Russia Has Target Lists of Dissidents in Ukraine to Be Killed or Detained, US Warns

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

The Kremlin denied the report.

The U.S. Representative to the U.N. Office and Other International Organizations, Ambassador Bathsheba Nell Crocker, recently made the assertions in a letter to U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, the contents of which were first reported Sunday evening by the Washington Post.

NBC News obtained the letter, which says, “We have credible information that indicates Russian forces are creating lists of identified Ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps following a military occupation.”

President Joe Biden has agreed “in principle” to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin “provided that Russia does not proceed with military action,” according to the White House.

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

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.