“Today I can announce that, based on the information currently available, the US government has come to the conclusion that members of the Russian armed forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
“Our assessment is based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources,” Blinken continued. The Secretary of State is currently accompanying US President Joe Biden on his trip to Brussels and Poland to discuss Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Biden will also attend the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Blinken’s statement said Russian President Vladimir Putin had “unleashed relentless violence that has caused death and destruction across Ukraine.” The US government has received numerous credible reports of targeted attacks on civilians and other atrocities. “Russian forces have destroyed homes, schools, hospitals, vital infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping malls and ambulances, killing or wounding thousands of innocent civilians.” Many of these targets were clearly used by civilians.
Blinken had already accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine last Thursday, but described this as his “personal opinion”. Biden called Putin a “war criminal” on Wednesday. His spokeswoman Jen Psaki said afterwards that he spoke “from his heart”.
Source: Nachrichten
