The U.S. has announced the unsealing of war crimes charges in the Eastern District of Virginia against four Russian military officers for their conduct concerning a U.S. civilian national in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 (see: U.S. v. Suren Seiranovich Mkrtchyan et al., U.S. District Court, E.D. Va., Case 3:23-cr-00161, Indictment dated December 5). The indictment specifically charges torture, inhuman treatment, unlawful confinement, and conspiracy to commit war crimes. As reported in International Enforcement Law Reporter (subscription required), "this is the first time the Justice Department has pursued these types of cases as war crimes." According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated that "the Justice Department will work for as long as it takes to pursue accountability and justice for Russia's war of aggression." In addition, he noted that the "charges reflect that the defendants' alleged actions are not only grave breaches of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, but also violations of U.S. law."