U.S., Allies Prepare Additional Russia Sanctions

Russia disputed that civilians were targeted in Bucha and characterized the evidence offered as a "monstrous fake" perpetrated by the West to defame it.

The White House said the new penalties due to be published Wednesday are in part a reaction to Bucha.

Washington, the Group of Seven major economies, and the European Union will coordinate the penalties, which would target Russian banks and officials and prohibit new investment in Russia, the White House stated.

EU sanctions, which must be approved by the bloc's 27 member states, would prohibit the purchase of Russian coal and would prohibit Russian ships from accessing EU ports.

EU executive Ursula von der Leyen said that the organization is also considering a restriction on oil imports. Europe, which imports around a third of its natural gas from Russia, has been concerned of the economic consequences of a complete embargo on Russian energy.

Germany's foreign minister, though, said the coal restriction was the first step toward an embargo on all Russian fossil fuel imports, signifying a hardening of EU determination. Ukraine asserts that prohibiting Russian gas imports is critical to obtaining a cease-fire agreement in peace negotiations.

Zelenskiy stated in an early morning speech that fresh penalties "against Russia must be proportionate to the magnitude of the invaders' war crimes," describing the situation as a "critical moment" for Western leaders.

"If Russian banks continue to operate normally, if commodities transit to Russia continues normally, and if EU nations continue to pay Russia for energy normally," he said, "then the political fates of certain politicians will not evolve normally."

Since the invasion began on February 24, Russia has failed to conquer a single significant city as part of what it describes as a "special military operation" intended at demilitarizing and "denazifying" Ukraine.

Ukraine, a parliamentary democracy, and the West reject the Kremlin's stance as a justification for an unjustified invasion that displaced a fifth of the country's inhabitants.

Russia's soldiers mostly retreated from the vicinity of Kyiv last week after encountering Ukrainian opposition. They have turned their onslaught to the south and east of Ukraine.

A Dominica-flagged cargo ship drowned Tuesday after being targeted by Russian missile attacks in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, where tens of people are trapped with no access to food or water, the vessel's flag registry said.

A request for comment from Russia was not responded to. On Tuesday, its armed forces said that they had shot down two Ukrainian military transport helicopters attempting to depart the city.

Ukraine's general staff said that strikes on Mariupol were ongoing, but did not provide any specifics.

In the east, where Russia has targeted Ukraine's second biggest city, Kharkiv, the general staff said that Ukrainian troops destroyed three Russian tanks and over 20 additional armored vehicles.

Ukrainian police estimate that between 150 and 300 dead may be buried in a mass grave outside a church in Bucha, a town north of Kyiv.

A private US business reported that satellite photographs obtained weeks earlier revealed civilian dead on a roadway in the town, undermining Russia's accusations that Ukrainian troops killed the people or that the scene was manufactured.

At least four victims were shot in the head in Bucha, one with his wrists bound behind his back, according to Reuters reporters.

Residents have recalled many additional occurrences of dead individuals, some shot through the eyes and one who seemed to have been beaten to death and maimed.

Serhii Lahovskyi, a Ukrainian, buried the remains of a boyhood buddy who had been shot through the mouth at close range after missing during the town's occupation by Russian soldiers.

Lahovskyi and his companions took up shovels and dug a shallow grave on a grass edge. They carried the remains on a carpet before burying him in a ditch and covered him with wooden planks and piling soil on top.

"What motivated these beasts to shoot him?" Lahovskyi sobbed. "This is not Russia; this is a monstrous abomination."

Reuters was unable to independently verify the contents of Lahovskyi's story or identify the perpetrators of the Bucha murders.