Russia's assault on Ukrainian civilians raises war crimes concerns
As Russia's war in Ukraine approaches another year, legal experts and investigators say the Kremlin's conduct increasingly appears to defy the most fundamental laws of armed conflict.
"Operations seem to be launched with the goal of maximizing the civilian harm, rather than minimizing the civilian harm, which is what the laws of war demand," said Beth Van Schaack, the former U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice.
A strategy of attrition
Van Schaack, who recently led U.S. support for Ukraine's war-crimes investigations, told 60 Minutes that Russia's pattern of attacks suggests an intent to erode Ukrainian morale by inflicting widespread suffering.
"It's an effort to ultimately win the war by virtue of wearing down the Ukrainian people, whose resoluteness has been remarkable in the face of these attacks," she said.
Despite ongoing diplomatic efforts, Russia continues to fire missiles into Ukrainian cities, often hitting residential areas and public infrastructure. Deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime under international law.
Palm Sunday attack in Sumy, Ukraine
One attack this past spring illustrates what investigators describe as Russia's strategy. On Palm Sunday, known in Ukraine as Willow Sunday, residents in the northern city of Sumy were gathering for worship when Russian missiles struck Sumy State University's conference center and a crowded city street.
Willow Sunday marks the arrival of spring, when willow branches, among the first buds of the season, symbolize life's triumph over death. But this year, the holiday turned deadly. Thirty-five civilians, including two children, were killed in the attack. Another 145 people were wounded.
"In many respects, that attack in Sumy is emblematic of what we have seen across Ukraine," Van Schaack said. "The weapons they use are fundamentally inappropriate for a military target in an urban space. What you see is tremendous death and destruction within the civilian population."
International law requires warring parties to distinguish between civilian and military targets and to take precautions to protect civilians. Van Schaack said the timing and location of the attack — a busy holiday morning as families traveled to church in a city center — underscore the lack of such precautions.
A family's loss
For Oksana Bondarenko, the attack was personal. She told 60 Minutes her mother had loved Palm Sunday because it meant a sort of purification, washing away sins so the soul could be at peace ahead of Easter.
That Sunday, her mother was walking to church carrying willow branches to be blessed when shrapnel from the missile strike killed her.
When it was pointed out that Russians say they only attack military targets, Bondarenko objected.
"Yes," Oksana replied. "And that's why they attacked a city center where parents with kids were walking, where my mother, a retiree, was going to bless the willow branches."
She added that every delay in diplomacy costs lives. "Every minute of delay or slow decisions costs the life of someone's mother, a child, or someone's brother, wife, neighbor. This is my country — but not just mine. They don't understand that, God forbid, if our country falls, other countries will be next."
Responsibility at the highest levels
According to Van Schaack, responsibility for Russia's wartime conduct reaches the top of the chain of command. "Ultimately, it goes all the way up ... to President Putin himself, but to the other leadership within his close inner circle," she said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has already issued an arrest warrant for Putin. But the prospect of prosecution remains uncertain because there are no absentia trials in the ICC.
"As long as these individuals remain protected by Russia, the ICC cannot move forward..." Van Schaack explained. "Those arrest warrants will sit forever, waiting to be executed upon."
The video above was produced by Brit McCandless Farmer and edited by Scott Rosann.