Congress passed legislation Thursday that would grant the Justice Department additional tools to prosecute Russian oligarchs and alleged war criminals.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers supported the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act, which expands the DOJ's jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes. The bill was passed in the House of Representatives Thursday after winning Senate approval Wednesday.

"In the United States of America, there must be no hiding place for war criminals and no safe haven for those who commit such atrocities. This bill will help the Justice Department fulfill that important mandate," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

The bill will also allow the DOJ to bring charges against people living in the U.S. regardless of where the war crime occurred.

U.S. Capitol exterior in Washington
Reuters

Previously, the DOJ could prosecute war crimes only if they occurred within the U.S. or if the victim or perpetrator was a U.S. citizen or service member.

"Perpetrators committing unspeakable war crimes, such as those unfolding before our very eyes in Ukraine, must be held to account. We have the power and responsibility to ensure that the United States will not be used as a safe haven by the perpetrators of these heinous crimes," Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois said in a statement on Thursday.

"I think that this is certainly a step in the right direction," Mykola Murskyj, director of government affairs at Razom, a pro-Ukraine advocacy group, told Reuters.

A second bill, which is an amendment to Congress' recent $1.66 trillion "Omnibus" funding bill, to be voted on Friday, will allow the DOJ to transfer oligarchs' forfeited assets in some situations to Ukraine. The funding bill also includes $44.9 billion in additional wartime aid for Ukraine.

Ukraine Russia Department of justice House of Representatives