LATEST NEWS US formally accuses Putin forces of committing war crimes against civilians in Ukraine: Blinken condemns ‘brutal’ attacks on schools, hospitals, children and 2,400 killed in Mariupol
- The State Department on Wednesday announced that it assessed that Russian military forces were committing war crimes during the invasion of Ukraine.
The United States government went on record Wednesday that it believes members of the Russian armed forces committed war crimes during the invasion of Ukraine.
“Our assessment is based on a thorough review of available information from government and intelligence sources,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.
“As with any alleged crime, the court with jurisdiction over the crime is ultimately responsible for establishing criminal guilt in specific cases.”
The announcement was made during his trip with President Joe Biden to Europe for a NATO summit.
“We have received numerous credible reports of indiscriminate and deliberate attacks against civilians and other atrocities,” Blinken said.
“Russian forces have destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, malls and ambulances, killing or injuring thousands of innocent civilians.”
U.S. officials initially shied away from assessing whether Russia was committing war crimes, even as horrifying reports surfaced that a maternity hospital and theater that housed families and marked “children” had been bombed in the besieged southern U.S. the city of Mariupol.
“Today, I can announce that, based on the information currently available, the US government believes that members of the Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Wednesday.
A school destroyed by Russian bombing in Kharkiv, Ukraine. On Wednesday, the US said it believes war crimes are being committed in Ukraine.
A scene inside a bombed-out school in Kharkov, Ukraine.
But that all changed last week when reporters asked President Joe Biden what he thought of President Vladimir Putin’s actions.
“I think he is a war criminal,” he said.
Officials were quick to say that he was speaking from the heart, and not as the result of the complex legal analysis required to declare war crimes.
He was quickly backed by Blinken, who said last week that Russia’s reliance on long-range bombing appears to be part of an attempt to break the will of the Ukrainian people.
“President Biden said yesterday that he believes war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” he said.
– Personally, I agree. Deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime.
“After all the devastation of the past three weeks, it’s hard for me to conclude that the Russians are doing otherwise.”