Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Wednesday that the U.S. assesses that Russian forces have dedicated warfare crimes in Ukraine and can work to carry them accountable.
"Right now, I can announce that, based mostly on info at present obtainable, the U.S. authorities assesses that members of Russia's forces have dedicated warfare crimes in Ukraine," he stated in an announcement Wednesday.
"We have seen quite a few credible studies of indiscriminate assaults and assaults intentionally concentrating on civilians, in addition to different atrocities," Blinken stated. "Russia's forces have destroyed condo buildings, colleges, hospitals, vital infrastructure, civilian autos, buying facilities, and ambulances, leaving hundreds of harmless civilians killed or wounded. Most of the websites Russia's forces have hit have been clearly identifiable as in-use by civilians."
Blinken cited studies of a number of incidents in beseiged Mariupol, such because the bombing of a maternity hospital and a strike that hit a Mariupol theater, which Blinken stated "clearly marked with the phrase 'дети' — Russian for 'youngsters' — in big letters seen from the sky."
Blinken stated Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces used the identical techniques in Grozny, Chechnya, and in Aleppo, Syria, "the place they intensified their bombardment of cities to interrupt the desire of the folks."
In keeping with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, some 100,000 civilians stay in Mariupol, "in inhuman circumstances, underneath a full blockade, with out meals, with out water, with out medication and underneath fixed shelling, underneath fixed bombardment," he stated in a video tackle Tuesday.
"We are attempting to arrange steady humanitarian corridors for Mariupol residents, however virtually all of our makes an attempt, sadly, are foiled by the Russian occupiers, by shelling, or deliberate terror," Zelenskyy stated.
The secretary of state's assertion comes at some point after the Protection Division stated it had "seen clear proof that during the last week or so the Russians have intentionally and deliberately focused civilian infrastructure."
Blinken and President Biden are headed Wednesday to Brussels for a NATO summit on Ukraine. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg stated Zelenskyy will tackle world leaders gathering in Brussels Thursday for a rare assembly of the alliance.
On Friday, they are going to head to Warsaw, Poland, to satisfy with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Mr. Biden final week referred to as Putin a "warfare legal" for launching the assault in Ukraine.
Haley Ott and Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.