THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Ukrainian courts have tried and convicted 26 low-ranking suspects since the Russian invasion a year ago and have brought charges against nearly 300 individuals, an official said on Thursday.
Ukraine’s prosecutor coordinating war crimes cases in The Hague, Myroslava Krasnoborova, said the convictions were for crimes including rape and murder, the shelling of residential buildings, cruel treatment of civilians and pillaging.
So far, Ukraine has registered more than 71,000 alleged war crimes since Feb. 24, 2022, she said.
“Atrocities and destruction caused by Russia are colossal and endless. Millions of people have been forced to leave everything behind. Massive missile attacks are destroying the civilian infrastructure and many tragically lost their lives,” she said.”
“This damage cannot be undone, but what we can do is to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice,” Krasnoborova said during a briefing about efforts to create accountability for the widespread atrocities.
Russia has denied committing atrocities or targeting civilians.
A total of 296 individuals have so far been charged with war crimes, with 99 cases currently being handled by Ukrainian courts, she said.
Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies are being assisted in war crimes investigations by dozens of countries and institutions.
The figures were released at a briefing by the European prosecuting authority Eurojust, where a Joint Investigation Team for war crimes in Ukraine has been established with the ICC, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine.
No arrest warrants have yet been issued in public by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which began investigating possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine a year ago.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Nick Macfie)
