Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov told European Union lawmakers on Wednesday that they should recognize Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal after Russia invaded Ukraine.
"I am appealing to all European parliamentary members to recognize that Putin is a war criminal, " Reznikov said via video link. He cited examples such as what he said was a Russian airstrike on a theater on Wednesday where he said 1,200 women and children were sheltering.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a war criminal in comments the Kremlin said were "unforgivable." Russia has denied targeting civilians and the defense ministry in Moscow said on Wednesday it had not attacked the theater.
The EU has yet to go as far as Biden. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on March 10 said the bombing of a maternity hospital in southern Ukraine may have been a war crime.
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