Zelensky Says Putin Has Become ‘A Terrorist’, Urges Action

Two days after at least 18 people were killed after Russian missiles struck a shopping mall containing more than 1,000 people in the central city of Kremenchuk in Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian president of becoming a “terrorist”.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for over four months now. Thousands of people have been killed in the war, and millions have been displaced or forced to flee the war-torn country.

Here are the latest updates on the Russia-Ukraine war:

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of becoming “a terrorist” and leading a “terrorist state”. He further urged Russia’s expulsion from the United Nations. During a virtual address to the UN security council, Zelensky urged the UN to establish an international tribunal to investigate “the actions of Russian occupiers on Ukrainian soil” and to hold the country accountable. “We need to act urgently to do everything to make Russia stop the killing spree,” he said.

Zelensky called for the UN to visit the site of a missile strike on a shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk where at least 18 people died. “I suggest the United Nations send either a special representative or the secretary-general of the United Nations, so the UN could independently find out information and see that this indeed was a Russian missile strike,” he said.

During the video address to the UN security council, Zelensky called on the members of the council, including Russia, to hold a minute’s silence for those killed in the war so far.

The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region southeast of Kremenchuk reported another Russian missile strike on Tuesday, reported news agency Reuters. He reportedly said that rescue workers were searching for people under rubble in the city of Dnipro.

Kharkiv regional governor alleged that Russia has again shelled Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second largest city – by hitting apartment buildings and a primary school. The shelling killed five people and wounded 22 including children, reported Reuters.

Zelensky told NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that his country needs missile defence systems to prevent Russian attacks, reported Reuters citing the president.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the Western sanctions against Russia will only end when Putin accepts that his “plans in Ukraine will not succeed”.

French president Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday denounced Russia’s fiery airstrike on a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine as a “new war crime”. He vowed the West’s support for Kyiv would not waver, stating that Moscow “cannot and should not win” the war.