On Monday's edition of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," reporter Christiane Amanpour argued that the increasingly brutal war crimes against Ukraine by Russian forces, including the Bucha massacre, are being driven by Vladimir Putin's personal hatred for the Ukrainians as they refuse to submit to his will.
"I want to talk about what you have been seeing in Kharkiv," said Cooper. "But first, I am wondering what you think the implications are of what we have now been witnessing from Bucha. You've, of course, covered the horrors of Bosnia leaders ultimately brought to justice there. Do you see that happening here?"
"In Rwanda, the '90s were terrible for this kind of real horrible war waged against civilians," said Amanpour. "But yes, if the facts are collected, the — already, the International Criminal Court and — and other human rights organizations are starting their investigations even before we saw the full horrors of Bucha. And once they get all that evidence, it might take a long time. But I am absolutely sure that it will be prosecuted. The difficulty is that in this case, with the ICC, neither Russia, Ukraine, nor the United States and a number of other countries recognize the ICC. Back in the '90s, there were special tribunals set up."
"But I do think it's really important ... the idea of punishing, because there is this sense from several people, world leaders who have spoken to Putin, you know, in the early days of the war," said Amanpour. "Particularly, the Finnish president told me he felt there was — and these were his words, a hatred growing inside Putin for Ukraine and for everything they stand for and everything that they have resisted. And a historian said even Putin denying the legitimacy, the existence of Ukraine as an independent nation and people could be adjudicated a genocidal thought, a genocidal ideology."
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Christiane Amanpour says Putin feels "hatred" for the Ukrainians www.youtube.com
