(Reuters) – Biden called Russia’s Putin a butcher who “cannot remain in power” as Kremlin forces stepped up attacks across Ukraine, including in the west near Poland, where Biden was speaking. [L2N2VU00S]
FIGHTING, DIPLOMACY
* Biden’s escalation of rhetoric toward Moscow was not a call for regime change in Russia, a White House official said, but was meant to prepare the world’s democracies for an extended conflict.
* Ukraine’s Zelenskiy asked whether the West was intimidated by Russia, demanding they provide a fraction of the military hardware in their stockpiles. “We’ve already been waiting 31 days.”
* Four missiles hit Lviv just 60 km (40 miles) from the Polish border, local officials said, in the most significant attack on the city in the month-old war.
* Russian forces have taken Slavutych, where workers at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant live, an official said.
* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was shown chairing a meeting, the first time he has publicly been seen speaking for more than two weeks.
CIVILIANS, REFUGEES
* Chernihiv has 44 severely wounded people, including three children, who could not be evacuated for treatment since the northern city has been cut off by Russian forces, the mayor said.
* More than 100,000 people need to be evacuated from Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
ENERGY/MARKETS/BUSINESS
* Zelenskiy urged energy-producing countries to boost output so Russia cannot use its oil and gas wealth to “blackmail” other nations.
* The Moscow Exchange will resume trading Russian shares and bonds as normal, for half a day, on Monday, the central bank said.
QUOTES
* “A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down their will to be free,” Biden said in his Warsaw speech. “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”
(Compiled by William Mallard)
