International Criminal Court: ‘Ukraine is a crime scene’ – Call on Russia to cooperate in investigation

LAST UPDATE: 21:31

“Ukraine is a crime scene,” said International Criminal Court (ICC) Attorney General Karim Khan, following a visit to the Ukrainian cities of Buca and Borodyanka earlier this week that uncovered mass graves and the killing of civilians. Russian troops and their recapture by the Ukrainians.

“Ukraine is a place of crime. We are here because we have good reason to believe that crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC are being committed. Wednesday, according to a post by the ICC on Twitter.

📢 Prosecutor #KarimAAKhanQC on visit to #Bucha: “#Ukraine is a crime scene. We’re here because we have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the #ICC are being committed. We have to pierce the fog of war to get to the #truth. ” #JusticeMatters pic.twitter.com/oqaAJYAgAa

– Int’l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) April 13, 2022

Pictures posted on Twitter by the ICC show Kahn meeting residents and visiting devastated cities.

“The voices of those affected by alleged crimes must be at the heart of our independent work to uncover the truth. The survivors and families of the victims will be full partners in our collective efforts to bring justice,” Kahn said.

Prosecutor #KarimAAKhanQC visits Borodyanka, Ukraine. “The voices of those affected by alleged crimes must be at the center of our independent work to establish the truth. Survivors and the families of victims will be full partners in our collective efforts to deliver justice.” pic.twitter.com/9xOzfeDbjI

– Int’l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) April 14, 2022

On Wednesday, Kahn met with Ukrainian Attorney General Irina Venediktova in Kyiv as part of their co-operation in an independent ICC investigation, according to CNN.

Khan and Venediktova agreed to deepen and strengthen their co-operation in order to take responsibility for the international crimes committed in Ukraine, the ICC said on Twitter.

It is recalled that the ICC officially launched an investigation into the situation in Ukraine on March 2.

At the same time, the Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court said that he would continue to try to persuade Russia to participate in the ICC investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv after his visit to Ukraine, he said: “I will continue to try to reach out, for the third time, to the Russian Federation.”

Russia denies allegations that its troops committed war crimes in Ukraine since the February 24 invasion, citing false news.