By Dan Peleschuk
KYIV (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Monday for Russia to be punished for more than 183,000 alleged war crimes documented by Ukraine since Moscow’s 2022 invasion, saying justice was needed to prevent “evil from proliferating.”
He made his comments to a summit of European officials in Bucha, northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where Russian troops have been accused of atrocities including executions, rapes and torture while occupying it.
Russia did not immediately comment after business hours on Zelenskiy’s remarks, but has previously denied its soldiers have committed atrocities and says the West has ignored Ukraine’s crimes, a charge denied by Kyiv.
“More than 183,000 crimes related to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine have been officially documented,” Zelenskiy said on the third anniversary of Russian troops being forced out of Bucha.
He added that the tally documented by Ukraine since the February 2022 full-scale invasion did not include most of the Ukrainian territory Russia currently occupies.
“We need effective international law to guarantee the protection of our people and all European society from such threats,” Zelenskiy said.
“Justice must be served to prevent evil from proliferating. Pressure on Russia and sanctions against it are necessary to ensure that the war and abuse do not expand further.”
The vast majority of war crimes cases against Russia are being investigated by Ukraine and tried locally. The International Criminal Court in The Hague, which Ukraine officially joined this year, has also conducted investigations into high-profile cases.
The United States and Russia do not recognise the court’s jurisdiction and U.S. President Donald Trump has authorised economic and travel sanctions against the war crimes tribunal over its investigations of U.S. citizens or U.S. allies.
A U.S. freeze of foreign funding has also impacted an international effort to hold Russia responsible for alleged war crimes by cutting aid programmes that provided expertise and oversight to Ukrainian authorities.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry expressed cautious optimism last month that the ICC sanctions would not affect Ukraine-related investigations.
HONOURING BUCHA VICTIMS
The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the deportation of Ukrainian children, a move dismissed by Moscow as legally meaningless.
Zelenskiy, with first lady Olena Zelenska and visiting European officials, paid tribute to the victims of Russia’s month-long occupation of Bucha in 2022. Russian troops left bodies lying in the streets when they fled the Kyiv suburb during a broader retreat.
Russian forces committed more than 9,000 crimes in the area around Bucha, including 1,800 killings, according to Ukraine’s acting prosecutor general, Oleksiy Khomenko.
Khomenko said on Monday that Ukrainian authorities had so far charged 178 individuals and convicted 21. He said Kyiv was continuing to work with the ICC and 25 other countries that were carrying out their own investigations.
“Ukraine will not stop on the path of bringing those responsible to justice,” Khomenko said.
(Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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