Despite calls from throughout Europe for those responsible for strikes on civilians to be held accountable, European Union countries accused Russia’s armed forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine on Monday, and it remained unlikely that further penalties would be imposed on Moscow.
With the number of civilians killed in the besieged port city of Mariupol increasing, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasized the rise in Russian assaults on civilian infrastructures, such as hospitals and theatres.
“The courts will have to decide,” Baerbock said, “but they are obviously war crimes in my opinion.”
Before chairing a meeting of the EU’s 27 foreign ministers in Brussels, EU foreign policy director Josep Borrell said, “What is happening in Mariupol is a gigantic war crime.” Destruction of everything, bombardment, and indiscriminate killing of everyone. “This is a nightmare.”
The war’s darkest horrors have been witnessed in the surrounded southern city on the Sea of Azov. Several attempts to evacuate Mariupol inhabitants have failed or only been partially successful. At least 2,300 people have died in the siege, according to city officials, with some buried in mass graves.
“War also has a law,” Borrell emphasized. The International Criminal Court in The Hague is gathering evidence regarding suspected war crimes in Ukraine, but Russia, like the US, refuses to accept the tribunal’s jurisdiction.
“Certainly open to various channels for accountability in terms of the crimes that are taking place in Ukraine right now,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Coveney, is likely the first “war being played out on social media, where people see photos unfolding live and are appalled.”
“This is causing popular outrage across the European Union as to why we can’t stop this,” he told reporters. “They want people to be held accountable for the actions they’ve made and the atrocities they’ve witnessed.”
For the time being, the introduction of further sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel bans, appears improbable.
EU countries, which are notorious for their glacial responses to fast-moving international crises, have rallied in just over three weeks since the invasion began on February 24 to impose penalties on 877 persons. Russian President Vladimir Putin, prominent ministers, and pro-Kremlin businessmen are among them.