WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – Following accusations of a mass killing of people by Russian soldiers in the Ukrainian village of Bucha, President Joe Biden said on Monday that he is pursuing more sanctions against Russia and once again branded President Vladimir Putin a war criminal.
“You may remember that I was criticized for calling Putin a war criminal,” Biden remarked to reporters in a short statement. “Well, the truth of the matter, you saw what happened in Bucha. This warrants him — he is a war criminal.”
Biden stated that the US will continue to collect evidence to back up war crimes accusations against Putin. He also stated that the US is working on new sanctions and will keep supplying Ukraine with weapons.
According to NBC NEWS, Biden’s remark came in reaction to claims over the weekend of crimes in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, where gruesome photographs supposedly display killed people around the city, including those who looked to have been executed at close proximity with their hands behind their backs.
According to Ukrainian sources, over 400 individuals were killed before Russian soldiers left the city. The Associated Press described sights of dead sprawled around a place that neighbors claimed the Russian military used as a base, including victims dressed in civilian attire who looked to have been executed at close range, at least 2 of whom had their wrists tied behind their backs.
In reaction to the executions and an inquiry by the International Criminal Court, the European Commission, the European Union’s executive body, announced it is exploring new sanctions against Russia. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, stated on Monday that there were “clear indications” that Moscow was to blame for the killing of civilians in Bucha, and that this constituted “strong evidence of war crimes.”
Following the revelations from Bucha, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the global community to take tougher action, stating that further sanctions would be insufficient.
The assertions have been dismissed by Russia’s defense ministry, which has called them a “provocation,” despite video and images showing ruined city roads strewn with dead.
