Did Russia commit war crimes in Ukraine? US government cannot decide

The US Department of State is reportedly assessing whether Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine. This comes after the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. 

The attack on Thursday sparked global concern after news emerged that a Russian projectile had caused a fire at the nuclear power plant. It was later found to have started in a training facility building and was extinguished. However, the incident was enough to even elicit a statement from China, urging all sides to show caution. While CNN reported Russian troops shifting the blame on Ukraine for provoking the attack, the US embassy in Kyiv was quick to call this a war crime. 

The official handle tweeted, “It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant. Putin’s shelling of Europe’s largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further”. 

However, the State Department has attempted to backtrack from this comment, as per a spokesperson, who responded to queries from Agence France-Presse, saying “The intentional targeting of civilians or civilian objects, including nuclear power plants, is a war crime, and we are assessing the circumstances of this operation. But regardless of the legality, this action was the height of irresponsibility, and the Kremlin must cease operations around nuclear infrastructure”. 

The tweet also prompted an urgent email from the State Department to US embassies across Europe, with the memo directing them not to spread the message about war crimes further, NBC reported. 

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According to them, the email reads, “URGENT: Do Not/Not Retweet Emb. Kyiv’s Tweet on Reactor. All – do not/not retweet Embassy Kyiv’s tweet on shelling of the facility being a possible war crime. If you have retweeted it – un-re-tweet it ASAP”. 

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The Ukrainian government and other European nations like Ireland and the UK have labelled President Vladimir Putin’s actions against Ukraine as war crimes, considering there have been reports of bombing civilian targets and using cluster bombs. 

However, the US has thus far been hesitant to use the label. President Joe Biden, on Wednesday, had said it was clear Moscow was targeting civilians in their attempt to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine but said it was too early to discern if war crimes were being committed.