War crimes investigators have received evidence from Ukrainian refugees in Britain of around 50 “horrendous” atrocities carried out by Vladimir Putin’s troops, Scotland Yard said on Friday.
The testimony, which includes video footage taken by friends and family still in Ukraine, includes film of the aftermath of civilian killings inflicted by artillery bombardments and other attacks.
Detectives said the material, which is being prepared for submission to the International Criminal Court and Ukrainian investigators, showed potential crimes across the war-ravaged country.
They include killings in Mariupol and Bucha, the scene of an already notorious massacre, as well as Kyiv and places nearby.
The disclosure came as the Met’s War Crimes Unit, which is part of its counter-terrorism command, appealed to Ukrainians arriving in Britain to come forward with further evidence that could be used to support future prosecutions overseas.
Police said they also wanted Britons hosting Ukrainians, and others in contact with refugees, to be alert to the possibility that they might be victims or witnesses of war crimes and to help them to report what had happened.
Detective Chief Superintendent Dominic Murphy, the head of operations at Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, said: “Some of the footage and some of the stories that we are hearing are quite horrendous. They are not things you could ever imagine.
“Our role is to gather as much evidence as it relates to individuals here in the UK who have either witnessed directly, or received information from family members overseas that might provide evidence of war crimes in support of the International Criminal Court.
“At the moment we have had around 50 referrals but as more Ukrainians arrive we expect that number to go up. The bulk of those referrals involve civilians and post-incident capturing of events, the aftermath of artillery and shelling and related incidents.
“On a lot of occasions because it’s civilians who are getting caught in what’s happening, a lot of them are taking videos and recording information and for us it’s about trying to gather as much direct witness evidence or material that might act as direct evidence of a potential war crime.”
Mr Murphy said that after gathering material from Ukrainians in Britain, police were trying to make contact with the person who have originally taken it and to retrieve it “in its most original form”. He added that evidence gathering in Ukraine was likely to be needed eventually to fill “gaps” and strengthen the evidence in preparation for future court hearings.
He added: “It’s a case of us working on that material and engaging with those people who provided that to get that in a form that would be admissible in a court later on.
“We are trying to do that to the UK standard of evidence. We may have to do that in stages – we may have to go back and follow that track later or explain the ICC where gaps exist because at some point I’m sure resources will be deployed locally in Ukraine to fill those gaps in.
“We are building for the long term, gathering evidence not only for the ICC but also for other states that may prosecute which is what we’ve seen in the likes of Syria for example.”
He said police and charities across Britain had also given advice on how to help traumatised Ukrainians to report their experiences and obtain help.
“Some of the dreadful sexual offences, some of the dreadful deaths that we have seen, and the appalling experiences people must have had in Ukraine, we need to make sure that every police officer in the country is equipped to be able deal with that,” he said.
“Members of the Ukrainian community and some of the charity sector are all aware that they might have to deal with people who have been through the most appalling circumstances and how to access the war crimes team both to try to recover evidence and get them the support they might need.”
Anyone wishing to report a war crime to police can do so here.
