Hideous scenes have erupted across Ukraine - in the south-eastern port city of Mariupol, the situation has been described as “catastrophic”.
The besieged city’s plight is far from isolated. Reports of dead civilians have poured out of Ukraine; Hospitals bombed, pregnant women and their unborn children murdered by indiscriminate shelling.
Reports of the use of thermobaric vacuum weapons - which douse an area with explosive fuel that infiltrates anything not entirely sealed, before detonating the cloud in a huge fireball that sucks up all the oxygen in the area - have emerged from the war zone.
With the horror of the war laid bare for the world to see, discussions are already underway about whether Russian president Vladimir Putin has committed war crimes.
Want all the latest news and analysis from Ukraine? Sign up to our World News Bulletin here
British Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has now departed for the Hauge in the Netherlands to contribute to the preparation of the prosecution of Putin on the grounds that war crimes have been committed.
Mr Raab said: “I will offer UK technical support in bringing those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine to justice.
“Russian commanders carrying out war crimes should know they cannot act with impunity.”
Want all the latest news and analysis from Ukraine? Sign up to our World News Bulletin here
What is a war crime?
Under the Geneva Convention, which sets out the standards for humanitarian treatment in violent conflict, a war crime is defined as: “Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention.”
This is a little cryptic, but the definition sets out exactly what this includes through a list of eight prohibited actions:
- Wilful killing
- Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments
- Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health
- Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly
- Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power
- Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial
- Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement
- Taking of hostages
The convention also sets out that violation of a series of wartime conventions and customs that exist in international law could also count as a war crime.
The list includes 26 examples of crimes such as the intentional targeting of civilians or non-military objects, including humanitarian or peacekeeping missions.
Many of the points stress the illegality of attacking places with no military presence or are undefended.
It also includes acts such as faking a truce to attack an enemy, conscripting children, starving civilians, rape, poisoning or using chemical weapons.
For the full list and details of the criteria of the Geneva convention's definition of war crimes, visit the United Nations website here .
