President Biden describes Russia’s war in Ukraine is ‘genocide’ for the first time

US President Joe Biden has described Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “genocide” and says Vladimir Putin is trying to “wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian”.

In a speech to voters in Iowa about rising fuel prices, Mr Biden said: “Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away.”

US leaders have generally avoided using the word “genocide” in the past, for fear of being required to intervene under an international genocide convention.

But rather than rowing back, President Biden went further when speaking to reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One, saying: “I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that (Russian president Vladimir) Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting.

“We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me,” he added.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the words, describing them as “true words of a true leader”.

He added: “Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil.

“We are grateful for US assistance provided so far, and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities.”

Allegations are still coming to light of Russian troops killing and raping civilians, particularly in areas around Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, from where they have withdrawn in recent weeks.

Russia has denied these accusations.

Key developments:

• Mariupol’s mayor Vadym Boychenko said the city’s death toll could surpass 20,000, adding that Russian forces have brought mobile cremation equipment to dispose of corpses
• The US is preparing a new support package for Ukraine that could total $750m, a defence official has said. This week, delivery is due to be completed on the $800m package approved a month ago
• More than 10 million Ukrainians have now fled their homes, including nearly two-thirds of the country’s children
• At least 720 people have been killed in Bucha and other Kyiv suburbs and more than 200 are considered missing, the Interior Ministry said
• Russia’s energy minister told Izvestia newspaper that Moscow is ready to sell oil and oil products to “friendly countries in any price range”. It comes as Ukraine calls on Western countries to ban Russian oil and gas

Mr Putin has vowed that his country’s offensive in Ukraine will continue until its goals are fulfilled, insisting that everything is going to plan, despite fierce Ukrainian opposition and significant Russian losses.

He has shifted his focus to the eastern Donbas region, where Ukraine said on Tuesday it was investigating a claim that a poisonous substance had been used on its troops.

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Meanwhile, Viktor Medvedchuk has been detained in a special operation carried out by Ukraine’s SBU secret service, the country’s officials said.

The fugitive Ukrainian oligarch is the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a friend of Mr Putin.

Mr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday night that Ukraine could free Mr Medvedchuk’s if Moscow released Ukrainians being held in Russian prisons.

He posted a photo on social media of Mr Medvedchuk, who had been under house arrest before the war, in handcuffs and wearing a camouflage uniform with a Ukrainian flag patch.