U.S. Senate unanimously condemns Putin as war criminal, calls for investigations of war crimes

The United States Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday night condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal and calling for international courts to investigate alleged war crimes committed during his illegal invasion of Ukraine.  

The bipartisan bill – introduced by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham – says the U.S. Senate strongly condemns the war crimes being committed by the Russian military and encourages international criminal courts to investigate Putin, his security council and military leaders for possible war crimes, Reuters reported.

In a statement, Graham said he was “very excited” that the resolution passed and that the government "should do all we can to aid this investigation by providing information and intelligence to the court in a timely manner."

“The next step for me is to work with our British allies and hopefully others to create an intel cell that will make available to the public Russian military units engaged in war crimes and start naming their commanders. A name-and-shame campaign is in the making," he added.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer added that the Senate had passed the bipartisan measure "to say that Vladimir Putin cannot escape accountability for the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people."

“The legislation passing today, championed by Senator Graham, sends an unmistakable message that the U.S. Senate stands with Ukraine, stands against Putin, and stands with all efforts to hold Putin accountable for the atrocities levied upon the Ukrainian people,” he added.

The resolution was formally cosponsored by more than 20 senators, including Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who leads the Senate Appropriations Committee State and Foreign Operations subcommittee with Graham, as well as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat and co-chair of the Senate Ukraine caucus.