Russia reacts harshly after Biden calls Ukraine invasion ‘genocide'

Fox News senior national correspondent William La Jeunesse explains why Ukrainian refugees entering the U.S. through Mexico on 'Special Report.'

The White House defended President Biden on Wednesday for shifting to classify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a "genocide," reminding that he is "the leader of the free world" and entitled to "make his views known at any point he would like."

The president on Tuesday called the actions of Russian forces in Ukraine a "genocide" for the first time on Tuesday— a characterization he had previously shied away from using.

When pressed on whether he misspoke, or if his comments were planned, White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied: "He is the president of the United States and the leader of the free world, and he is allowed to make his views known at any point he would like."

When asked again, Psaki quipped: "I think we shouldn’t misunderstand who he is and where he stands in the totem pole—which is at the top."

Read more: Psaki, pressed on whether Biden's 'genocide' comments off script, says he's 'allowed to make his views known'

Ukrainian forces say they struck and damaged a Russian naval vessel, according to reporting from Forbes.

Multiple Ukrainian officials say their forces used a Neptune anti-ship battery to hit Moskva, a  612-foot Russian vessel of the coast of Odessa.

“Neptune missiles … caused very serious damage to the Russian ship,” said Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to Forbes.

While Russian media has acknowledged an explosion on the ship, officials claim the damage was due to an "accidental ammunition explosion" and that the ship was evacuated.

Russia announced sanction against over 300 members of the U.S. Congress Wednesday, which it said was in response to similar sanctions against Russian lawmakers.

“These individuals, including the leadership and committee chairmen of the lower house of the U.S. Congress, are placed on the Russian ‘stop list’ on a permanent basis,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said she considered being sanctioned by Russia a "badge of honor."

"It is a badge of honor to be sanctioned by the corrupt and authoritarian Kremlin," shed said in a statement. "I am proud to have one of the toughest records in Congress when it comes to standing up to the actions of Russia and their bloodthirsty war criminal dictator Vladimir Putin. Prior to the invasion, I introduced crippling sanctions. Russia's performative sanctions against me will not stop me from holding Russia accountable and speaking the truth about Russia's genocide against the Ukrainian people. Russia's actions are an atrocity, and Vladimir Putin is a thug. I will continue to hold him and his cronies accountable for their war crimes."

Rep. Maria Elvira, R-Fla., expressed the same sentiment, vowing to continue voicing her support for freedom.

“Whether it’s the Castro Regime in Cuba or Vladmir Putin’s thugs in Moscow, I wear the sanctions of authoritarian dictators as a badge of honor. I will never stop fighting for freedom and working to expose the evil and corruption of bad actors like Putin to the light of truth,” she said.

Fox News' Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.

The Biden administration is weighing the possibility of sending a top-level official to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, according to reporting from Politico.

Preside Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are both candidates to make the journey to Kyiv, though the official told Politico that  Secretary of State Antony Blinken or Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would be more likely to make the trip.

The news comes as officials from other NATO members, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have recently made trips to Kyiv amid the Russian retreat from the city.

A potential visit to Ukraine by a high-ranking U.S. official would not be announced in advance due to security concerns, the report notes.

Russian forces are likely to capture the key city of Mariupol in the coming week despite fierce Ukrainian resistance.

According to an analysis from the Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces have continued incremental gains around Mariupol amid the heavy resistance from Ukrainian forces.

While the ISW believes reports of mass Ukrainian surrender around the city remain untrue, the Russian offensive is likely to break through.

The analysis also said that Russia is likely to continue to scale up its offensive in the eastern regions of Ukraine in the coming weeks, noting that the recent unsuccessful attacks in the region are likely just a precursor to a larger offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a new video Wednesday morning outlining the specific weaponry he needs for his country to continue its defense against Russian invaders. 

"Ukraine needs weapons supplies. We need heavy artillery, armored vehicles, air defense systems and combat aircrafts," Zelenskyy said. "Anything to repel Russian forces and stop their war crimes."

Read more: President Zelenskyy calls for specific weaponry from US, NATO allies

The State Department said Wednesday that President Biden's comments regarding “genocide” in Ukraine at the hands of Russian forces was based “on the horrific atrocities that we've all seen” take place throughout Ukraine.

“The president has not hesitated to draw attention to the horrific acts, the atrocities that Russia's forces have been committing almost since the very first hours of Russia's invasion," Price said.

According to Price, it will be the "task of international lawyers to determine whether what we're seeing meets that legal threshold of genocide.”

“The president was basing his comments on the horrific atrocities that we've all seen in Mariupol, Bucha, Kharkiv, you could go on," Price added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held high level meetings in the far-eastern Russian city of Vladivostok Wednesday in which he praised Belarus as a Russian ally.

Putin said that the two countries would form a “union of two independent states." that could help in overcoming sanctions together.

Putin said that the two countries have discussed the "formation of a unified defense domain," and referred to "the Union" in similar military terms to the Soviet Union.

"It is possible that Belarus may enter conflict as an active combatant, on behalf of Russia in the past phase, as Putin continues dramatic escalation, rushing to claim victory by May 9," author and former DIA intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler said of the remarks.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned NATO that Russia could begin attacking military assistance from foreign countries that enter Ukraine.

"We are warning that U.S.-NATO weapons transports across Ukrainian territory will be considered by us as legal military targets," Ryabkov told TASS. "We are making the Americans and other Westerners understand that attempts to slow down our special operation, to inflict maximum damage on Russian contingents and formations of the DPR and LPR (Donetsk and Luhansk People's republics) will be harshly suppressed.”

According to author and former DIA intelligence officer Rebakah Koffler, the statement indicates Russia sees weapons assistance as legitimate military targets.

"The Russians will likely target NATO weapons deliveries to Ukraine. They claimed that they have already struck Slovakia’s S-300 air-defense systems," Koffler told Fox News Wednesday.

Ryabkov's statement comes the same day that President Biden announced an additional $800 million in military assistance bound for Ukraine, including brand new weapons such as artillery systems that Ukraine has requested.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby detailed Monday that 11 Mi-17 helicopters will be provided to Ukraine as part of the $800 million assistance package, noting that the helicopters were originally destined for Afghanistan.

Kirby also noted that the U.S. has provided a total $3.2 billion of military assistance to Ukraine, including $2.6 billion since the beginning of Russia's invasion of the country.

The U.S. is also providing artillery equipment to Ukraine as part of the package, which Kirby said was the first time the U.S. has sent artillery to the country.

President Biden issued a statement regarding his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, including a list of weapons that will be included in the president's $800 million military assistance package bound for Ukraine.

"I just spoke with President Zelenskyy and shared with him that my Administration is authorizing an additional $800 million in weapons, ammunition, and other security assistance to Ukraine," Biden said." The Ukrainian military has used the weapons we are providing to devastating effect. As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself."

"This new package of assistance will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine," the statement continued. "These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds, and armored personnel carriers. I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters. In addition, we continue to facilitate the transfer of significant capabilities from our Allies and partners around the world. 

"The steady supply of weapons the United States and its Allies and partners have provided to Ukraine has been critical in sustaining its fight against the Russian invasion. It has helped ensure that Putin failed in his initial war aims to conquer and control Ukraine. We cannot rest now. As I assured President Zelenskyy, the American people will continue to stand with the brave Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom."

Russia's Ministry of Defense is claiming Wednesday that it is seeing "attempts of sabotage and strikes by Ukrainian forces against facilities on Russian Federation territory" and "if such cases continue, the Russian Armed Forces will strike at decision-making centers, including in Kyiv, from which the Russian army has so far refrained."

In a Telegram post, the Ministry of Defence also claimed it has surrounded Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, in addition to recently taking a port there.

"During the day, high-precision weapons destroyed 36 enemy assets," it also said. "Among them: 2 repair bases and 2 missile-artillery weapon depots of the 57th and 24th mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Troops in Vrubovka and Berestovoe; 5 strong points of units of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade in Popasnaya and Barvenkovo; 1 command post of the 15th Separate Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard in Cherkasskoe."

A 110-page report released Wednesday by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says experts have found "clear patterns of International Humanitarian Law violations by the Russian forces in their conduct of hostilities" in Ukraine.

"If they had respected their IHL obligations in terms of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack and concerning specially protected objects such as hospitals, the number of civilians killed or injured would have remained much lower," it says. "Similarly, considerably fewer houses, hospitals, cultural properties, schools, multi-story residential buildings, water stations and electricity systems would have been damaged or destroyed."

"The World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), monitoring the situation in Ukraine, has indicated having received reports of numerous cases of torture in the Temporary Detention Centre of Kherson under the control of Russia," the OSCE report also said. "Persons detained there, mostly Ukrainian veterans of military operations in eastern Ukraine and civilians, are severally beaten, subject to mock executions and denied access to food, water and medical care."

The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia visited Ukraine on Wednesday to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"We will continue advocating for Ukraine's membership in the European Union and helping this heroic nation overcome the horrors of war," Lithuania President Gitanas Nauseda said in a tweet.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov signaled Wednesday that Russia has no interest in trading prisoners with Ukraine for Viktor Medvedchuk, who is an associate of Vladimir Putin and the former leader of a Ukrainian pro-Russian party.

Medvedchuk, who escaped while being held in home confinement in Kyiv on allegations of treason was recaptured Tuesday by Ukraine’s SBU security service, officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed in his nightly address on Tuesday that Medvedchuk could be traded for Ukrainian "boys and girls who are now in Russian captivity."

But Peskov said Wednesday that “Medvedchuk is not a Russian citizen." 

"It has nothing to do with the special military operation. He is a foreign politician," Peskov added. "We don’t know at all whether he himself wants some kind of Russian participation in resolving this libelous situation against him.”

Fox News' Brie Stimson and NuNu Japaridze contributed to this report.

A heartwarming video released Wednesday appears to show first responders pulling out a puppy from underneath the rubble of a building that was shelled by the Russian military in the village of Mikhailovka, in eastern Ukraine.

The animal is then reunited with its 77-year-old owner.

“Thanks to the boys for doing everything quickly and promptly here... Thanks a lot to them!” he reportedly said.