The United States is adding another program to its retinue of strategies to support Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has announced.
The new "Conflict Observatory" is a publicly accessible website where verified open-source information and documentation of war crimes committed by Russian troops will be made available, the DOS announced May 17. The program will "analyze and preserve publicly and commercially available information" such as satellite images and social media posts, "for use in ongoing and future accountability mechanisms," the announcement states.
"An online platform will publicly share the Conflict Observatory’s documentation to help refute Russia’s disinformation efforts and shine a light on abuses" the DOS reports.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a social media post that the initiative will hold Russia accountable for war crimes and other atrocities committed during the invasion of Ukraine.
"A new Conflict Observatory will capture and shine a light on open-source evidence of Russia-perpetrated war crimes and other atrocities being committed in Ukraine," Blinken wrote in a May 17 post to Twitter. "We support a range of initiatives to document crimes and bring perpetrators to justice."
In March, the DOS formally accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine, initiating the process of holding the Russian government accountable. More than 8,000 reports of crimes and atrocities, involving 500 suspects, are being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Ukraine's prosecutor general and other prosecutors worldwide, according to a May 17 report by Spectrum News NY1.
The U.S., Ukraine and Russia are not part of the ICC, so the ICC doesn't have jurisdiction in those countries. However, Ukraine has “exercised its prerogatives to accept the Court's jurisdiction” for crimes committed in the country, according to the ICC, so the ICC can prosecute individuals on an international level on behalf of Ukraine, Spectrum News reports.
The U.S. is contributing imagery captured by commercial satellites of Russian activity in Ukraine, the DOS reports, with international partners and organizations expected to add to the program. The data and analyses will be available at ConflictObservatory.org, the DOS reports.
The Conflict Observatory is a further demonstration of the United States’ steadfast support for the people of Ukraine as they valiantly defend their country and their freedom in response to President Putin’s premeditated, unjustified, and unprovoked war.
"The Conflict Observatory is a further demonstration of the United States’ steadfast support for the people of Ukraine as they valiantly defend their country and their freedom in response to President Putin’s premeditated, unjustified, and unprovoked war," the DOS states in the announcement.
