Ukraine’s chief prosecutor has announced plans to hold the first war crimes trial over Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said more than 10,700 war crimes had been lodged by investigators and 600 suspects had been identified. Venediktova said a 21-year-old Russian sergeant had been charged with the murder of an elderly civilian in the village of Chupakhivka in the north-east of the country.
Two other low-ranking Russian soldiers are also expected to be charged for deliberately targeting civilian buildings and a fourth, who is believed to have committed rape and murder, has been identified but remains at large.
As investigations continue in areas of Ukraine that had previously been occupied by Russian troops, evidence of crimes committed against civilian populations continues to mount. An Amnesty International report released on May 6 documents what it says is a range of crimes, from extrajudicial executions to the use of banned weapons in Russia’s unsuccessful assault on towns and cities in the Kyiv region.
