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U.S. official: Russian forces have forcibly deported as many as 1.6 million Ukrainians
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council said, Russian forces have forcibly deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainians into Russia.
"We urge the commissioners to continue to examine the growing evidence of Russia's filtration operations, forced deportations and disappearances," U.S. Ambassador Michele Taylor told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, referring to a commission of inquiry into Ukraine.
"Numerous sources indicate that Russian authorities have interrogated, detained and forcible deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens," she said.
Ukraine and Western governments have accused Russian forces of forcibly moving Ukrainian nationals to “filtration camps” and then transporting them to Russia. Moscow has rejected the accusations, calling them “fantasy.”
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Moscow, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, has denied intentionally targeting civilians.
The forced deportation of civilians from one country to another is considered by the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross to be a war crime.
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