Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses the UN Security Council by videolink, April 4, 2022 (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty)

EA on TRT World: War Crimes, Justice, and Zelenskiy’s Speech to the UN

Tuesday’s Coverage: Fear of Russian Mass Killings “Worse Than Bucha”

UPDATE 1615 GMT:

Among those sanctioned by the US Government today are Russia’s largest bank Sberbank, Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s wife and daughter, and members of Russia’s Security Council.

Americans are also banned from investing in Russia.

Full blocking sanctions have been imposed on Sberbank, which holds 1/3 of Russia’s total banking assets, and Alfabank. Energy transactions are covered by the new restrictions.

The UK, coordinating with the US, announced similar sanctions. London also stated a commitment to end all imports of Russian coal and oil by the end of 2022, with gas to follow as soon as possible.

Sberbank responded in a statement, “The sanctions will not have a significant impact on the bank’s operations and will not affect service to Russians as the system has already adapted to the previous restrictions.”

UPDATE 1430 GMT:

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, elected to another term on Sunday, has broken with the European Union by saying he has “no difficulty” in paying for Russian gas in rubles.

EU members such as Germany and Italy have rebuffed Vladimir Putin’s demand to prop up the Russian currency. Germany is paying for gas, which are then converted into rubles by Russia’s Gazprombank.

Orbán also indicated he will defy any EU ban on Russian oil and gas imports.

He said that, in a conversation with Putin, he asked for an immediate ceasefire and invited the Russian leaders to talks in Hungary with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the French President, and the German Chancellor.

UPDATE 1203 GMT:

The governor Serhiy Gaidai of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine says 10 high-rise buildings are on fire in the town of Sievierodonetsk after Russian shelling.

Gaidai said Russian forces now control 60%% of the town of Rubizhne: “Evacuations are taking place under the roar of enemy guns.”

Earlier, Gaidai called on residents to evacuate if they could because of anticipated Russian attacks. Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported at least two civilians were killed and five wounded by Russian artillery shelling of an aid distribution point in the town of Vuhledar (see 0815 GMT).

UPDATE 1120 GMT:

More than 500 residents have escaped from besieged Mariupol in buses and private cars.

The Red Cross led the group to Zaporizhzhia, 132 miles to the northwest.

Russian troops are continuing to block any organized evacuation by the Red Cross from the port city in southern Ukraine (see Original Entry).

UPDATE 1100 GMT:

Addressing the Irish Dáil, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has praised Ireland for moving beyond neutrality over the Russian invasion.

You did not doubt starting helping us, you began doing this right away and, although you are a neutral country, you have not remained neutral to the disaster and to the mishaps that Russia has brought to Ukraine.

Zelensky used the Irish position to press other European countries to toughen sanctions:

Today, when the whole world knows about the crimes against our people, we still have to convince even some of the European companies to abandon Russian markets, we still have to convince Russia of foreign politicians that we need to cut any ties of global banks of Russian banks with the global financial system.

We still have to convince Europe that Russian oil cannot feed Russian military machinery with new sources of funding.

The President again used the historical memory of his audience — in this case, the Irish Famine of the 19th century — as a link to the Russian assault, war crimes, and Ukraine’s resistance.

They are destroying things that are sustaining livelihoods to people. They also have blocked all of our sea ports, together with the vessels that had already agricultural cargos for exports.

Ukraine is one of the leading food-supplying country in the world with exports. This is not just about the deficit and the threat of hunger.

There will be a shortage of food and the prices will go up, and this is reality for the millions of people who are hungry, and it will be more difficult for them to feed their families.

Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin responded:

We are a militarily neutral country. However, we are not politically neutral in the face of war crimes. Quite the opposite.

“Our position is informed by the principles that drive our foreign policy – support for international human rights, for humanitarian law and for a rules-based international order. We are not neutral when Russia disregards all of these principles. We are with Ukraine.

UPDATE 0915 GMT:

Joining the long list of European countries who have expelled Russian personnel under diplomatic cover, Greece has declared 12 Russians “personae non-gratae”.

Russian Ambassador Andrey Maslov blustered, “We have strongly protested against this unjustified and hostile step which aims to further destroy our bilateral relations. We have made clear that this action will not be without consequences.”

Norway has announced the expulsion of three Russian staff.

UPDATE 0845 GMT:

The Ukrainian military says it shot down two cruise missiles, fired by Russian jets in Belarusian airspace, in western Ukraine.

The military said fragments fell on the outskirts of Radekhiv, about 40 miles from Lviv. Fires were ignited, but no one was injured.

UPDATE 0815 GMT:

Officials in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine are urging residents to leave “while it is safe”.

Having withdrawn from much of northern Ukraine, including near Kyiv, Russian forces are expected to concentrate on attacks near Russian-proxy areas of the Donbas in the east.

The Luhansk officials said they are setting up five corridors for evacuation. Regional governor Serhiy Gaidai wrote on Telegram:

We will take everyone out if the Russians allow us to get to the meeting places. Because, as you can see, they don’t always observe ceasefires.

I appeal to every resident of the Luhansk region: evacuate while it is safe…While there are buses and trains, take this opportunity.

Escalating Russian attacks have damaged rail connections in the neighboring Donetsk region this week.

Gaidai said in a video address that Russian forces have not managed to break through Ukrainian defences but are destroying “everything in their path” and will “stop at nothing”.

Sharing photos of the attack, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said at least two civilians were killed and five wounded by Russian artillery shelling of an aid distribution point in the town of Vuhledar.

UPDATE 0810 GMT:

Dutch authorities say they are preventing 14 yachts, including 12 under construction for Russian owners, from leaving the country because of sanctions.

UPDATE 0635 GMT:

US chipmaker Intel has followed other major companies in suspension of business operations in Russia.

Intel halted shipments to customers in Russia and Belarus last month.

“Intel continues to join the global community in condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine and calling for a swift return to peace,” the company said in a statement.

Technology developed by western companies is the foundation for Russia’s IT systems.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The European Union and US signalled new sanctions over Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine and Russian war crimes, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the UN Security Council that Moscow’s leaders “must be brought to justice”.

On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU’s proposed 5th set of sanctions against Russia. The measures include:

  • An import ban on coal, worth €4 billion per year
  • A full transaction ban on 4 major Russian banks, including the second-largest bank VTB
  • A ban on Russian and Russian-operated vessels from access to EU ports and a ban on Russian and Belarusian road transport operators
  • Further export bans, worth €10 billion, on advanced semiconductors, machinery, and transport equipment
  • New import bans, worth €5.5 billion
  • A ban on involvement of Russian companies in public procurement and exclusion of all EU or national financial support to Russian public bodies

The EU is still not proposing a ban on imports of Russian oil and gas; however, Germany, which has the greatest dependence on Russian energy supplies, is now proposing an EU ban on Russian gas after suspending the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Hours later, the White House said new US sanctions — responding to the mass killing of civilians by Russian troops in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv — will target Russian banks and officials and ban new investment in Russia.

“The goal is to force them to make a choice. The biggest part of our objective here is to deplete the resources that Putin has to continue his war against Ukraine,” said Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an additional $100 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including anti-armour systems. In Europe, senior officials in the Czech Republic said Soviet-made T-72 tanks and BVP-1 infantry fighting vehicles have been sent to Kyiv.

New Zealand also stepped up sanctions, introducing a 35% tariff on all imports from Russia and extending export prohibitions on industrial products closely connected to strategic Russian industries.

Zelenskiy: “You Need to Act Immediately”

In between the EU and White House announcements, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed an extraordinary session of the UN Security Council.

Speaking by videolink, Zelenskiy gave a compelling, graphic description of the Russian military’s actions against civilians:

There is not a single crime that they would not commit there. The Russians searched for and purposely killed anyone who served our country. They shot and killed women outside their houses. They killed entire families – adults and children – and they tried to burn the bodies….

[Civilians] were shot and killed in the back of the head after being tortured. Some of them were shot on the streets; others were thrown into the wells. So they died there in suffering.

Civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road just for their pleasure…..The president detailed the alleged brutality of the Russian forces. “They cut off limbs, slashed their throats, women were raped and killed in front of their children. Their tongues were pulled out only because the aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear.

The President warned that Bucha is “only one of the many examples” of the Russian atrocities and summarized, “This is no different from other terrorists such as Daesh [Islamic State], and it is being done by a member of the UN Security Council.”

Anticipating the disinformation to come from Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia — “This is 2022. We have evidence” — Zelenskiy portrayed a critical case for the future of the UN and international security:

It is obvious that the key institution of the world which must ensure the coercion of any aggressor to peace simply cannot work effectively….

Are you ready to close the UN? Do you think that the time of international law is gone? If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately….If the biggest war criminal is punished, then other potential war criminals will see this.

4,684 Alleged Russian War Crimes

Ukrainian prosecutors said they are investigating 4,684 alleged Russian war crimes, with hundreds more being reported each day.

Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said, “Russia will be responsible for Bucha in The Hague. Prosecutors and investigators are already examining [the Kyiv region] and documenting crimes, so that every perpetrator of these atrocities are brought to justice both in national and international courts.”

Venediktova’s office said pre-trial investigations have also begun in the regions of Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk.

Zelenskiy’s address, and the mounting evidence of war crimes from Bucha and other recently-liberated Ukrainian towns, did not check the Russians. As Ambassador Nebenzia issued a series of sensational lies before a silent Security Council, Russian forces blocked a Red Cross convoy from reaching besieged Mariupol in southern Ukraine for a fifth straight day.

The Russians had said last week that they would permit the Red Cross to reach the city, with up to 160,000 trapped residents, and carry out evacuations. But they stopped the convoy of 45 trucks about 10 miles from Mariupol and briefly held a Red Cross team before the group was allowed to return to Zaporizhzhia, 132 miles to the northwest.