With just days to go before the one-year anniversary of the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Biden Administration blames Russia for committing "crimes against humanity." During the Security Conference in Munich (Germany), Kamala Harris announced the United States' stance on the actions Vladimir Putin has taken against Ukrainian citizens:
The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity. From the starting days of this unprovoked war, we have witnessed Russian forces engage in horrendous atrocities and war crimes. Their actions are an assault on our common values, an attack on our common humanity.
Kamala Harris says the “U.S. has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity."
Can someone ask her if blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline is also a crime?pic.twitter.com/QAdGqy4Rae
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 18, 2023
At the conference, which is being held in Munich this weekend, the vice president specified each of the crimes being committed by Russian soldiers against the Ukrainian civilian population:
And let us be clear. Russian forces have pursued a widespread and systemic attack against a civilian population. Gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape, and deportation. Executions, killings, beatings, and electrocution. Russian authorities have forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people from Ukraine to Russia, including children.
The United States will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. We will always stand on the side of freedom, democracy, and justice. pic.twitter.com/fo8mFvKxao
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) February 18, 2023
In addition, Harris told those in attendance how the Russian invasion came to be considered "crimes against humanity":
Long before I was vice president of the United States, I spent the majority of my career as a prosecutor, beginning as a young lawyer in the courtroom and later running the California Department of Justice. I know firsthand the importance of gathering facts and holding them up against the law. In the case of Russia's actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence. We know the legal standards. And there is no doubt these are crimes against humanity.
