US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin "a war criminal" for attacking Ukraine and announced an additional $800 million in security assistance, including weapons to take down Russian planes and tanks. Russian forces kept up their bombardments of besieged cities, including intensified shelling of the capital Kyiv. Read about the day's events as they unfolded.
- President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" on Wednesday, triggering an immediate angry riposte from Russia.
- Anti-terrorism prosecutors in France have opened a war crime investigation into the death of Franco-Irish Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski who was shot near Kyiv while covering the war in Ukraine, an official statement said Wednesday.
- US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the United States was offering an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine to combat Russia's invasion, with the new package including drones and anti-aircraft systems.
- President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that his military campaign in Ukraine was a success and that he would not allow the country to become a “springboard” used to threaten Russia.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed US Congress on Wednesday.
- Explosions rocked the western part of Kyiv early Wednesday, injuring two people and damaging residential buildings in Shevchenkivskyi district, according to emergency services.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said peace talks with Russia were sounding “more realistic”. Hours later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the peace talks were “not easy” but added that there was hope for compromise.
- The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia safely returned to Poland Wednesday after undertaking a dangerous train journey to Kyiv, where they met with President Zelensky and senior Ukrainian officials.
- UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said on Wednesday that 3,063,095 Ukrainians have fled the country since the war began on February 24, a figure up 93,495 since Tuesday’s update. UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, said around half of those who have fled are children.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP and AP)
