US Ambassador to UN Becomes First Senior US Official to Label Russia’s Actions in Ukraine as ‘War Crimes’

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield became the first U.S. official to label Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “war crimes.”

“They constitute war crimes,” she told BBC’s Newshour on Thursday. “There are attacks on civilians that cannot be justified in any way.”

Thomas-Greenfield’s remarks come as Russia has attacked hospitals and other civilian centers in Ukraine amid their invasion of the Eastern European country that has now lasted 16 days. In the city of Mariupol, a maternity hospital was struck by Russia on Wednesday, leaving three people, including a child, dead.

Senior U.S. officials have not gone as far as Thomas-Greenfield to call Russia’s conduct in Ukraine as war crimes.

On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN, “We’ve seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians, which would constitute a war crime.”

“We’ve seen very credible reports about the use of certain weapons,” he continued. “What we’re doing right now is documenting all this, putting it all together, looking at it and making sure that as people and the appropriate organizations and institutions investigate whether war crimes have been or are being committed, that we can support whatever they’re doing.”

Speaking in Poland on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris accused Russia of “atrocities.”

“Absolutely there should be an investigation, and we should all be watching,” she said. “I have no question the eyes of the world are on this war and what Russia has done in terms of this aggression and these atrocities.”

Watch above, via KSHB.