US sees ‘very credible reports’ of deliberate attacks on civilians in Ukraine

The International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into war crimes by Russian forces (Picture: TASS/Getty Images)

The United States has seen ‘very credible reports’ of deliberate attacks on civilians by Russian forces.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today that Washington was documenting these reports to support appropriate organisations in their potential war crimes investigation.

‘We’ve seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians which would constitute a war crime,’ he told CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ show.

He added: ‘We’ve seen very credible reports about the use of certain weapons.

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‘What we’re doing right now is documenting all of this, putting this all together, looking at it and making sure that as people and the appropriate organisations and institutions investigate whether war crimes have been or are being committed that we can support whatever they are doing.’

Russia denies attacking civilian areas, but several stories of whole families being wiped out and countless photos of destroyed residential blocks paint a very different picture.

Residents escape from the town of Irpin after facing heavy shelling by Vladimir Putin’s forces (Picture: Reuters)

A fire is seen at a residential area in Mariupol, where ceasefire agreements have broken down twice (Picture: Reuters)

The Kremlin also calls the attack it launched on February 24 a ‘special military operation’ and says it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.

On Friday the US embassy in Ukraine sent a tweet that attacking a nuclear plant is a war crime after Russian invasion forces seized Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant in heavy fighting in southeastern Ukraine.

Putin blamed the fire at the Zaporizhzhia power station on a ‘provocation organised by Ukrainian radicals’.

It came as the International Atomic Energy Agency said Russian forces were tightening their grip on the station.

People have had to flee Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, despite Russia claiming it is not attacking civilian targets (Picture: Getty Images)

A woman stands in front of a burning house after shelling in Irpin (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

The director general of the agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said that Ukrainian staff members are now required to seek approval for any operation, even maintenance, from the Russians.

He said Russia has impeded normal communications by switching off some mobile networks and internet at the site.

Ukraine’s regulatory authority said that phone lines, as well as emails and fax, are no longer working.

Grossi said he is ‘extremely concerned about these developments’, adding that for the station to operate safely, ‘staff must be allowed to carry out their vital duties in stable conditions, without undue external interference or pressure’.

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