Ukraine minister decries Russian ‘war crimes’ on schools, orphanages

The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs tweeted Friday to decry reported Russian attacks on kindergartens and orphanages as “war crimes.”

Dmytro Kuleba said that the Russian attacks are violations of the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute and that Ukraine will take international action against Russia for its military actions.

“Together with the Office of the Attorney General, we are collecting these and other materials, which we will immediately transfer to The Hague,” Kuleba said.

“Responsibility is inevitable,” he added.

The comment comes after Kuleba on Thursday condemned the reported Russian shelling of a hospital amid the ongoing invasion.

“Consider this: Putin has launched a massive war of aggression in Europe during a still raging pandemic. On top of that, Russians bomb Ukrainian hospitals now,” he wrote in a tweet.

“This is beyond evil. The only moral choice any government can make now is to support Ukraine by all means,” Kuleba added. 

In other posts on Twitter on Thursday, Kuleba called for the international community to respond to the Russian invasion.

“The world must act immediately,” he posted on Twitter at the time. “Future of Europe & the world is at stake.”

Kuleba asked other world powers to immediately implement “devastating” sanctions against Russia, as well as to fully isolate Russia “by all means, in all formats.”

Kuleba added requests for the international community to provide Ukraine with weapons, equipment, financial assistance and humanitarian assistance.

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine early Thursday, the European Union has condemned Russia’s actions and announced wide-ranging sanctions against the Kremlin, including sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov directly.

The White House confirmed Friday that the U.S. will also impose sanctions against Putin and other top Russian officials.