THE GUARDIAN: James Heappey’s comments echo those of US president Joe Biden, who called Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’
Evidence gathered in Ukraine points towards war crimes being committed and the blame lies with Vladimir Putin, a British defence minister has said, echoing Joe Biden who called the Russian leader “a war criminal”.
Asked if the Russian president was indeed a war criminal, the defence minister, James Heappey, told Sky News: “I’ve not pulled my punches when I’ve been on your show. I think the evidence that is being gathered points very much towards war crimes being committed and the culpability for war crimes sits absolutely with the leader of the Russian government, the man who decided to do all this in the first place.
“It’s not just Putin who ends up being responsible for war crimes as and when the evidence is gathered and people are held to account. Every single person in the military chain of command can not just hide behind the line of “they’re only following orders”, they too are involved in the prosecution of war crimes in Ukraine. This is a stain on the Russian nation.” » | Jamie Grierson | Friday, March 18, 2022
