US Secretary of State Blinken has officially accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine. There are “numerous credible reports of indiscriminate attacks” on civilians, homes, schools and hospitals.
According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the US government has concrete evidence of war crimes by Russian troops in Ukraine. “We have come to the conclusion, based on the information currently available, that members of the Russian Armed Forces committed war crimes in Ukraine,” Blinken said. “Our assessment is based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources.”
Attacks on schools, hospitals, blocks of flats
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 cited Russian attacks on the civilian population of besieged cities like Mariupol as examples.
Biden calls Putin ‘murderous dictator’
Blinken had already accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine last Thursday, but described this as his personal opinion. On Wednesday, Biden called Putin a “war criminal” and a “murderous dictator”. His spokeswoman Jen Psaki said afterwards that he spoke “from his heart”.
