NATO foreign ministers will gather Wednesday in Brussels to discuss support for Ukraine after mounting evidence of atrocities in a suburb of Kyiv spurred Western promises to step up economic pressure on the Kremlin.
The Biden administration is set to announce a ban on new investments in Russia and more sanctions, while the European Union, divided over imposing a full energy embargo, is debating an import ban on Russian coal under a new round of penalties. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, demanding a tougher E.U. response Wednesday, criticized leaders who “still think war crimes are not as horrific as financial losses.”
Ukrainian leaders say the grim killings in Bucha are not the exception. The withdrawal of Russian forces in other parts of the country has revealed looted homes and shootings of civilians.
Here’s what to know
- The Red Cross said it was “impossible to enter” the southern port of Mariupol after its team tried over five days to reach thousands of people trapped in the devastated city.
- Greece and Norway said Wednesday they would expel Russian diplomats, and Moscow vowed to retaliate — the latest sign of a tit-for-tat downgrading of Russia’s diplomatic relations with its European neighbors.
- The Kremlin has cast the withdrawal of troops from around Kyiv as “a gesture of goodwill" for negotiations, while Russian troops shifted to eastern Ukraine where officials reported intensifying attacks.
- The Post has lifted its paywall for readers in Russia and Ukraine. Telegram users can subscribe to our channel for updates.
9:34 AM: Russian missiles continue to target Ukrainian oil stockpiles
NOVOMOSKOVSK, Ukraine — Ukrainian emergency services spent eight hours fighting a blaze raging at an oil storage facility struck by a Russian missile Wednesday night near the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to local authorities. Eyewitnesses reported that the facility in the town of Novomoskovsk was hit about 10:30 p.m. in a missile strike that damaged oil storage tanks and a nearby factory.
Residents who spoke with The Post reported feeling the powerful blast several miles away from the strike. Washington Post reporters who visited the area Wednesday afternoon saw large flames emanating from a damaged storage tank as an acrid plume of black smoke billowed over the facility.
The Russian military has continued to target oil storage facilities and other infrastructure vital for the Ukrainian war effort across the country.
Moscow complained angrily last week about what it said was a Ukrainian helicopter raid on an oil depot in Belgorod, Russia, about 25 miles north of the Ukrainian border. That attack followed Russian strikes on fuel facilities in Ukraine, including one in the western city of Lviv last month while President Biden was visiting neighboring Poland.
Eugene Lakatosh contributed to this report.
By: Dalton Bennett
9:24 AM: Russia using ‘mobile crematoriums’ to cover up crimes, Mariupol officials say