Biden says Russia committing genocide in Ukraine

US President Joe Biden said for the first time that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine amounts to genocide, as President Vladimir Putin said Russia would “rhythmically and calmly” continue its operation and achieve its goals.

Biden used the term genocide, a significant escalation of the president’s rhetoric, in a speech at an ethanol plant in Iowa and later stood by the description as he prepared to board Air Force One.

“Yes, I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting,” Biden told reporters on Tuesday.

“We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.”

Biden has repeatedly called Putin a war criminal, but Tuesday was the first time he had accused Russia of genocide.

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians and has said Ukrainian and Western allegations of war crimes are made up to discredit Russian forces.

Many of the towns Russia has retreated from in northern Ukraine were littered with the bodies of civilians killed in what Kyiv says was a campaign of murder, torture and rape.

The Kremlin says it launched a “special military operation” on 24 February to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies reject that as a false pretext.

Moscow’s nearly seven-week long incursion, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, has seen more than 4.6 million people flee abroad, killed or injured thousands and led to Russia’s near total isolation on the world stage.

Putin on Tuesday used his first public comments on the conflict in more than a week to say Russia would “rhythmically and calmly” continue its operation, and expressed confidence his goals, including on security, would be achieved.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mocked Putin in an early morning address on Wednesday: “How could a plan that provides for the death of tens of thousands of their own soldiers in a little more than a month of war come about?”

Putin said that on-and-off peace negotiations “have again returned to a dead-end situation for us.”

During his comments, Putin frequently seemed to ramble or stammer. Only occasionally did he adopt the icy, confident demeanour that has been his trademark over more than 22 years as Russia’s leader.

Putin, who had been ubiquitous on Russian television in the early days of the war, had largely retreated from public view since Russia’s withdrawal from northern Ukraine two weeks ago.

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Zelenskiy told Russia to release prisoners of war if it wants the Kremlin’s most high-profile political ally in the country freed.

Ukraine said that Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the Opposition Platform - For Life party, had been apprehended. In February, the authorities said he had escaped house arrest after a treason case was opened.

The politician who says Putin is godfather to his daughter has denied wrongdoing. A spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

“I propose to the Russian Federation: exchange this guy of yours for our guys and girls now held in Russian captivity,” Zelenskiy said in his address.

Alongside a photo of Medvedchuk in handcuffs, the head of Ukraine’s security service Ivan Bakanov said on Facebook that operatives “conducted this lightning-fast and dangerous multi-level special operation” to arrest him.

A Kremlin spokesperson was cited by the Tass news agency as saying he had seen the photo and could not say whether it was genuine.

Russia says it now aims to capture more territory on behalf of separatists in two eastern provinces, known as the Donbas. It includes Mariupol port, which has been reduced to a wasteland under Russian siege.

Ukraine says tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped inside that city with no way to bring in food or water, and accuses Russia of blocking aid convoys.

As Russia redoubles efforts in the east, Luhansk regional Governor Serhiy Gaidai urged residents to evacuate.

“It’s far more scary to remain and burn in your sleep from a Russian shell,” he wrote on social media.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, which includes Mariupol, said he had seen incident reports on possible chemical weapons use in the city but could not confirm them.

The United States and Britain have said they were trying to verify the reports. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it was closely monitoring the situation.

Chemical weapons production, use and stockpiling is banned under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.

Russia’s defence ministry has not responded to a Reuters request for comment. Russian-backed separatist forces in the east denied using chemical weapons in Mariupol, the Interfax news agency reported.

The United States is expected to announce $750 million more in military assistance, two officials told Reuters, likely including heavy ground artillery systems to Ukraine, including howitzers, in a sign the war is expected to drag on.