U.S. Pledges Accountability For Russian Atrocities, Sends Drones to Ukraine for War Crime Documentation

Washington D.C./28.07.23/Turan: The United States on Thursday reiterated its support for holding Russian war criminals accountable for atrocities in Ukraine, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Since the beginning of Russia’s assault on Ukraine, the President [Joe Biden] has been clear that there needs to be accountability for the perpetrators and enablers of the war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine.  And Secretary Blinken reiterated this yesterday that we have made clear that there needs to be accountability and we support the ICC’s investigation," State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedan Patel told a daily press briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.

According to him, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack is "deeply engaged and deeply part of this process and will continue to be working closely not just with the Secretary but across the interagency on these efforts."

"We support a range of international efforts to identify and hold to account those responsible, including through the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, the Joint Investigative Team, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, and others,"  Patel added.

Patels comments came as the USAID announced the delivery of 9 autonomous drones to Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General.

Donated by U.S. manufacturer Skydio, these drones will be used to document alleged Russian war crimes in the country. Equipped with 4K cameras, the drones will assist in documenting destroyed civilian infrastructure and evidence of human rights abuses in frontline communities and liberated territories.

This donation is part of ongoing USAID initiatives to support Ukraine, the agency said, adding that it has collaborated with Ukraine’s Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights on joint war crimes documentation visits. They have also supported two Ukrainian human rights coalitions that have documented over 40,000 incidents of Russia’s war crimes since February 24, 2022.

Alex Raufoglu