February 21, 2023 Updated: February 21, 2023
A man pushes his bike
through debris and destroyed Russian military vehicles on a street in Bucha,
Ukraine, on April 6, 2022. (TNS)
A Republican delegation
to Ukraine witnessed evidence that Russian
soldiers are engaging in crimes against humanity including summary executions,
torture, and rape, according to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
Russian troops are
conducting crimes en masse and concealing the evidence by burning the bodies of
those abused, according to McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs
Committee and is currently leading the delegation.
“We just came back from
Bucha to see the war crimes that
took place in violation of the Geneva Convention[s],” McCaul said during a Feb.
21 press conference after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Innocent civilians
killed by these criminals, these Russian soldiers. Hands tied behind their back
and shot in the head, women and children raped, people tortured, and mobile
crematoriums to destroy the evidence.”
McCaul vowed that Russian
leader Vladimir Putin and his regime would be brought to justice for the
crimes.
“These crimes will not
stand and we will bring justice,” McCaul said.
“America stands with
Ukraine in its fight for freedom and democracy, the values that we as Americans
hold so true and hold so dear to our hearts.”
The United States
has asserted that Russia is engaged in crimes against
humanity in Ukraine since March of last year.
McCaul’s remarks closely
echoed those of Vice President Kamala Harris, who officially restated the White
House’s position earlier this month.
“The United States has
formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity, and I
say to all those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to their superiors, who
are complicit in these crimes, you will be held to account,” Harris said.
Ukraine Seeks Weapons it ‘Needs to Win’
McCaul’s delegation to
Ukraine closely coincided with a surprise visit to Kyiv by President Joe Biden,
who is slated to deliver a speech in Poland on the state of the war and the
international order’s commitment to Ukraine.
The Congressman’s remarks
appeared to primarily reference the widely-known massacre in Bucha, where
Russian soldiers killed more than 400 people including civilians and children
in 2022.
Russia was suspended from
the UN Human Rights Council for its crimes in Bucha and elsewhere, becoming the
second nation to have its membership rights revoked at the council, after Libya
in 2011.
Moscow is currently
amassing troops and materiel for a spring offensive into Ukraine, and is
reportedly seeking to annex both Moldova and Belarus into
Russia.
To that end, McCaul said
that the United States and its NATO allies were strongly committed to one
another and the defense of Ukraine.
“I can tell you there is
a broad, bipartisan support between the United States and our NATO and European
allies to support Ukraine against Russian aggression,” McCaul said.
McCaul said that the
delegation visited a location where weapons are brought into Ukraine from the
international community and noted that controls and safeguards had been put in
place to track funds and arms.
He added that the
delegation spoke to Zelenskyy about what types of arms Ukraine would require in
the coming months and said the United States should furnish the country with
more long-range artillery capabilities and air to surface systems such as the
F-16.
“We talked primarily
about what his needs are when it comes to winning this war,” McCaul said of the
discussion. “And he is providing this delegation with the list of the weapons
the Ukraine needs to win.”
No comments:
Post a Comment