Ukraine Has Been Declared a Crime Scene

ICC makes declaration as 15K war crimes have been reported since Russia invaded
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2022 1:43 AM CDT
Updated Jun 1, 2022 6:11 AM CDT
15K Suspected War Crimes Have Been Reported in Ukraine
A dog looks out a window at an apartment building damaged in an overnight missile strike, in Sloviansk, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 31, 2022.   (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, around 15,000 suspected war crimes have been reported so far—and 200-300 more reports come in every day, Ukraine's chief prosecutor says. Several thousand of those were reported in the eastern Donbas region, where fighting is particularly heavy, the BBC reports. Some of the alleged war crimes include the killing of civilians, torture, the forcible transfer of people to Russia, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. Eighty prosecutions have already started, with some 600 suspects having been identified so far. The chief prosecutor says "top military, politicians and propaganda agents of Russia" are among those implicated.

Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Slovakia are assisting with investigations, and the International Criminal Court has declared Ukraine a crime scene and sent its largest-ever team of investigators there. It plans to open an office in Kyiv. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan says the joint effort "shows that there is this common front of legality that is absolutely essential, not just for Ukraine ... but for the continuation of peace and security all over the world." A two-day coordination meeting was held this week in the Hague, the AP reports. As for the finances involved, Khan says, per Fox News, "the cost of justice is small potatoes compared to the billions of dollars that are expended in conflict. It's much cheaper to fund a judicial mechanism than to buy tanks and missiles." (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)

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