In a bombshell new announcement, the United States State Department has officially declared that the Russian Armed Forces have been actively committing war crimes throughout their invasion and attack against Ukraine, under the direction of Russian dictatorial President Vladimir Putin.
With President Joe Biden currently in Europe where he’s participating in a high-stakes NATO summit on the crisis and war in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has released a new statement, in which he accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of unleashing “unrelenting violence that has caused death and destruction across Ukraine.” The State Secretary goes on to cite “numerous credible reports” on targeted Russian attacks against civilian areas in Ukraine, before doubling down on his agreeance with President Biden “that war crimes had been committed by Putin’s forces in Ukraine,” based on all the evidence that is currently available.
Blinken’s statement reads:
Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine. Our assessment is based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources. As with any alleged crime, a court of law with jurisdiction over the crime is ultimately responsible for determining criminal guilt in specific cases. The U.S. government will continue to track reports of war crimes and will share information we gather with allies, partners, and international institutions and organizations, as appropriate. We are committed to pursuing accountability using every tool available, including criminal prosecutions.”
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Global Criminal Justice Ambassador Beth Van Schaack held a press conference at the State Department, just shortly after Blinken’s breaking announcement, in which she detailed the basis of their decision on the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine.
“There have been numerous credible reports of hospitals, schools, theatres, et cetera, being intentionally attacked, as well as indiscriminate attacks. Russia’s forces have destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, other elements of the critical civilian infrastructure,” Schaack stated during the press conference. “We’ve been shocked by images of Russian forces and strikes hitting civilian sites in Mariupol including a maternity hospital, a museum and an art school. The United Nations and other credible observers have confirmed hundreds of civilian deaths, and we believe the exact civilian death toll will be in the thousands.”
This story is developing and will be updated as more information is made available.
You can read the full report from CNN here.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons – Gage Skidmore/The Presidential Press and Information Office, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
