Boris Johnson calls on Russians to ‘find the truth;’ Zelenskyy says Russia must be brought to justice – CNBC

Boris Johnson tells Russians: I cannot believe Putin is acting in your name

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses the media during a press conference following a NATO summit on Russia's invasion of Ukraine on March 24, 2022.

Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Russians to "find the truth" and "share it."

"Your president stands accused of committing war crimes. But I cannot believe he's acting in your name," Johnson said in a video directly addressing the Russian people.

Speaking in both Russian and English, he said: "The atrocities committed by Russian troops in Bucha, Irpin and elsewhere in Ukraine have horrified the world."

He went on to outline the alleged atrocities of Russian troops: civilians massacred, women raped, bodies burned and "dumped in mass graves, or just left lying in the street."

Ukrainian officials say that more than 300 civilians were tortured and killed by Russian troops in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv, discoveries made only after Moscow pulled out of those areas.

Graphic media images also revealed corpses of civilians in the streets some with their hands and legs tied up while satellite imagescaptured mass graves.

Russia has been waging information warfare alongside its military operations.

The Russian people have been "fed a steady diet of propaganda" by Russian-state media, according to NBC News' Ken Dilanian. The Kremlin has labeled the unprovoked and unwarranted war in Ukraine a "special military operation."

"The reports are so shocking, so sickening, it's no wonder your government is seeking to hide them from you," Johnson said.

"But don't just take my word for it," he added, calling on them to access independent information via VPN connection. "And when you find the truth, share it."

Charmaine Jacob, Joanna Tan

Intel said April 5, 2022 that it has suspended all business operations in Russia.

Paco Freire/Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Intel has suspended all business operations in Russia, the U.S. chipmaker announced.

"Intel continues to join the global community in condemning Russia's war against Ukraine and calling for a swift return to peace. Effective immediately, we have suspended all business operations in Russia," the company said in a statement.

This follows the company's move a month ago to suspend all shipments to Russia and Belarus.

"We are working to support all of our employees through this difficult situation, including our 1,200 employees in Russia," it said.

Intel joins a list of growing software companies that have stopped operations or shipments to Russia, including Oracle, SAP, and IBM.

Chelsea Ong

More Russian atrocities like those seen in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha may emerge, says Jeffrey Edmonds, a senior research scientist at CNA, a research organization.

"When you look at such things in history, they have happened at various times, when units are really depleted and leadership has demonized the people they're fighting," Edmonds told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russian troops of killing and torturing more than 300 people in the city of Bucha, as Western leaders condemned images of slain Ukrainian civilians in a town previously occupied by Russian forces.

Russia has denied those allegations, but journalists and Ukrainians living in the city have confirmed the civilian killings. Satellite images from space companyMaxar Technologies captured also mass graves.

"Unfortunately, given how beat they are and the fact that Putin has created the conditions under which this would happen, I think we might see more," he added.

Chelsea Ong

A serviceman of Ukrainian military forces holds a FGM-148 Javelin, an American-made portable anti-tank missile, at a checkpoint, where they hold a position near Kharkiv on March 23, 2022.

Sergey Bobok | AFP | Getty Images

President Joe Biden authorized the immediate release Tuesday of an additional $100 million worth of Javelin anti-tank missiles and training for Ukraine, according to statements from the Pentagon and the State Department.

The announcements late Tuesday night were the first concrete evidence that the United States plans to respond to the growing evidence of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine in part by increasing the lethality of Kyiv's fighting force.

"The world has been shocked and appalled by the atrocities committed by Russia's forcesin Bucha and across Ukraine," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on the last-minute additional funding.

The formerly occupied Ukrainian village of Bucha was the scene of dozens of alleged war crimes by Russian troops, which were only discovered after the Kremlin ordered its soldiers to retreat.

The Javelin is a shoulder-fired, target-locking missile system that can destroy a tank on the move from a distance of more than a mile. As outnumbered Ukrainian forces fight to halt the progress of advancing infantry in Russian tanks, no weapon so far has been as effective or deadly as the U.S.-made Javelins.

Christina Wilkie

Tue, Apr 5 20228:26 PM EDT

Photos show total destruction in the small city of Borodyanka, located northwest of Kyiv, which was the scene of heavy clashes for weeks while the Russian military were there until about four days ago. Ukrainian forces have regained the control of the town.

Destroyed houses are seen in Borodyanka, amid Russia's invasion in the Kyiv region, April 5, 2022.

Gleb Garanich | Reuters

Local residents ride bikes near destroyed houses in Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, April 5, 2022.

Gleb Garanich | Reuters

Destroyed houses are seen in Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, April 5, 2022.

Gleb Garanich | Reuters

A woman carries her cat as she walks past buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling in Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, April 5, 2022.

Zohra Bensemra | Reuters

A damaged statue is seen in the city of Borodyanka on March 5, 2022. Borodyanka was the scene of heavy clashes for weeks while the Russian military were located there until about four days ago.

Metin Atkas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Ukrainian kids are seen playing among the ruins in the city of Borodyanka on April 5, 2022. Borodyanka was the scene of heavy clashes for weeks while the Russian military were located there until about four days ago.

Metin Atkas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Tue, Apr 5 20225:17 PM EDT

People wait in queue to take free food as part of humanitarian aid, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, outside the Drama Theatre, in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region, Ukraine March 23, 2022.

Stringer | Reuters

The United Nation's said an eight-truck convoy of humanitarian supplies reached Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region, where sustained fighting is "taking an enormous toll on civilians."

"The UN and humanitarian partners delivered ready-to-eat meals, canned goods, flour and essential relief items such as blankets, mattresses, solar-powered lamps, and other household items," UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Markus said in a statement.

The supplies also included plastic sheeting and blankets for some 17,000 people, as well as electric generators for the local hospital. The UN estimates that 11.3 million Ukrainians have been uprootedby the war.

Dawn Kopecki

Tue, Apr 5 20223:44 PM EDT

Editor's Note: Graphic content. The following post contains an image of dead bodies.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / City workers carry body bags with six partially burnt bodies found in the town of Bucha on April 5, 2022, as Ukrainian officials say over 400 civilian bodies have been recovered from the wider Kyiv region, many of which were buried in mass graves.

Genya Savilov | AFP | Getty Images

Since the Kremlin's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations has confirmed 1,480 deaths and 2,195 injuries.

The international body adds that the death tolls in Ukraine are likely to be higher citing delayed reporting due to the armed conflict.

The UN says the war has createdmore than 4.2 million Ukrainianrefugees, mostly the elderly, women and children.

Amanda Macias

Tue, Apr 5 20222:31 PM EDT

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley testifies alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, and Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, before the House Armed Services Committee on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan at the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S. September 29, 2021.

Olivier Douliery | Reuters

The highest U.S. military officer told lawmakers that the war in Ukraine could last for years, a revelation that comes as U.S. officials warn that Russia will intensify its campaign in Ukraine.

"I do think this is a very protracted conflict and I think it's at least measured in years, I don't know about a decade but at least years for sure," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley told the House Armed Services Committee.

"This is a very extended conflict that Russia has initiated and I think that NATO, the United States, Ukraine and all of the allies and partners that are supporting Ukraine are going to be involved in this for quite some time," he added.

Milley, who has served in the U.S. Army for four decades, described the war in Ukraine as the "greatest threat to the peace and security of Europeand perhaps the world."

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine is threatening to undermine the global peace and stability that my parents and generations of Americans fought so hard to defend," Milley added.

Amanda Macias

Tue, Apr 5 20222:22 PM EDT

Russia's President Vladimir Putin looks on during the U.S.-Russia summit with U.S. President Joe Biden (not pictured) at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

The U.S. and its European allies are preparing to deliver another slew of sanctions on Russia following mounting evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, three people familiar with the matter tell NBC News.

The additional sanctions are expected to ban all new investments in Russia and state-owned enterprises.

The fresh sanctions package, taken in lockstep with European Union allies and Group of 7 members, will also designate Kremlin officials and their family members.

The sweeping measures come on the heels of global outrage over mounting evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Amanda Macias

Tue, Apr 5 20221:59 PM EDT

In what appears to mark a major policy shift, Germany has called for EU talks on whether to impose an import ban on Russian gas deliveries.

Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Russian energy giant Gazprom said it has recalled its representatives from the management of Gazprom Germania and companies under its control.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday that Gazprom Germania, an energy trading, storage and transmission business ditched by Gazprom on Friday, would be transferred to Germany's regulator to ensure energy security.

Gazprom also said that Gazprom Germania as well as Gazprom Marketing & Trading should stop using Gazprom's trademarks.

Reuters

Tue, Apr 5 202211:43 AM EDT

A local resident walks near an apartment building destroyed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 3, 2022.

Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters

The United Nations official who oversees the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine said that the coastal city of Mariupol has become "the center of hell."

"For more than five weeks, the people of Mariupol have been caught up in the fighting and it is well documented that really Mariupol is the center of hell," UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council.

People gather near a damaged store of wholesaler Metro during the distribution of humanitarian aid in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 5, 2022. Picture taken with a drone.

Stringer | Reuters

UN officials have warned that people living in Mariupol, a strategic city on the Sea of Azov, have lacked electricity, water, food and heat since nearly the start of the war.

More than a quarter of Ukraine's population has fled since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Griffiths said.

"The current figures on displacement tell us that more than 11.3 million people have now been forced to flee their homes and of that 4.2 million are now refugees," he said.

Local residents are seen outside an apartment building damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 30, 2022.

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Boris Johnson calls on Russians to 'find the truth;' Zelenskyy says Russia must be brought to justice - CNBC