Media

US Is Documenting ‘Credible Reports’ Of War Crimes Against Putin, Blinken Says

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on CNN's

[Screenshot/State of the Union/CNN]

Nicole Silverio Media Reporter
Font Size:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is documenting “credible reports” of war crimes against Russian President Vladimir Putin on “State of the Union” Sunday.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv suggested Russia committed a war crime by attacking a nuclear power plant in a Friday tweet, followed by the U.S. State Department ordering other embassies not to share the statement. The secretary of state confirmed to CNN’s Jake Tapper there are “very credible reports” of Russia committing war crimes.

“Jake, we’ve seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians, which would constitute a war crime,” Blinken said. “We’ve seen very credible reports about the use of certain weapons, and what we’re doing right now is documenting all of this, putting it altogether, looking at it and making sure as people and the appropriate organizations and institutions investigate whether war crimes have been or being committed, that we can support whatever they’re doing.”

“Right now, we’re looking at these reports, they’re very credible and we’e documenting everything,” he continued.

A Russian projectile attacked the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Friday causing a fire to erupt at a training facility during intense fighting between Russian forces and Ukrainians. The fire had been put out without damaging any of the six nuclear reactors. (RELATED: US Sees ‘No Reason’ To Raise Nuclear Alert Level After Assessing Putin Rhetoric, Blinken Says)

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said the plant could cause disaster “10 times larger than Chernobyl,” though some have said the results will be less severe.

President Joe Biden discussed the incident with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a late-night call, urging Russia to stop “military activities” near the plant. Zelenskyy also called the attack “nuclear terrorism” during a Friday deliberation with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Ukraine’s president vowed Friday to hold Russia accountable in international courts in a message directed to the United Nations Human Rights Council of the International Commission of Inquiry.

“I welcome the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council of the International Commission of Inquiry to investigate facts of Russian war crimes against Ukraine,” he said. “Evidence will be documented and used in international courts. Russian war criminals will be held accountable.”

Over 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have died from Russia’s launching of airstrikes and missiles since the full-scale invasion on Feb. 23. Biden said Wednesday it is clear Putin is targeting civilians, but is not yet prepared to label the attack a war crime.