Opinion | War crimes are part of the Russian playbook
Washington PostOct 17, 2023
On Friday, the UN Commission of Inquiry — citing hundreds of interviews with local residents — claimed to have found new evidence collected in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions confirming that Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine, including rape, torture, and the deportation of 31 children.
Claiming that the use of torture by Russian authorities in areas under their control has been "widespread and systematic," the report said the alleged atrocities were committed primarily against men suspected of collaborating with Ukrainian authorities.
The Russian forces have long committed abuses amounting to war crimes with the tacit consent of the high command. So, it isn't surprising that the UN report has found further evidence of human rights violations in Moscow's unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. These atrocities remain inherent to the Russian way of war. Putin and those following his orders must all face justice at the ICC.
The outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict has once again shined a light on how hypocritical the Western countries are with regard to allegations of war crimes, as they have resorted to this rhetoric to try to diplomatically isolate Russia but are supporting Israel as it bombs the Gaza Strip. The UN report is another biased political stunt to smear Moscow's military actions.
There's a 90% chance that the International Court of Justice will rule before 2040 that Russia must pay reparations to Ukraine, according to the Metaculus prediction community.