Blinken warns of mounting Russian human rights abuses

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Tuesday that Russia’s human rights abuses in Ukraine are mounting by the hour. 

“Russian strikes are hitting faculties, hospitals, and residential buildings,” the highest U.S. diplomat stated in a speech delivered nearly to the United Nations Human Rights Council. “They’re destroying essential infrastructure, which gives hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout Ukraine with ingesting water, gasoline to maintain them from freezing to loss of life, and electrical energy. Civilian buses, automobiles, and even ambulances have been shelled. Russia is doing this daily – throughout Ukraine.”

Blinken stated greater than 500,000 Ukrainians have fled the nation thus far to neighboring NATO member states to hunt refuge. Ukraine which isn’t a member of the NATO army alliance is bordered by 4 NATO international locations; Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

Final week, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned that Russia’s aggression in Ukraine may result in one of many largest refugee crises on this planet.

“If Russia continues down this path, it may, based on our estimates create a brand new refugee disaster, one of many largest dealing with the world as we speak, with as many as 5 million extra folks displaced by Russia’s conflict of alternative,” Thomas-Greenfield stated throughout a Feb. 23 handle on the United Nations.

“That is President Putin’s conflict of alternative. If he chooses to escalate additional, Russia and Russia alone will bear full duty for what’s to return,” she added.

Over the weekend, the State Division accepted a humanitarian help bundle of $54 million to these affected by Russia’s additional invasion. This brings U.S. humanitarian help to Ukraine to roughly $405 million since 2014.

The added help gives “critically wanted well being care, secure ingesting water, sanitation, hygiene provides, safety for weak kids…essential emergency well being provides in addition to emergency meals help and excessive thermal blankets,” based on a USAID assertion.

Throughout his speech, Blinken additionally questioned whether or not Russia ought to be faraway from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“One can moderately ask whether or not a U.N. member state that tries to take over one other U.N. member state – whereas committing horrific human rights abuses and inflicting large humanitarian struggling – ought to be allowed to stay on this Council,” Blinken stated.