Today is day 42 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Over the last few days, images of civilians allegedly killed by Russia military forces in Bucha, a Ukrainian city one hour away from Kyiv, have emerged. In response, Joe Biden called for a war crime trial against Putin.
Earlier today, the United States further sanctioned Russian banks and oligarchs. These new sanctions also included measures against Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters.
The UK and the European Union also announced sanctions targeting Russian banks and investments.
In a phone call with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, Putin accused Ukraine of being “crude and cynical” regarding the images in Bucha. Hungary is one of the few countries in Europe to maintain good relations with Russia and has opposed EU sanctions on Russian oil and gas.
Annenberg Media caught up with Congressman Adam Schiff of California in Washington DC a few weeks ago to get his thoughts on the war in Ukraine:
ADAM SCHIFF: We’ll continue to look for ways to increase the economic pressure on Russia, as well as ways to continue to arm and fortify the Ukrainian people so they can fight for their homeland. Tragically, though, I don’t really see an end in sight. Putin has just doubled down on everything, and the more he loses, the more he seems to double down. He’s running into far more overwhelming resistance than imagined and I think that’s just going to continue. So I think all we can do is try to provide Ukraine with the humanitarian, economic and military support and make sure the Russian people see the folly of what Putin has done. I think only when he gets the point to be concerned about the survival of his regime will he change course. So unfortunately, that’s where I think we are.
Schiff also addressed how the war in Ukraine might affect Joe Biden ahead of the midterm elections later this year.
SCHIFF: I think if the public sees Biden making the right decisions, being a strong leader on Ukraine, Russia, I think it will help reaffirm what people thought of him when they voted for him, some of which I think they may have questioned after the nature of the drawdown in Afghanistan. So I think that he has handled Russia-Ukraine pretty flawlessly. I think the way that his administration was able to rally the international community and NATO to impose these sanctions on Russia, as well as the skillful use of intelligence by declassifying a lot of information to strip Russia than a pretext to show the world this was nothing but Putin’s naked aggression was helpful in motivating countries to come together to resist it. And so I think he deserves very high marks.