Russia-Ukraine updates: US sanctions Russian military shipbuilder, diamond miner

Russia's largest military shipbuilding and diamond mining firms were targeted.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Nadine El-Bawab, Ivan Pereira, Julia Jacobo, Meredith Deliso, Bill Hutchinson, Kevin Shalvey, Celia Darrough, Mary Kekatos, and Samara Lynn
Last Updated: April 8, 2022, 4:34 AM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation” into Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with troops crossing the border from Belarus and Russia. Moscow's forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.

Russian forces retreated last week from the Kyiv suburbs, leaving behind a trail of destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, U.S. and European officials accused Russian troops of committing war crimes.

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Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Apr 04, 2022, 11:37 AM EDT

Biden to call for more sanctions against Russia over Bucha 'war crimes'

U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday that he is seeking more sanctions against Russia after horrific images surfaced of dead civilians lying in the bombed-out streets of Bucha, Ukraine.

Upon his return to the White House from Fort McNair, Biden said he will call for more sanctions but stopped short of accusing Russia of committing genocide in Ukraine.

"I'm seeking more sanctions, yes," Biden said, declining to offer specifics when pressed.

President Joe Biden speaks to reporters upon arrival at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., April 4, 2022.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Biden described the situation in Bucha as "outrageous" and called Russian President Vladimir Putin "brutal."

"You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal. Well, the truth of the matter -- you saw what happened in Bucha," Biden said. "This warrants he is a war criminal. But we have to gather the information. We have to continue to provide Ukraine with weapons they need to continue the fight. And we have to gather all the details. So this could be an actual -- have a war-crime trial. This guy is brutal. And what's happening with Bucha is outrageous. And everyone sees it."

Ukrainian officials accused Russian troops of committing genocide in Bucha, which was retaken by Ukrainian forces in recent days. Ukrainian leaders said 410 civilians were killed in the fighting in Bucha and that many were found with their hands bound and shot at close range.

Asked if he thought Russia was committing genocide, Biden replied, "No, I think it is a war crime."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

President Biden spoke to reporters about the "outrageous" situation in Bucha, Ukraine, as horrific images emerge.
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Biden on Putin: ‘This guy is brutal’President Biden spoke to reporters about the "outrageous" situation in Bucha, Ukraine, as horrific images emerge.
ABCNews.com

Apr 04, 2022, 10:22 AM EDT

Russia may launch major offensive in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Monday it is monitoring large movements of Russian troops and reinforcements in eastern Ukraine.

The General Staff said it expects Russian forces to launch a possibly major offensive in the Donbas region within the next 24 hours, particularly against the city of Severodonetsk, which is the administrative center of the government-controlled areas of the Luhansk Oblast.

A man carries a little girl as he arrives with other families to board a train at Kramatorsk central station as they flee the eastern city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, in the Donbas region of Ukraine, April 4, 2022.
Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, Donetsk Oblast Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko has urged civilians to evacuate now, even from areas not close to the front lines.

Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his recognition of two breakaway areas of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region that share a border with Russia -- the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics. Russia-backed separatist forces have controlled these parts of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhanks oblasts since 2014.

-ABC News' Yulia Drozd

Apr 04, 2022, 10:04 AM EDT

Zelenskyy visits bombed city of Bucha

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited on Monday the decimated city of Bucha, where Ukrainian officials have accused Russian troops of committing war crimes against civilians.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the media in Bucha, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, April 4, 2022.
Marko Djurica/Reuters

Zelenskyy toured the Kyiv suburb that was retaken by Ukrainian forces in recent days. Zelenskyy went to a road in the city littered with destroyed Russian equipment and he spoke to local residents.

PHOTO: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tours the town of Bucha, just northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, April 4, 2022.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tours the town of Bucha, just northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, April 4, 2022. President Zelenskyy said the Russian leadership was responsible for civilian killings in Bucha, where bodies were found lying in the street after the town was retaken by the Ukrainian army.
Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

Zelenskyy repeated accusations that Russia committed war crimes and genocide after Ukrainian officials said 410 people believed to have been civilians were found dead, many with their hands bound behind their backs and shot at close range.

Russian officials have denied the accusation and have requested the U.N. Security Council investigate.

Apr 04, 2022, 9:34 AM EDT

Ukraine accuses Russian brigade of war crimes, releases names of troops

Ukraine has accused a brigade of the Russian Ground Forces of committing war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv.

The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published online Monday what it said was a list with the names of hundreds of personnel of Russia's 64th Motor Rifle Brigade whom they believe were directly responsible for atrocities in Bucha. Ukrainian officials have said there is evidence of other Russian units being involved.

PHOTO: A body of a man with hands bound by white cloth and a bullet wound to the head, who according to residents was shot by Russian soldiers, lies in the street in Bucha, Ukraine on April 3, 2022.
A body of a man with hands bound by white cloth and a bullet wound to the head, who according to residents was shot by Russian soldiers, lies in the street in Bucha, Ukraine on April 3, 2022. Officials say have found hundreds of dead in the wake of five weeks of Russian occupation of the town.
Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

Ukrainian authorities announced Sunday that 410 civilians were found dead in recently recaptured towns near the capital as part of an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian forces. Images emerged showing bodies, some of which showed signs of torture, in civilian clothes strewn in streets and in mass graves across Bucha, northwest of Kyiv. ABC News journalists on the ground saw some of the dead, including a family that locals said were executed with their hands bound.

Russia has denied the claims.

-ABC News' Natalia Kushnir and Fidel Pavlenko

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