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Pentagon spokesman John Kirby strongly criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, accusing him of “depravity” in Ukraine.
"It’s hard to look at what he’s doing in Ukraine, what his forces are doing in Ukraine, and think that any ethical, moral individual could justify that,” Mr Kirby said at a press briefing.
Referring to “war crimes” by Russian forces including attacks on civilian infrastructure and “unconscionable” killings, Mr Kirby paused as he choked back emotion.
“It’s difficult to look at … some of the images and imagine that any well-thinking, serious, mature leader would do that,” he said.
“I can’t talk to his psychology, but I think we can all speak to his depravity."
Mr Kirby later added: "It's brutality of the coldest and most depraved sort."
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was later asked about Mr Kirby's comments and if President Joe Biden shared those sentiments.
Mr Biden views Mr Putin "as a pariah and somebody who is guilty of war crimes and genocide. So, I think the president's comments speak for itself", Ms Psaki said.
Russia has denied attacking civilians and says its "special military operation" is to "denazify" Ukraine.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shake hands as they meet in Kyiv. AP -
Floodwater edges towards homes in the small Ukrainian town of Demydiv. AFP -
Lila stands inside her apartment after a missile strike damaged a residential building in Dobropillia, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Residents board-up windows of a damaged apartment building with plywood after Russian shelling in Dobropillya, Donetsk region. AP -
A police officer distributes humanitarian aid to people in Lyman, Donetsk. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers near Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A Ukrainian soldier receives medical treatment as he and others rest after fighting on the front line for two months near Kramatorsk. AFP -
Exhausted Ukrainian soldiers arrive at an abandoned building to rest and for medical treatment after fighting on the front line near Kramatorsk. AFP -
Ukrainians attend a solemn religious service to commemorate the fallen in the Russian occupation in Zdvyzhivka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Hanna Selivon, 77, surveys what remains of her house, which she says was destroyed by Russian shelling on the outskirts of Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
Women cry as they take part in a rally demanding international leaders organise a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of Mariupol, the besieged Ukrainian city where thousands are trapped. Reuters -
Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with kids in Lviv, Ukraine. AP -
Firefighters try to put out a blaze after an explosion in Kyiv as Russia mounts attacks across Ukraine. AP -
A car parked under a tree in the partially abandoned town of Chernobyl. AP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres leave a news conference in Kyiv. AP -
Military aid bound for Ukraine at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to agree to $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia. AP -
Members of the pro-Russia Donetsk People's Republic militia stand guard as civilians go to receive aid in Mariupol. AP -
A destroyed building in the south-eastern city of Mariupol. AP -
A Ukrainian girl with other civilians on a bus as they flee the violence in Slovyansk, in the Donetsk region. Reuters -
A block of flats reduced to rubble in Mariupol. Reuters -
Explosions in a village near the eastern city of Izium. Reuters -
A car and piled sleepers in flames after shelling near Lyman station in Lyman, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Residents and members of the Ukrainian emergency services clear debris after a recent Russian rocket attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. EPA -
The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, where spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recently said that Ukraine had either carried out the executions of civilians in Bucha itself or positioned the bodies so as to incriminate Russian forces. AFP -
An aerial view of in a neighbourhood in Zaporizhzhia on the 65th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP -
Clean-up crews at the site of an explosion in Kyiv, Ukraine. Russia struck the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv shortly after a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AP -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a joint news conference in Kyiv as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. Reuters -
Russia struck Kyiv shortly after the meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AP Photo -
Volodymyr Tykhonov, 76, opens the door of his garage, which is riddled with bullet holes, in Zahaltsi, Ukraine. Getty Images -
President Zelenskyy welcomes UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres before their meeting. Reuters -
Iulia Shevchuk rests in a reception centre for displaced people in Dnipro, Ukraine. AP Photo -
American 155 mm howitzers due to be being loaded on to a US Air Force plane to Ukraine. AFP -
Smoke rises after an explosion at sunset in Kyiv. Getty Images -
Ukrainian rescuers pull out a part of a rocket that remained after shelling in the eastern city of Kharkiv. EPA -
Lyubov, 85, stands in front of a 19th century wooden church, damaged by rocket attack, in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukrainian servicemen on patrol in Luhanske village. EPA
