President Biden’s claim that Russia is committing “genocide” in Ukraine faced a mixture of support, uneasiness and opposition on Wednesday, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning against an “escalation of rhetoric,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailing the “true words of a true leader” and a Kremlin spokesman calling the comments “unacceptable.” The dueling rhetoric revealed the difficulties of responding to a conflict increasingly defined by horrifying images of mass slaughter—without either shutting potential pathways to a diplomatic solution or falling out of step with key allies.
A prosecutor with the International Criminal Court visited the ravaged Kyiv suburb of Bucha on Wednesday as two international organizations published reports showing the extent of the devastation the invasion, which is entering its eighth week, has wrought across Ukraine. The 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe accused Russia of illegally targeting hospitals, schools, residential buildings and water facilities, leading to civilian deaths and injuries. The United Nations said damaged water infrastructure and electricity networks have left 1.4 million people without running water in eastern Ukraine, with 4.6 million people across the country—more than 10 percent of the prewar population—at risk of losing their water supply. There’s scant disagreement in the West about the severity of the crisis or Russia’s role in perpetuating it. But Biden’s impromptu genocide declaration, during a speech about ethanol in Iowa on Tuesday, surprised some European leaders who maintain channels of communication with Russia in the hope of brokering a cease-fire.
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