US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that there are "credible reports" that Russia has committed "war crimes" in Ukraine, while the President of the European Commission called for an investigation into these supposed crimes, and in the meantime, Russia boycotted the sessions of the International Court of Justice regarding its war on Ukraine.

"We have seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians amounting to war crimes," Blinken said, speaking from Moldova, stressing that the United States was "looking into" this information.

On the 12th day of its war against Ukraine, Russian forces continue to advance towards Kyiv in the north, targeting Ukrainian cities with bombings that have killed and wounded more than a thousand people, and caused the displacement of more than 1.5 million people outside their country, according to the United Nations.

In an interview with CNN, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for an in-depth investigation to find out whether Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine.


On Monday, Russia boycotted hearings at the International Court of Justice during which Ukraine is seeking an emergency order to stop hostilities, arguing that Moscow wrongly applied the law of genocide to justify its war.

The hearings began at 0900 GMT without legal representation for the Russian side, and the International Court of Justice said it regretted Russia's failure to attend.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country was carrying out a "special military operation" needed "to protect those who were subjected to bullying and genocide," referring to those whose mother tongue or only language is Russian in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's case responds that the claim of genocide is untrue and does not in any case provide a legal justification for war.

The issue centers on the interpretation of a treaty signed in 1948 related to the prevention of genocide.

Russia and Ukraine are signatories to that treaty, which names the International Court of Justice as the body that settles disputes between the signatory countries.