The US has assessed that Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday.
“Last week, I echoed President Biden’s statement, based on the countless accounts and images of destruction and suffering we have all seen, that war crimes had been committed by Putin’s forces in Ukraine. I noted then that the deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime,” Blinken said in a statement released by the State Department.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Blinken added: “Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the US government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine.”
Blinken cited Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unleashing of “unrelenting violence that has caused death and destruction across Ukraine.”
He said Russian forces had deliberately targeted civilians, including the Mariupol maternity hospital.
“As of March 22, officials in besieged Mariupol said that more than 2,400 civilians had been killed in that city alone,” he said.
