April 5, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The atrocities Russia has committed during their invasion of Ukraine that the world has now seen from images coming out of Bucha are not the “random act of a rogue unit,” but a “deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters before boarding a plane to Brussels on Tuesday morning. 

Blinken is traveling to Brussels to meet with other NATO foreign ministers and G7 foreign ministers.

The images coming from Bucha of mass graves and bodies piled in body bags “reinforces our determination and the determination of countries around the world to make sure one way or another, one day or another, there is accountability for those who committed these acts.”

Blinken said the US is working with other countries to “put the evidence together” to support both Ukraine’s and the UN Human Rights Council's investigations into whether or not Russia has committed war crimes.

“Horrifically, tragically, what we’re seeing in Bucha and in other places supports that, but in all of these instances, there’s a very important effort to put the evidence together, to compile it, document it, to support the different investigations that are going on. That’s what we’re doing, that’s what others are doing,” Blinken said.

NATO is expecting Russia to conduct a “very concentrated” attack in the east of Ukraine, with the aim of capturing the entire Donbas region, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.

“We now see a significant movement of troops away from Kyiv to regroup, re-arm and re-supply, and a shift in focus to the east,” he told reporters in Brussels. 

Pro-Russian separatists already control parts of the Donbas region. Fighting has endured there since 2014, and Russian President Vladimir Putin formally recognized the two breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent republics, just before the recent invasion began. 

“So this is a crucial phase of the war," warned Stoltenberg.

Ukrainian Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba will join NATO foreign ministers for a summit in Brussels Thursday, in which allies will “discuss what more they can do” as Ukraine “faces this new offensive”, Stoltenberg said.

“Our allies are determined to provide further support to Ukraine, including anti-tank weapons, air defense systems and other equipment.”

The European Commission said Tuesday it is proposing a fifth package of sanctions against Russia which aims to “cut even deeper into the Russian economy,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. 

The proposed measures include an import ban on coal from Russia worth 4 billion euros per year (or about $4.3 billion).

“This will cut another important revenue source for Russia,” von der Leyen said.

The Commission is also proposing a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks, among them VTB, the second largest Russian bank as well as a ban on Russian vessels and Russian-operated vessels from accessing EU ports.

The new package of sanctions also proposes further targeted bans on exports to Russia, worth 10 billion euros (about $10.9 billion), including technology such as quantum computers and advanced semiconductors, but also sensitive machinery and transportation equipment.

“We are working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports, and we are reflecting on some of the ideas presented by the Member States, such as taxes or specific payment channels such as an escrow account,” said the European Commission President.

“It is important to sustain utmost pressure on Putin and the Russian government at this crucial point,” she added.

EU Member States will need to sign off on the Commission’s proposal.

More countries continue to expel Russian diplomats as part of the fallout from Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Here's a list of countries and the actions they have taken:

Italy has expelled 30 Russian diplomats for "national security" reasons, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said in Berlin on Tuesday. 

The decision "taken in agreement with other European and Atlantic partners" was needed for "reasons related to our national security, in the context of the current crisis resulting from the unjustified aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation," Di Maio said. 

"Italy is available to act as a guarantor of security and peace in Ukraine and we will do whatever it takes to carry out this work."

Spain is expelling “about 25 Russian diplomats and embassy staff who represent a threat to the security interests of our country,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Tuesday at news conference in Madrid. 

The expulsions also “come after the terrible actions in recent days in Ukraine, especially in Bucha,” Albares said, in reference to images of Ukrainian civilians killed in that town at close range. 

Spain’s Foreign Ministry press office said those expelled will have a few days to prepare for their departure. The list does not include the Russian ambassador to Spain, the press office added. 

Sweden has expelled three Russian diplomats for carrying out intelligence operations in the country in breach of diplomatic relations, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said in a news conference in Stockholm on Tuesday, condemning "war crimes committed by Russia" in reference to scenes from Bucha.

She added that Sweden wants "to see a fifth sanction package as soon as possible that goes further when it comes to Russian exports of fossil fuels." 

Latvia announced Tuesday that it was closing two Russian consulates and expelling staff over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. The Russian ambassador to Latvia was told that the consulates in the Latvian cities of Daugavpils and Liepāja must close and their staff leave the country by the end of the month, the foreign ministry added.

“The decision was taken in solidarity with Ukraine in its fight against the unprovoked and unjustified military aggression and war started by Russia,” a ministry statement read.

Estonia has said it will shut down both Russian consulates in the country and expel 14 staff in light of the atrocities revealed to have been committed by Russian forces against Ukrainian civilians. 

Seven of the employees have diplomatic status, according to a statement from Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The former Soviet state is the latest European country to participate in Tuesday’s mass expulsion of Russian diplomats. 

Consulates in Narva and Tartu will close and staff have until April 30 to leave, the Russian ambassador was told, according to the Estonian Foreign Ministry. Russia still has an embassy operating in Estonia’s capital city of Tallinn. 

Several European countries – including France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands – also decided to expel Russian diplomats. Denmark said Tuesday it has expelled 15 alleged Russian intelligence officers it claims were working undercover as diplomats.

Russia's response: Russia on Tuesday warned the European Union of “adequate reciprocal measures” after the bloc designated 19 Russian diplomats to the European Union as “persona non grata” over its invasion of Ukraine, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the EU said in a statement.  

"This openly unfriendly — moreover, hostile and, most importantly, completely groundless step continues the European Union's policy of dismantling the partnership between Russia and the EU, which until recently both sides proudly called strategic,” the statement said.  

The expulsion of Russian diplomats is a “short-sighted step” that will “inevitably lead to retaliatory steps,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on a regular conference call on Tuesday.

CNN's Li Lian Ahlskog Hou, Benjamin Brown, Amy Cassidy and Al Goodman contributed reporting to this post.

NATO’s chief has called out China for being “unwilling to condemn Russia's aggression,” accusing it of “joining Moscow in questioning the right of nations to choose their own path.”

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was addressing reporters in Brussels ahead of a summit of NATO foreign ministers plus Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, which will take place on Wednesday. 

Before the invasion of Ukraine began, allies China and Russia proclaimed their friendship had "no limits." But Beijing has since been quietly distancing itself from Russia's sanction-hit economy. 

While refusing to condemn Russia's attack on Ukraine, China has repeatedly denounced sanctions against Moscow as an ineffective way of resolving the crisis.

More than 7.1 million people are internally displaced in Ukraine, having been forced to flee their homes, according to the latest International Organization for Migration (IOM) report.

It reports a 10% increase in the number of internally displaced people since the IOM’s first survey on March 16.

“Humanitarian corridors are urgently needed to allow the safe evacuation of civilians and ensure the safe transportation and delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid in order to rapidly assist those internally displaced,” IOM Director General António Vitorino said.

More than 50% of displaced households have children, 57% include elderly members and 30% have people with chronic illnesses, according to the survey. More than one-third of displaced households indicated that they have had no income in the last month, the IOM said.

With more than 4.2 million people refugees having left Ukraine for neighboring countries, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a total of at least 11.3 million people have been displaced since the Russian invasion began in late February.

Following US President Joe Biden’s calls for a war crimes trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said personal insults are “unacceptable and disgraceful.”

Biden has accused Putin of war crimes for atrocities allegedly committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. 

“Personal insults against the President of Russia continue, this is bad. We consider this unacceptable and disgraceful of the US President,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a regular conference call.

Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine in the coming days, his office said Tuesday.

Nehammer spoke to Zelensky on Monday evening, a spokesperson added.

Austria aims to continue to offer "the best possible humanitarian and political support" to Ukraine, a statement by the Austrian Chancellery said, adding that Vienna had already provided funding and equipment to Ukraine and will provide further help soon.

Nehammer's office said it would be making no further details of the trip public for security reasons.

European finance ministers will meet in Luxembourg on Tuesday to discuss imposing further sanctions on Russia following reports of alleged war crimes in Bucha.

"We have new images from satellites on what is happening, what was happening in Bucha. And we have to react," Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for the Economy, said Tuesday. He reiterated that "nothing is off the table."

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that oil and coal sanctions "are a possibility."

Le Maire said he was not sure what the position of the 27 member states will be, but said he thinks there is "total determination" of all the member states to "enforce sanctions."

Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste also called for taking the sanctions to the next level by cutting Russia from its main revenues resources -- its energy sector.

"I think we should cut buying from Russia, oil, gas and coal. And Lithuania is the first country in the European Union to say goodbye to Russian gas," Skaiste said.

Skaiste added that in refusing to buy gas from Russia her country had set "a good example" to other European countries.

She added that closing ports and roads for Russian goods and cutting Gazprombank from SWIFT should also be considered.

Gazprombank is used by foreign buyers to pay for Russian gas purchases.

The EU is expected to announce further sanctions on Russia as early as this week and working on it as a "matter of urgency." The bloc could strengthen existing sanctions or move forward with cutting off some Russian energy exports.

Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Monday that cutting off gas supplies was not possible right now. "We need some time and so we have to differentiate between oil, coal and gas at the moment," he added.