'There will be a day of reckoning': UK minister thinks war crimes committed in Ukraine

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

Britain's Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his armed forces face a "day of reckoning" as there is evidence of war crimes that are apparently being committed in Ukraine during the invasion.

In a report published by Sky News on Sunday (March 27), the minister weighed in on a range of topics, from US President Joe Biden's '[Putin] cannot remain in power' to sanctions against Russia.

While speaking to the media outlet, Zahawi said: "The important thing to remember is that there is evidence that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine, the targeting of civilian areas."

"The Deputy Prime Minister (and Justice Secretary) Dominic Raab has been working with the international criminal court to make sure that that evidence is well documented, well collected, so those who commit war crimes know that there will be a day of reckoning," he added.

Zahawi further said that he did not agree with comments made by Biden, who said during a speech on Saturday (March 26) that Putin "cannot remain in power".

Recently, an assessment done by the United States claimed that the Russian military committed war crimes in Ukraine after Putin ordered special "military operations" in the neighbouring country.

On March 23, the US said that public information and intelligence it has collected amounts to strong evidence that the war crimes have been committed in Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said in a statement, "Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the US government assesses that members of Russia's forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine."

As per United Nations, the concept of war crimes developed particularly at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

During that time, the international humanitarian law, which is also known as the law of armed conflict, was codified.

The Hague Conventions was adopted in 1899 and 1907 focus on the prohibition of warring parties to use certain means and methods of warfare.

War crimes mean grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. Violation includes wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, wilfully causing great suffering, extensive destruction and appropriation of property, etc.

WATCH |Biden admin's course-correction over 'regime change in Russia' remark