Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said U.S. officials are “documenting and evaluating” evidence of potential war crimes by Russia and President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine to assist international investigations and “hold those responsible accountable.”
Mr. Blinken’s remarks come a day after President Biden told reporters he considered Mr. Putin a “war criminal” for the Russian forces’ actions inside Ukraine, drawing a swift rebuke from the Kremlin. The secretary of state called that Mr. Biden’s “opinion,” but added the administration was working with private groups building a possible case of war crimes against the Kremlin.
“Yesterday, President Biden said that in his opinion, war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” Mr. Blinken said in an address from State Department Headquarters. “Personally, I agree. Intentionally targeting civilians is a war crime. After all the destruction of the past three weeks, I find it difficult to conclude that Russians are doing otherwise.”
Mr. Blinken said Beth Van Schaack, the recently confirmed ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, would lead the effort for the State Department.
Mr. Blinken specifically cited several reported recent attacks on civilians, including the bombing of a theater where more than 1,000 women and children sought shelter in Mariupol. Outside of the theater, “CHILDREN” had been written in large letters to alert Russian air assets that the theater was being used as a shelter.
He also cited an incident in which Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces indiscriminately shot 10 civilians waiting in line for bread in Chernihiv.
“The incidents join a long list of attacks on civilian, not military locations, across Ukraine including apartment buildings, public squares and, last week, a maternity hospital in Mariupol,” Mr. Blinken said. “I doubt that any of us who saw those images will ever forget them.”
In response to a reporter’s question as he left an event at the White House on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said of Mr. Putin: “I think he is a war criminal.” Both the White House and State Department later said Mr. Biden was “speaking from the heart” and not stating an official U.S. government position.
Mr. Biden had previously condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but had stopped short of accusing Moscow of committing war crimes. Some analysts have warned the threat could backfire, making Mr. Putin more desperate than ever to continue the war and resist diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting.
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Mr. Biden’s remarks “absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable,” and said the U.S. had no moral high ground from which to make the claims.
“And most importantly, the head of state which bombed people all over the world for many years and which dropped an atomic bomb on a country that had already been defeated — I mean Hiroshima and Nagasaki — cannot have the right to make” war-crime allegations, Mr. Peskov said.
Mr. Blinken on Thursday sidestepped a question on whether the U.S. government could ever again work with Mr. Putin and his government, given what is happening in Ukraine, saying the U.S. for now was focused on efforts to support the Ukrainian government, end the fighting and get the Russians to leave.
On Tuesday, the Senate unanimously passed a measure supporting a war crimes investigation into Mr. Putin and Russian forces.
— Jeff Mordock contributed to this story.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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