![Blinken: Images of dead Ukrainians 'a punch to the gut'](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220403092059-antony-blinken-04-03-2022-super-tease.jpeg)
Blinken: Images of dead Ukrainians 'a punch to the gut'
CNN
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the State Department would help document any atrocities the Russian military committed against Ukrainian civilians, following new images from AFP out of a town northwest of Ukraine's capital of Kyiv with the bodies at least 20 civilian men found lying strewn across the street.
"You can't help but see these images as a punch to the gut," Blinken told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" on Sunday. "Since the aggression, we've come out and said that we believe that Russian forces have committed war crimes, and we've been working to document that, to provide the information we have to the relevant instructions and organizations that will put all of this together. And there needs to be accountability for it."
Last month, the State Department formally accused Russian forces of war crimes in Ukraine. Asked Sunday whether Russian troops were committing genocide, Blinken said, "We will look hard and document everything that we see, put it all together, make sure that the relevant institutions and organizations that are looking at this, including the State Department, have everything they need to assess exactly what took place in Ukraine, who's responsible and what it amounts to."
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The US and Ukraine are expected to sign a bilateral security pact on the sidelines of the G7 in Italy on Thursday, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN, in a deal that lays out a path for the US’ long-term security relationship with Kyiv but that could also be undone by future US administrations.