A victim, hand bounds behind his back, killed by Russian troops lies in the street in Bucha, Ukraine, April 3, 2022 (Reuters)

EA with Ireland’s RTE: Russia Names “Butcher of Syria” as Ukraine War Commander

Iran Supplies Russia’s Ukraine Invasion — Reports

Tuesday’s Coverage: 10,000+ Dead in Besieged Mariupol

UPDATE 1652 GMT:

The Finnish Government has presented a security report pointing to Helsinki’s accession to NATO.

The report, summarized by Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto to Parliament, says that with Finnish and Swedish membership of NATO, “the threshold for using military force in the Baltic Sea region would rise…[enhancing] the stability of the region in the long term”.

The report upheld the value of NATO’s Article 5 for collective defense:

The most significant effect of its possible NATO membership would be that Finland would be part of NATO’s collective defense, and be covered by the security guarantees enshrined in Article 5.

This would have a deterrent effect “considerably stronger than it is at present, as it would be based on the capabilities of the entire Alliance….Finland would be prepared to support other NATO member countries in a possible Article 5 situation.”

The report said Finland will “aim to continue to maintain functioning relations with Russia in the event it becomes a NATO member.” However, Helsinki should be prepared for “risks that are difficult to anticipate, such as increasing tensions on the border between Finland and Russia”.

The country must “strengthen its preparedness for becoming a target of wide-ranging hybrid influence activities”, it cautioned.

While joining NATO, Finland would ensure that membership does not oblige it to accept nuclear weapons, permanent bases or troops in its territory”.

UPDATE 1645 GMT:

Petro Andriuschenko, an advisor to Mariupol’s mayor, has dismissed reports of 1,026 marines surrendering in the city’s iron and steel works (see 0745 GMT).

Andriuschenko says Ukrainian forces still hold several areas of the city: “They don’t control our harbour, they don’t control Azovstal [iron and steel works].”

UPDATE 1605 GMT:

The Czech Republic has reopened its embassy in Kyiv.

UPDATE 1512 GMT:

The UK has sanctioned 178 individuals who are “propping up the illegal breakaway regions” in eastern Ukraine.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said of the officials in the Russian proxy areas in the Donbas:

In the wake of horrific rocket attacks on civilians in eastern Ukraine, we are today sanctioning those who prop up the illegal breakaway regions and are complicit in atrocities against the Ukrainian people.

We will continue to target all those who aid and abet Putin’s war.

The new sanctions also cover six Russian oligarchs, their close associates and employees, and another 22 individuals.

The list includes Sergei Kozlov, the self-proclaimed chairman of the Russia proxy administration in the “Luhansk People’s Republic”, and Alexander Ananchenko, who Moscow deems the “prime minister” of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”.

Maria Lavrova, the wife of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also designated.

UPDATE 1212 GMT:

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, has visited Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, where occupying Russian forces killed hundreds of civilians.

Khan said the ICC has “reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed”. A forensic team is at work “so that we can really make sure we separate truth from fiction”.

The ICC official met Ukraine Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova in Kyiv with an agreement that “deepening engagement and further strengthening partnerships” was “crucial to delivering accountability” for possible international crimes.

UPDATE 1205 GMT:

Addressing the Estonian Parliament, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has cited Russia’s use of phosphorus bombs as part of its “terror tactics” against civilians.

Zelenskiy called for the continuation and toughening of sanctions to put pressure on Russia, pointing to its forcible deportation of civilians from Ukraine.

The President also made the case for Ukraine as a “candidate country” of the European Union.

UPDATE 0955 GMT:

Twitter has suspended two prominent accounts promoting Russian disinformation, including the denial of mass killings of civilians, in its Ukraine invasion.

Scott Ritter, the former US arms inspector who is now featured on Russian State outlet RT, has been suspended after he denied the murder of hundreds of civilians in Bucha.

Action has also been taken against activist Pepe Escobar, who has written for Asia Times, after his promotion of the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation.

Escobar tweeted on Tuesday, “The mega-cauldron in Donbass will encircle 100,000 UKRO TROOPS along a 200 km line from Donetsk-Slavyansk to central Ukraine.

However, other high-profile accounts are unchecked in their promotion of falsehoods to support the Russian invasion. Spanish “media personality” Bea Talegón, with 261,000 followers, is circulating an article declaring that there is a US-UK “secret war” against Russia in Ukraine, with an “Elite Service Command” and “foreign mercenaries” in besieged Mariupol.

UPDATE 0935 GMT:

Experts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have found that Russian forces broke international law and committed “crimes against humanity” during their invasion of Ukraine.

The Mission is not able to conclude whether the Russian attack on Ukraine per se may qualify as a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population. It however holds that some patterns of violent acts violating IHRL [International Human Rights Law], which have been repeatedly documented in this conflict, such as targeted killing, enforced disappearance or abductions of civilians, including journalists and local officials, are likely to meet this qualification.

The 110-page report was commissioned by Ukraine and 45 OSCE states on March 3. It covers events from February 24 to April 1, so does not include Russia’s mass killings in Bucha and other areas near Kyiv.

The experts could not visit Ukraine but assessed multiple sources. Russia was invited to cooperate but refused.

The report will be published today after a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.

UPDATE 0930 GMT:

At least seven people have been killed and 22 wounded by Russian shelling of the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine over the past 24 hours, according to Governor Oleh Synegubov.

He said a two-year-old boy was among the victims of 53 artillery or rocket strikes.

UPDATE 0745 GMT:

More than 1,000 troops of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade have surrendered after weeks of resistance in besieged Mariupol in southern Ukraine.

The force was based in the city’s iron and steel Works. The Russian Defense Ministry said 162 officers are among the 1,026 troops.

The Brigade wrote on Facebook on Monday, “Today will probably be the last battle, as the ammunition is running out….It’s death for some of us, and captivity for the rest.”

It said Almost half of surviving troops are wounded. Infantry had been killed, so defense was by artillerymen, anti-aircraft gunners, radio operators, drivers, cooks, and even orchestra members.

UPDATE 0735 GMT:

French President Emmanuel Macron has balked at endorsing US President Joe Biden’s description of Russian mass killings in Ukraine as “genocide”, but has emphasized Russia’s commission of war crimes.

Campaigning for re-election, he said a TV interview:

I would be careful with such terms today because these two peoples [Russians and Ukrainians] are brothers.

I want to continue to try, as much as I can, to stop this war and rebuild peace. I am not sure that an escalation of rhetoric serves that cause.

What we can say for sure is that the situation is unacceptable and that these are war crimes. We are living through war crimes that are unprecedented on our soil — our European soil.

He added, “Russia has unilaterally started an extremely brutal war, it has now been established that the Russian army has committed war crimes and we must now find those who are responsible.”

UPDATE 0730 GMT:

The Ukraine Prosecutor General’s office says at least 191 children have been killed and 349 injured during the Russian invasion.

The latest victims include the burnt bodies of a 16-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy in the villages of Borodianka, northwest of Kyiv, and Korolivka, in western Ukraine. Children have been injured by shelling on Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, and a 15-year-old girl was seriously injured in the Kherson region in the south.

The office repeated that the actual number of slain and injured children is likely to be far higher.

UPDATE 0705 GMT:

A BBC investigation has found “clear evidence” that Russian forces used a cluster bomb in the deadly attack on the Kramatorsk railway station in eastern Ukraine last Friday.

Supporting the accounts of victims and witnesses, the BBC documented patterns on the ground consistent with the use of a cluster-munitions warhead.

Under a UN treaty signed by more than 120 countries — although not Russia, Ukraine, or the US — the use of cluster munitions is prohibited.

At least 57 civilians were killed and 113 injured by the Tochka-U missile fired on Kramatorsk.

See also Ukraine War, Day 44: Russia Kills 50+ in Missile Strike on Railway Station in East

The head of Ukraine’s railways said Russian forces fired on another busy station in central Ukraine overnight, but there were no casualties.

Alexander Kamyshin explained, “For safety reasons, we changed the route and schedule for 17 passenger trains.”

UPDATE 0635 GMT:

Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says no humanitarian corridors will be opened on Wednesday.

Vereshchuk said Russian forces are violating ceasefires and blocking buses evacuating civilians.

The mayor of besieged Mariupol in southeast Ukraine, Vadym Boichenko, said this morning that more than 100,000 civilians in the port city are still awaiting evacuation.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said three trains will be offered to residents who want to leave amid shelling and an imminent Russian ground offensive.

Gaidai added that one civilian was killed by Russian shelling over the past 24 hours.

UPDATE 0630 GMT:

The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are en route to Kyiv to Ukraine President Volodimir Zelenskiy.

Jakub Kumoch, an advisor to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, tweeted a photo of the four men:

UPDATE 0615 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has used the rearrest of pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk to warn the Kremlin:

Let Medvedchuk be an example for you. Even the former oligarch did not escape, not to mention much more ordinary criminals from the Russian boondocks. We will get everyone.

Medvedchuk, the leader of the Opposition Platform — For Life Party, was apprehended by special forces on Tuesday. Zelenskiy posted a photo of the politician, wearing military fatigues and in handcuffs.

Charged with treason in May 2021, Medvechuk escaped from house arrest in February. The US said last month that the Russian military was planning to put him and his allies into power in Kyiv.

Medvedchuk claims Vladimir Putin is godfather to his daughter. He said of Putin last spring, “Our relationship has developed over 20 years.”

The Kremlin’s Dmitry Peskov tried to dismiss the arrest, ““The Ukrainian side stoops to the most intricate ways of producing fake news.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: US President Joe Biden has said Russia’s mass killings in its Ukraine invasion are genocide, with Vladimir Putin “trying to wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian”.

At an appearance in Iowa, promoting the use of ethanol in petrol, Biden said, “Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away.”

Asked later if he was labelling Russia’s invasion, Biden said:

Yes, I called it genocide because it’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian.

And the evidence is mounting. More evidence is coming out of the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine. And we’re going to only learn more and more about the devastation. We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy responded:

In mid-March, Biden said Putin was a “war criminal” because of Russia’s mass killing of civilians. Since then, there have been the discovery of Russian forces slaying and burying hundreds of residents in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, and other towns and cities; a Russian missile strike killing at least 57 civilians in the Kramatorsk railway station in eastern Ukraine; and fatalities in besieged Mariupol in southeast Ukraine passing 20,000, according to the mayor.

Multiple international investigations are underway. The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in the Hague opened a case in February saying there was “a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine”.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that it has received $4 million of equipment to record Russia’s war crimes. The funds were given by the private companies AXON and Benish GPS.

The Ukraine Prosecutor General’s office is investigating 6,261 reports of Russian war crimes.