concerns.
Establishing a no-fly zone could “in current circumstances” be viewed as “NATO’s entry into the war and therefore risk World War III,” he said to public broadcaster France Inter.
Fierce fighting continued outside Kyiv, which Russian forces have failed to capture, according to Ukraine’s military.
Ukrainian officials halted plans to evacuate the port city of Mariupol for the second day in a row due to relentless Russian shelling. The city has lacked water and electricity for five days, and residents are running out of food.
During a two-hour-long call Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow the humanitarian evacuation to proceed. No breakthrough was reported.
“The [humanitarian] situation is difficult” in Mariupol, a French official told The Guardian newspaper. “Our demands remain the same: We want Russia to respond to these demands … very quickly and clearly.”
Macron also urged Putin to avoid a nuclear disaster after a Russian attack on a Ukrainian power plant caused alarm last week. Firefighters were able to put out a blaze at the Zaporizhzhia facility — the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe — but the incident
underscored the hazards of Russia’s unprovoked invasion.
In one heart-wrenching incident reported throughout the world, at least three members of a family were killed as Russian forces fired shells at people trying to flee the city of Irpin, located west of Kyiv.
Human rights group Amnesty International verified 10 incidents of “indiscriminate attacks” throughout Ukraine, saying they “could amount to war crimes.”
The U.S. is moving to investigate such attacks, said the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
“Any attack on civilians is a war crime,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on ABC’s “This Week.” “And we’re working with our partners to collect and provide information on this so that we can investigate this and have it ready in the event that war crimes are brought before this government.”
After imposing severe sanctions on Russia, Thomas-Greenfield said, the U.S. was weighing additional measures.
“We’re continuing to discuss with European colleagues how we can impose more sanctions and ensure that they’re felt by the Russian people,” she said.
TikTok became the latest company to stop some of its operations in Russia, which has become increasingly isolated since the start of the invasion.
The social media giant said it was suspending livestreaming and uploading of new content in Russia, citing the country’s new “fake news” law.
Moscow has launched a media crackdown during its invasion of Ukraine, Putin on Friday signing a law criminalizing content deemed to be “fake news.”
Russia has also blocked Facebook and Twitter.
American Express announced it was suspending operations in Russia and in its ally Belarus after similar moves by Visa and MasterCard.
Amid the carnage, a brief bright spot emerged when Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko shared a video of two Ukrainian soldiers getting married. Soldiers Lesya and Valeria can be seen tying the knot at a military checkpoint near the capital city.
The duo had been in a domestic partnership “for a long time” before getting married, tweeted Klitschko.
The video showed the couple in military fatigues — the groom wearing a helmet and the bride donning a white veil — with a small crowd behind them.
The couple share a smooch after an official concludes the ceremony.
“Life goes on!” Klitschko tweeted in Ukrainian. “And we will protect the life of Kyiv, Kyivites [and] our country!