Russia-Ukraine war: Russia should be expelled from G20, says Ukrainian presidential aide

A Ukrainian presidential aide has called for Russia to be expelled from the G20 group of countries and other international organizations. This follows the recent barrage of attacks by Russia across Ukraine in recent weeks.

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said Russia should be expelled from the G20 group of countries and other international organizations that it is a part of. Podolyak’s comments follow the new surge of drone attacks by Russia on civilian targets across Ukraine.

“Those who give orders to attack critical infrastructure to freeze civilians and organize total mobilization to cover the frontline with corpses cannot sit at the same table with leaders of G20 for sure. Time to put an end to Russian hypocrisy. The Russian Federation must be expelled from all platforms,” tweeted Podolyak.

Russia has made use of drone attacks in its continued bombardment of Ukraine following the counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces in the partially occupied eastern and southern territories. The White House said Monday that it would hold Russia accountable hours after Moscow launched drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, which killed four people in an apartment building in the capital Kyiv.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the attack is another example of Vladimir Putin’s brutality. Jean-Pierre also reiterated the new $725 million military assistance package that was announced Friday last week, adding that the US will continue to support Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that there have been more attacks but that Ukrainian forces shot the drones down. The Ukrainian Interfax news outlet said users on the Telegram messaging platform reported blasts in Fastiv and in Odesa.

Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure for the past week, escalating its assault following the partial blast at Kerch Strait Bridge linking the Russian mainland to the annexed Crimea region. Ukrainian troops fired into the air in an effort to shoot down the drones when blasts were heard in Kyiv.

Among the four people killed in the strike on the apartment building was a pregnant woman, according to Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko. Ukrainian interior minister Denys Monastyrskyi said there are fatalities in other cities but did not disclose the number.