Zelensky: "This is genocide"
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced what he called Russia's attempt to eliminate "the whole nation" during an appearance Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," saying, "this is genocide."
Driving the news: The International Criminal Court last month launched an investigation into allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Ukraine.
- Zelensky has previously called certain acts of Russian aggression, such as the shelling of a children's hospital and maternity ward in Mariupol, proof of genocide.
- As Ukrainian forces retook the Kyiv region on Saturday, officials and independent photographers have reported bodies of civilians — some with their hands tied behind their backs — strewn in the streets of the city of Bucha.
What they're saying: Asked if Russia’s actions amount to genocide, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that the U.S. “will look hard and document everything that we see, put it all together, make sure the relevant institutions and organizations looking at this — including the State Department — have everything they need to assess what took place in Ukraine, who's responsible and what it amounts to.”
- U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement Sunday that Russia’s attacks on civilians in Ukraine “must be investigated as war crimes,” adding that the U.K. will support any efforts by the ICC to do so, the Guardian reported.
"It is a brutality against civilians we haven't seen in — in Europe for decades and it's horrific and it's absolutely unacceptable that civilians are targeted and killed, and it just — underlines importance that this war must end and that is President Putin's responsibility to stop the war," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday on "State of the Union."
- German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock tweeted on Sunday that the images emerging from Bucha were "unbearable," adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin's "rampant violence is wiping out innocent families and knows no bounds."
- "Those responsible for these war crimes must be held accountable," she added in another tweet.
Go deeper: What counts as a war crime and why they're so hard to prosecute
