Zelenskyy condemns gruesome devastation near Kyiv, pleads for support at

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced Monday that the U.S. will ask U.N. members to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council as its invasion of Ukraine continues.

With a two-thirds majority vote, the 193-member U.N. General Assembly can suspend Russia’s membership for committing violations of human rights, according to Reuters.

“Russia’s participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce,” Thomas-Greenfield reportedly said Monday, adding that “it is wrong, which is why we believe it is time the U.N. General Assembly vote to remove them.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday has signed an order making it harder for residents of countries that Moscow deems “unfriendly” to get a visa, according to Reuters.

The order — in response to sanctions levied against Moscow — suspends Russia’s simplified visa issuance program with some European Union countries as well as Norway, Switzerland, Denmark and Iceland, the news agency reports.

Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian parliament member, discusses the ‘terrible deaths’ she has witnessed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence said Monday that “Russian troops, including mercenaries from the Russian state-linked Wagner private military company, are being moved” into eastern Ukraine.

“Russian forces are continuing to consolidate and reorganize as they refocus their offensive into the Donbas region in the east of Ukraine,” it added in a tweet.

Pope Francis called the ongoing invasion of Russian forces in Ukraine a “sacrilegious” war, during a prayer Sunday where he also called for its ending.

“May we be tireless in praying and in offering assistance to those who suffer,” the Vatican said from Malta.

Pope Francis later told a group of reporters he had no immediate plan to visit Kyiv but such a visit was “on the table.”

The Pope also recognized reporters who have died or were injured covering the news in Ukraine.

“I want to offer condolences for your colleagues who have fallen, no matter what side, I don’t care,” he said. “Your work is a work for the common good. They died in service of the common good: information. We wont forget them. They were courageous. I pray for them, and may the Lord reward their work.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for additional sanctions on Russia following a massacre in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, according to a report.

During an interview on France Inter…