Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy praises Biden speech, US support

Germany's Environment Minister Steffi Lemke arrived in Kyiv on Friday for discussions on the reconstruction effort in Ukraine.

"Today we will have various talks in Ukraine on the sidelines of a conference dealing with reconstruction and, above all, assessing the damage to the environment," Lemke said.

She pointed to the destruction of drinking water and sewage systems, the heat supply, and waste management as major issues on the agenda.

Russia has continued to attack the front line city of Avdiivka, according to Ukrainian officials.

"The enemy has resumed offensive actions and does not stop trying to surround Avdiivka," the Ukrainian general staff reported in a morning briefing Friday.

Earlier, on Thursday, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it had destroyed some Ukrainian military vehicles near the city.

Avdiivka lies just 15 kilometers (nine miles) north of Donetsk and has been a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since the first invasion in 2014.

Russian investigators say they have brought genocide charges against Nazi war veteran Yaroslav Hunka.

Hunka, 98, was applauded by Canadian lawmakers last month after the speaker Antony Rota introduced him as a World War II hero. Canadian Prime Minister Justion Trudeau offered an "unreserved" apology in September, calling the incident a "terrible mistake."

Russia's Investigative Committee said it charged Hunka in absentia with "genocide of civilians on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR during the Great Patriotic War."

It said that Hunka and other members of his SS division killed "at least 500 citizens of the USSR" in the village of Huta Pieniacka.

Huta Pieniacka was a predominantly Polish village in what is now northwestern Ukraine's Lviv region. It was destroyed by Galicia Divison of the Waffen-SS, which was predominantly made up of ethnic Ukrainian volunteers.

"Among those killed were Jews and Poles. People were shot, burned in residential houses and also in the church," it added.

Russia said it was considering issuing an international arrest warrant for Hunka and could send requests for legal assistance to Canada, Poland and Belarus.

A United Nations commission of inquiry on Ukraine said on Friday that it had found more evidence that Russian forces committed "indiscriminate attacks" and war crimes in Ukrainian cities like Kherson and Uman.

"The Commission has found new evidence that Russian authorities have committed violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law, and corresponding crimes, in areas that came under their control in Ukraine," it said in a report submitted to the UN General assembly.

"The Commission has recently documented attacks that affected civilian objects, such as residential buildings, a railway station, shops, and a warehouse for civilian use, leading to numerous casualties."

The commission said it had documented cases of rape "with the use of force or psychological coercion."

"Most of the incidents occurred after the perpetrators broke into the victims' homes," it said.

"Victims reported rapes at gunpoint and threats of killing or of inflicting other serious harm to the victims or their relatives."

Russia has vigorously denied any war crimes allegations in Ukraine.

The commission also said it had documented the transfer of 31 children from Ukraine to Russia and "concluded that it was an unlawful deportation and a war crime."

Russia has also repeatedly denied forcibly removing Ukrainian children, claiming instead that it moved children in orphanages to Russia for their own safety.

The United States is "concerned" about Hungary’s relationship with Russia, the US Embassy in Budapest said on Friday.

On Tuesday, Hungarian leader Viktor Orban held a bilateral meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

"The United States is concerned about Hungary’s relationship with Russia," US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Pressman said on social media that "Hungary's leader chooses to stand with a man whose forces are responsible for crimes against humanity in Ukraine, and alone among our allies."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has condemned US President Joe Biden's speech from the Oval Office, in which he compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Hamas Islamist militant group.

Hamas is classified by the United States, the European Union, Germany and a number of other countries as a terrorist organization.

Peskov said that the current moment was a dangerous one and that the threat to Russian citizens could grow exponentially once Israel started its expected ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

"Such rhetoric is hardly suitable for responsible heads of state, and such rhetoric can hardly be acceptable for us; we do not accept such a tone towards the Russian Federation and towards our president," he said.

"Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to annihilate a neighboring democracy," Biden said on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed what he called a "powerful address" from US counterpart Joe Biden.

On Thursday, Biden compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Hamas Islamist militant group that runs the Gaza Strip while pledging continued support to Kyiv.

"Ukraine is grateful for all the US support and its unfaltering belief that humanism, freedom, independence, and rules-based international order must always triumph," Zelenskyy said.

Zelensky said: "Unwavering bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States is incredibly encouraging for all our warriors and for our entire nation."

He called US support for Ukraine an "investment" that would ensure "long-term security for all of Europe and the world."

US media reported that Biden would ask Congress to approve $60 billion (€56.7 billion) in aid from Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged NATO countries not to reduce support in the light of the conflict in Israel and Gaza.