The State Department late Tuesday authorized an additional $100 million in security assistance for Ukraine.

The authorization will bolster President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s anti-armor systems and is the sixth drawdown of arms, equipment and supplies from Department of Defense inventories for Ukraine since August 2021, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“The world has been shocked and appalled by the atrocities committed by Russia’s forces in Bucha and across Ukraine,” he said. “Ukraine’s forces bravely continue to defend their country and their freedom, and the United States, along with our allies and partners, stand steadfast in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

All told, the U.S. has committed more than $2.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration and more than $1.7 billion since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded his neighbor on Feb. 24.

Mr. Blinken said 30 other countries have provided assistance.

“As we strengthen Ukraine’s position on the battlefield and at the negotiating table, we will also work with our allies and partners to gather information to document reported abuses and make it available to the appropriate bodies to hold those responsible to account,” he said.

Mr. Zelenskyy pleaded with the U.N. to oust Russia from its security council after he saw the aftermath of atrocities in Bucha, where civilians were left dead in the street.

Ukrainian forces have beaten the Russians back from Kyiv, the capital, though heavy fighting continues in the east.

Russian forces continue to pound Mariupol, a southern city that has been devastated by airstrikes.

“The humanitarian situation in the city is worsening,” the U.K. Ministry of Defence tweeted Wednesday. “Most of the 160,000 remaining residents have no light, communication, medicine, heat or water. Russian forces have prevented humanitarian access, likely to pressure defenders to surrender.”

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday said images of civilian deaths in the Ukrainian town of Bucha are “deeply disturbing” but that no blame should be apportioned until all facts are known.

Emerging evidence of what appeared to be widespread civilian massacres in the wake of Russian withdrawals from the Kyiv areas may complicate Beijing’s attempts to guide public opinion over the conflict, in which China has refused to criticize Moscow.

China supports all initiatives and measures “conducive to alleviating the humanitarian crisis” in the country, and is “ready to continue to work together with the international community to prevent any harm to civilians,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing.

“The truth and the cause of the incident must be verified,” Zhao said. “All parties should exercise restraint and avoid unfounded accusations before a conclusion of the investigation is drawn.”

Zhao’s remarks echo those of China‘s ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, who earlier called for an investigation, also describing the reports and images of civilian deaths in Bucha as “deeply disturbing.”

“The relevant circumstances and specific causes of the incident should be verified and established,” Zhang said in remarks to the Security Council on Tuesday, adding that, “before the full picture is clear, all sides should exercise restraint and avoid unfounded accusations.”

China has called for talks while refusing to criticize Russia. It opposes economic sanctions on Moscow and blames Washington and NATO for provoking the war and fueling the conflict by sending arms to Ukraine.

The entirely ruling Communist Party-controlled media have largely stuck to a pro-Moscow narrative, including repeating Russian disinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories about issues such as alleged American-Ukrainian bioweapons production.

Zhao repeated China‘s objections to sanctions, while accusing the U.S. of having manipulated the situation to “profit from the chaos and make a lot of money.”

“History and reality have proven that sanctions do not bring peace and security, but only bring lose-lose or multiple losses, adding to the already difficult world economy and impacting the existing world economic system,” Zhao said.

The hashtag “China expresses Bucha death incident must be thoroughly investigated” was a trending topic on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, with nearly 30 million views and more than 500 discussions by afternoon Wednesday

Despite the pro-Russian stance of authorities who regularly censor postings, opinions were divided between support for Moscow, demands Russia be held accountable, accusations of untrustworthiness against the West and Ukraine, and calls for an impartial investigation.

“This is merely a play acted out by the Americans and Ukrainian Nazis in an attempt to divert public opinion, but people of the world with eyes and hearts won’t ignore the facts of the U.S. and Ukraine researching bio weapons,” read one posting signed “Understands the Cold War Better Than America.”

The Russian Embassy in Beijing also made use of the platform to reject the accusations, while its Ukrainian counterpart drew attention to “Russian war crimes against civilians in Irpin,” another town where atrocities allegedly occurred.

Prior to the Feb. 24 war, China had dismissed talk of a Russian invasion as “fake news” and U.S. fearmongering. Since then, it has claimed to be holding to an independent, and often contradictory, stance, asserting the sanctity of borders and national sovereignty while refusing to condemn Russian aggression or even use the words “war” and “invasion,” in apparent deference to Moscow.

The Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid published by the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, sought to balance the competing messages with an editorial Wednesday headlined “’Bucha Incident’ not to be used as pretext for inflaming situation.”

“As long as Russia and Ukraine cannot achieve a cease-fire, humanitarian tragedies will not end,” the paper said.

“However, it is regrettable that after the exposure of the ‘Bucha incident,’ the U.S., the initiator of the Ukraine crisis, has not shown any signs of urging peace and promoting talks, but is ready to exacerbate the Russia-Ukraine tensions and create obstacles to the peace talks between the two sides,” it said.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union were set Wednesday to impose new punishing sanctions targeting Russia, including a ban on all new investment in the country, after evidence of torture and killings emerged in recent days from a town outside of Kyiv.

The Associated Press has seen dozens of dead bodies around the town of Bucha while Ukrainian officials have said the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in towns around the Ukrainian capital city that were recaptured from Russian forces.

Videos and images of bodies have unleashed a wave of indignation among Western allies, who have drawn up new sanctions as a response.

After several European countries announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats, the European Commission proposed a fifth package of sanctions including a ban on coal imports that could be adopted as soon as Wednesday once unanimously approved by the 27-nation bloc’s ambassadors.

The United States and Western allies plan to impose a ban on all new investment in Russia. Among the other measures being taken against Russia are greater sanctions on its financial institutions and state-owned enterprises, and sanctions on government officials and their family members, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

Separately, the Treasury Department moved Tuesday to block any Russian government debt payments with U.S. dollars from accounts at U.S. financial institutions, making it harder for Russia to meet its financial obligations.

The European Commission’s proposed ban on coal imports would be the first EU sanctions targeting Russia’s lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the ban is worth 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) per year and that the EU has already started working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports.

She didn’t mention natural gas, with consensus among the 27 EU countries on targeting the fuel used to generate electricity and heat homes difficult to secure amid opposition from gas-dependent members like Germany, the bloc’s largest economy.

But European Council President Charles Michel said the bloc should keep up the pressure on the Kremlin, suggesting that an embargo on gas imports should also be required at some point in the future.

“The new package includes a ban on coal imports,” Michel said on Wednesday. “I think that measures on oil, and even gas, will also be needed, sooner or later.”

The new package of measures proposed by the commission also includes sanctions on more individuals and four key Russian banks, among them VTB, the second-largest Russian bank. The bloc also would ban Russian vessels and Russian-operated vessels from EU ports.

Further targeted export bans, worth 10 billion euros, in sectors covering quantum computers, advanced semiconductors, sensitive machinery and transportation equipment also were proposed.

“I appreciate the strengthening of the 5th EU sanctions package: bans on Russian coal, vessels accessing EU ports, and road transport operators,” Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter. “But it will take a gas/oil embargo and de-SWIFTing of all Russian banks to stop Putin. Difficult times require difficult decisions.”

Western allies have already cut out several Russian banks of the SWIFT financial messaging system, which daily moves countless billions of dollars around more than 11,000 banks and other financial institutions around the world.