Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced visit to Ukraine, where he reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to assist Ukrainian officials in pursuing war criminals.
- Garland traveled to Lviv, Ukraine, Friday at the invitation of the Ukrainian prosecutor general, Justice Department officials said, adding that the trip was not previously disclosed because of “security” reasons.
- Holding Russia accountable: “The Attorney General held several meetings and reaffirmed our determination to hold Russia accountable for crimes committed in its unjust and unprovoked invasion against its sovereign neighbor,” Justice officials said.
“Just over twelve months ago, invading Russian forces began committing atrocities at the largest scale in any armed conflict since the Second World War,” Garland told international counterparts at the United for Justice Conference. “We are here today in Ukraine to speak clearly, and with one voice: the perpetrators of those crimes will not get away with them.”
Garland said that the U.S., in partnership with Ukraine and the international community, also has opened criminal investigations into war crimes that may violate U.S. law.
“Although we are still building our cases, interviewing witnesses, and collecting evidence, we have already identified specific suspects. Our prosecutors are working day and night to bring them to justice as quickly as possible,” Garland said.
In addition to other justice ministers, Garland also met with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
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Garland told senators earlier this week that DOJ is helping Ukraine war crimes investigations
Earlier this week, Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Justice Department officials have been actively supporting counterparts in Ukraine with investigations of suspected war crimes.
Garland told lawmakers that U.S. “forensic agents are on the ground now” assisting Ukrainian investigators and he had met multiple times previously with Ukraine’s prosecutor general to discuss needed support.
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Garland called Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russian mercenary unit Wagner Group, a ‘war criminal’
Asked for his assessment of the so-called Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary unit operating within Ukraine, Garland did not hold back, especially describing the group’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“Mr. Prigozhin, who runs this thing, is in my opinion a war criminal,” Garland told Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “Maybe that’s an inappropriate thing for me to say as a judge before getting all the evidence. But I think we have more than sufficient evidence for me to feel that way.”
Sens. Blumenthal, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., have been leading an effort to formally declare the Wagner Group a foreign terrorist organization.
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Garland last visited Ukraine in June, when he announced a war crimes accountability team
Garland last traveled to Ukraine in June, when he announced the formation of a War Crimes Accountability Team within the Justice Department to provide legal counsel and expertise in evidence collection and forensics.
At that time, the attorney general named Eli Rosenbaum to lead the special unit who previously directed the department’s Office of Special Investigations, primarily responsible for identifying, denaturalizing, and deporting Nazi war criminals.
“There is no hiding place for war criminals,” Garland said then. “Working alongside our domestic and international partners, the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable every person complicit in the commission of war crimes, torture, and other grave violations during the unprovoked conflict in Ukraine.”
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