March 9, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The British army is imploring a “small number” of soldiers believed to have possibly traveled to Ukraine to immediately return to the United Kingdom, a British army spokesperson told CNN. 

The UK’s Ministry of Defense also said in a statement, “all Service Personnel are prohibited from travelling to Ukraine until further notice. This applies whether the Service Person is on leave or not. Personnel travelling to Ukraine will face disciplinary and administrative consequences.”

As CNN has previously reported, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has called upon "citizens of the world" to join the fight against Russia.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry says it has created a special unit — the International Legion — which has already started to carry out combat missions to counter Russian aggression.

More than 20,000 volunteers and veterans from 52 countries have expressed their desire to join, according to Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, commander of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry that will run this legion said on Monday.

The US State Department echoed the White House in condemning what they called the Kremlin’s “outright lies that the United States and Ukraine are conducting chemical and biological weapons activities in Ukraine.”

“It is Russia that has active chemical and biological weapons programs and is in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and Biological Weapons Convention,” he said, adding, “Russia has a track record of accusing the West of the very crimes that Russia itself is perpetrating.”

“These tactics are an obvious ploy by Russia to try to justify further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attacks on Ukraine. We fully expect Russia to continue to double down on these sorts of claims with further unfounded allegations,” Price said.

Like White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Price also noted that they have “also seen [Chinese] officials echo these conspiracy theories.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to tighten sanctions and “impose the maximum economic cost on Russia” during a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday,

According to a Downing Street spokesperson, Johnson told Zelensky of "the work the UK is doing to provide the military equipment Ukraine needed to defend itself.”

Zelensky and Johnson also discussed the bombing of a maternity hospital in the city of Mariupol on Wednesday:

Johnson also praised Zelensky’s “moving address” to the House of Commons on Tuesday.

“The PM ended by reaffirming the UK’s unwavering support for the people of Ukraine and said that President Zelenskyy had earned the admiration and love of the British people,” the spokesperson added.

Johnson's comments also echo those made by British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who said Tuesday the United Kingdom will “drive forward” with “debilitating” the Russian economy alongside allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol is “proof of a genocide of Ukrainians taking place” in a video message posted to Telegram late Wednesday night.

Zelensky called on Europeans to condemn the “Russian war crime” saying, “Europeans! Ukrainians! Citizens of Mariupol! Today we have to be united in condemning this Russian war crime in which is reflected all the evil that Russian occupants brought to our land.”

The Ukrainian president addressed Europeans and called on them to ramp up sanctions on Russia. 

“Europeans you won't be able to say you haven't seen what was going on to the Ukrainians, what was going on in Mariupol, to the residents of Mariupol, you have seen it and you know what's going on so you have to strengthen sanctions against Russia in a manner that leaves it no more chance to continue this genocide,” he said.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Wednesday that she is “horrified, outraged, and heartbroken by credible reports that a Russian airstrike destroyed a maternity and children's hospital in Mariupol.”

Although Sherman does not say the US has itself determined Russia was behind the strike, it is significant that she calls the reports “credible” and they are the strongest condemnation so far from a US official.

See the tweet:

US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power tweeted Wednesday that a worker at one of USAID’s partner organizations “was killed by the Russian military just shy of her 32nd birthday.”

“I'm enormously sad to share the death of Valeriia ‘Lera’ Maksetska — proud Ukrainian, beloved @USAID implementing partner & brilliant, compassionate leader on building social cohesion & fighting disinformation,” Power wrote on Twitter.

“Lera, a trained medic, could've left Kyiv when the invasion began, but stayed to help others. Only when her mom Irina ran out of medicine did she evacuate. As Lera, Irina & their driver Yaroslav waited in a car for a Russian convoy to pass, a tank fired on them—killing all three,” added Power.

Power said Maksetska’s death was devastating to USAID, her organization Chemonics, and “all who knew her.”

Read her tweets:

The White House warned Wednesday that Russia could use chemical weapons in Ukraine or manufacture a "false flag" operation that uses them. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, slamming what she called false claims from Russia that the US is developing chemical weapons in Ukraine, tweeted: 

Psaki also noted Russia’s “long and well-documented track record of using chemical weapons” as well as its pattern of “accusing the West of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned earlier this year of the possibility of Russia carrying out a fake or real chemical weapons attack as a manufactured pretext for an invasion into Ukraine. But his comments came before Russia’s full invasion began.

Read the tweets:

CNN's Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked why a maternity hospital was a “threat” to Russia, in a video message posted to Telegram late Wednesday night.

The video comes after a maternity hospital in Mariupol was bombed earlier in the day.

“Russian bombs fell on a hospital and maternity center in Mariupol. A children’s hospital, a working maternity hospital, those buildings are ruined!” the president said.

Zelensky said at least 17 people were injured in the attack and authorities are continuing to through the rubble for more victims.

Russia claims Ukraine was establishing combat positions at the hospital, something CNN has not been able to verify. 

Several hours before the maternity hospital in Mariupol was bombed, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of establishing combat positions at the hospital.

At her regular briefing, Zakharova said that "in Mariupol, the Ukrainian national battalions, having expelled the staff and patients from the maternity hospital, equipped combat positions in it."

In a video message posted to Telegram on Wednesday, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko called on the global community for help and called on them to “close the sky over Ukraine” following the bombing of a maternity hospital in the city.

The mayor said he is sure the time will come when “all these occupiers will face justice at The Hague” and said this “war crime will be punished, and the perpetrators will burn in hell.”

But Russia claims Ukraine was establishing combat positions at the hospital, something CNN has not been able to verify. 

Several hours before the maternity hospital in Mariupol was bombed, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of establishing combat positions at the hospital.

At her regular briefing, Zakharova said that "in Mariupol, the Ukrainian national battalions, having expelled the staff and patients from the maternity hospital, equipped combat positions in it."