Attorney General Merrick Garland made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Tuesday to meet with Ukrainian prosecutors to discuss pursing war crimes charges against invading Russian forces, the Department of Justice has confirmed.
Garland met with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova to discuss US actions to “help Ukraine identify, apprehend, and prosecute those individuals involved in war crimes and other atrocities,” the Department said in a statement.
“The United States stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s continued aggression and assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Garland said. “America – and the world – has seen the many horrific images and read the heart-wrenching accounts of brutality and death that have resulted from Russia’s unjust invasion of Ukraine.”
The Department also announced the launch of a War Crimes Accountability Team to be led by former DOJ Office of Special Investigations director Eli Rosenbaum — best known for unmasking elderly Nazi war criminals around the world.
In May, Garland promised US support for Ukraine in holding Russia accountable for the horrific war crimes that have occured over the past four months. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images“There is no hiding place for war criminals. The U.S. Justice Department will pursue every avenue of accountability for those who commit war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine,” Garland added. “Working alongside our domestic and international partners, the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable every person complicit in the commission of war crimes, torture, and other grave violations during the unprovoked conflict in Ukraine.”
The meeting came one month after Garland promised US support for Ukraine holding Russia accountable for horrific war crimes that have occurred over the past four months.
Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 — displacing more than 7 million people and killing thousands of civilians. Some have estimated that Russian troops have committed as many as 10,000 war crimes in the invasion.
Top US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Biden, have long accused Putin and his cronies of committing war crimes, citing the destruction of apartment buildings, schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure as civilians remained inside.
One of the most shocking attacks occurred in March, when Russian troops bombed a theater in the southern port city of Mariupol that was being used as a civilian bomb shelter — and marked with the word “children” in large Russian letters.
“Based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” Blinken said at the time. “Our assessment is based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources.”
Several Russian soldiers have begun to face accountability for their crimes. In May, a Ukrainian court sentenced two men to more than 11 years in prison for shelling towns in the eastern part of the country.
Just days before, the first war crimes verdict was handed down as a Ukrainian court sentenced 21-year-old Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian only four days into the war.
