United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday claimed that Russian authorities "planned" war crimes in Ukraine, including attacks on civilians, as part of President Vladimir Putin's grand scheme for the invasion.
During an interview, Sullivan said that the American federal government had already declassified intelligence and presented it before the war began. The official said that there were indications of a plan from Russia's highest levels of government to target civilians who opposed the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia's "Planned" War Crimes
Sullivan noted that these plans include causing violence against civilians and organizing efforts to brutalize them in an attempt to try to terrorize the population and subjugate it. The national security adviser said that the horrifying acts were planned by Russia's top authorities.
Recently, Russian troops have begun retreating from areas near Kyiv, leaving behind massive evidence of atrocities, especially in Bucha where dead civilians were left on the streets. Ukrainian authorities believe the victims were executed, with many of them having their hands tied behind their backs, as per Politico.
While Sullivan said that he thinks some Russian soldiers committed war crimes even without orders from top authorities, the horrifying actions were planned from the start. The national security adviser was also asked whether the actions amounted to genocide as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested.
The American official noted that the State Department usually made that legal determination after an investigation and legal analysis. However, Sullivan said that setting aside legalities, everyone around the world knew that Russians committed mass atrocities.
According to ABC News, in one of the latest incidents in Ukraine, at least 52 people, including five children, were killed after a missile strike at a train station in the eastern part of the country. Photographs of the scene showed dead bodies strewn across luggage while authorities said hundreds of other people were left injured.
Massacre in Ukraine
The American official's remarks come as forensic teams uncover the true depth of the massacre left behind by Russian military forces in Bucha, Ukraine. The team of forensic investigators on Friday arrived in Bucha after traveling from Kyiv. They began documenting the terror that was inflicted on civilians in the area.
All of the victims that the team uncovered were believed to have died violent deaths with one man missing a large portion of his skull. Another individual was so badly burned that only his head and half of his torso remained intact. One civilian victim discovered by the team appeared to have been beheaded.
The lead investigator knelt over each new cadaver that was laid in front of him and softly murmured an inventory. At that time, one of his colleagues wrote it down. They checked inside the decaying mouths of the victims, the range of motion of broken limbs, and documented burns, bullet wounds, and injuries caused by shrapnel.
The forensic investigators did their jobs before volunteers from the town helped place each corpse into a fresh body bag. The pink and blue gloves were soon covered with the red color of blood. Workers plunged their hands into the meter-high pile of dirt taken out of the grave so far, rubbing clumps of it between their palms to restore their grip, The Guardian reported.
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