Category Archives: Russia

Tue, Apr 5 20221:54 AM EDT

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on a phone call state media said was made at Ukraine's request.

This is the first reported high-level conversation between the countries since March 1, when Kuleba asked Beijing to use its ties with Moscow to stop Russia's invasion, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said at the time.

Wang repeated China's message that peace and stability should be achieved through negotiation, according to state media.

Kuleba tweeted: "Grateful to my Chinese counterpart for solidarity with civilian victims."

"We both share the conviction that ending the war against Ukraine serves common interests of peace, global food security, and international trade," he added.

Chelsea Ong

Mon, Apr 4 20228:26 PM EDT

A man stands next to graves with bodies of civilians, who according to local residents were killed by Russian soldiers, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 4, 2022.

Vladyslav Musiienko | Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address the UN Security Council on Tuesday after visiting Bucha, according to a tweet from the UK UN.

"The UK Presidency of the Council will ensure the truth is heard about Russia's war crimes. We will expose Putin's war for what it really is," the account tweeted.

Zelenskyy has accused Russian forces of committing genocide, and said Ukrainians were being "destroyed and exterminated." His comments came in the wake of the reported devastation in Bucha, a town 23 miles northwest of Kyiv that has been liberated by Ukrainian forces.

Riya Bhattacharjee

Mon, Apr 4 20226:34 PM EDT

A worker walks past oil barrels at a filling station in Chennai on February 24, 2022.

Arun Sankar | AFP | Getty Images

Oil prices jumped over 3% with investors worried about tighter supply as mounting civilian deaths in Ukraine increased pressure on European countries to impose sanctions on Russia's energy sector.

Global benchmark Brent crude jumped $3.14, or 3%, to settle at $107.53 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $4.01, or 4%, to settle at $103.28 a barrel. Trading was volatile with both contracts rising after being down more than $1.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supporters would "feel the consequences" of events in Bucha, outside the capital Kyiv, where a mass grave and tied bodies shot at close range were found.

Western allies would agree on further sanctions against Moscow in coming days, he said, though the timing and reach of the new package was not clear. France's President Emmanuel Macron suggested sanctions on oil and coal, adding there were very "clear clues pointing to war crimes" by Russian forces.

Reuters

Mon, Apr 4 20225:32 PM EDT

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to a local resident, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Bucha, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine April 4, 2022.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | Reuters

Editor's Note: Graphic content. The following post contains images of dead bodies found in the suburban Kyiv town of Bucha.

The Kremlin faced renewed global outrage and accusations of war crimes on the heels of a grisly discovery of civilians tortured and shot at close range in the streets of Bucha, Ukraine.

SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB A body with hands bound by white cloth, who according to residents was shot by Russian soldiers, lies in the street, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine, in Bucha, Ukraine April 3, 2022.

Zohra Bensemra | Reuters

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content: Dead bodies lie on a street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, on April 2, 2022, as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv.

Ronaldo Schemidt | AFP | Getty Images

Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled from Kyiv to the nearby town of Bucha to see the aftermath of a Russian troop pullout which he later described as a "genocide." Bodies of civilians lay scattered across the streets, some with their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the back of the head.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content: Communal workers carry a civilian in a body bag after he was killed during Russian army shelling in the town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.

Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Image depicts death) The body of a man lays inside a car ran over by a Russian tank in Bucha district on the outskirts of Kyiv, after the Ukrainian army secured the area following the withdrawal of the Russian army from the Kyiv region on previous days, Bucha, Ukraine on April 03, 2022. (Photo by Narciso Contreras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Narciso Contreras | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

U.S. National security advisor Jake Sullivan called the images from Bucha "tragic" and "shocking."

"Unfortunately, they're not surprising. We released information even before Russia's invasion showing that Russia would engage in acts of brutality against civilians," Sullivan told reporters at the White House. Biden's top security advisor said the U.S. was working on additional sanctions measures alongside European allies.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content A dead body lies on the ground in a street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv, on April 2, 2022.

Ronaldo Schemidt | AFP | Getty Images

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content A man walks on a street with several dead bodies on the ground a street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv, on April 2, 2022.

Ronaldo Schemidt | AFP | Getty Images

Earlier on Monday, President Joe Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" whoshould be put on trialfor ordering violence in Ukraine.

"This guy is brutal, and what's happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone's seen it," Biden told reporters gathered at Fort McNair, adding, "I think it is a war crime ... He should be held accountable."

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Image depicts death) Civilians' bodies, which were found dead in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, were gathered to be buried on Monday, on April 4, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine.

Metkin Atkis| Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Bodies of civilians are seen in a mass grave in the town of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, after the Ukrainian army secured the area following the withdrawal of the Russian army from the Kyiv region on previous days, Bucha, Ukraine on April 03, 2022.

Narciso Contreras | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Since the Kremlin's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations has confirmed 1,430 civilian deaths and 2,097 injuries. The war has also displacedmore than 4.2 million Ukrainians, mostly the elderly, women and children.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic Content: A communal worker standing inside a van loaded with body bags, waits for another body to be wrapped and collected by a colleague following Russian shelling of the town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.

Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

Volunteers unload from a van bags containing bodies of civilians, who according to residents were killed by Russian army soldiers, after they collected them from the streets to gather them at a cemetery before they take them to the morgue, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 4, 2022.

Zohra Bensemra | Reuters

Amanda Macias and Adam Jeffery

Mon, Apr 4 20224:33 PM EDT

A man walks in the rubble of a destroyed building in the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv on april 2, 2022, as Ukraine said today Russian forces were making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv.

Fadel Senna | AFP | Getty Images

National security advisor Jake Sullivan warned that Russian forces are currently gearing up for a more aggressive fight in Ukraine after nearly six weeks of war.

"At this juncture, we believe that Russia is revising its war aims. Russia is repositioning its forces to concentrate its offensive operations in eastern and parts of southern Ukraine, rather than target most of the territory," Sullivan told reporters, citing failed Russian attempts to capture Kyiv.

"All indications are that Russia will seek to surround and overwhelm Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine. We anticipate that Russian commanders are now executing the redeployment from northern Ukraine to the region around the Donbas," Sullivan added.

He added that Russia's renewed ground offensive in eastern Ukraine will likely also "include air and missile strikes across the rest of the country to cause military and economic damage, and frankly, to cause terror."

Amanda Macias

Mon, Apr 4 20223:45 PM EDT

A national flags of Ukraine an EU flags outside the Town Hall in Lille, France, on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.

Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images

France and Germany said they were expelling several Russian personnel serving under the cover of diplomatic status, citing security concerns.

"France decided this evening to expel many Russian personnel with diplomatic status assigned to France whose activities are contrary to our security interests," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"This action is part of a European approach. Our first responsibility is always to ensure the safety of French and Europeans," the statement added.

Berlin also barred several Russian personnel from continuing their work within Germany.

"Their work is a threat to those who seek shelter with us. We will no longer tolerate this," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement.

Last week, in a coordinated move, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic expelled a total of 43 Russian diplomats suspected of spying. The action followed similar steps taken by Poland.

Amanda Macias

Mon, Apr 4 20228:40 PM EDT

U.S. officials accused Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg of bank fraud and money laundering as his yacht was seized in Spain.

The seizure of the $90 million mega yacht followed a move by the U.S. and its allies to sanction Vekselberg in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

An FBI search warrant alleged Vekselberg conspired to commit bank fraud and money laundering to obscure his ownership of the yacht.

A spokesperson for Vekselberg did not respond to a request to comment.

Brian Schwartz

Mon, Apr 4 202212:56 PM EDT

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss at a G7 meeting in the Museum of Liverpool.

Christopher Furlong | Getty Images

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called for tougher sanctions against Russia during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Warsaw.

Since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the UK has delivered its strongest sanctions ever levied on a country.

"The reality is that money is still flowing from the West into Putin's war machine and that has to stop," Truss said, adding that she would raise this issue with G-7 and NATO allies this week.

Truss also joined the U.S. in calling for Russia's suspension from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Her demand came on the heels of alarming reports of attacks on civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha outside Kyiv.

"After these appalling crimes, Russia has no place on the Human Rights Council," she said, adding that the UK is currently gathering evidence of war crimes in Ukraine.

Amanda Macias

Mon, Apr 4 202212:28 PM EDT

Editor's Note: Graphic content. The following post contains a photo of dead bodies found in the suburban Kyiv town of Bucha.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Image depicts death) A partially buried body is seen in a mass grave in the town of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, after the Ukrainian army secured the area following the withdrawal of the Russian army from the Kyiv region on previous days, Bucha, Ukraine on April 03, 2022.

Narciso Contreras | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The U.S. military could not independently confirm reports of mounting evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

A senior U.S. Defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the Pentagon's thinking, described the reports of atrocities in Bucha, a town in the suburbs of Kyiv, as "clearly deeply troubling."

The official, who was aware of the accounts out of Bucha, described the imagery as "disgusting" and "sickening." The official added that the U.S. had no evidence that Russian troops were given specific orders to kill civilians in Bucha.

Earlier on Monday, President Joe Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" who should be put on trial for ordering violence in Ukraine.

"This guy is brutal, and what's happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone's seen it," Biden told reporters gathered at Fort McNair, adding, "I think it is a war crime ... He should be held accountable."

Amanda Macias

Mon, Apr 4 202212:06 PM EDT

A Ukrainian policeman walks past the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle in Dmytrivka village, west of Kyiv, on April 2, 2022 as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv.

Genya Savilov | Afp | Getty Images

Originally posted here:

Biden says Putin should be tried for war crimes, slapped with more sanctions; Russia accused of civilian massacre in Bucha - CNBC

With evidence mounting of atrocities in the Kyiv suburbs, and Russian forces preparing for a new offensive farther east, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine delivered a scathing speech to the United Nations on Tuesday, accusing Russia of a litany of horrors and questioning whether a world body that takes no action to stop a war serves any purpose.

Speaking via video link to the U.N. Security Council, he compared Russian forces to the Islamic State, called for a Nuremberg-like war crimes tribunal and vented his bitter frustration, knowing that the council where Russia is one of five permanent members with veto power would do nothing but talk.

Where is the security that the Security Council needs to guarantee? Mr. Zelensky said, raising the question of whether Russia deserved to keep its seat on the council. Are you ready to close the U.N.? Do you think that the time of international law is gone? If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately.

The chamber fell silent as a short video provided by Mr. Zelenskys government played, showing some of the hundreds of corpses found strewn around the city of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, after Russian forces retreated last week bloated, charred bodies of civilians, including children. Some victims, their hands bound, had been shot in the head.

Mr. Zelensky said that in Bucha, they killed entire families, adults and children, and they tried to burn the bodies. Civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road, he added, asserting that women were raped and killed in front of their children; their tongues were pulled out.

China refrained from criticizing Russia in Tuesdays session, saying that the Security Council should wait until investigations establish the facts in Ukraine. A rising global power, China has drawn closer to Russia in recent years, united by a shared antipathy to the United States. The divisions on the war appeared essentially unchanged since Feb. 26, when 11 of 15 Security Council members voted for a resolution condemning Russias invasion, Russia vetoed the measure, and three others abstained China, India and the United Arab Emirates.

Russias U.N. ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, reiterated his governments claims rebutted by ample evidence that atrocities in Bucha had been faked, or had not occurred when Russians held the city. He made a number of other unsupported claims, including stating falsely that in Ukraine where the freely elected president is a Jew who lost family members in the Holocaust Nazis are running the show.

After President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia launched the war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, his military became bogged down on several fronts in the face of logistical failures and unexpectedly fierce Ukrainian resistance. Russian forces spent weeks shelling and occupying cities and towns in northern Ukraine, where they took heavy losses as they failed to capture Kyiv, the capital. Last week they pulled back from that part of the country, preparing for what Russian officials and foreign analysts said would be a shift in focus toward eastern Ukraine.

The next pivotal battle of the war is likely to be for the eastern city of Sloviansk, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Institute for the Study of War, based in Washington.

Revulsion over the apparent executions discovered in Bucha deepened Russias economic isolation, despite its denials of responsibility.

The United States has started blocking Russia from making debt payments using dollars held in American banks, a move designed to deplete its international currency reserves and potentially push Russia toward its first foreign currency debt default in a century.

And as early as Wednesday, the Biden administration is expected to announce additional sanctions against Russia for the killings of Ukrainian citizens, according to a person familiar with the plans who was not authorized to detail them publicly. The administration will expand existing sanctions against Sberbank, the largest financial institution in Russia, and implement sanctions against Alfa Bank, one of the countrys largest private lenders. The administration also plans to announce sanctions against adult children of Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president.

The Biden administration has also authorized an additional shipment of up to $100 million in military supplies that will be taken from existing Defense Department stockpiles, the Pentagon announced in an email sent to reporters Tuesday night. This comes days after an additional $300 million in defense aid was announced April 1.

And the European Union took a significant step toward overcoming resistance to curbing fuel imports from Russia, on which its member nations rely heavily. The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, proposed cutting off imports of Russian coal oil and natural gas remain hotly debated and barring Russian vessels from E.U. ports as part of a new round of sanctions.

The measures, which require unanimous approval, are expected to go to a vote of E.U. ambassadors on Wednesday. Diplomats said the sanctions package would target, among others, two daughters of Mr. Putin. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the chief E.U. diplomat, Josep Borrell Fontelles, announced plans to visit Kyiv this week and meet with Mr. Zelensky.

The Ukrainian prosecutor generals office said that it, along with the Kyiv police, had discovered what it called a Bucha torture chamber, where Russian forces had left behind the bodies of five men, their hands tied, who had been tortured and killed.

Mr. Zelensky reinforced a point that U.N. officials have made repeatedly: The true extent of Ukraines destruction and casualties is unknown but far greater than what has been documented, because outside observers have been unable to reach some of the most devastated areas. Now the world can see what Russia did in Bucha, but the world has yet to see what it has done in other parts of our country, Mr. Zelensky said.

New York Times journalists on Tuesday were able for the first time to reach the town of Borodyanka, northwest of Kyiv, battered by Russian rockets and airstrikes, where the mayor estimated 200 dead lay beneath the rubble. In the besieged port of Mariupol, local officials have put the death toll in the thousands.

Fierce fighting continues along Ukraines southern coast, where Mariupol, largely reduced to ruins by Russian bombardment, is the center of hell, said Martin Griffiths, the U.N. chief of humanitarian relief.

More than 250 miles west of Mariupol, explosions shuddered through the port of Mykolaiv, a day after the mayor said Russian strikes had killed 10 people and wounded 46. He said that Russians had hit residential buildings, schools, a hospital and an orphanage in his city since the war began, and had used cluster munitions. Soldiers defending the city said that increasingly, Russian forces were hitting civilian targets.

After four consecutive days of trying and failing to send an aid convoy into Mariupol, where people are desperately short of food, water, power, heat and medicines, the International Committee of the Red Cross decided against another attempt on Tuesday.

Ukrainian officials say the Russians have prevented crucial supplies from reaching the city. Mr. Nebenzya, the Russian U.N. ambassador, said the Ukrainians had blocked the convoy, and he claimed that Russian forces had evacuated 123,500 people from Mariupol.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that in fact, tens of thousands of Ukrainians, including from Mariupol, had been taken to filtration camps in Russia, where family members were separated and people were stripped of passports and cellphones. I do not need to spell out what these so-called filtration camps are reminiscent of, she said. Its chilling, and we cannot look away.

Rosemary A. DiCarlo, a U.N. under secretary general, said there was credible evidence that Russia had used cluster munitions shells that burst open to spew many smaller bomblets over a wide area at least 24 times in populated areas of Ukraine. Most countries have signed a treaty banning cluster munitions as indiscriminate weapons with a high risk of civilian casualties, but Russia, like the United States, has not.

More than 11 million Ukrainians about one in four have fled their homes because of the war, including more than 4 million who have left the country, according to the United Nations, creating Europes largest and fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II.

Russian forces recently captured the eastern city of Izyum, and Western analysts say they are preparing for a drive to the south and southeast, to bolster efforts to seize more of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting for eight years. Many of Ukraines best-equipped and most experienced military units have been concentrated in that area, known as Donbas.

Russian forces continue to make little to no progress in frontal assaults on the portions of Donbas still held by Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War reported.

Whether the Russians aim simply to reinforce their units in Donbas, or are planning a more ambitious effort to encircle the Ukrainian forces, capturing Sloviansk is crucial, the institute said.

In the Luhansk region on Tuesday, an attack that Ukrainians blamed on Russian forces hit a storage tank containing nitric acid, releasing a toxic cloud and prompting the regional administrator to urge people to stay inside and close their windows.

The Russian units that withdrew from the region around Kyiv, having suffered heavy casualties, extensive equipment losses and poor morale, the institute said, are highly unlikely to be effectively deployed elsewhere in Ukraine and are likely a spent force.

An intelligence assessment released by the British defense ministry was less definitive, but said that any Russian forces redeploying from the north would first need considerable time to repair and replace equipment, and to make up for casualties.

Reporting was contributed by Carlotta Gall in Borodyanka, Ukraine; Andrew E. Kramer in Kyiv, Ukraine; Rick Gladstone, Michael Schwirtz and Farnaz Fassihi in New York; Dan Bilefsky in Montreal; Steven Erlanger and Matina Stevis-Gridneff in Brussels; Megan Specia and Cora Engelbrecht in Krakow, Poland; Anton Troianovski in Istanbul; and Lara Jakes, John Ismay and Katie Rogers in Washington.

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What Happened on Day 41 of the War in Ukraine - The New York Times

A senior Biden administration official said, however, there will still be a carve-out for energy transactions, part of a continued effort to shield Europe from skyrocketing oil and gas prices. The Treasury Department is also sanctioning Alfa Bank, the largest private lender in Russia, as well as several key state-owned companies, on top of a broader move to cut off funding to the country.

We have seen an overwhelming move by companies to take actions on their own to pull out of Russia, Brian Deese, a top White House economic official, told reporters Wednesday morning at an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. Today, we will prohibit any new inbound investment.

The latest sanctions on Russias biggest banks aim to dramatically escalate the financial shock the country has faced in recent weeks, a senior administration official told reporters on a call, adding that more than two-thirds of the Russian banking industry is now fully blocked from transacting with U.S. financial firms.

The investment ban will make sure that the mass exodus from Russia that were seeing from the private sector which is now over 600 multinational companies and growing that it will endure, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss administration strategy. Without investment from our private sector, Putin will lose private sector know-how and skills that travel with investment, and the knock-on effects to the ongoing brain drain from Russia will be profound.

The measures were taken in concert with European allies. The U.K. on Wednesday imposed new asset freezes against Sberbank and Credit Bank of Moscow and announced a phase-out of Russian coal before the end of 2022, to go alongside a similar plan for Russian oil announced last month. It slapped new bans on exports, including oil-refining equipment as well as iron and steel products, and targeted sanctions at more oligarchs tied to the Russian fuel sector.

A new package of EU sanctions, which was to be put to member countries for a vote on Wednesday, would also phase out Russian coal deliveries from the blocs energy imports, ban Russian vessels and trucks from entering the EU and impose tougher sanctions on four key Russian banks. But the plan stops short of a full ban on Russian oil imports, amid resistance from countries led by Germany.

Our partners are outraged by the atrocities that are being committed in Russia, as we are, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday at a House Financial Services Committee hearing. And we are working very actively with them to impose new sanctions that will cause Russia significant pain.

Also targeted in Wednesdays actions: Putins adult children, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovs wife and daughter and members of Russias Security Council, including former President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and current Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The Treasury confirmed Monday that it is now banning Russia from using its frozen central bank reserves to make payments to bondholders. That means the Kremlin will have to find new sources of funding and new payment routes other than U.S. banks to avoid defaulting on its debt, the official said.

The official said the sanctions are having an impact on Russia, citing soaring inflation and interest rates that are now above 20 percent. Russias economy is expected to shrink by as much as 15 percent this year, more than twice the contraction it experienced following the 1998 currency crisis, when the country defaulted on its debt.

But unlike then, when Russia was in the process of getting integrated into the global economy, its now in the process of being isolated as a pariah state, the official said.

At this rate, Russia will go back to Soviet-style living standards from the 1980s. Russians will find it difficult to travel abroad, their debit cards may not work and store shelves may be empty, the official said.

The Biden administration already took some steps in February to cut off Sberbank from the U.S. financial system after Russias initial invasion, but it stopped short of the type of full blocking sanctions that it placed on VTB, Russias second-largest bank.

Although the administration has banned oil and gas imports from Russia into the U.S., the carve-out allows U.S. financial institutions to continue sending payments for Russian energy to Sberbank on behalf of European countries, which rely heavily on those imports.

Importantly, these measures are designed to reinforce each other to generate intensifying impact over time, the administration said in a fact sheet.

Read this article:

'Outraged by the atrocities': U.S. aims new sanctions at Russia - POLITICO

Smoke and fire are seen after shelling in Odesa, Ukraine, Sunday, April 3, 2022. Max Pshybyshevsky/AP hide caption

Smoke and fire are seen after shelling in Odesa, Ukraine, Sunday, April 3, 2022.

The Russian military says it has struck an oil processing plant and fuel depots around the strategic Black Sea port of Odesa.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Russian ships and aircraft fired missiles on Sunday to strike the facilities, which he said were used to provide fuel to Ukrainian troops near Mykolaiv.

Konashenkov also said Russian strikes destroyed ammunition depots in Kostiantynivka and Khresyshche.

In an audio message posted by Italian news agency ANSA, Italian photographer Carlo Orlandi said Odessa woke to military sirens at 5:45 a.m. Sunday, followed immediately by the sounds of bombs falling on the port city from two aircraft.

He described a column of dark smoke rising from the targets, and flames from the buildings.

"What we can see is a dense screen of dark smoke, and one explosion after the other, Orlandi said.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the mayor of the capital of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has expressed shock at what he called "cruel war crimes" committed by Russian soldiers in the town of Bucha northwest of the capital.

Referring to reports of executed civilians, Klitschko told German daily Bild on Sunday that "what happened in Bucha and other suburbs of Kyiv can only be described as genocide."

An AP crew on Sunday saw the bodies of at least nine people who appear to have been executed. At least two of them had their hands tied behind their backs. They were all in civilian clothes and at least three were naked from the waist up. One appeared shot in the chest from close range.

Klitschko said Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible for these "cruel war crimes," adding that civilians had been "shot with tied hands."

He called on the the whole world and especially Germany to immediately end gas imports from Russia.

He said that "especially for Germany, there can only be one consequence: Not a penny should go to Russia anymore, that's bloody money used to slaughter people. The gas and oil embargo must come immediately."

See the article here:

Russia hits an oil processing plant near the port city of Odesa - NPR

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to have spent much of his Tuesday phone conversationwith his Mexican counterpartdiscussing Ukraine.

According to the official Canadian readout, "the Prime Minister invited the President to participate in the 'Stand Up for Ukraine'campaign pledging event on April 9, which he is co-convening with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people."

There was no word on whether Mexican PresidentAndrs Manuel Lpez Obrador usually known as AMLO accepted the invitation. He has appeared to lack enthusiasm for supporting Ukraineand his MORENA party has had a number of pro-Putin eruptions since the Feb. 24 invasion.

On Tuesdayin what Mexican critics of Lpez Obrador's "Fourth Transformation" movement called a new low the newspaper that's often seen as the unofficial organ of the ruling party shocked many Mexicans with its front-page take on the murder of civiliansin Bucha and other newly liberated cities in the periphery of Kyiv.

"Russia demands the UN tackle staged massacre in Ukraine," reads the headline in La Jornada.

Subheadings repeated various Kremlin claims including one alleging the corpses in Bucha are living actors and that one of the victim'shands canbe seen moving in a video. (It can't.)

While much of the world was reacting with outrage to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a group of legislators from Mexico's governing MORENA party and the allied Labour Party decided it was a perfect time to set up a new "friendship group" with Russia.

RussianAmbassador to Mexico Viktor Koronelli celebrated the occasion on March 23 by meeting with about two dozen pro-government lawmakers while opposition members protested outside the chamber with signs saying "No to war."

"For us it's a sign of support, of friendship, of solidarity," said Koronelli, "in these complicated times for my country, facing not only a special military operation in Ukraine but also a tremendous media war."

"Russia didn't start this war. It is finishing it," he told his Mexican hosts.

Speaking on behalf of the governing party, Congressman Armando Contreras Castillo lavished praise on the Soviet Union, which he said had given Mexico "a new way of thinking about society and economy, a new way of understanding the world and life." Castillo said Mexico also wanted to draw closer to the modern Russia of Vladimir Putin.

"Our goal is today to strengthen Mexican-Russian relations," he said."We are ready to do everything to fortify the friendship between Mexico and Russia and establish new ties."

Mexico has a highly professional diplomatic corps and currently holds a seat at the UN Security Council. There, Mexico "has continuously condemned the acts of aggression perpetrated by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, while recognizing its sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity," said Oscar Mora of the Mexican Embassy in Ottawa.

And at the General Assembly, Mexico co-sponsored with France a motion that blamed Russia for the humanitarian disaster in Ukraine.

"Mexico has also expressed its support for the call from the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to conduct an independent probe into the atrocities in Bucha, identifying those who are responsible to get justice," Mora told CBC News.

Mexico has sent flights to Romania with humanitarian assistance for Ukraine and is currently hosting about 400 Ukrainian refugees many of them are seeking status in the U.S.

"Rest assured that Mexico's condemnation will remain clear and loud, particularly as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, and we will continue to work with Canadaand other like-minded countries to restore peace in Ukraine as soon as possible," saidMora.

But Mexican journalist Jose Diaz Briseno, the Washington correspondent for Reforma, saidthat the Mexican government's position is best described as "ambivalent."

"There's one thing for the outside world, at the UN Security Council, and there's another position that the president himself and his allies present to the Mexican public," he said.

"Basically, the president is trying to cater to the most extreme elements within the MORENA coalition, which are very anti-U.S. and believe that any expression of support of Ukraine is 100 per centsupport of all U.S. actions in the world."

Following criticism of the new friendship group, Lpez Obrador said that "we are not going to participate either in favour or against" the war in Ukraine.

"Our posture is one of neutrality," he said.

"The president seems trapped," said Diaz Briseno, "between the official position that his diplomats are taking at the UNand the flirtations that some of the elements within his party have with Russia.

"There are elements of the MORENA Party and the Labour Party who have visited Russia, who've talked to Russian officials, and Russian propaganda in the Spanish language is very widespread in Mexico.

"Russian media are helping in many cases to spread some of the conspiracy theories about the U.S. being against AMLO."

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar was quick to respond to the friendship group with a public statement that said "we must be united with Ukraine."

In Washington, the response came even faster as Air Force Gen.Glen VanHerck, head of the U.S. military's Northern Command, went before a U.S. Senate committee and dropped a bombshell about the Russian presence in Mexico.

"I would like to point out that most of the GRU members in the world are in Mexico at the moment," he said."Those are Russian intelligence personnel."

GRU, or Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie, is the Russian military's foreign intelligence service.

VanHerck said officers of GRU's main directorate use cover positions at the Russian Embassy in Mexico City to spy on the U.S., among other tasks. (The U.S. already has expelled several Russian diplomats it accused of using their diplomatic postings in Washington as cover for espionage.)

Asked about those allegations at one of his regular news conferences, Lpez Obrador said his government had no informationand advised others to stay out of Mexico's affairs.

"We must send them telegrams warning them that Mexico is not a colony of any foreign country," he said.

The president has himself avoided praising Vladimir Putin publicly or justifying the attack on Ukraine. He has said that Mexico will notallow arms to be sent to Ukraine or participate in any sanctions against the Putin government.

But on Mexico's left, traditional anti-Americanism and tolerance for autocratic regimes has blended with a conspiratorial mindset to drive support for Russia and suspicion of pro-Ukrainian narratives and some members of Lpez Obrador's party have been more openly supportive.

One example was its youth wing in Mexico's biggest state, which published a paean to the Russian dictator following the Feb. 24 invasion:

"We reaffirm our moral and political support for the difficult decision that forced the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin to engage in the legitimate defence of his people and, seeking to avoid a larger military conflict and preserve world peace, militarily intervene in Ukrainian territory to weaken the neo-Nazi, coup-lead forces," wrote the Morena Youth of Mexico State.

The statement blamed the U.S., EU and NATO for causing the conflict by tempting Ukraine to unite with the West "with the sole excuse of spreading democracy."

And just hours before Canada closed its airspace to Russian aircraft, Lpez Obrador's Transport Minister Miguel Torruco put out a string of tweets celebrating Russia's state airline.

"Warm greetings to our friends at the prestigious airline @aeroflot, hoping for prompt connectivity between nations and of course to Mexico City. I remind you that tourism is a synonym of peace, friendship and understanding between people," he wrote in one of them.

The pro-Putin musings of MORENA members have provoked anger in the U.S. and from Ukrainians.

Ukraine's ambassador to Mexico, Oksana Dramaretska,called Lpez Obrador out on Twitterand described the Friendship Group as "a disgrace,"prompting calls from some AMLO supporters for her expulsion.

And on Monday, a Democratic congressman from Texas called on the Biden administration to cancel the U.S. visas of all politicians who joined the group.

Rep. Vicente Gonzlez wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas that the Friendship Group's members "took this opportunity to shun the free world and stand with Putin."

Mexican journalist Diaz Briseno says Monday's coverage in La Jornada was a sad development.

"On a personal note, it's very sad to see this on the front page of a major outlet in Mexico," he said. "This is not something you see in other countries, and it speaks to how some elements of the ruling coalition in Mexico have sympathy to Russian claims."

Russian Ambassador Viktor Koronelli, on the other hand, has welcomed Mexican support.

"In Russia, we say that it's in hard times that you learn who your friends are," he said.

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Russia's war with Ukraine made it a global pariah but it still has friends in Mexico - CBC News

MOSCOW, Russia: The Russian central bank has implemented a range of capital controls in a bid to support domestic assets and the ruble currency, as international sanctions squeeze the economy following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

KIRILL Kudryavtsev | AFP | Getty Images

The Russian economy is set to shrink sharply this year while inflation skyrockets, as punitive international sanctions in response to its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine begin to bite.

Russian manufacturing activity in March contracted at its sharpest rate since May 2020, in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, as material shortages and delivery delays weighed heavily on factories.

The S&P Global purchasing managers' index (PMI) for Russia, published on Friday, dropped from 48.6 in February to 44.1 in March, with anything below 50 representing contraction. Goldman Sachs economists noted on Friday that the fall was "broad-based, with sharp drops in the output, new orders, and (especially) the new exports orders components."

In a note Wednesday, economists at Capital Economics projected that Western sanctions are likely to push Russian gross domestic product into a 12% contraction in 2022, while inflation is expected to exceed 23% year-on-year.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has projected a 10% shrinkage in the Russian economy, which would still constitute the country's deepest recession for almost 30 years, with GDP then flatlining in 2023 and entering a prolonged period of negligible growth.

Goldman Sachs has also forecast a 10% contraction, while the Institute for International Finance think tank has projected a more damaging 15% plunge in Russian GDP in 2022 and a further 3% in 2023.

Fears of a Russian sovereign debt default have not materialized, however, with the Kremlin managing to service a recent closely-watched bond payment despite the shackles of sanctions by Western powers that have frozen huge portions of the central bank's $640 billion stockpile of foreign currency reserves.

Russian stocks have also edged higher since reopening on Mar. 24 after a month-long shutdown of Moscow exchanges, along with the ruble, though capital control measures taken by the Central Bank of Russia and the fading risk of debt default are partially responsible.

"A more sustained recovery will probably require a peace deal which still looks far away. Meanwhile, spillovers from the war will be felt acutely in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)," Capital Economics Chief Emerging Markets Economist William Jackson said in the report.

"Industry will be hit by supply disruptions and higher inflation will weigh on households' real incomes and dampen consumer spending. We expect the war to shave 1.0-1.5%-pts off growth in CEE this year."

The outlook for Russia may yet darken further following the emergence over the weekend of allegations of civilian massacres by Russian forces in Bucha and other Ukrainian towns. The alleged atrocities will push back expectations for peace talks and increase the threat of more punitive international sanctions.

Ukraine's top prosecutor said on Sunday that 410 bodies had been found in towns recaptured from retreating Russian forces around Kyiv as part of an investigation into possible war crimes, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of genocide. Russia has denied allegations that its forces killed civilians in Bucha, 23 miles northwest of Kyiv.

The European Union plans to introduce fresh sanctions against Moscow in the wake of the new reported atrocities, with European Council President Charles Michel announcing on Twitter that "further EU sanctions & support are on their way."

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will travel to Poland on Monday to meet with Ukrainian and Polish counterparts ahead of talks with G-7 and NATO allies later this week, and is expected to call for tougher sanctions against Russia.

Despite the sharp declines in Russia's March PMIs, Goldman Sachs noted on Friday that activity across some CEEMEA economies was surprisingly robust, with gains in Hungary and South Africa offset by declines in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"Hungary's PMI has been relatively volatile in recent months, so we would downplay the significance of its gain (not least because our analysis suggests that it is relatively exposed to the Russia-Ukraine conflict)," Goldman economists wrote.

"For South Africa, its direct trade with Russia and Ukraine is limited, while it is benefiting from higher commodity prices."

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Russia's economy is beginning to crack as economists forecast sharp contractions - CNBC

A radio transmission between several Russian soldiers in Ukraine in early March, captured from an unencrypted channel, reveals panicked and confused comrades retreating after coming under artillery fire.

Vostok, I am Sneg 02. On the highway we have to turn left, fuck, one of the soldiers says in Russian using code names meaning East and Snow 02.

Got it. No need to move further. Switch to defense. Over, another responds.

Later, a third soldier tries to make contact with another codenamed South 95: Yug 95, do you have contact with a senior? Warn him on the highway artillery fire. On the highway artillery fire. Dont go by column. Move carefully.

The third Russian soldier continues, becoming increasingly agitated: Get on the radio. Tell me your situation and the artillery location, approximately what weapon they are firing. Later, the third soldier speaks again: Name your square. Yug 95, answer my questions. Name the name of your square!

As the soldiers spoke, an AI was listening. Their words were automatically captured, transcribed, translated, and analyzed using several artificial intelligence algorithms developed by Primer, a US company that provides AI services for intelligence analysts. While it isnt clear whether Ukrainian troops also intercepted the communication, the use of AI systems to surveil Russias army at scale shows the growing importance of sophisticated open source intelligence in military conflicts.

A number of unsecured Russian transmissions have been posted online, translated, and analyzed on social media. Other sources of data, including smartphone video clips and social media posts, have similarly been scrutinized. But its the use of natural language processing technology to analyze Russian military communications that is especially novel. For the Ukrainian army, making sense of intercepted communications still typically involves human analysts working away in a room somewhere, translating messages and interpreting commands.

The tool developed by Primer also shows how valuable machine learning could become for parsing intelligence information. The past decade has seen significant advances in AIs capabilities around image recognition, speech transcription, translation, and language processing thanks to large neural network algorithms that learn from vast tranches of training data. Off-the-shelf code and APIs that use AI can now transcribe speech, identify faces, and perform other tasks, often with high accuracy. In the face of Russias numerical and artillery advantages, intercepting communications may well be making a difference for Ukrainian troops on the ground.

Primer already sells AI algorithms trained to transcribe and translate phone calls, as well as ones that can pull out key terms or phrases. Sean Gourley, Primers CEO, says the companys engineers modified these tools to carry out four new tasks: To gather audio captured from web feeds that broadcast communications captured using software that emulates radio receiver hardware; to remove noise, including background chatter and music; to transcribe and translate Russian speech; and to highlight key statements relevant to the battlefield situation. In some cases this involved retraining machine learning models to recognize colloquial terms for military vehicles or weapons.

The ability to train and retrain AI models on the fly will become a critical advantage in future wars, says Gourley. He says the company made the tool available to outside parties but refuses to say who. We wont say whos using it or for what theyre using it for, Gourley says. Several other American companies have made technologies, information, and expertise available to Ukraine as it fights against Russian invaders.

The fact that some Russian troops are using unsecured radio channels has surprised military analysts. It seems to point to an under-resourced and under-prepared operation, says Peter W. Singer, a senior fellow at the think tank New America who specializes in modern warfare. Russia used intercepts of open communications to target its foes in past conflicts like Chechnya, so they, of all forces, should have known the risks, Singer says. He adds that these signals could undoubtedly have helped the Ukrainians, although analysis was most likely done manually. It is indicative of comms equipment failures, some arrogance, and possibly, the level of desperation at the higher levels of the Russian military, adds Mick Ryan, a retired Australian general and author.

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As Russia Plots Its Next Move, an AI Listens to the Chatter - WIRED

Moscow Russia warned the United States on Tuesday against sending warships to the Black Sea, urging American forces to stay away from the annexed Crimean peninsula "for their own good" as the situation along Ukraine's border caused increasing concern in the West. The U.S. Secretary of State, meeting with Ukrainian and NATO officials in Brussels, made it clear that the Biden administration, along with its allies in Europe, has Ukraine's back and considers Russia's ongoing military buildup in the region "very provocative."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Washington had informed Ankara that two U.S. warships would pass through Turkish waters this week to be deployed in the Black Sea. The deployment would come amid a significant escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine's forces, which have U.S. and European support.

Hostilities first flared in 2014 when Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea a peninsula that sticks out into the Black Sea and is home to a Russian navy base away from Ukraine, drawing condemnation from the Western world and a series of sanctions.

Russian Deputy Foreign Ministry Sergei Ryabkov was cited by Russian news agencies on Tuesday as calling the deployment of U.S. warships in the Black Sea a provocation designed to test Russia's nerves.

"There is absolutely nothing for American ships to be doing near our shores," Ryabkov said, warning there was a very high risk of unspecified incidents if U.S. military hardware were to be positioned in the Black Sea.

"We warn the United States that it will be better for them to stay far away from Crimea and our Black Sea coast," Ryabkov was quoted as saying. "It will be for their own good."

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declined during a regular press briefing on Friday to confirm the Turkish government's statement that U.S. warships were being sent to the Black Sea. He noted that the U.S. "routinely" operates in the Black Sea, but said he wouldn't "speak to operations."

The current escalation has added strain to already tense U.S.-Russian relations. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Russia against aggressive actions in an interview aired over the weekend, saying any aggression in Ukraine would have consequences.

Ryabkov responded on Tuesday, accusing the Russian "adversary" of trying to undermine Russia's position on the international stage. He reiterated Russia's readiness to defend the interests of its citizens, and ethnic Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was preparing itself in the event any new sanctions should be imposed on Moscow by the U.S. or its global partners.

Meanwhile, Russia has continued to move forces into both Crimea and the region along its border with Ukraine. The Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday that 15 warships and vessels of the Caspian Flotilla had been sent to the Black Sea as part of previously announced military exercises.

Ukraine said earlier this week that Russia had already massed more than 40,000 troops along its border, and at least 40,000 more in Crimea. Russia says the troop buildup is part of exercises, and has stressed that its forces will go where they want, when they want on Russian territory.

Top U.S. officials are in Europe this week, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Blinken. Austin announced during a stop in Germany on Tuesday that the U.S. was going to deploy an additional 500 troops to that country.

When asked if the move was meant as a message to Russia, he said it was "a sign to NATO" of the U.S. commitment to the transatlantic alliance, and of the firm commitment to Germany. Under President Donald Trump, Washington said it would withdraw thousands of the American forces who've been stationed in Germany for decades. That decision was suspended by the Biden administration, and now the force is set to grow.

Blinken, meanwhile, was in Brussels, meeting NATO partners, and he met separately with his Ukrainian counterpart to discuss the standoff with Russia.

"The United States stands firmly behind the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and I'm her to reaffirm that with the foreign minister today," Blinken said. "That's particularly important in a time when we're seeing, unfortunately, Russia take very provocative action when it comes to Ukraine. We're now seeing the largest concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine's border since 2014. That is a big concern not only to Ukraine, but to the United States and indeed to many of our allies and partners."

Sitting across from him, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the Russian buildup was "taking place not only along the border of Ukraine, but along the border of the democratic world. For thousands of kilometers to the north and to the east of our border with Russia, there is no democracy. So, this is the struggle that is taking place between democracies and authoritarianism, and in this struggle the support of the United States is absolutely crucial, and deeply appreciated."

Kuleba thanked NATO, also, and said that warnings already conveyed to Moscow through diplomatic channels, "will be supported by actions that make it very clear for Russia that the price of further aggression against Ukraine will be too heavy for it to bear."

He said the Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Brussels, and more broadly the NATO allies at large, would continue discussing ways to ensure stability along his country's tense border with Russia.

While no NATO deployments have been confirmed, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed the alliance was planning to position 40,000 more troops and 15,000 pieces of military equipment close to Russian territory. He didn't elaborate, but said that "in response to the military activity of the alliance that threatens Russia, we have taken appropriate measures."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier on Tuesday that he was "seriously concerned" by Russia's deployment of additional forces to the Ukrainian border.

"Russia is now trying to reestablish some kind of sphere of influence where they try to decide what neighbors can do," Stoltenberg said.

CBSNews.com's Tucker Reals contributed to this report.

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Russia warns U.S. to stay away for its "own good" as ...

The United States Treasury sees Russia as struggling with steep inflation, diminished exports, and shortages

WASHINGTON, USA Punishing sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies on Moscow for invading Ukraine are pushing Russia into recession and starting to turn it back into a closed economy, a senior US Treasury official said on Friday, April 1.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that the Treasury sees Russia as struggling with steep inflation, diminished exports, and shortages despite a recovery of its rouble against the dollar. The official dismissed the rebound as driven by stringent capital controls and foreign exchange curbs, not market forces.

Inflation that has run as high as 6% over the past three weeks is a better indication of the sanctions performance inside Russia, revealing the roubles diminished purchasing power, the official said, adding that black market rouble exchange rates were well below the international rate.

After Western democracies imposed initial sanctions immobilizing around half of the Russian central banks $630 billion in foreign exchange assets and cutting several key Russian banks off from the SWIFT international transaction network, the roublelost half its value against the dollar.

It has since recouped its pre-invasion value, touching a five-week high in early Moscow trade on Friday before settling in the 83-84 range to the dollar.

But the Treasury official said that will not stop a steep contraction in Russias economic output that outside analysts now forecast at about 10% this year far worse than the 2.7% contraction it suffered during 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The economic consequences Russia is facing are severe: high inflation that will only get higher, and deep recession that will only get deeper, the official said.

The Treasury official said the cumulative effect of sanctions on banks, wealthy oligarchs tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin, key industrial sectors, and US export controls that deny Russia access to critical technologies, was to push Russia towards its Cold War existence as a closed economy.

But Russia, a producer of mainly commodities and raw materials, was ill-equipped to produce its own consumer and technology goods, the official said.

As a closed economy, Russia will only be able to consume what they produce, which will be a stark adjustment, the official added.

The process will not happen immediately. China, India, and other countries are still trading with Russia, and could replace some goods and parts that Russia would normally buy from Western firms.

However, its access to semiconductors, software, and other technologies is limited due to the US export restrictions that also will prevent China from selling Moscow any such chips since all its semiconductors are made with US technology or software.

The United States intended for the sanctions and export curbs to be debilitating to the Russian economy and cripple the Russian militarys ability to procure parts and equipment for the war effort, the official said

Washington was comfortable with enforcement of the sanctions and export controls thus far, but remained on the lookout for any violations.

The Treasury comments come as senior Biden administration officials traveled the globe to press world leaders to keep up sanctions pressure on Russia.

Washington planned to maintain humanitarian exemptions from the sanctions, given growing food insecurity problems and Russias role as a major wheat producer, the Treasury official said.

Other exemptions were intended to protect Western financial institutions that hold Russian assets, through a license to allow Russian debt payments to be made. Rappler.com

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Russia headed for recession, closed economy despite rouble ...

Russia's communications regulator is threatening to fine Google and Wikipedia for not removing what it describes as misinformation about the war in Ukraine. Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Russia's communications regulator is threatening to fine Google and Wikipedia for not removing what it describes as misinformation about the war in Ukraine.

The Russian government is threatening to fine Wikipedia if it doesn't remove content that contradicts its narrative about the war in Ukraine.

Communications regulator Roskomnadzor announced on Thursday that it had asked the online encyclopedia to remove a page containing "unreliable socially significant materials, as well as other prohibited information" about its operations in Ukraine, according to an English translation. It accused the site of intentionally misinforming Russian users.

It said it could fine Wikipedia up to 4 million rubles, or nearly $47,000, for failing to remove those materials, which are illegal under Russian law.

Russia enacted legislation last month that criminalizes war reporting that doesn't echo the Kremlin's version of events including by calling it a war. The law has forced most of Russia's remaining independent news outlets to close and many journalists to leave the country for fear of facing up to 15 years in prison.

The Wikipedia page in question describes the history and context of the war, as well as specific military operations, casualties and humanitarian impact, human rights violations, legal proceedings, international reaction, economic consequences and media depictions.

It is not clear what specific details the regulator is looking to have removed, but Newsweek reports that it said on Monday that the Russian-language version of the page contained "inaccurate information about the special military operation to protect the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics for the de-militarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine," including the use of the words war, aggression and invasion.

Roskomnadzor's announcement follows two separate warnings to the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns and operates the encyclopedia.

A spokesperson for the foundation told NPR over email that it had received demands on March 1 and again on March 29 to remove information from the Russian-language version of the page about the invasion, before learning of the possible fine.

"The Wikimedia Foundation supports everyone's fundamental right to access free, open, and verifiable information; this escalation does not change our commitment," the spokesperson said.

The information on Wikipedia is sourced and shared by volunteers, with the foundation saying last month that Ukrainian volunteers were continuing to make additions and edits to the encyclopedia even as the war on their country unfolded.

The spokesperson reiterated on Friday that the information within the article continues to be verified, fact-checked and "improved by an ever growing number of Wikipedia volunteer editors," who determine the site's content and editorial standards.

"The Wikimedia Foundation protects and will continue to protect their ability to engage in research and contribute to Wikipedia," the spokesperson added.

In a statement released after the first takedown request last month, the Wikimedia Foundation said the demand "threatened censorship," and that denying people access to reliable information at a time of crisis could have "life-altering consequences." As of March 3, they said the English-language version of the page had been viewed more than 11 million times, and articles about the war had been created in more than 99 languages.

"Wikipedia is an important source of reliable, factual information in this crisis," the foundation wrote. "In recognition of this important role, we will not back down in the face of efforts to censor and intimidate members of our movement. We stand by our mission to deliver free knowledge to the world."

Wikipedia isn't the only information platform facing such a request from Roskomnadzor. Just days ago, the agency warned it would fine Google up to 8 million rubles (more than $93,000) for not following its orders to remove YouTube videos to which it objected.

This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog.

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Russia threatens to fine Wikipedia if it doesn't remove some details about the war - NPR