Russia-Ukraine updates: US sanctions Russian military shipbuilder, diamond miner
Russia's largest military shipbuilding and diamond mining firms were targeted.
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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Latest headlines:
- US sanctions Russian military shipbuilding and diamond mining companies
- Fox News' Benjamin Hall provides 1st update since being severely injured in shelling
- Situation in Borodyanka 'much worse' than other Ukrainian towns, Zelenskyy says
- Blinken shares graphic details of alleged atrocities in Ukraine
- UN votes to suspend Russia from Human Rights Council
Video shows Russian shell hitting ambulance outside children's hospital
Video has emerged purportedly showing a Russian shell striking an ambulance parked outside a children's hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv.
Security camera footage released by Mykolaiv Gov. Vitaly Kim shows the moment the empty ambulance is hit and explodes next to the hospital on Monday.
As of March 30, there had been 82 attacks on health care in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded, resulting in at least 72 deaths and 43 injuries, including patients and health workers, according to the World Health Organization.
-ABC News' Fergal Gallagher
European Commission proposes new sanctions on Russia
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen issued a proposal Tuesday for new sanctions targeting Russia's economy.
The proposal will require the approval of the European Union's member states.
In a statement, von der Leyen accused Moscow of "waging a cruel and ruthless war in Ukraine and said its alleged atrocities "cannot and will not be left unanswered."
Among the new sanctions being proposed are banning imports of coal from Russia, banning Russian ships and Russian-operated ships from accessing European Union ports and banning imports of other Russian products including seafood, liquor, and wood. The proposal also calls for a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks - among them the country’s second-largest, VTB.
Blinken calls Bucha atrocities 'deliberate campaign to kill'
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the death and destruction in Bucha, Ukraine, reportedly at the hands of Russian forces shows a "deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities."
Blinken spoke to reporters at Joint Base Andrews before boarding a plane to Brussels for the Western military alliance's annual spring meeting of foreign ministers.
He said the reports of atrocities emerging in Bucha, a suburb of the capital of Kyiv were "more than credible" and added it "reinforces our determination and the determination of countries around the world to make sure that one way or another, one day or another, there is accountability for those who committed these acts, for those who ordered them."
Ukrainian forces in recent days retook Bucha from the Russians and found the bodies of more than 400 civilians lying dead in the streets or in mass graves, some with their hands bound and shot at close range.
Blinken didn't directly address a question of whether the United States has evidence linking the atrocities on the ground in Busha to Russian officials back in Moscow. Instead, he said the United States is working to support efforts to document evidence by Ukraine's prosecutor-general, the U.N. Human Rights Council's commission of inquiry, and others.
Blinken noted that before the war began, U.S. officials warned that atrocities "would be part of the Russian campaign."
"Horrifically, tragically, what we're seeing in Bucha and in other places supports that," Blinken said.
He said the United States will work with its NATO and G-7 allies to support Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia, especially with meetings among both groups later this week in Brussels.
-ABC News' Conor Finnegan
European leaders join allies in expelling Russian diplomats
Italy, Spain, Denmark and Sweden announced Tuesday they are joining other European counties in expelling Russian diplomats as horrific images emerge of the bodies of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, allegedly killed by Russian forces.
The moves come a day after Germany and France said they are expelling Russian diplomats, citing security risks and the alleged atrocities in Bucha.
"This is another example of brutality, cruelty and war crimes, which apparently have taken place in Bucha," Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said his country is expelling about 25 Russian diplomats and embassy staff "who represent a threat to the interests and security of our country."
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said three Russian diplomats will be expelled from Sweden for spying and Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio issued a statement confirming his country is expelling 30 Russian envoys for national security.
"The measure is in agreement with other European and Atlantic partners and is necessary for reasons linked to our national security and in the context of the current crisis caused by the unjustified aggression against Ukraine on the part of the Russian Federation," Di Maio said.
The decisions by Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Spain to expel a total of 73 Russian diplomats prompted condemnation from the Kremlin.
"The narrowing of the window for diplomatic communication, diplomatic work under such unprecedentedly difficult crisis conditions is a shortsighted move," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a news conference.
Peskov added that the expulsions "will inevitably lead to retaliatory steps."