In a State Department statement Wednesday, the United States officially accused Russian forces of committing war crimes.
The allegations comes a week after American President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal for invading Ukraine.
But the specific types of war crimes Russian forces of which Russian forces are being accused are much more detailed than any previous communique from the Biden administration.
It says they cover a wide territory from "indiscriminate attacks and attacks deliberately targeting civilians" to other, more narrowly focused aggression.
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So What War Crimes Are Being Alleged?
Among those charges the State Department cited:
- "[The strike on a] Mariupol maternity hospital, as the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressly noted in a March 11 report."
- "A strike that hit a Mariupol theater, clearly marked with the word 'дети' — Russian for “children” — in huge letters visible from the sky."
- The destruction by Russian forces of "apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centers, and ambulances, leaving thousands of innocent civilians killed or wounded."
- "Not including the Mariupol devastation, the United Nations has officially confirmed more than 2,500 civilian casualties, including dead and wounded, and emphasizes the actual toll is likely higher."
