Russia plans to kill or send dissidents in Ukraine to refugee camps, US says

By Andrea

The United States has warned the United Nations that it believes Russia has plans to kill large numbers of opponents, dissidents and "vulnerable populations" in Ukraine or send them to refugee camps after an expected invasion.

The Kremlin on Monday denied the report, with its spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling it an "absolute lie".

[Further Bombings in Eastern Ukraine Fuel Fears of Russian Invasion]

Ambassador Bathsheba Nell Crocker, representative of the United States to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, recently made these statements in a letter addressed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, the content of which was first reported Sunday night by The Washington Post.

NBC News obtained the letter, which reads: "We have credible information indicating that Russian forces are creating lists of Ukrainians identified to be killed or sent to refugee camps following a military occupation."

The White House says it has no doubts that Putin has given the order to invade Ukraine

Feb. 21, 202201:50

Crocker said in the letter that the United States believes Russia would "likely target those who oppose Russian actions, including Russian and Belarusian dissidents exiled in Ukraine, journalists and anti-corruption activists, and vulnerable populations such as religious and ethnic minorities and LGBTQI+ people. 

The document warns of “large-scale human rights violations and abuses” and states that protesters would also be met with unfair force.

"We also have credible information that Russian forces will likely use lethal measures to disperse peaceful protests or otherwise counter peaceful exercises in perceived resistance by the civilian population," the letter says.

[Biden believes it is "very possible" that Russia will invade Ukraine "in the next few days" as bombings raise tensions]

It says Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the matter with the UN Security Council last week.

The United States also raised the concerns at the UN Human Rights Council debate on December 15. 

Protesters carry a banner reading "United Ukraine" during a rally to show unity and support for the integrity of Ukraine, amid rising tensions with Russia, in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa, on February 20, 2022. Oleksandr Gimanov / AFP via Getty Images

French President Emmanuel Macron's office announced late on Sunday that Macron brokered a deal for President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet on the situation in Ukraine.

More than 150,000 Russian soldiers are camped on the border with Ukraine.

[Russia sends 7,000 additional troops to its border with Ukraine after reports it has withdrawn some]

White House sources said late on Sunday that the potential meeting has not changed their belief that Russia has plans for an imminent invasion.