Russia commits war crimes in Ukraine: Antony Blinken

March 23, 2022: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken officially announced on Wednesday that Russia had committed war crimes in Ukraine.

The Days After the President Joe Biden and his Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented that members of the Russian armed forces committed war crimes in UkraineThe United States formalized those comments in a formal review on Wednesday.

“Today, I can announce that, based on currently available information, the United States government assesses that members of Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” Blinken said. Written in a statement.

“Our assessment is based on a careful review of information available from public and intelligence sources,” his statement continued. “As with any alleged crime, the court having jurisdiction over the crime has ultimate responsibility in determining the crime in particular cases. The United States government will continue to monitor reports of war crimes and will share the information we collect with allies, partners, and international agencies and organizations, as appropriate. . We are committed to pursuing accountability using all available tools, including criminal prosecution.”

The announcement falls on the one-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

Since that time, Blinken said, the US has observed “many credible reports of indiscriminate attacks”, “deliberate attacks on civilians” and “acts of atrocities”. “.

Russian forces also attacked “clearly identifiable” sites used by civilians, including the Mariupol maternity hospital and theater in that city marked with the Russian word for ” children” in “large letters visible from the sky.”

On Tuesday, Mariupol officials estimated that more than 2,400 civilians were killed in that city alone, according to the State Department.

“Putin’s forces used similar tactics in Grozny, Chechnya and Aleppo, Syria, where they increased their bombardment of cities to disrupt the will of the people,” the statement continued. . “Their attempt to do so in Ukraine has once again shocked the world and as President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy soberly attested, ‘bathed blood and tears for the Ukrainian people. “

Earlier this month, on March 6, Blinken previewed his view that Russian forces committed war crimes on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper.

In the discussion with Law & Crime the next day, the Director of the National Security Center in Ho Chi Minh City. Karen Greenberg Blinken’s comment makes sense.

“It was meant as a warning,” Greenberg said at the time. “Those are very harsh terms to use when coming from the secretary of state instead of coming from a journalist, an expert or someone like that. So I think they’re very powerful words, and that’s a warning sign.”

Greenberg declined to predict how that warning might play out, though she added that the Russian strongman Vladimir Putin “Appears to be operating in a very lawless area.”

Prior to today’s announcement, the US response to Russia’s war in Ukraine was primarily economic. Biden used State of the Union address announced a Justice Department task force to go after Russian oligarchs in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the Treasury Department announced sanctions against Russian banks and another accused person of triggering the invasion of the country.

(Photo of Blinken by Alex Wong / Getty Images; Photo of the aftermath of an airstrike on a shopping mall in Ukraine by Anastasia Vlasova / Getty Images)

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