
After the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland and the U.S. Justice Department moved quickly — and publicly — to hold Russia to account for possible war crimes.
In speeches and news conferences, including on a surprise visit to Ukraine in June 2022, Garland condemned Russia's military onslaught and the "war crimes that the entire world has seen." The attorney general has repeatedly pledged that the Justice Department would do all it could to hold the perpetrators accountable.