Although the world condemns the atrocities of civilian massacres by the Russian military that invaded Ukraine, Russia dismisses it as a manipulation by Ukraine and China, which favors Russia, emphasized a neutral investigation at the UN Security Council. Will Russia’s war crimes be punished after the war is over?
The Washington Post (WP) reported on the activities of Ukrainian prosecutors on the 5th (local time), collecting evidence of war crimes in all cities across the country occupied by Russian troops.
A woman and her adult son sat on the stage in the empty auditorium of Second School in the secluded village of Kosiu, 50 kilometers from the Romanian border, on the outskirts of Kiiu, and explained the situation when a Russian tank arrived. She said the roof of her house collapsed in a Russian bombing, and an elderly neighbor was buried in the front yard of her house, and shells flew over her head, she said.
Prosecutor Olga Gazurova, 34, from Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, recorded their testimony on a laptop computer, confirming unclear passages.
“Which side did the tank come in?”
Until February 24, when Russian forces invaded Ukraine, Gajurov was a criminal prosecutor in Kharkiv. Kosiu, 800 km from Kharkiv, is a small town with a population of 8,400 and has suffered very little from the ravages of war. However, people who have lost their homes in other areas have fled to Kosiu schools or to the homes of Kosiu residents.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice has mobilized 50,000 investigators from five law enforcement agencies to investigate war crimes. They interview victims across the country and meticulously collect evidence. Preparations are being made to prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian military for war crimes.
They meet all over Ukraine, mainly women and elderly victims, in places like churches, schools and auditoriums. They explain to the victims that one day they will be able to receive compensation for losing their family, being injured and losing their property. They say that even if the victims are having a hard time, they need to talk about it in detail so that Russia can be held accountable.
Gajurova’s colleague Olga Petrova, 47, explained last week how to gather testimony and digital evidence to nine victims who were seated in front of a stage set against a backdrop of the Ukrainian plain. In one corner of the auditorium, a baby was changing a diaper.
Petrova explained that under international law, the military can only attack military installations and armed combatants, not civilians. “Therefore, the Russian Federation of Aggressors is now committing war crimes in Ukraine… We are trying to prove that.”
Gajurova and Petrova were dressed in casual clothes such as sneakers, jeans, and a turtleneck shirt. These are the clothes that I picked up randomly while escaping from Kharkiv.
While staying in Kosiu, the two began interviewing refugees at the First School. Principal Halina Hrimaluk, 48, has been feeding and feeding 88 victims since the 1st of last month at the school where classes were suspended. “The situation is not good, but we are doing our best,” he said.
Initially, the government had distributed leaflets containing the prosecution’s phone number for testimony and urged them to upload photos and videos proving the Russian military’s war crimes. But the victims were exhausted, stunned, and terrified, unable to dare to do such a thing. Late last month, prosecutors decided to collect evidence directly from the victims.
Principal Hrimaluk said, “Before the Russian army invaded, the judicial system was not well established. As the head of a national school, I honestly couldn’t believe that prosecutors were coming.”
He watched the interview quietly. Prosecutors worked from early morning till late at night. They asked specific questions, and after a certain period of time, they repeated the questions to see if the same answer was given. A map of Ukrainian cities, states and provinces was opened and victims were asked to pinpoint the location of the incident.
Principal Hrimaluk said that he was “impressed” that prosecutors work much more efficiently than expected.
Before moving to Kharkiv last year, Prosecutor Gajurova had worked for eight years in Donetsk, a region of conflict between the Russian rebels. In search of safety, she came to Kharkiv, but after a year she was forced to leave by the invasion of the Russian army. She said she wanted to stay longer but she left because she was worried about her young daughter. “It’s a situation in which her memories of her childhood will remain with her for the rest of her life,” he said.
Last week at Primary School, children from Yiprin and Bucha, a town north of Kiiwu, played soccer on the artificial turf soccer field behind the school. Inside the building, Vira Koutun, 71, breathed out with tears in her eyes as she testified that Russian troops arrived on February 25 and opened fire with her machine gun door-to-door at residents who were filming them. “I saw people die,” she said. There were dead people on the streets,” she said.
He said a Russian tank passed near the house and heard soldiers’ voices. Ukrainian forces then arrived and engaged the Russians. A barrage of fire broke out and he was crouching down when he heard the sound of a Russian fuel truck exploding and another vehicle rushing into the front yard. He said the explosion sustained injuries to his face and eyes. Coutun said the explosion broke a window and escaped through the front door, hiding behind a wall.
Coutun testified to prosecutors for more than three hours on the 29th of last month. He said he was surprised that there were people who wanted to hear his story. “He was clear what was going on and he thought he had to prove his crimes against civilians,” he said.
A few days after Koutun’s testimony, Ukrainian forces liberated about 10 cities in northern and central Ukraine, including Bucha, and soon after, investigators and journalists released the remains of dozens of Ukrainian civilians.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Irina Benedictova said Russia’s claims that the massacre was fabricated were “absurd”.
President Benedictova showed a picture of the autopsy scene of a 14-year-old boy with an explosive the size of a beverage can next to a heart in his chest. The boy’s arm was crushed to the bottom of his hoof. They said the boy was killed early in the Russian invasion of the area near Kiiu. The prosecution released some of the photos to the media last month.
“There is a cannonball in this chest,” Benedictova said. Needless to say, all the evidence is in the boy’s chest.”
“Russian forces bombed and destroyed hospitals, schools and educational sites every day,” he said. how many refugees What is this?” and unfolded the photos taken in other cities. It was a photo of a place where civilians with their hands tied behind their backs were buried. He said he had found it in the Kherson area and showed him a photo of an unexploded cluster bomb. “Russians live in their own world,” he said. they are zombies I wonder what they will say when they see this picture,” he indignantly.
David Bosco, a professor of international relations at Indiana University, who specializes in war crimes trials, said it is unlikely that Russian officials will be present in court. The Hague International Court of Justice (ICC) and the Ukrainian courts can prosecute, and it is customary for the ICC to judge key figures such as presidents and generals, and for the courts of individual countries to punish lower-ranking war criminals.
“The most important thing is how to secure an identity,” said Professor Bosco. If an arrest warrant is issued but the suspects are not secured, the case will be stopped. International justice may not be possible if the indicted remain in Russia,” he said.
The ICC can issue a secret arrest warrant that does not disclose the identity of the suspect, allowing the suspect to be arrested when traveling to an ICC member country. However, there are many cases in which Member States have refused to cooperate with the ICC, and as a result, the trial has not been held for decades.
However, Professor Bosko said it is possible for Ukraine to provide monetary compensation to those found to be victims of war crimes before punishing the perpetrators. “Ukrainian victims have a greater chance of receiving compensation than victims of other conflict zones because of their worldwide attention. There is also a lot of support for research. Unlike other regions, the evidence is overflowing.”
Benedictova said Ukrainian prosecutors had 4,204 war crimes. Of these, 161 were child deaths.
He said investigators across the country are bravely investigating. He said investigators were getting as close to the front lines as possible and gathering evidence early from victims. Also, like Petrova and Gajurova, many of the investigators are people who have left their homes.
“We are not refugees,” Benedictova said. We don’t have military ranks, but we act like soldiers. We are soldiers at heart. There is no need for compensation to serve the residents. just doing our job There is no other way. We have to believe we will win. The prosecutor should not be afraid.”
While conversing with the victims who were accustomed to living in conflict zones, Gajurova and Petrova calmly focused on the facts. Gajurova explained that various forms of violence are war crimes. At Second School, Gaju Lova explained that even if the house wasn’t destroyed, he could still be a victim of a war crime. Shattered windows and damage to property from Russian attacks can also be a victim of war crimes, she said.
In Kosiu, prosecutors are receiving daily protests from people from a conflict zone in Russia-backed eastern rebels that began in 2014 over why they are only investigating what has happened in recent weeks.
A 65-year-old woman from Donetsk asked prosecutors to testify herself. “There are documents and photos. My house was destroyed eight years ago, and no one has paid for it in eight years,” she said.
“We do not have the authority to investigate what happened before 24 February,” Petrova said. He said it was not clear who had controlled the Donetsk region for the past eight years.
The woman then explained that “in 2014 it was definitely Ukraine,” but Petrova said, “At that time, there were no people to help us. Now the whole world helps us,” she said.
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