Boris Johnson calls on Russians to 'find the truth;' Zelenskyy says Russia must be brought to justice

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Russians to "find the truth" and "share it."

"Your president stands accused of committing war crimes. But I cannot believe he's acting in your name," Johnson said in a video directly addressing the Russian people.

Speaking in both Russian and English, he said: "The atrocities committed by Russian troops in Bucha, Irpin and elsewhere in Ukraine have horrified the world."

He went on to outline the alleged atrocities of Russian troops: civilians massacred, women raped, bodies burned and "dumped in mass graves, or just left lying in the street."

Ukrainian officials say that more than 300 civilians were tortured and killed by Russian troops in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv, discoveries made only after Moscow pulled out of those areas.

Graphic media images also revealed corpses of civilians in the streets — some with their hands and legs tied up — while satellite images captured mass graves.

Russia has been waging information warfare alongside its military operations.

The Russian people have been "fed a steady diet of propaganda" by Russian-state media, according to NBC News' Ken Dilanian. The Kremlin has labeled the unprovoked and unwarranted war in Ukraine a "special military operation."

"The reports are so shocking, so sickening, it's no wonder your government is seeking to hide them from you," Johnson said.

"But don't just take my word for it," he added, calling on them to access independent information via VPN connection. "And when you find the truth, share it."

— Charmaine Jacob, Joanna Tan

Intel has suspended all business operations in Russia, the U.S. chipmaker announced.

"Intel continues to join the global community in condemning Russia's war against Ukraine and calling for a swift return to peace. Effective immediately, we have suspended all business operations in Russia," the company said in a statement.

This follows the company's move a month ago to suspend all shipments to Russia and Belarus.

"We are working to support all of our employees through this difficult situation, including our 1,200 employees in Russia," it said.

Intel joins a list of growing software companies that have stopped operations or shipments to Russia, including Oracle, SAP, and IBM.

— Chelsea Ong

More Russian atrocities like those seen in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha may emerge, says Jeffrey Edmonds, a senior research scientist at CNA, a research organization.

"When you look at such things in history, they have happened at various times, when units are really depleted and leadership has demonized the people they're fighting," Edmonds told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russian troops of killing and torturing more than 300 people in the city of Bucha, as Western leaders condemned images of slain Ukrainian civilians in a town previously occupied by Russian forces.

Russia has denied those allegations, but journalists and Ukrainians living in the city have confirmed the civilian killings. Satellite images from space company Maxar Technologies captured also mass graves.

"Unfortunately, given how beat they are and the fact that Putin has created the conditions under which this would happen, I think we might see more," he added.

— Chelsea Ong

President Joe Biden authorized the immediate release Tuesday of an additional $100 million worth of Javelin anti-tank missiles and training for Ukraine, according to statements from the Pentagon and the State Department.

The announcements late Tuesday night were the first concrete evidence that the United States plans to respond to the growing evidence of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine in part by increasing the lethality of Kyiv's fighting force.

"The world has been shocked and appalled by the atrocities committed by Russia's forces in Bucha and across Ukraine," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on the last-minute additional funding.

The formerly occupied Ukrainian village of Bucha was the scene of dozens of alleged war crimes by Russian troops, which were only discovered after the Kremlin ordered its soldiers to retreat.

The Javelin is a shoulder-fired, target-locking missile system that can destroy a tank on the move from a distance of more than a mile. As outnumbered Ukrainian forces fight to halt the progress of advancing infantry in Russian tanks, no weapon so far has been as effective or deadly as the U.S.-made Javelins.

— Christina Wilkie

Photos show total destruction in the small city of Borodyanka, located northwest of Kyiv, which was the scene of heavy clashes for weeks while the Russian military were there until about four days ago. Ukrainian forces have regained the control of the town.

— Getty Images

The United Nation's said an eight-truck convoy of humanitarian supplies reached Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region, where sustained fighting is "taking an enormous toll on civilians."

"The UN and humanitarian partners delivered ready-to-eat meals, canned goods, flour and essential relief items such as blankets, mattresses, solar-powered lamps, and other household items," UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Markus said in a statement.

The supplies also included plastic sheeting and blankets for some 17,000 people, as well as electric generators for the local hospital. The UN estimates that 11.3 million Ukrainians have been uprooted by the war.

— Dawn Kopecki

Editor's Note: Graphic content. The following post contains an image of dead bodies.

Since the Kremlin's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations has confirmed 1,480 deaths and 2,195 injuries.

The international body adds that the death tolls in Ukraine are likely to be higher citing delayed reporting due to the armed conflict.

 The UN says the war has created more than 4.2 million Ukrainian refugees, mostly the elderly, women and children.

— Amanda Macias

The highest U.S. military officer told lawmakers that the war in Ukraine could last for years, a revelation that comes as U.S. officials warn that Russia will intensify its campaign in Ukraine.

"I do think this is a very protracted conflict and I think it's at least measured in years, I don't know about a decade but at least years for sure," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley told the House Armed Services Committee.

"This is a very extended conflict that Russia has initiated and I think that NATO, the United States, Ukraine and all of the allies and partners that are supporting Ukraine are going to be involved in this for quite some time," he added.

Milley, who has served in the U.S. Army for four decades, described the war in Ukraine as the "greatest threat to the peace and security of Europe and perhaps the world."

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine is threatening to undermine the global peace and stability that my parents and generations of Americans fought so hard to defend," Milley added.

— Amanda Macias

The U.S. and its European allies are preparing to deliver another slew of sanctions on Russia following mounting evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, three people familiar with the matter tell NBC News.

The additional sanctions are expected to ban all new investments in Russia and state-owned enterprises.

The fresh sanctions package, taken in lockstep with European Union allies and Group of 7 members, will also designate Kremlin officials and their family members.

The sweeping measures come on the heels of global outrage over mounting evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

— Amanda Macias

Russian energy giant Gazprom said it has recalled its representatives from the management of Gazprom Germania and companies under its control.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday that Gazprom Germania, an energy trading, storage and transmission business ditched by Gazprom on Friday, would be transferred to Germany's regulator to ensure energy security.

Gazprom also said that Gazprom Germania as well as Gazprom Marketing & Trading should stop using Gazprom's trademarks.

— Reuters

The United Nations official who oversees the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine said that the coastal city of Mariupol has become "the center of hell."

"For more than five weeks, the people of Mariupol have been caught up in the fighting and it is well documented that really Mariupol is the center of hell," UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council.

UN officials have warned that people living in Mariupol, a strategic city on the Sea of Azov, have lacked electricity, water, food and heat since nearly the start of the war.

More than a quarter of Ukraine's population has fled since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Griffiths said.

"The current figures on displacement tell us that more than 11.3 million people have now been forced to flee their homes and of that 4.2 million are now refugees," he said.

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a Nuremberg-style tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russian war crimes.

"The Russian military and those who gave them orders must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes in Ukraine," Zelenskyy said in a nearly 20-minute speech before the United Nations Security Council.

"Anyone who has given criminal orders and carried out them by killing our people will be brought before the tribunal which should be similar to the Nuremberg tribunals," he added.

Zelenskyy appeared before the international forum after Ukraine alleged that Russian troops tortured and killed hundreds of civilians in Bucha, near the capital of Kyiv.

"The massacre in our city of Bucha is only one, unfortunately, only one of many examples of what the occupiers have been doing on our land for the past 41 days," Zelenskyy said, adding that "the world has yet to see" what Russia has done elsewhere in Ukraine.

— Amanda Macias

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tuesday that Russia must be suspended from the UN Human Rights Council in light of the new evidence of war crimes committed by Russian troops invading Ukraine.

"Given the growing mountain of evidence, Russia should not have a position of authority in a body whose purpose is to promote respect for human rights," Thomas-Greenfield argued during a Security Council meeting in New York.

"Not only is it the height of hypocrisy -- it is dangerous. Russia is using its membership on the Human Rights Council as a platform for propaganda to suggest Russia has a legitimate concern for human rights," she said.

In order to suspend Russia from the council it requires a majority of the members of the full UN General Assembly to approve the suspension. Thomas-Greenfield has said she will seek to hold that vote as early as this Thursday.

The Human Rights Council has a complicated history, and several of the 47 current member states have been accused of serious human rights abuses, including China, Venezuela and Russia.

— Christina Wilkie

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. and its allies believe that the reports of Russian war crimes in Ukraine are "more than credible."

"What we've seen in Bucha is not the random act of a rogue unit. It's a deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities. The reports are more than credible. The evidence is there for the world to see," Blinken told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

"We said before the aggression that we anticipated that if it went forward, there would be atrocities committed information that we've seen going into the aggression suggested that this will be part of the Russian campaign," Blinken said before boarding a flight to Belgium.

The State Department is taking the lead on behalf of the U.S. on helping with the UN's investigation into possible war crimes.

Blinken is on his way to Brussels for another urgent meeting of NATO foreign ministers. While in Brussels, he will also meet with ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations to consult on the response to reports of atrocities and war crimes allegedly carried out by Russian troops in Ukraine.

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address the United Nations Security Council following global outrage over potential Russian war crimes in Bucha.

Zelenskyy said Monday officials discovered at least 300 civilians that were tortured and killed in Bucha by Russian troops. The bodies were discovered after Moscow withdrew its troops from the suburb near Ukraine's capital. The Ukrainian leader described the aftermath in Bucha as a "genocide."

Over the weekend, horrific images emerged of bodies scattered across the streets, some with their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the back of the head.

Zelenskyy's remarks to the international forum come ahead of a U.S.-led proposal to suspend Russia from the UN's Human Rights Council.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield is set to introduce the proposal to the UN Security Council later today and to the General Assembly later this week.

— Amanda Macias

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is working with the UN's International Criminal Court on investigating Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg, who briefed reporters from NATO's headquarters ahead of tomorrow's foreign minister's meeting, said the alliance had mounting evidence of war crimes committed in Bucha as well as other cities in Ukraine.

"NATO allies are providing support to the UN International Criminal Court to collect evidence, to preserve evidence, to collect relevant information and to enable them to conduct investigations and to have a legal process to make sure that all those responsible for these atrocities are held accountable," Stoltenberg said.

"Targeting and murdering civilians is a war crime. All the facts must be established and all those responsible for these atrocities must be brought to justice," he said.

Stoltenberg also said that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will join the NATO ministerial this week.

— Amanda Macias

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has accused Russia of committing genocide against Ukrainians, citing atrocities in Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and other suburbs of the capital city.

"Russia, by brutally destroying Ukraine and peaceful Ukrainians, is a threat to the entire civilized world today. And the world must be aware of this," Klitschko said via Telegram, according to a translation.

"Stop not with sympathy and statements, but with real and decisive steps. Strict sanctions against the aggressor, military assistance to Ukraine," he added.

Russia has denied allegations of killing civilians.

— Sam Meredith

Russian forces have hit a tank with nitric acid in the eastern Ukrainian city of Rubizhne, according to Ukrainian officials, prompting toxic smoke to cover the area.

"Nitric acid is very dangerous if inhaled, swallowed or if it is in contact with skin," Ukraine's parliament said via Twitter. "The consequences of this incident are similar to usage of chemical or biological weapons!"

CNBC has not been able to independently verify this report.

Separately, Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, said authorities did not know how much nitrogen was in the tanks that were blown up.

"We clearly understand that there was nitric acid. This substance is quite toxic, so you need to watch the direction of the wind, use protective masks, or it is best to wait in the shelter until the first rain," Haidai said, according to a translation.

— Sam Meredith

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is expected to propose a ban on Russian coal as part of a new wave of sanctions targeting the Kremlin, two EU officials told CNBC on Tuesday.

The officials did not wish to be named due to the sensitivity of the talks.

Read the full story here.

— Sam Meredith

Here's a summary of the European countries that are expelling Russian diplomats over the Kremlin's war with Ukraine.

• Sweden has said it will expel three Russian diplomats who were deemed not to be acting in accordance with international rules.
• Denmark has said it will expel 15 Russian diplomats, in line with other EU countries.
• Belgium has expelled 21 Russian diplomats for alleged spying and posing threats to security.
• The Netherlands has expelled 17 Russian intelligence agents accredited as diplomats, citing information from its own security services.
• Ireland has requested that four senior officials at the Russian embassy leave the country.
• Germany has declared 40 Russian diplomats as "undesirable persons," a move akin to expulsion from the country.
• France said it would expel 35 Russian diplomats, Italy has expelled 30 and Lithuania has said it will expel the Russian ambassador to the country.
• The Czech Republic has expelled one member of diplomatic staff at Russia's embassy in Prague.

In some instances, Russia has said it will retaliate against the expulsions.

— Sam Meredith

The EU's next wave of punitive measures against Russia is likely to target the import and export of products like jet fuel, steel products and luxury goods, two sources with knowledge of the discussions told CNBC.

The bloc remains divided, however, on whether to impose an import ban on Russian energy.

Read the full story here.

— Sam Meredith

Italy and Denmark have expelled Russian diplomats over the Kremlin's unprovoked onslaught in Ukraine, following in the footsteps of a number of other EU countries.

Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said the country had expelled 30 Russian diplomats, citing national security concerns, according to Italian news agency ANSA. Denmark, meanwhile, has expelled 15 Russian diplomats.

Russia has responded to say it will retaliate over the expulsions.

— Sam Meredith

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is of "great relief" that a team of rescue workers trying to reach Ukraine's besieged port city of Mariupol has been released after being held by police in nearby Manhush.

"This is of great relief to us and to their families," a spokesperson for the ICRC told CNBC. "The team is focused now on continuing the humanitarian evacuation operation."

The ICRC said the incident demonstrates how "volatile and complex" the operation to facilitate safe passage around Mariupol has been, adding Red Cross workers have been trying to reach the city since Friday.

— Sam Meredith

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's spokesperson has announced that she will travel alongside EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to meet Ukraine's Zelenskyy in Kyiv this week.

Eric Mamer said via Twitter von der Leyen and Borrell would meet with Zelenskyy ahead of an event in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday.

— Sam Meredith

Ukrainian troops have retaken key terrain in the north of the country, according to Britain's Defense Ministry, after denying Russian forces the ability to secure its objectives.

"Low-level fighting is likely to continue in some parts of the newly recaptured regions, but diminish significantly over this week as the remainder of Russian forces withdraw," the ministry said via Twitter.

"Many Russian units withdrawing from northern Ukraine are likely to require significant re-equipping and refurbishment before being available to redeploy for operations in eastern Ukraine."

— Sam Meredith

Here's a selection of some of the latest images showing the destruction of Borodyanka, an urban settlement roughly 80 kilometers northwest of Kyiv.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the number of victims in Borodyanka could be even higher than the atrocities reported in Bucha. Zelenskyy said more than 300 people were killed and tortured by Russian forces in Bucha.

Russia has denied the allegations.

— Sam Meredith; Getty Images

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it's possible that talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin will not take place.

Speaking in an address broadcast on national television, Zelenskyy said it is not a question of whether or not talks with the Kremlin will be held, "but how strong you will be at the negotiating table."

"The most difficult thing is to talk about what they did, to recognize them as enemies, to know that this is a specific war of Russia against Ukraine, to recognize all this We consider this a genocide, we believe that they should bear all the punishments for this," Zelenskyy said, according to a translation.

"I believe that we need to set such a bar for these negotiations, and then it will be as it will be. It may happen that there will be no meeting," he added, referring to the prospect of talks with Putin.

— Sam Meredith

The United States stopped the Russian government on Monday from paying holders of its sovereign debt more than $600 million from reserves held at American banks, in a move meant to ratchet up pressure on Moscow and eat into its holdings of U.S. dollars.

Under sanctions put in place after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, foreign currency reserves held by the Russian central bank at U.S. financial institutions were frozen.

But the Treasury Department had been allowing the Russian government to use those funds to make coupon payments on dollar-denominated sovereign debt on a case-by-case basis.

— Reuters

A team of humanitarian workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross has been released after being held during an attempt to reach the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk.

A team of ICRC representatives seeking to evacuate people from the besieged city of Mariupol had been held in nearby Manhush, Vereshchuk said, but after negotiations, they were released and sent to Zaporizhia — roughly 200 kilometers away.

Vereshchuk said that despite the Kremlin's promises, Russian forces had not allowed anyone to travel to Mariupol. Vereshchuk said seven humanitarian corridors were in place on Tuesday.

— Sam Meredith

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not ready to back down even though his army is doing much worse than expected, according to Angela Stent, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

"He's not willing to give up obviously, he's going to keep striking," she told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia."

Stent said Russia is not serious about peace talks yet, and Putin will not give up on his goal of weakening Ukraine.

"If he can't subjugate it, at least make it very difficult for what's left of the government in Kyiv to function," she said, adding that Putin also wants to take over the Donbas region fully. The Donbas is a breakaway region in eastern Ukraine which includes Donetsk and Luhansk, two pro-Russian self-proclaimed republics.

"He would like to do that in time for May the 9th, when the Russians will have their parade in Moscow commemorating victory in World War II," said Stent, referring to what Russian call "Victory Day."

— Abigail Ng

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that reported atrocities in Borodyanka, an urban settlement near Kyiv, could be worse than the devastation seen in Bucha.

Speaking in his nightly address to the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyy said more than 300 were killed and tortured in the town of Bucha, a suburb near the capital of Kyiv. However, the number of victims of Russia's onslaught in Borodyanka could be even larger.

"We already have information that in Borodyanka and some other freed towns, the amount of victims can be even larger," Zelenskyy said via Telegram, according to a translation.

"The occupiers will be held responsible. We are already doing everything as fast as we can to find all the Russian soldiers involved in these crimes," he added.

— Sam Meredith

Russian forces are preparing to launch an offensive in east Ukraine, seeking to establish full control of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the statement, Russian forces are continuing to block the northeast city of Kharkiv, with "constant artillery shelling" destroying residential areas and infrastructure.

Russian forces have launched massive artillery and airstrikes on the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said. Russian troops were also reported to have shelled the southern city of Mykolayiv with cluster munitions prohibited by the Geneva Convention.

— Sam Meredith

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on a phone call state media said was made at Ukraine's request.  

This is the first reported high-level conversation between the countries since March 1, when Kuleba asked Beijing to use its ties with Moscow to stop Russia's invasion, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said at the time.

Wang repeated China's message that peace and stability should be achieved through negotiation, according to state media.

Kuleba tweeted: "Grateful to my Chinese counterpart for solidarity with civilian victims."

"We both share the conviction that ending the war against Ukraine serves common interests of peace, global food security, and international trade," he added.

— Chelsea Ong

Biden says Putin should be tried for war crimes, slapped with more sanctions; Russia accused of civilian massacre in Bucha