US accuses Russia of ‘crimes against humanity’ in Ukraine
- Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, US Vice-President Kamala Harris said Moscow had conducted ‘widespread and systemic’ attacks on the country’s citizens
- Harris said Moscow’s troops had committed ‘gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape and deportation, execution-style killings, beatings and electrocution’
US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Saturday accused Russia of committing “crimes against humanity” in Ukraine, saying Moscow’s forces had conducted “widespread and systemic” attacks on the country’s civilian population.
She made the comments at the Munich Security Conference, days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion which unleashed war in Europe for the first time in decades.
“The US has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity,” she told world leaders at the gathering – the first time that the United States has designated Russia’s actions in Ukraine as such.
“Their actions are an assault on our common values and our common humanity. Russian forces have pursued a widespread and systemic attack against a civilian population,” Harris added.
Harris levelled a list of allegations at Moscow’s troops – “gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape and deportation, execution-style killings, beatings and electrocution”.