Biden calls Putin 'a butcher' after meeting with refugees in Poland

Hear what Biden told refugees in Poland

 

President Joe Biden on Saturday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "butcher" after visiting with refugees in Warsaw, Poland, in an intense criticism of the Russian leader's actions in Ukraine that have seen millions of refugees flee to neighboring countries.

During the visit, Biden was asked by reporters what seeing the Ukrainian refugees at Stadion Narodowy made him think of as he deals with Putin every day.

Biden responded: "He's a butcher."

After initially looking to downplay a personal rivalry between himself and Putin, Biden has ramped up his rhetoric against Putin over the last 10 days. Last week, Biden for the first time called Putin a "war criminal" and then later referred to him as a "murderous dictator, a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine." He's also called the Russian invasion of Ukraine "inhumane."

The US State Department on Wednesday formally declared that members of the Russian armed forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine. The decision to issue a formal accusation marked a significant step by the US government after weeks of declining to officially say that the attacks committed against civilians in Ukraine were war crimes. It remains to be seen, however, whether there will be any accountability for those accused of carrying out the alleged crimes, and whether Putin himself will be forced to bear any responsibility.

Biden's latest comments about Putin came as he focused on the refugee crisis in Europe as millions flee their homes in Ukraine. The President met with chef José Andrés and other volunteers in Warsaw at a food distribution site for Andrés' World Center Kitchen, the nonprofit devoted to providing meals in the wake of disasters. Biden met with some of the volunteers, some from Europe and some from the United States.

"God love ya," the President could be heard saying to them and asking if he could help them.

More than 3.5 million refugees have now fled Ukraine, according to data from the United Nations refugee agency released on Tuesday. A vast majority of those refugees have fled to Ukraine's western neighbors across Europe.

Poland, which borders Ukraine to the west, has registered more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees crossing into the country, though not all refugees who have entered Poland remain there.

During the brief question-and-answer session, Biden recounted how he had been to places like this in his life but said he is always surprised by "the depth and strength of the human spirit."

"It's incredible, it's incredible. See all those little children. Just want to hug, just want to say thanks. I mean, it's, just makes you so damn proud," he said.

He added, "Each one of those children said something to the effect, 'Say a prayer for my dad or my grandfather or my brother who's back there fighting. And I remember what it's like when you have someone in a war zone. Every morning you get up and you wonder. You just wonder. And you pray you don't get that phone call."

The Russian military's advances appear to have stalled around major Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv and Kharkiv, and a top Russian general says that the first phase of their invasion is over with the focus now moving to the eastern part of Ukraine. Russia has also failed to achieve air superiority in Ukraine and has suffered heavy losses of personnel since the start of the invasion.

"In general, the main tasks of the first stage of the operation have been completed," Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, first deputy chief of Russia's General Staff, said in a Friday briefing. "The combat potential of the armed forces of Ukraine has been significantly reduced, allowing us, I emphasize again, to focus the main efforts on achieving the main goal - the liberation of Donbas."

When asked about the Russians changing their military strategy in Ukraine, Biden said, "I'm not sure they have."

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Russia's attack at Poland's border shattered the image of calm in western Ukraine

 

On the surface, the western Ukrainian city of Lviv does not look like a city on the edge of a war zone.

The streets are bustling with people. Austro-Hungarian architecture recently painted in pale hues stretches for miles. The trams still run on time and most of the shops that first shuttered after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his February 24 invasion of Ukraine have once again opened their doors.

Yet beneath the city's relaxed exterior lies a crucial nexus in the war effort against Moscow's brutal assault against the former Soviet Republic.

Lviv hosts one of the country's highest concentrations of internally displaced people -- over 200,000 in a city of just over 700,000 people. At the same time, the larger region serves as a crucial weapons supply route to the Ukrainian military and a wider resistance effort that has foiled Moscow's plans for a blitz-like invasion.

At 50 miles from the Polish border, the city is also at NATO's doorstep -- any attack here could have international repercussions.

"Attacks in western Ukraine are dangerous because it could affect Poland," said historian Yaroslav Hrytsak, who was sitting at a trendy coffee shop in the historic center of Lviv. "This could turn the conflict into an international conflict."

Tensions are ramping up here, despite the hundreds of miles that separate the region from Russia, culminating in a Russian strike on a military base close to the Polish border on Sunday. Russia says it is targeting arms supply shipments. The US denies that the attack disrupted weapon transfers.

Western Ukraine's supply lane has become even more important as Russia chokes off sea passages and lays siege to the country's south. To the north is Belarus, which hosts Russian troops and has been one of the launching pads of the invasion. To the east is Russia.

"At one time it looked like Putin wasn't going to touch this region," said Hrytsak. "He believed that western territory is too toxic, too anti-Russian. He wanted this region to go to the devil."

"Now this has changed. Now Putin wants all (of) Ukraine," he added.

When Russian forces bombarded the military complex in the Lviv region, families in the city heard the booms and thuds of Putin's war for the first time, getting a tiny taste of the horrors their countrymen and women further east have experienced for nearly three weeks.

Analysts believe an invasion of western Ukraine remains a long way off, especially since the resistance in central, southern and eastern Ukraine has repelled a significant occupation of the country.

Still, the attack seemed to bring the war closer to an international showdown. At least 35 people were killed and 134 injured in Putin's most westerly Ukrainian target -- just 15 miles from Poland, a NATO member.

Yuri (R), a bus driver, and his son Ruslan, a doctor, stand in front of a bus damaged in air strikes at the Yavoriv military complex on March 13.

 

Yuri (R), a bus driver, and his son Ruslan, a doctor, stand in front of a bus damaged in air strikes at the Yavoriv military complex on March 13.

The site of the attack -- the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security at Yavoriv -- is the biggest military training facility in western Ukraine. It was also where NATO has performed drills. US instructors trained Ukrainian soldiers there last month, leaving before the invasion began.

Russia claimed to have killed 180 "foreign mercenaries" without providing proof. Ukrainian officials said there were no reports of foreign casualties in the attack and NATO has denied that any of its units are in Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities have been relatively tight-lipped about the details around the attack, which only seemed to underscore its significance.

When a CNN team tried to report from the site of the attack, the military had cordoned off the area around six miles away from the base. Public access roads leading to the site were blocked. The CNN team saw several people, who identified themselves as volunteer foreign medics, dressed in camouflage disembark from a van near a military cordon.

"The key point here is that Putin doesn't believe he is fighting Ukrainians. He doesn't see Ukraine as a separate entity or a viable state," said Hrystak. "He believes he is fighting America and NATO on Ukrainian soil."

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