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Move is designed to force Moscow into choosing three unappealing options, draining dollar reserves held in Russia, spending new revenue, or going into default
A default would prohibit Moscow from accessing certain markets until creditors are fully repaid and any legal cases stemming from the default are settled


New York/WashingtonThe 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 US dollars.

Under sanctions put in place after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, foreign currency reserves held by the Russian central bank at US 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.

On Monday, as the largest of the payments came due, including a $552.4 million principal payment on a maturing bond, the US government decided to cut off Moscow's access to the frozen funds, according to a US Treasury spokesperson.

An $84 million coupon payment was also due on Monday on a 2042 sovereign dollar bond.

The move was meant to force Moscow to make the difficult decision of whether it would use dollars that it has access to for payments on its debt or for other purposes, including supporting its war effort, the spokesperson said.

Russia faces a historic default if it chooses to not do so.

"Russia must choose between draining remaining valuable dollar reserves or new revenue coming in, or default," the spokesperson said.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM), which had been processing payments as a correspondent bank so far, was stopped by the Treasury, a source familiar with the matter said.

The correspondent bank processes the coupon payments from Russia, sending them to the payment agent to distribute to overseas bondholders.

The country has a 30-day grace period to make the payment, the source said.

Default worries
The increased pressure comes as the United States and Europe are planning new sanctions this week to punish Moscow over civilian killings in Ukraine.

Russia calls its move in Ukraine a "special military operation." Ukraine and the West say the invasion was illegal and unjustified. Searing images of a mass grave and the bound bodies of people shot at close range drew an international outcry on Monday.

Russia, which has a total of 15 international bonds outstanding with a face value of around $40 billion, has managed to avoid defaulting on its international debt so far despite unprecedented Western sanctions. But the task is getting harder.

Russia was last allowed to make a $447 million coupon payment on a 2030 sovereign dollar bond, due last Thursday, at least the fifth such payment since the war began.

If Russia fails to make any of its upcoming bond payments within their pre-defined timeframes, or pays in rubles where dollars, euros or another currency is specified, it will constitute a default.

While Russia is not able to access international borrowing markets due to the West's sanctions, a default would prohibit it from accessing those markets until creditors are fully repaid and any legal cases stemming from the default are settled.

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/04/04/business/us-treasury-russia-dollar-debt-payments/index.html

https://amp.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3173093/ukraine-war-us-stops-russian-bond-payments-bid-raise-pressure

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Ukraine's prosecutor general said more than 400 bodies of civilians have been recovered in Kyiv's surrounding cities. The mayor of Motzyhn and her family were among the 20 civilians killed and buried in a mass grave. Other mass graves have been found in the surrounding cities, including one with more than 300 bodies in Bucha, according to Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk




Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was visibly emotional Monday when he visited the ruins of the Ukrainian town Bucha, a suburb located northwest of the country's capital city Kyiv.

Dozens of bodies lay on the street, left behind after Russian soldiers retreated from the area. Some of the bodies were shot at close-range, others had signs of torture reminiscent of the Soviet's attack on Germany during World War II.

These are war crimes and will be recognized by the world as genocide," Zelensky said, according to the Daily Mail. "It's very difficult to talk when you see what they've done here. The longer the Russian Federation drags out the meeting process, the worse it is for them and for this situation and for this war. We know of thousands of people killed and tortured, with severed limbs, raped women, and murdered children."
Zelensky added that despite the devastating attacks from Russia, people were working together to make sure pets and animals were fed.
Ukraine's prosecutor general said more than 400 bodies of civilians have been recovered in Kyiv's surrounding cities. The mayor of Motzyhn and her family were among the 20 civilians killed and buried in a mass grave. Other mass graves have been found in the surrounding cities, including one with more than 300 bodies in Bucha, according to Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk.

Stories also surfaced from survivors about Russian troops rounding up the elderly and other men to shoot them in front of their families. One woman said Russian forces shot her son in front of her, according to the Daily Mail. Others have claimed that soldiers killed civilians and then rolled over the bodies with tanks and that women have been raped by Russian soldiers. Footage of a Russian torture chamber has also been released The Washington Examiner
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Zelensky overcome with emotion as he visits horror at Bucha
by Misty Severi, Breaking News Reporter | April 04, 2022 01:53 PM
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was visibly emotional Monday when he visited the ruins of the Ukrainian town Bucha, a suburb located northwest of the country's capital city Kyiv.

Dozens of bodies lay on the street, left behind after Russian soldiers retreated from the area. Some of the bodies were shot at close-range, others had signs of torture reminiscent of the Soviet's attack on Germany during World War II.


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'It's coming': Biden warns of Russian cyberattacks on US amid Ukraine war

"These are war crimes and will be recognized by the world as genocide," Zelensky said, according to the Daily Mail. "It's very difficult to talk when you see what they've done here. The longer the Russian Federation drags out the meeting process, the worse it is for them and for this situation and for this war. We know of thousands of people killed and tortured, with severed limbs, raped women, and murdered children."

UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT
Ukainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) speaks to the press in the town of Bucha, northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, on April 4, 2022. - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 3, 2022 the Russian leadership was responsible for civilian killings in Bucha, outside Kyiv, where bodies were found lying in the street after the town was retaken by the Ukrainian army. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images


Zelensky added that despite the devastating attacks from Russia, people were working together to make sure pets and animals were fed.

BIDEN SEEKS WAR CRIMES TRIAL AGAINST PUTIN OVER UKRAINE CONFLICT

Ukraine's prosecutor general said more than 400 bodies of civilians have been recovered in Kyiv's surrounding cities. The mayor of Motzyhn and her family were among the 20 civilians killed and buried in a mass grave. Other mass graves have been found in the surrounding cities, including one with more than 300 bodies in Bucha, according to Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk.

TOPSHOT-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT
TOPSHOT - President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) walks in the town of Bucha, just northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on April 4, 2022. - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 3, 2022 the Russian leadership was responsible for civilian killings in Bucha, outside Kyiv, where bodies were found lying in the street after the town was retaken by the Ukrainian army. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images


Stories also surfaced from survivors about Russian troops rounding up the elderly and other men to shoot them in front of their families. One woman said Russian forces shot her son in front of her, according to the Daily Mail. Others have claimed that soldiers killed civilians and then rolled over the bodies with tanks and that women have been raped by Russian soldiers. Footage of a Russian torture chamber has also been released, which includes one body where the victim was shot in the knee prior to their death, the Ukrainian military said.

World leaders have condemned the massacres in Ukraine, vowing increased strict sanctions against Russia and sending more supplies to Ukraine. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said justice would be served. A spokesman for Johnson added it was "clear Vladimir Putin crossed the threshold of barbarism some time ago." Johnson also pledged to send special investigators to the International Criminal Court where they will gather evidence for a war crime tribunal.

Other world leaders have echoed the call for a tribunal and vowed to send investigators to gather evidence, including the United States. President Joe Biden called Putin a war criminal.

"This guy is brutal, and what's happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone sees it," Biden said.
Russia has pulled two-thirds of its forces away from Kyiv and its suburbs and into Belarus, which has been an ally of Russia during the invasion. A senior U.S. official told the Daily Mail that the troops are expected to be refit, resupplied, and redeployed to somewhere else in Ukraine.

Four million Ukrainians have fled to other European countries under a refugee program activated by the European Union, which allows Ukrainians to enter and live in European countries without a permit for one year.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/zelensky-overcome-with-emotion-as-he-visits-horror-at-bucha

War crime of the highest order

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