ICC to begin hearing first case of Russian war crimes this winter

The International Criminal Court may begin its first case related to Russian war crimes in Ukraine as early as this winter.

This was reported by Bloomberg, citing its sources.

The publication’s interlocutors point out that there is no final date for the start of the trial and the process may be delayed because it takes time to prepare the case.

In addition, according to Bloomberg, the ICC and Ukraine are negotiating to hand over to the court at least one Russian prisoner of war who is willing to testify against the Russian commanders.

Russian forces have been accused of targeting civilian buildings and committing atrocities in a number of Ukrainian towns, such as Bucha, where evidence of mass graves, torture and executions has been widely reported.

A joint investigations team comprising several European judicial authorities was set up in March to gather evidence of alleged Russian crimes in Ukraine. The office of the prosecutor of the ICC is a participant in the investigative team, whose work is supported by the European Union’s agency for criminal justice cooperation, Eurojust.

As a reminder, earlier in July in The Hague, participants at the conference on accountability for Russian crimes during the war in Ukraine created the Dialogue Group on Accountability for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Ex-Prosecutor General announced recently that Ukraine is investigating more than 21,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Author - Anastasiya Glotova, 22/07/2022