https://arab.news/95ekc
- Experts say its fall is inevitable, but as fighting drags toward its seventh week, the Ukrainian army is still clinging on
- Putin also dismissed as 鈥渇ake鈥� claims that hundreds of civilians were killed in Bucha under Russian occupation
KRAMATORSK: US President Joe Biden has for the first time accused Vladimir Putin鈥檚 forces of committing genocide in Ukraine, where Russia is intensifying its campaign to take the strategic port city of Mariupol.
Biden鈥檚 accusation comes as Moscow 鈥� already accused by the West of widespread atrocities against civilians 鈥� is feared to be readying a massive onslaught across Ukraine鈥檚 east that Washington warned might involve chemical weapons.
鈥淵es, I called it genocide,鈥� Biden told reporters on Tuesday, hours after employing the term during a speech in Iowa 鈥� its first use by a member of his administration.
鈥淲e鈥檒l let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a Ukrainian.鈥�
President Volodymyr Zelensky 鈥� who has repeatedly accused Moscow of attempted 鈥済enocide鈥� 鈥� swiftly responded by tweeting at Biden: 鈥淭rue words of a true leader.鈥�
鈥淐alling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil,鈥� Zelensky wrote 鈥� renewing his appeal for more heavy weapons to 鈥減revent further Russian atrocities.鈥�
Biden had previously described Putin as a 鈥渨ar criminal鈥� as the discovery of hundreds of civilians reportedly killed in Bucha, outside Kyiv, sparked global revulsion.
But he had stopped short of using the term 鈥済enocide,鈥� in line with longstanding US protocol, because of its strict legal definition and the heavy implication the accusation carries.
While the toll on towns occupied during the month-long offensive to take Kyiv like Bucha is still coming to light, the heaviest civilian toll is feared to be in Mariupol, where Zelensky said he believed Russia had killed 鈥渢ens of thousands.鈥�
Moscow is believed to be trying to connect occupied Crimea with Russian-backed separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas, and has laid siege to the strategically located city.
Experts say its fall is inevitable, but as fighting drags toward its seventh week, the Ukrainian army is still clinging on.
On Wednesday the Land Forces of Ukraine said on Telegram that air strikes on the city continued, particularly targeting its port and the huge Azovstal iron and steel works.
The latter maze-like complex has been a focus of urban resistance in Mariupol, with fighters using a tunnel system below the vast industrial site to slow Russian forces down.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a city within a city,鈥� said Eduard Basurin, a representative for pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Donetsk region.
鈥淭here are several underground levels that date back to Soviet times which you can鈥檛 bombard from above. You have to go underground to clean them out, and that will take time.鈥�
Above ground, AFP journalists in Mariupol as part of a Russian military embed saw the charred remains of the city, including the theater where 300 people were feared killed in Russian bombardment last month.
Reports emerged on Monday from Ukraine鈥檚 Azov battalion that a Russian drone had dropped a 鈥減oisonous substance鈥� in the area, with people experiencing respiratory failure and neurological problems.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was unable to confirm the allegations, but that Washington had 鈥渃redible information鈥� Russia might use tear gas mixed with chemical agents in the besieged port.
The world鈥檚 chemical weapons watchdog said it was 鈥渃oncerned鈥� by the unconfirmed reports coming from Mariupol, and was 鈥渕onitoring closely.鈥�
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby warned the use of such weapons by Moscow would 鈥渆licit a response not just from the United States, but from the international community,鈥� without elaborating.
Heavy bombardment continued across the east as civilians were urged to flee ahead of an expected Russian troop surge around the Donbas region, notably near the town of Izyum.
US private satellite firm Maxar Technologies published images it said showed ground forces moving toward Russia鈥檚 border with Ukraine, likely in preparation for an offensive.
In Ukraine, Maxar said it had noted convoys of military equipment traveling in and near the Donbas region 鈥� adding they comprised of around 200 vehicles including tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers.
Heeding the calls from authorities to flee, a steady stream of residents left by bus and train from the cities of Kramatorsk and neighboring Sloviansk.
Kramatorsk is the Ukrainian military鈥檚 main hub for its operations in the east, and so potentially a key target.
鈥淲hat is happening is inhuman, (Putin) is a fascist. I don鈥檛 know what to call him 鈥� a devil incarnate,鈥� said 82-year-old Valentina Oleynikova, who was fleeing the city with her husband.
With little hope of a quick end to fighting, Putin pledged Moscow would proceed on its own timetable, rebuffing repeated international calls for a cease-fire.
鈥淥ur task is to fulfil and achieve all the goals set, minimizing losses. And we will act rhythmically, calmly, according to the plan originally proposed by the General Staff,鈥� he told a news conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Putin also dismissed as 鈥渇ake鈥� claims that hundreds of civilians were killed in Bucha under Russian occupation.
Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk said more than 400 people had been found dead after Moscow鈥檚 forces withdrew, and 25 women reported being raped, as the town prepares for the return of residents who fled the fighting.
鈥淲hat people will find in their homes is shocking, and they will remember the Russian occupiers for a very long time,鈥� he said.
In nearby Gostomel, war crimes investigators were beginning a grim probe, exhuming bodies to document the cause of death.
One of those was that of the mayor, who the council said was 鈥渉anding out bread to the hungry鈥� when he was shot by Russian forces.
His is among the fates that are known.
鈥淭he town council has counted the number of missing at up to 400,鈥� said regional prosecutor Andriy Tkach. 鈥淧erhaps not all the bodies are found.鈥�
Zelensky sounded the alarm Tuesday about snowballing allegations of rape and sexual assault by Russian forces.
鈥淗undreds of cases of rape have been recorded, including those of young girls and very young children. Even of a baby,鈥� the Ukrainian leader told Lithuanian lawmakers via video link.
In a separate development, Zelensky has offered to swap a pro-Kremlin tycoon 鈥� arrested after escaping from house arrest 鈥� for Ukrainians captured by Russia.
Zelensky posted a picture of a dishevelled-looking Viktor Medvedchuk 鈥� one of the richest people in Ukraine, who counts Putin among his personal friends 鈥� with his hands in cuffs and dressed in a Ukrainian army uniform.
鈥淚 propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and our girls who are now in Russian captivity,鈥� Zelensky said in a video address on Telegram.
Medvedchuk, a hugely controversial figure in Ukraine, was under house arrest over accusations of attempting to steal natural resources from Russia-annexed Crimea and of handing Ukrainian military secrets to Moscow.