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As reports of atrocities and attacks on civilians grew across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that the reality of the Russian invasion may grow even grimmer.
“The military tortured people, and we have every reason to believe that there are many more people killed,” he said Monday night. “Much more than we know now.”
President Joe Biden again called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” saying reports from Bucha are “brutal” and “outrageous.”
Zelenskyy said new sanctions from the West would not be “enough” to respond to the brutality that Ukrainians say happened in Bucha, near Kyiv, where grisly images are purported to show slain civilians.
Residents of Bucha have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians in a deadly campaign that Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said left more than 300 people dead before troops pulled out of the city. Russia’s Defense Ministry has denied the claims, calling them a “provocation,” despite photographs and video showing damaged city streets strewn with bodies.
Ukraine: 18 journalists killed in country since Russian invasion
KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian government says that 18 journalists have been killed in the country since Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24.
The Ukrainian Culture and Information Ministry said in a statement on social media Monday that each of the deaths and other crimes against media representatives will be investigated.
The ministry added that another 13 journalists had been wounded, eight had been abducted or taken prisoner and three journalists were still missing. It said that several crimes had been committed against journalists from 11 countries, including Ukraine.
Zelenskyy to address U.N. Security Council
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will address the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, a day after he visited a town where authorities said they found hundreds of dead civilians.
Speaking in a nightly address, Zelenskyy again called on democratically elected leaders to supply the country with more weapons and to impose “strong” sanctions on Russia “for the mass murders of civilians.”
“Ukraine needs to get all the needed weapons in order to repulse the occupiers faster from our land,” he said. “To free our cities. And if we already had what we needed, all the planes, tanks, artillery, rocket defense systems, we could have saved thousands of people. I am not blaming you. I am only blaming the Russian soldiers. But you could help.”
Earlier, Zelenksyy visited Bucha, one of the Kyiv-area towns where Ukrainian officials have said the bodies of 410 civilians have been found. Associated Press reporters who visited the city said some appeared to have been killed at close range; at least two had their hands tied behind their backs, and one had been shot in the head.
Zelenskyy said there may be even more casualties in the nearby town of Borodyanka.
Russia, which has veto power on the key 15-member U.N. Security Council, has denied targeting civilians, and its Defense Ministry has accused Ukrainian officials of staging the deaths in Bucha for Western media.
Death toll in another town outside Kyiv could top Bucha's, Zelenskyy says
The number of fatally wounded victims in a town outside Kyiv could surpass the death toll in Bucha, where Ukrainian authorities have said they found hundreds of civilians’ bodies after Russian forces retreated, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
Zelenskyy said officials have “information” showing potentially high fatality counts in Borodyanka, about 15 miles west of Bucha, and other towns that are no longer under Russian control.
NBC News has not independently verified the claim, nor has it confirmed the 410 deaths that Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova said have been discovered in and around Bucha.
After visiting Bucha and two other cities in the region, Zelenskyy said many bodies had been recovered in areas with bullet-riddled cars and torched military equipment.
“It is especially hard to see the bullet holes on the cars that have ‘children’ written on them,” he said.
Satellite images released Monday by a U.S. defense contractor, Maxar, showed what the company said were sections of Bucha that had been devastated by Russian bombardment. Blackened streets and charred vehicles could be seen next to houses that appeared to have been leveled.
Zelenskyy said “all the crimes of the occupiers are being documented” for a war crimes investigation that he said would be “full and transparent.”
“The time will come when every Russian will learn the whole truth about who killed their fellow citizens,” he said. “Who gave orders. Who turned a blind eye to the murders. We will establish all this and make it globally known. It is now 2022. And we have many more tools than those who prosecuted the Nazis after World War II.”
Russian authorities have denied targeting civilians. In a statement, the country’s Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian authorities of having “stage managed” the casualties in Bucha “for the Western media.”
Drug shortages persist in Russia after start of Ukraine war
First came the warnings, in messages among friends and families and on social media, to stock up on vital drugs in Russia before supplies were affected by crippling Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
Then, some drugs indeed became harder to find at pharmacies in Moscow and other cities.
Experts and health authorities in Russia say the drug shortages are temporary — due to panic- buying and logistical difficulties for suppliers from the sanctions — but some remain worried that high-quality medicines will keep disappearing in the Russian market.
“Most likely there will be shortages. How catastrophic it will be, I don’t know,” said Dr. Alexey Erlikh, head of the cardiac intensive care unit in Moscow Hospital No. 29, and a professor at the Moscow-based Pirogov Medical University.
Experts say panic-buying has played a role in creating drug shortages.
“People rushed to stock up, and in some cases, supplies that were supposed to last a year or a year and a half were bought out within a month,” Nikolay Bespalov, development director of the RNC Pharma analytical company, told AP.
Bespalov also pointed to logistical problems that occurred early in the crisis. While major Western pharmaceutical companies pledged not to withdraw vital medications from the Russian market, sanctions cut Russia’s key banks from the SWIFT financial messaging system, hindering international payments. Dozens of countries halted air traffic with Russia, disrupting supply chains.
The expert stressed the logistical issues have been largely resolved, but panic-buying, prompted by fears that foreign companies will halt supplies, may continue fueling shortages for some time.
France to expel Russian diplomats
The French Foreign Ministry announced Monday that multiple Russian diplomats would be expelled from the country.
The move was described as part of a wider European approach, and the ministry said the diplomats' presence is "contrary to our security interests."
Earlier in the day, Germany declared that several members of the Russian Embassy were unwelcome in the country.
Germany says some members of Russian Embassy no longer welcome
The German government on Monday declared several members of the Russian Embassy as unwelcome in its country.
“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.
Government officials said they reported the declaration to the Russian ambassador Monday afternoon.
“We will further tighten the existing sanctions against Russia, we will resolutely increase our support for the Ukrainian armed forces, and we will also strengthen NATO’s eastern flank,” Baerbock said.
140 U.N. members vote to condemn Russia
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said 140 U.N. members have already voted to condemn Russia over the war on Ukraine.