WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Monday called for a war crimes trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin and more sanctions against Russia following reports of atrocities in Ukraine.
“You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal. Well, the truth of the matter, you saw what happened in Bucha… He is a war criminal,” Biden said.
Biden noted that there needs to be more evidence gathered of war crimes and said that weapons need to continue to be provided to Ukraine.
“This guy is brutal and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous, and everyone’s seen it,” Biden said.
Biden also said he is “going to continue to add more sanctions,” but declined to offer details.
Ukrainian officials and journalists found many dead civilians in Bucha, a city near Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, after Russian troops retreated from the area.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that 280 people were buried in mass graves. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies of at least 21 people in various spots around the city. Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians were found in Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces.
Contributing: Celina Tebor and Ryan W. Miller
