The United States calls on Russia to immediately stop its systematic deportations and "filtration" operations in Ukraine.

APA reports that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said this in a statement.

Secretary General Blinken stressed that the illegal displacement and deportation of civilians is a serious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians and a war crime.

"The Russian authorities must release those detained and allow Ukrainian citizens who were forcibly removed or forced to leave the country to return home quickly and safely. We call on Russia to provide independent observers access to the so-called "filtration" facilities and forced deportation resettlement areas."

The statement noted that "Russian authorities forcibly deported from 900,000 to 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens, including 260,000 children, from their homes to Russia, often to isolated regions of the Far East."

The Secretary of State compared it to Russia's "filtration" operations in Chechnya and other areas.

"President Putin's 'filtering' operations are separating families, confiscating Ukrainian passports and giving people Russian passports in order to change the demographic composition of some areas of Ukraine," Biden said.

The US Secretary of State said that Ukrainian citizens are tortured in these "filtration" camps.

He said that Russia is responsible for them and these actions will not be punished.

"Therefore, we support the efforts of Ukrainian and international authorities to collect, document, and preserve evidence of atrocities. Together, we seek to hold perpetrators of war crimes and other atrocities accountable. The United States and our partners will not remain silent. Ukraine and its citizens deserve justice."