After an event about the reauthorization the Violence Against Women Act, Mr. Biden made this comment to a group reporters at the White House. When asked if Putin was a “war criminal”, the president initially denied it and then walked off. However, he returned to the reporters and said that he believes the Russian leader to be a war criminal when the question was re-posed.
The president replied, “Oh, I think that he is war criminal,” without further explanation.
Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, pointed out the Bombing of a Maternity Hospital and other Russian aggressions in Ukraine.
She said, “We all have seen barbaric acts and horrific acts by a foreign dictator, in a country which is threatening the lives of civilians. This also impacts hospitals, women who become pregnant, journalists, and others.” He was probably answering a direct question.
Psaki stated that a legal review was underway at the State Department to examine Russia’s actions and determine whether they are war crimes.
Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, reacted angrily to Mr. Biden’s comments. According to TASS the Russian state-owned news agency. Dmitry Peskov stated that such rhetoric by the head of state, who has bombed hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe, was unacceptable and unforgivable.
As Russia continues its bombardment of civilians within Ukraine, Mr. Biden made the comment as the suffering and deaths grew. The Senate approved Tuesday. It condemned the violence in Ukraine, and called for an investigation into Putin and his family for war crimes.
The International Court of Justice ordered Russia to stop its invasion, and launched an investigation into this war. Although the number of civilian casualties recorded by the United Nations human rights officer was approximately 600, it is likely that there will be many more. According to Ukrainian officials, more than 2000 people were killed in Mariupol alone. According to the U.N., 3 million Ukrainians fled Ukraine due to Russia’s war. Nearly 2 million more have been internally displaced. According to the U.N., the Ukraine refugee crisis is one of the most serious in Europe since World War II.
The U.S. Embassy to Ukraine stated Wednesday that 10 Ukrainians were killed and wounded by Russian forces while waiting in Chernihiv for bread. Chernihiv is a northeast Ukraine city that was struck in an artillery attack.
“These atrocious attacks must stop. “We are looking at all options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crime in Ukraine,” the Embassy said in a tweet.
Dmytro Kuleba (the country’s minister of foreign affairs) and local officials in Ukraine said Wednesday that Russian troops attacked a Mariupol theater where “hundreds” of civilians were sheltering.
“Russians couldn’t have known this was civilian shelter,” Kuleba tweeted along with a photo purporting that it showed the besieged theater.
Mr. Biden announced $800,000,000 in new security assistance for Ukraine Wednesday morning. This includes armed drones. The new security assistance to Ukraine does not include fighter planes nor does it impose a no fly zone over Ukraine as the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested in an virtual address to Congress Wednesday.
Zelenskyy stated that Russia has made the Ukrainian sky a death trap for thousands of people. He also played for legislators a graphic video showing how Russia is destroying the country.
Zelenskyy’s speech was “passionate” according to Mr. Biden who watched it from his White House residence.
