US calls on russia to stop filtering and forcibly deporting Ukrainians
The United States of America called on the russian federation to stop filtering and forcibly deporting Ukrainians.
The US State Department reports this in the press release.
The State Department-backed Conflict Observatory program has published a report containing evidence of russia's filtering operations in Ukraine and forced deportations from Ukraine.
A report by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab documented that there are 21 facilities associated with filtering in the Donetsk region alone.
"The unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and constitutes a war crime. We again call on Russia to immediately halt its filtration operations and forced deportations and to provide outside independent observers access to identified facilities and forced deportation relocation areas within Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine and inside Russia itself," the report states.
The Conflict Observatory also records cases of damage to medical and educational institutions in the Luhansk region occupied by russian forces.
"A recent report from Observatory partner Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative identifies over 450 potential impacts to cultural heritage sites across Ukraine from February to June 2022, including archaeological sites, museums, and places of worship. Taken together, these and other reliable reporting chronicle several aspects of the carnage unleashed by President Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine," the report adds.
Recognizing the need for the documentation, verification, and dissemination of information regarding russia's action, the State Department announced that the US would allocate an additional $9 million to this institution as part of the European Democratic Resilience Initiative. Such data lay the foundation for future civil and criminal proceedings regarding the responsibility of the russian federation.
"President Putin and his government will not be able to engage in these persistent abuses with impunity. Accountability is imperative, and the United States and our partners will not be silent. The people of Ukraine deserve justice, and the United States will continue to stand united with them for as long as it takes," the press release says.
