US President Joe Biden has said Russia’s war in Ukraine amounts to “genocide”, accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to “wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian”. He told reporters: "Yes, I called it genocide. It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian.”
At an earlier event in Menlo, Iowa, addressing spiking energy prices resulting from the war, Mr Biden had implied that he thought Mr Putin was carrying out genocide against Ukraine, but offered no details. Neither the president nor his administration announced new consequences for Russia or assistance to Ukraine following Mr Biden’s public assessment.
Mr Biden said it would be up to lawyers to decide if Russia’s conduct met the international standard for genocide, but said “it sure seems that way to me”. He said: "More evidence is coming out literally of the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine, and we’re only going to learn more and more about the devastation and let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies."
Meanwhile, fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is both the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been detained in a special operation carried out by the country’s SBU secret service, Ukrainian officials said.
And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used his nightly address to hail his country's resistance against Russia's invading forces, as the conflict continued for a 48th day. He said the future of Ukraine "directly depends on the strength of our resistance in all its forms", noting Russia had hoped to seize Kyiv within 48 hours.
He said: "In 48 hours, which stretched for 48 days, the Russian army has reached a level of irreparable losses higher than that of the Soviet Union in 10 years of war in Afghanistan. Higher than that of Russia in the two wars in Chechnya."
Mr Zelensky said it was "inevitable" Russia would be held accountable for "war crimes". He said: "It was also stated in Russia today that the massacre committed by the Russian military in Bucha was allegedly a 'staging'. For some reason, the massacres in Borodyanka, Hostomel, Makariv, cities and villages of the Chernihiv region, Kharkiv region and Donbas have not been commented on yet."
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President Biden calls Russian war 'genocide'
US President Joe Biden has said Russia’s war in Ukraine amounts to “genocide”, accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to “wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian”. Speaking in Iowa, he told reporters: "Yes, I called it genocide. It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian.”
At an earlier event, addressing spiking energy prices resulting from the war, Mr Biden had implied that he thought Mr Putin was carrying out genocide against Ukraine, but offered no details. Neither the president nor his administration announced new consequences for Russia or assistance to Ukraine following Mr Biden’s public assessment.
Mr Biden said it would be up to lawyers to decide if Russia’s conduct met the international standard for genocide, but said “it sure seems that way to me”. He said: "More evidence is coming out literally of the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine, and we’re only going to learn more and more about the devastation and let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies."
Just last week Mr Biden had said he did not believe Russia’s actions amounted to genocide, just that they constituted “war crimes”. During a trip to Europe last month, the US president faced controversy for a nine-word statement seemingly supporting regime change in Moscow, which would have represented a dramatic shift towards direct confrontation with another nuclear-armed country.
“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Mr Biden said. He clarified the comments days later, saying: “I was expressing the moral outrage that I felt toward this man. I wasn’t articulating a policy change.”
Fugitive Ukrainian oligarch detained
Meanwhile, a fugitive Ukrainian oligarch, who is both the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been detained in a special operation carried out by the country’s SBU secret service, Ukrainian officials said.
Ivan Bakanov, the head of Ukraine’s national security agency, said on the agency’s Telegram channel that Viktor Medvedchuk had been arrested. The statement came shortly after President Volodymyr Zelensky shared a photo of Mr Medvedchuk sitting in handcuffs and wearing a camouflage uniform with a Ukrainian flag patch.
Mr Medvedchuk was the former leader of the pro-Russian party Opposition Platform – For Life. He was being held under house arrest before the war began and disappeared shortly after hostilities broke out. Mr Putin is the godfather to Mr Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter.
Zelensky: Future of Ukraine depends on strength of our resistance
And Mr Zelensky hailed his country's resistance against Russia's invading forces, as the conflict continued for a 48th day. He said the future of Ukraine "directly depends on the strength of our resistance in all its forms", noting Russia had hoped to seize Kyiv within 48 hours.
In his daily address in the early hours of Wednesday, he said: "In 48 hours, which stretched for 48 days, the Russian army has reached a level of irreparable losses higher than that of the Soviet Union in 10 years of war in Afghanistan. Higher than that of Russia in the two wars in Chechnya."
Mr Zelensky said it was "inevitable" Russia would be held accountable for "war crimes". He said: "It was also stated in Russia today that the massacre committed by the Russian military in Bucha was allegedly a 'staging'. For some reason, the massacres in Borodyanka, Hostomel, Makariv, cities and villages of the Chernihiv region, Kharkiv region and Donbas have not been commented on yet."
He referenced the detention of fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, saying: "It is very symbolic that Mr Medvedchuk was detained on Cosmonautics Day. He has been hiding for 48 days. And finally decided to try to escape from our country. Well, for this 'astronaut' - in the bad sense of the word - the famous 'Let's go!' did not work.
"I think it is especially cynical of him to use military camouflage. He tried to disguise himself like that. Such a 'soldier'. Such a 'patriot'. Well, if Medvedchuk chose a military uniform for himself, he falls under the rules of wartime. I offer the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and our girls who are now in Russian captivity. It is therefore important that our law enforcement officials and military also consider this possibility."
Mr Zelensky also addressed reports of the use of chemical weapons in Mariupol. He said: "It is not yet possible to draw one hundred percent conclusions about what kind of substance it was. Obviously it is impossible to conduct a full investigation and full analysis in the besieged city.
"However, given the repeated threats of Russian propagandists to use chemical weapons against the defenders of Mariupol and the repeated use by the Russian army of phosphorus munitions in Ukraine for example, the world must respond now. Respond preventively. Because after the use of weapons of mass destruction, any response will not change anything. And it will only look like a humiliation for the democratic world."
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