Author: David Callahan

The U.S. Congress voted to ban oil, gas and coal imports from Russia as part of a governmentwide effort to squeeze Russia’s economy in response to Moscow’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

The House approved the bill in a 413-9 vote. The Senate passed it unanimously earlier in the day. It will head to Biden’s desk for his signature.

The legislation codifies an executive order Biden issued last month to bar energy imports from Russia. The bill would make it more difficult for a future president to reverse Biden’s action.

— Christina Wilkie

The United Nations has confirmed 1,611 civilian deaths and 2,227 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24.

Of those killed, the UN has identified at least 63 children.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights adds that the death tolls in Ukraine are likely higher, citing delayed reporting due to the armed conflict.

The international body says that most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missile and airstrikes.

— Amanda Macias

Secretary of State Antony Blinken downplayed concerns that the U.S. was withholding weapons explicitly requested by Ukraine.

“They’re coming forward with new systems that they think would be helpful and effective,” Blinken told reporters at NATO headquarters following a two-day ministerial meeting.

“We put our own expertise to bear, especially the Pentagon to help determine what indeed we think could be effective. What Ukrainians will be ready to use as soon as they get it, and what we actually have access to and can get to them in real-time,” he said, adding that the U.S. is working expeditiously to get appropriate weapons to Ukraine quickly.

Blinken’s comments echo those of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley. Austin and Milley told lawmakers this week that some weapons systems on Ukraine’s wish list require months of training in order to operate.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters that he urged allies to catalyze the delivery of their arms commitments.

“Either you help us now, and I’m speaking about days not weeks, or your help will come too late,” Kuleba said.

— Amanda Macias

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell that the U.S. and its allies are doing “everything possible” to hold Russia to account for its war in Ukraine.

Thomas-Greenfield, who spoke with Mitchell moments after the international forum voted to suspend Russia’s membership in the Human Rights Council, praised her fellow U.N. members for “condemning the Russians.”

“We’ve had two votes in the General Assembly in which we have condemned Russia and supported Ukraine and even in the Security Council, we have isolated the Russians,” she said.

“I know if you’re sitting on the ground in Ukraine and you’re watching your people die, it looks as if we’re not doing enough but we’re doing everything possible to ensure that the Russians are held accountable for this,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

— Amanda Macias

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post contains graphic descriptions and a photo of atrocities that U.S. and European officials say were committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken detailed several apparent war crimes committed by Russian troops, some of which had not been widely reported.

Blinken, speaking at the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, said the body of Olga Sukhenk, the 50-year-old mayor of Motyzhyn, outside of Kyiv, “was found in a shallow grave along with her hands bound, alongside the bodies of her husband and son. They were last seen alive being taken away by Russian soldiers.” A reporter with the BBC visited the grave, and a photographer for the Associated Press captured images of the horrific scene (below).

“In Kharkiv,” said Blinken, “a woman was sheltering in a school with her 5-year-old daughter and neighbors when a Russian soldier picked her out and forced her to accompany him to an empty classroom. He cut her face and neck with a knife, threatened to kill her and raped her repeatedly at gunpoint.”

“In Bucha, a woman described how Russian soldiers forced her and around 40 other people to gather in a small square,” Blinken said. “The soldiers brought five young men there and ordered them to kneel, then the Russians shot one of them in the back of the head. He turned to those gathered and said of the victim, and I quote, ‘This is dirt. We’re here to cleanse you from the dirt.'”

Ukrainian forces liberated Bucha on April 1. Blinken said that, so far, authorities have discovered 410 murdered civilians in Bucha alone.

“With each day more and more credible reports of rape, killings, torture are emerging,” said Blinken. “For every Bucha, there are many more towns Russia has occupied and more towns it is still occupying — places where we must assume Russian soldiers are committing atrocities right now.”

— Christina Wilkie

The U.S. Congress voted to revoke Russia’s “most favored nation” trade status, opening the door to punishing tariffs on a range of Russian goods.

The Senate earlier Thursday unanimously passed the bill, which also would sever the normal trade relationship with Russian ally Belarus. The House then approved it in a 420-3 vote, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk.

The vote in Congress is a formal step to revoke normal trade relations.

The U.S. effectively severed its working trade relationship with Moscow in the weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine. Last month, Biden moved to ban Russian imports of Russian oil, seafood, diamonds and vodka.

— Thomas Franck

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance believes the war in Ukraine will intensify near the eastern Donbas region in the coming days.

“We expect a big battle in Donbas, a big Russian offensive,” Stoltenberg told reporters following a two-day in-person meeting of foreign ministers at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.

“We don’t see a Russian retreat. What we see is Russia, regrouping and repositioning their forces. Moving out of northern Ukraine but at the same time moving those forces to the east,” Stoltenberg said, adding that the 30-member strong alliance is working to provide additional weapons to Ukraine ahead of Russia’s renewed surge in the east.

Stoltenberg declined to detail the weapons systems the alliance has delivered to Ukraine, citing operational security concerns.

— Amanda Macias

The United Nations suspended Russia from its seat on the Human Rights Council on Thursday.

Members voted 93 in favor and 24 against, while 58 abstained.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield introduced the proposal earlier in the week following accusations that Russian troops tortured and killed Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, a suburb near Kyiv.

Libya is the only country to be suspended from the 47-member Geneva-based council. The North African country was suspended in 2011 after a violent crackdown against protesters by forces loyal to then-leader Muammar Gaddafi.

— Amanda Macias

The government of Finland is moving ahead with a formal assessment of whether to apply for NATO membership, and will present its findings to parliament next week, the Finnish foreign minister said in Brussels.

For decades, the Nordic nation that borders Russia has resisted invitations to join the North Atlantic security alliance. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced it to reconsider, and public opinion in Finland has swung in favor of joining NATO. Watching Russian troops invade peaceful, sovereign Ukraine has created “a situation in which we may need cooperation,” said Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, referring to NATO.

Haavisto said that if Finland’s parliament approves its application for NATO membership, it would expect member states to swiftly vote on the application. “It is clear that in this global political situation, we are ready to hurry up and put pressure on all NATO members” to quickly vote to accept Finland into the alliance, said Haavisto.

Finland shares an 800-mile border with Russia, and the Kremlin for years has tacitly threatened that if the country decides to join NATO, it would become a target for possible Russian aggression.

— Christina Wilkie

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged allies to speed up the delivery of weapons as Russia prepares to intensify its fight in eastern Ukraine.

“Either you help us now, and I’m speaking about days not weeks, or your help will come too late,” Kuleba told reporters at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.

“I have no doubt that Ukraine will have the weapons necessary to fight. The question is the timeline. This discussion is not about the list of weapons. The discussion is about the timeline when do we get them and this is crucial,” he said, adding “people are dying today, the offensive is unfolding today.”

When asked about Kuleba’s comments, NATO Secretary-General said that “allies are providing and are ready to do more when it comes to military support.”

— Amanda Macias

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly is due to vote on suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council. The meeting is slated to begin at 10 a.m. ET.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield introduced the proposal earlier this week after accusations that Russian forces killed Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv.

A resolution to strip Russia of its membership in the Geneva-based council would require support from two-thirds of the voting members.

The 47 members that make up the Human Rights Council, which are expected to uphold high human rights standards, serve for three years and are not eligible for immediate reelection after two consecutive terms.

— Amanda Macias

82 people originally from the Donbass and suffering from various medical conditions were evacuated from Lviv by the Italian Red Cross in collaboration with the Ukrainian Red Cross. Once in Italy the refugees will be distributed to three regions; Piedmont, Trentino and Puglia.

Russian soldiers used civilians as human shields against incoming Ukrainian fire, witnesses in the northern Ukrainian village of Obukhovychi told the BBC.

Residents of the village said Russian troops went from house to house, rounded up some 150 people at gunpoint, and held them in a school gym as protection for Russian troops.

“They took us from the cellars where we were hiding and forced us out,” Lydmila Sutkova, one of the villagers, told the BBC. “Old ladies, children, everyone. It was terrifying. They broke open the doors of anyone who wouldn’t open up.”

Another villager, Maryana, said, “I was afraid that we would all be shot in that gym. I was scared for my daughter. I don’t have the words.”

Russia’s foreign ministry has not responded to a CNBC request for comment.

— Natasha Turak

The G-7 major economies issued a joint statement that squarely held Russia responsible for atrocities against civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, where at least 300 dead bodies were found on streets and in mass graves after Russian troops withdrew.

“Haunting images of civilian deaths, victims of torture, and apparent executions, as well as reports of sexual violence and destruction of civilian infrastructure show the true face of Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and its people,” the statement said.

“The massacres in the town of Bucha and other Ukrainian towns will be inscribed in the list of atrocities and severe violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights, committed by the aggressor on Ukrainian soil.”

Ministers also said that Russia should be suspended from the U.N. Human Rights Council. They stressed their “unwavering support for Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders” and expressed their readiness to further assist the country by military and financial means.

— Natasha Turak

The Kremlin criticized Washington’s decision to continue sending military supplies to Ukraine, saying it wouldn’t bode well for the outcome of peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

“Pumping weapons into Ukraine will not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian talks,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on a call with press, referring to U.S. weapons provisions to Ukraine. “Of course this will most likely have a negative effect.”

The Pentagon says it has committed more than $1.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24. A recent $300 million package of military supplies Washington said it is providing will include drones, armored vehicles and machine guns.

“Ukraine is fighting a defensive war, so this distinction between offensive and defensive weapons doesn’t actually have any real meaning in the defensive war that Ukraine is fighting,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

— Natasha Turak

Russian air attacks are predominantly focused on parts of eastern Ukraine and Russian forces are seeking to encircle Ukrainian forces in the region, according to an advisor to Ukraine’s president, Reuters reported.

The besieged port city of Mariupol was holding out, Oleksiy Arestovych reportedly said in remarks delivered on national television, before adding that he believed Russian efforts would ultimately fail.

His comments came as Russian President Vladimir Putin oversees a change in military strategy to the Kremlin’s unprovoked onslaught in Ukraine. Russian forces have been seen repositioning in the east in a bid to take control of the Donbas region.

— Sam Meredith

Tension is growing between the governments of Ukraine and Hungary as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba criticized Budapest’s unwillingness to take a harder stance on Moscow.

Kuleba said he views Hungary’s willingness to pay for Russian gas in rubles, something Putin has demanded, as an “unfriendly act.” Ukraine also said that Hungary, which opposes energy sanctions on Russia despite the evidence of Russian atrocities against civilians, fortifies Russia’s impunity and encourages it “to commit new atrocities against Ukrainians.”

“If Hungary really wants to help end the war, here’s how to do it: stop destroying unity in the EU, support new anti-Russian sanctions, provide military assistance to Ukraine, and not create additional sources of funding for Russia’s military machine,” said Oleg Nikolenko, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson. “It is never too late to get on the right side of history.”

Hungary pushed back, saying that interfering with its energy needs, for which it is heavily dependent on Russia, would be a red line. Hungary has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and taken in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, but Hungarian President Viktor Orban has refused to criticize President Putin and recently referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as his “enemy.”

— Natasha Turak

“Progressing offensive operations in eastern Ukraine is the main focus of Russian military forces,” Britain’s Defence Ministry said in a tweet.

Russian attacks continue along the Donbas line of control in Ukraine’s east, the ministry said, adding that strikes against infrastructure targets in Ukraine are “likely intended to degrade the ability of the Ukrainian military to resupply and increase pressure on the Ukrainian government.”

Still, despite refocusing its forces and logistical operations in the Donbas, Russian forces “are likely to continue facing morale issues and shortages of supplies and personnel,” the ministry said.

— Natasha Turak

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with G7 and NATO members on Thursday in a bid to gather more support for his country’s fight against Russia.

“I came here today to discuss three most important things: weapons, weapons, and weapons. Ukraine’s urgent needs, the sustainability of supplies, and long-term solutions which will help Ukraine to prevail,” he wrote in a tweet.

Kuleba asked specifically for planes, missiles, armored vehicles, and heavy air defense systems. The meeting came as Russia intensifies its strikes on Ukraine’s east and south after retreating from areas around the capital Kyiv.

— Natasha Turak

Shell will write off between $4 and $5 billion in the value of its assets after pulling out of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, revealing some of the financial impact to Western oil companies of leaving Russia.

“For the first quarter 2022 results, the post-tax impact from impairment of non-current assets and additional charges (e.g. write-downs of receivable, expected credit losses, and onerous contracts) relating to Russia activities are expected to be $4 to $5 billion,” Shell said in a statement Thursday.

The company added that the additional charges “will not impact Adjusted Earnings.”

— Natasha Turak

The United Nations has confirmed 1,563 civilian deaths and 2,213 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24.

Of those killed, the UN has identified at least 63 children.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights adds that the death tolls in Ukraine are likely t higher, citing delayed reporting due to the armed conflict.

The international body says that most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missile and airstrikes.

The UN says the war has created more than 4.2 million Ukrainian refugees, mostly the elderly, women and children.

The Department of Justice charged Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev for conspiracy to violate and for violating U.S. sanctions that were imposed in 2014 following Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Malofeyev, 47, eight years ago for playing “a leading role in supporting Russia’s 2014 invasion of eastern Ukraine.” He remains at large but is believed to be in Russia, according to U.S. authorities.

The FBI said Malofeyev “recently described Russia’s 2022 military invasion of Ukraine as a holy war.”

The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the charges.

— Amanda Macias

The U.S. announced a slate of new sanctions on Russia as it tries to squeeze Moscow’s economy and elites in response to mounting Russian atrocities in Ukraine.

The Biden administration will ban all new investment in Russia and put full blocking sanctions on Sberbank and Alfa Bank, two of the country’s largest financial institutions.

The U.S. will also sanction two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and family members of other top Russian officials.

The Biden administration believes “many of Putin’s assets are hidden with family members, and that’s why we’re targeting them,” said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

— Christina Wilkie