Promises To Help Ukraine In Crime Prosecution During Russia Invasion, US Attorney General: There's No Hideout For War Criminals

JAKARTA - United States Attorney General, Merrick Garland, promised to assist Ukrainian authorities in prosecuting war crimes committed during the Russian invasion.

Nearly four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Kyiv says it has identified thousands of war crime suspects. The most famous is the alleged murder of several civilians in Bucha, just outside the Ukrainian capital.

"I am here to express the unwavering support of the United States for the Ukrainian people, in the midst of Russia's unwarranted and unjust invasion", Garland said after meeting with Ukraine's Attorney General Iryna Venediktova in Krakovets, on the Polish-Ukrainian border, as reported by The National News from AFP June 22.

Garland announced the launch of a War Crimes Accountability Team led by Eli Rosenbaum, a 36-year veteran of the Justice Department who previously led US efforts, to identify and deport Nazi war criminals.

"America, and the world, have seen many gruesome images and read heart-wrenching stories of the brutality and death that resulted from Russia's unjust invasion of Ukraine", Garland said.

"There is no hiding place for war criminals. The US Department of Justice will pursue every avenue of accountability for those who committed war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine", he said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Attorney General Venediktova thanked Garland for her support, calling it "very important".

"We all understand that we have a big enemy", he said.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden denounced the killing of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, as a 'war crime'.

"Civilians executed in cold blood, bodies dumped in mass graves, a sense of brutality and inhumanity left for the whole world to see, without remorse", President Biden said last April.

"There is nothing less than a major war crime. The responsible countries must unite, to hold these perpetrators accountable", he stressed at the time.

The US State Department announced the creation of a new unit in May to research, document, and publicize war crimes reportedly committed by Russia in Ukraine.