俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京对乌克兰的“特别军事行动”始于2月24日，军队从白俄罗斯和俄罗斯边境进入乌克兰。据美国官员称，莫斯科的部队此后遭到了乌克兰人的“顽强抵抗”。

俄罗斯军队上周从基辅郊区撤退，留下了一片废墟。在平民横尸布加勒斯特街头的图片出现后，美国和欧洲官员指责俄罗斯军队犯下了战争罪

奥巴马称乌克兰战争是“历史性的悲剧”

美国前总统巴拉克奥巴马(Barack Obama)周三在虚假信息和民主侵蚀会议上发表讲话时，强调了乌克兰与俄罗斯的冲突，并称这场战争是“历史性的悲剧”。

“这是一个振奋人心的提醒，提醒那些在我们往往认为理所当然的事情上变得软弱、困惑和无能的民主国家:法治、新闻自由和良知……你必须为这些信息而斗争，”他说。

奥巴马称俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京“一贯冷酷无情”

“对于他以这种方式赌上农场，我在五年前就不一定能预测到，”他说。

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前总统巴拉克·奥巴马谈到虚假信息和对民主的侵蚀...

奥巴马补充说，鉴于乌克兰总统泽伦斯基和该国居民的反应，他看到了一些希望。

“他有可能阻止普京取得最大化的胜利，从长远来看，可能会允许乌克兰独立，”奥巴马说。

泽伦斯基誓言俄罗斯不会成功隐藏暴行的证据

乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskyy)在他的每日讲话中表示，俄罗斯领导人在看到他们的军队在布加勒斯特的暴行的照片和视频后，现在感到害怕，并试图掩盖他们的行动。

但是总统发誓说这个国家不会成功的隐藏他们的暴力。

“如果世界已经开始讨论是否允许将俄罗斯军队在乌克兰领土上的所作所为称为种族灭绝，那么对真相的探索就无法停止。你无论如何都无法挽回，”他说。

泽伦斯基赞扬了美国的新制裁，这些制裁暂停了俄罗斯使用美国银行账户和相关资产偿还债务的能力。

“这个方案看起来很壮观，但这还不够，”他说。

泽伦斯基补充道，“我们将继续坚持彻底封锁俄罗斯银行系统与国际金融的联系。”

白宫将专注于减轻美国人的成本:普萨基

白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基星期三对美国广播公司说，政府正集中精力减轻美国人民为战争付出的代价，包括释放受限制的石油储备。

她说，政府将“逐步采取措施减少对美国人民的影响。”

美国广播公司新闻部还问普萨基，美国向乌克兰提供的财政援助速度是否可以持续一场长期战争。

普萨基承认，随着普京巩固他的军队，“我们正在进入冲突的新阶段，这可能会持续一段时间。”

“这并不意味着它看起来会完全一样，或者需求或资源会完全一样，这是我们将在与乌克兰人以及我们在世界各地的盟友和伙伴的对话中继续评估的事情，”她补充说。

普萨基指出，政府目前的目标是继续加强军事和人道主义援助。

“随着时间的推移，会出现不同的需求，”她说。“这当然是我们致力于继续支持他们从这场战争中恢复过来，继续战斗，但是我不能对持续下去做出评估，因为显然这场战争和需求将随着时间的推移而改变”

联合国种族灭绝问题特别顾问警告说，战争正在加剧其他地方的紧张局势

联合国防止种族灭绝特别顾问爱丽丝·瓦伊里穆·恩德里图(Alice Wairimu Nderitu)表示，乌克兰城市布加勒斯特平民死亡的场景表明，“数百名受害者[被]蓄意作为目标，这表明可能犯下战争罪的非常严重的迹象。”

Wairimu Nderitu在一份声明中说，俄罗斯的战争加剧了其他地方现有的紧张局势，特别是在西巴尔干地区，那里的波斯尼亚穆斯林在不到30年前的斯雷布雷尼察大屠杀中被杀害。

“在过去的六周里，乌克兰的冲突恶化了其中一些动态，”她说。“公开为针对一个民族群体成员的暴力辩护，将宗教作为暴力合法性的来源，或将国家追求与乌克兰冲突中交战各方的事业相结合，不仅是一个存在冲突的地区愈合不良的症状，也是复发风险真实而严重的迹象。”

尽管美国斡旋的和平协议努力弥合战争和种族灭绝的创伤，但早在战前，波斯尼亚的紧张局势就在加剧。波黑塞族领导人多迪克威胁要分裂该国种族分裂的联邦机构和该国本身，这使他受到美国更严厉的制裁。

随着从秘鲁到斯里兰卡的燃料和食品价格抗议，以及也门和阿富汗的人道主义危机，资金和食品援助的枯竭，这是另一个提醒俄罗斯的战争如何在世界各地产生冲击波。

Russia-Ukraine live updates: UN adviser warns war is worsening tensions elsewhere

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation” into Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with troops crossing the border from Belarus and Russia. Moscow's forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.

Russian forces retreated last week from the Kyiv suburbs, leaving behind a trail of destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, U.S. and European officials accused Russian troops of committing war crimes

Obama calls war in Ukraine 'tragedy of historic proportions'

Former President Barack Obama weighed in on the Ukraine-Russia conflict Wednesday during his appearance at the Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy conference and called the war a "tragedy of historic proportions.”

“It is a bracing reminder for democracies that have gotten flabby, and confused and feckless around the stakes of things that we tended to take for granted: rule of law, freedom of press and conscience … that you have to fight for that information,” he said.

Obama said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "always ruthless."

“For him to bet the farm in this way, I would have not necessarily predicted by him five years ago," he said.

Obama added he sees some hope given the response of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the country's residents.

"He has the potential of preventing a maximalist victory for Putin and over the long term may allow for an independent Ukraine," Obama said.

Zelenskyy vows that Russia won't succeed in hiding evidence of atrocities

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his daily address Russia's leadership is now afraid after photos and videos of their army's atrocities in Bucha, and are trying to cover up their actions.

But the president vowed that the country won't succeed in hiding their violence.

"If the world has started a debate about whether it is permissible to call what the Russian military did on the territory of Ukraine genocide, the search for truth can no longer be stopped. You can't roll it back in any way," he said.

Zelenskyy praised the new U.S. sanctions that suspend Russia's ability to use U.S. bank accounts and related assets to pay its debt.

"This package has a spectacular look, but this is not enough," he said.

Zelenskyy added, "we will continue to insist on a complete blockade of the Russian banking system from international finance."

White House will focus on mitigating cost on Americans: Psaki

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told ABC News Wednesday that the administration is focused on mitigating the war's cost for the American people, including by releasing restricted petroleum reserves.

She said the administration will "take steps to reduce the impact on the American people over time."

Psaki was also asked by ABC News if the rate of financial assistance the U.S. has provided to Ukraine is sustainable for a long-term war.

Psaki acknowledged that with Putin consolidating his troops, "We’re entering a new phase of the conflict that could last for some time."

"It doesn't mean it will look exactly the same or the needs or the resources will be exactly the same, and that is something we will continue to assess in our conversations with the Ukrainians, as well as with our allies and partners around the world," she added.

Psaki noted that the administration’s current goal is to continue to amp up military and humanitarian aid.

"There will be different needs that will come about over the course of time," she said. "And that's something we are of course committed to continuing to support their recovery from this their continued fight from this, but I can’t make an assessment about sustaining because obviously this war, and the needs, will change over the course of time"

UN special adviser on genocide warns war is worsening tensions elsewhere

Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the United Nations' special adviser for the prevention of genocide, said the scenes of dead civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha indicate "hundreds of victims [were] deliberately targeted, which point to very serious signs of possible commission of war crimes."

Wairimu Nderitu in a statement said Russia's war is exacerbating existing tensions elsewhere, particularly in the western Balkans, where Bosnian Muslims were killed in the Srebrenica genocide less than 30 years ago.

"In the last six weeks, the conflict in Ukraine has deteriorated some of these dynamics," she said. "Open vindication of violence against members of one national group, appeal to religion as a source of legitimacy for violence, or alignment of national pursuits to the cause of warrying parties in the Ukraine conflict do not only constitutes symptoms of insufficient healing in a region where conflict was present -- they are also signs that the risk of recurrence is real and serious."

Tensions in Bosnia were increasing long before the war, despite efforts from a U.S.-brokered peace deal to patch up the wounds of war and genocide. Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has threatened to tear apart the country's ethnically-divided federal institutions and the country itself, which has brought him under tighter U.S. sanctions.

Along with protests from Peru to Sri Lanka over fuel and food prices, and humanitarian crises in Yemen and Afghanistan with funding and food aid drying up, it's another reminder of how Russia's war is sending shockwaves around the world.