64 convicted in absentia
Ukraine sends 17 Russians to prison for war crimes
March 6, 2024, 2:26 p.m
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Ukraine accuses many Russian soldiers of war crimes. There are also some judgments. However, the accused are often not caught and therefore not punished. However, 17 Russians are personally convicted in Ukraine and actually have to go to prison.
According to the judiciary, Ukraine is making progress in punishing Russian war crimes. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said during a visit to Brussels that his country had convicted 81 Russian war criminals since the war of aggression began a good two years ago. Of them, 17 were personally tried in Ukraine and received prison sentences.
The majority of the Russian defendants were convicted in absentia, Kostin said. For the relatives, the verdicts are an important sign that there is no impunity.
“Russia must be defeated not only on the battlefield, but also in the courtroom,” Kostin emphasized. According to him, Ukraine is investigating more than 500 suspects in total. Almost 360 cases should soon be transferred to the judiciary.
Kostin accused Russia of “repeating Nazi crimes.” In the war against Ukraine, civilians are being targeted and women and girls are being raped. In addition, around 200,000 Ukrainian children were abducted to Russia, of which only 400 could have been brought back. “This policy is orchestrated by the highest levels of political and military leadership,” criticized the chief investigator.
War is well documented
Kostin referred to the support of international investigators in the difficult search for evidence of Russian war crimes. This would have allowed thousands of clues to be collected. The Ukrainian war was the “best-documented conflict in history,” affirmed the Attorney General.
He welcomed the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) recent arrest warrants against two Russian officers for alleged crimes between October 2022 and March 2023. These are the then commanders of the Black Sea Fleet and the long-range air force, the Hague-based court said on Tuesday had communicated.
Last year, the Hague court had already issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights representative Maria Lwowa-Belowa. It was about the accusation of child abduction.