Newsman: The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday; the U.S. has determined Russian military forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine. President Joe Biden embarked Wednesday on a multi-day trip to Europe, where he’ll talk with allies about the ongoing response to Russia’s invasion, including military assistance for Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia. Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said the president is working on long-term efforts to boost defenses in Eastern Europe and reduce the continent’s reliance on Russian energy.
“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,” Antony Blinken said in a statement.
He said the assessment is based on “a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources.”
Antony Blinken said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion has unleashed “unrelenting violence that has caused death and destruction across Ukraine.” He cited reports of indiscriminate attacks, including those deliberately targeting civilians, among other atrocities.
“Russia’s forces have destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centers and ambulances, leaving thousands of innocent civilians killed or wounded,” Blinken said, pointing to the attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, among other incidents.
“As with any alleged crime, a court of law with jurisdiction over the crime is ultimately responsible for determining criminal guilt in specific cases,” Blinken said. “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.”
As many as 15,000 Russian troops have been killed since the invasion of Ukraine began four weeks ago, according to NATO’s first estimate.
Russia has suffered 30,000 to 40,000 battlefield casualties, including 7,000 to 15,000 killed, a senior NATO military officer said in a briefing Wednesday from the alliance’s military headquarters in Belgium.
Earlier this week, a senior Pentagon official estimated the Russian military had lost more than 10% of the combat force in Ukraine.
The Ukraine Defense Ministry claims its forces have driven occupying Russian troops out of Makariv – a small Kyiv suburb that’s crucial because it provides control of a highway to the west. The effort also blocked Russian troops from surrounding Kyiv from the northwest and provided the Ukrainian military with a much-needed success story.
