Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet.
U.S declares “members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” Russia expels 12 American diplomats, in tit-for-tat
The government of the United States has reached the assessment that Russian armed forces have been committing war crimes in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on March 23, 2022. He said that “based on the countless accounts and images of destruction and suffering we have all seen, that war crimes had been committed by Putin’s forces in Ukraine. I noted then that the deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime….. Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the US government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine.”
On a related action, Russia has issued a statement expelling an unspecified number of US diplomats in retaliation for Washington’s move to remove 12 of Moscow’s representatives to the United Nations, based in New York. “On March 23, a note with the list of the American diplomats declared ‘persona non grata’ was handed to the head of the American diplomatic mission who was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
The ministry also warned that “The US side has been given firm notice that any hostile action by the United States against Russia will be met with a resolute and appropriate response.”
