Ukraine investigating over 120,000 alleged Russia war crimes News
usembassykyiv, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Ukraine investigating over 120,000 alleged Russia war crimes

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin announced Friday at the War Crimes Conference 2024, a day before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that Ukraine is in the process of investigating 120,000 potential Russian war crimes.

Kostin spoke with Reuters at the conference in Berlin, affirming that Ukraine has “identified already 511 perpetrators” and “already [has] 80 convictions in Ukrainian Courts.” Following the conference, Kostin released a statement via X (formerly known as Twitter) regarding the “Herculean task” of investigating some 120,000 war crimes. He stated:

We have no fatigue. We have only optimism and determination. Our key principles to deal with the challenges are prioritizing cases, applying modern tools and technologies, and cooperating with international justice mechanisms and partner states. Perpetrators must not go unpunished, regardless of their ranks and positions. Ukrainian courts are considering cases against 12 Russian generals. And there will be more.

The German Federal Ministry of Justice hosted the international conference. Alongside Kostin, the conference was attended by German Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann, Polish Minister of Justice Professor Adam Bodnar, US government representatives and others. In his speech at the conference, Buschmann affirmed Germany’s support of Ukraine, commenting, “When weapons speak, the law does not remain silent.” He promised that Germany would strengthen its human rights laws and cooperate with Ukraine.

The conference took place shortly before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other international responses came from the US and UK, with both introducing more sanctions against Russia.

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