European Commission president calls for ‘strong and clear investigation’ into possible Russian war crimes

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday called for a “strong and clear investigation” into potential Russian war crimes during its invasion of Ukraine.

“I think there needs to be a strong and clear investigation on this question,” von der Leyen said when asked by co-anchor Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” if she believes that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine.

“We need to make the case real clear and without any doubt. But whatever you are just describing has to be, there has to be looked into it and there needs to be an investigation on that,” she added, after Tapper cited reports of Russian forces targeting border crossings and other areas that would be used as humanitarian corridors.

An International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor announced last week that he would open an investigation into potential war crimes. Karim A. A. Khan, the prosecutor, said “there is a reasonable basis to proceed with opening an investigation.”

Ukraine and its allies have also called on the United Nations to investigate potential war crimes committed by Russia.

Last week, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said he believes Russian shelling in Ukraine constitutes a war crime.

“We see the indiscriminate shelling of residential buildings of hospitals. This is not what a military exercise is supposed to be. These are in essence, from my perspective, war crimes,” Menendez said during an interview.