A top U.S. official said on Wednesday that there is “credible information” that Russian troops executed Ukrainians attempting to surrender in the eastern part of the country and have committed systematic war crimes across Ukraine.
Beth Van Schaack, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, told the United Nations Security Council that a Russian military unit may have killed surrendering Ukrainians in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. The evidence, according to Van Schaack, suggests a “pattern of systematic abuse” by Russian forces in Ukraine rather than war crimes being committed by “rogue individuals.”
“We now have credible information that a Russian military unit operating in the vicinity of Donetsk executed Ukrainians who were attempting to surrender, rather than take them into custody,” Van Schaak told the U.N. on Wednesday.
“If true, this would be a violation of a core principle of the laws of war: the prohibition against the summary execution of civilians and combatants who are hors de combat by virtue of surrender, injury, or other forms of incapacitation,” Van Schaak continued.
ICC INVESTIGATOR FOR UKRAINE SAYS COURT CAN’T ‘DO ALL OF IT ALONE’
The ambassador-at-large also said there are “credible reports” of “execution-style” killings, torture, and sexual violence being committed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military across Ukraine.
“These images and reports suggest that atrocities are not the result of rogue units or individuals. They, rather, reveal a deeply disturbing pattern of systematic abuse across all areas where Russia’s forces are engaged,” Van Schaak said.
She said the Kremlin “will be held accountable” for war crimes and that the United States welcomes the U.N.’s and the International Criminal Court’s investigations into atrocities committed in Ukraine.
Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said on Tuesday that he does not believe his office can conduct its investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine alone.
The ICC’s joint investigative team consists of Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. It is looking into crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
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Ukraine’s top prosecutor has opened 8,000 cases into alleged war crimes and has identified 500 suspects so far.
President Joe Biden accused Russia earlier this month of committing “genocide” in Ukraine. Moscow has denied that its forces have committed any war crimes since its Feb. 24 invasion of the country.
