Blinken: U.S. believes Moscow made plans to 'inflict widespread human rights abuses' in Ukraine

Antony Blinken.
(Image credit: Carolyn Kaster/AFP via Getty Images)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said that the United States believes Moscow "has developed plans to inflict widespread human rights abuses — and potentially worse — on the Ukrainian people."

Blinken shared the bleak assessment during a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Early Thursday, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, calling it a "special military operation," and Blinken said that "all evidence suggests that Russia intends to encircle and threaten Kyiv."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.