I guess the US has more luck running a case where they have access to one side at least but it's not like this does anything as the US has no power to charge Russian citizens not in the US. Like this would sound more meaningful if the US worked with international institutions for this like the International Criminal Court in Hague for example.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Well the person does not have to be in the US merely in a country that has an extradition treaty, is willing to extradite for a price in the game of geopolitics, or the US thinks it can perform a rendition.

In any way it is also a signal to the world. Do t forget about Ukraine and the Russians are doing terrible things there.

It probably also helps pressure the GOP to put forward a vote for aid to Ukraine. If they don't they don't care about Russians torturing Americans. And that's not an easy thing to spin for the GOP spindoctors.

[–] galloog1 1 points 11 months ago

The US does not recognize their authority due to judgements against US citizens concerning war crimes that the US is not signatory to. It's an important legal distinction.