III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 531 

Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning the Russian Federation, 

President Vladimir Putin, members of the Russian Security Council, 

the Russian Armed Forces, and Russian military commanders for committing flagrant acts of aggression and other atrocities rising to the 

level of crimes against humanity and war crimes against the people 

of Ukraine and others. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2022 

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. KING, Ms. ERNST, 

Mr. TILLIS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. CORNYN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MORAN, 

Mr. RUBIO, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. MARSHALL, and Mr. 

WICKER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning the Russian 

Federation, President Vladimir Putin, members of the 

Russian Security Council, the Russian Armed Forces, 

and Russian military commanders for committing flagrant acts of aggression and other atrocities rising to 

the level of crimes against humanity and war crimes 

against the people of Ukraine and others. 

Whereas the United States of America has a responsibility to 

uphold the values of freedom, democracy, and human 

rights across the globe; 


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•SRES 531 IS 

Whereas there are several universal declarations promoting 

human rights, laws of war, and upholding the dignity of 

individuals; 

Whereas the United Nations Charter Preamble states that 

member nations ‘‘reaffirm faith in fundamental human 

rights [and] in the dignity and worth of the human person’’; 

Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Preamble states that ‘‘Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, 

the promotion of universal respect for and observance of 

human rights and fundamental freedoms’’; 

Whereas the Russian Federation joined as an original member of the United Nations as the former Union of Soviet 

Socialists Republics on October 24, 1945, and as such 

has a duty to abide by the conditions of the United Nations Charter; 

Whereas the International Criminal Court (ICC) is an international tribunal that seeks to uphold the rule of law, especially in areas where no rule of law exists, by investigating and trying individuals charged ‘‘with the gravest 

crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime 

of aggression’’; 

Whereas the ICC recognizes the grave breaches of the 1949 

Geneva Conventions as constituting a war crime, including ‘‘willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive 

destruction and appropriation of property, not justified 


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by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly’’; 

Whereas the ICC also recognizes other serious violations of 

the laws and customs applicable in international armed 

conflict as war crimes, including ‘‘[i]ntentionally directing 

attacks against the civilian population as such or against 

individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities’’ 

and ‘‘[i]ntentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives’’; 

Whereas President Vladimir Putin, members of the Russian 

Security Council, and President Putin’s military commanders have severely undermined the international rule 

of law through their various actions; 

Whereas, prior to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, President 

Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation has a long 

history of committing acts of aggression, human rights 

violations, and acts that constitute war crimes within the 

Russian Federation and around the globe, including in 

Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria; 

Whereas, beginning in 1999, the Russian Federation engaged 

in the indiscriminate use of force against the people of 

Chechnya, including the use of cluster munitions against 

civilians, resulting in 50,000 Chechens, mostly civilians, 

dead or missing; 

Whereas, during the Russian Federation’s invasion of Georgia in 2008, Russian Armed Forces engaged with cluster 

munitions in indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks 

that resulted in the death of civilians; 

Whereas President Vladimir Putin violated the sovereignty of 

Ukraine and used military force to seize control and unlawfully occupy Crimea and eastern Ukraine, indiscrimiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 04, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR531.IS SR531

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nately targeting and killing thousands of innocent civilians since 2014; 

Whereas the Russian military was deemed responsible for 

shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern 

Ukraine on July 17, 2014, which resulted in the death 

of 298 civilians; 

Whereas rebel forces supported by the Russian Federation 

were deemed responsible for a missile attack on January 

24, 2015, in Mariupol, Ukraine that indiscriminately targeted civilians, resulting in the death of at least 30 and 

injuring many more; 

Whereas, in 2016 and 2017, Russian aircraft deployed 

‘‘bunker-busting’’ and incendiary bombs capable of destroying military installations on civilian structures in 

Aleppo, Syria, resulting in the death of hundreds of civilians; 

Whereas President Vladimir Putin is complicit in war crimes 

and human rights violations in Syria through his continuing political, financial, and military support for President Bashar al-Assad; 

Whereas intelligence assessments have concluded Vladimir 

Putin and his regime have destroyed the rule of law in 

Russia and engaged in countless crimes against humanity, including ordering the poisoning of Alexi Navalny, 

the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and the false 

imprisonment and torture ultimately leading to the death 

of Sergei Magnitsky; 

Whereas President Vladimir Putin, in February 2022, initiated a premeditated, unprovoked, unjustified, and unlawful war against the sovereign nation of Ukraine; 


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Whereas, in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin and 

Russian Federation forces targeted and reportedly killed 

more than 300 civilians, to include children, while engaging in Ukrainian urban centers, causing chaos and fear 

among Ukrainian citizens; 

Whereas, on February 28, 2022, the Ukrainian Ambassador 

to the United States, Oksana Markarova, claimed President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of 

thermobaric weapons and cluster munitions to be used in 

the northeastern towns of Okhtyrka and Karkhiv; 

Whereas Ukraine has twice submitted to the jurisdiction of 

the ICC for the purposes of prosecuting war crimes committed within its territory due to the Russian occupation 

of Ukraine; 

Whereas Lithuania and Canada, members to the authorizing 

treaty of the ICC, have called on the ICC to open an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russia; 

Whereas, on February 28, 2022, the Prosecutor of the ICC, 

Karim A. A. Khan QC stated that the ICC would open 

a third investigation against Russia for alleged war 

crimes and crimes against humanity committed during 

the Russian invasion into Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022; 

Whereas Ukraine has also filed a claim in the International 

Court of Justice (ICJ) instituting proceedings against the 

Russian Federation for genocide; and 

Whereas the United States Government should use its voice, 

vote, and influence to pursue war crimes allegations 

against Vladimir Putin and his military commanders in 

international institutions of which it is a member and enVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 04, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR531.IS SR531

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courage other allies and partners to express the same: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) strongly condemns the ongoing violence, war 

3 crimes, crimes against humanity, and systematic 

4 human rights abuses continually being carried out 

5 by the Russian Armed Forces and their proxies and 

6 President Putin’s military commanders, at the direc7 tion of President Vladimir Putin; 

8 (2) encourages member states to petition the 

9 ICC and the ICJ to authorize any and all pending 

10 investigations into war crimes and crimes against 

11 humanity committed by the Russian Armed Forces 

12 and their proxies and President Putin’s military 

13 commanders, at the direction of President Vladimir 

14 Putin; 

15 (3) supports any investigation into war crimes, 

16 crimes against humanity, and systematic human 

17 rights abuses levied by President Vladimir Putin, the 

18 Russian Security Council, the Russian Armed 

19 Forces and their proxies, and President Putin’s mili20 tary commanders; 

21 (4) encourages the United States Government 

22 and partner nations to use their voice, vote, and in23 fluence in international institutions in which they 

24 are members to hold President Vladimir Putin, the 


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1 Russian Security Council, the Russian Armed 

2 Forces and their proxies, and President Putin’s mili3 tary commanders accountable for their sponsorship 

4 of ongoing violence, war crimes, crimes against hu5 manity, and systematic human rights abuses; and 

6 (5) stands with the people who have been af7 fected by the brutality of the Putin regime. 

Æ 


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