At this point, not directly. The U.S. government lacks the legal authority to prosecute perpetrators of crimes against humanity in domestic courts — a gap in U.S. law that Beth Van Schaack, the U.S. ambassador for global criminal justice, has called on Congress to address. But Saturday’s announcement shows the commitment of the Biden administration to pursue justice for violations of international law in Ukraine, even though the United States has been historically hesitant to cooperate with international justice mechanisms for fear of being held to account for its own conduct in foreign wars. “Particularly as we hit the anniversary of this invasion, it helps send the signal out to the world — but most importantly, to the victims — that the U.S. government hasn’t forgotten about what has happened, that it’s still paying attention,” said Rebecca Hamilton, a professor at American University’s Washington College of Law. The ICC is an obvious forum for any eventual prosecutions of crimes against humanity, Bosco said. The U.S. assertion raises questions about whether the United States might be providing the court with intelligence about the communications of Russian officials or commanders, he added. One major drawback of the ICC: The court cannot put people on trial in absentia — so top Russian figures can avoid prosecution if they stay in Russia or other sympathetic countries. Ukrainian courts could prosecute crimes against humanity, and they have put Russians on trial in absentia. But under international law, they lack the authority to try Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials, Hamilton said. Still, evidence gathered by Ukrainian and international investigators today — potentially with the help of the United States — could prove useful down the line, she added. Slobodan Milosevic, a former president of Yugoslavia, was put on trial for crimes against humanity by an international tribunal years after the atrocities, including the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica, were carried out. He died in his cell in The Hague in 2006 before the trial could be concluded. “While it feels impossible right now that you would have some of the most senior leadership on trial, I think we need to take a longer timeline as we think about that,” Hamilton said. In the meantime, Biden pledged Tuesday to maintain robust sanctions against Russia, “to hold accountable those who are responsible for this war” and to “seek justice for the war crimes and crimes against humanity continuing to be committed by the Russians.”