Russia angry as Joe Biden calls Putin a 'war criminal': Till now 7000 Russian soldiers killed

A day after US President Joe Biden called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’, the east European nation, on Thursday, said that the European Union (EU), too, should officially recognize Putin as a ‘war criminal.’

There are set definitions and processes for determining who's a war criminal and how they should be punished.

The investigations into Putin's actions already have begun. The U.S. and 44 other countries are working together to investigate possible violations and abuses, after the passage of a resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a commission of inquiry.

The Kremlin spokesperson called US President Joe Biden's claim that Vladimir Putin was a war criminal “ unacceptable”, adding that the United States had no right to lecture Moscow after its involvement in so many conflicts.

The Kremlin on Thursday dismissed reports of “major progress” in ongoing talks with Ukraine to end the war that was now in its fourth week.

Russian forces dropped a powerful bomb on a theatre on Wednesday. Ukraine's foreign minister said that between 1000 and 1200 people had sought refuge in the building. Russian forces shot dead 10 people who were queuing for bread in Chernihiv, the US Embassy in Kyiv says.

Over 7,000 Russian troops killed during the war in Ukraine till now, the US intelligence agency says.

The mayor of the besieged Ukrainian city of Melitopol who was allegedly abducted by Kremlin forces has been freed in exchange for nine captured Russian conscripts, according to the head of Ukraine's presidential office.

Zelenskyy described a new wall "in the middle of Europe between freedom and unfreedom", which he said Germany had helped build, isolating Ukraine with its business ties to Russia and its previous support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.