Ukraine war: Russian investigator says 92 Ukrainians charged

russia

Moscow has charged 92 members of the Ukrainian armed forces with crimes against humanity, the head of Russia’s investigative committee has said. Alexander Bastrykin told government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta over 1,300 criminal investigations had begun. He also proposed an international tribunal backed by countries including Iran, Syria and Bolivia – traditional allies of Russia. Ukraine is also conducting its own war crimes investigations. As well as the 92 who have already been charged by Russia, some 96 people, including 51 armed forces commanders, are wanted, Mr Bastrykin said. The Ukrainians were involved in “crimes against the peace and security of humanity”, he told the paper. The BBC has been unable to verify claims made in the interview and Kyiv has not commented. But this month, Ukraine said it was examining more than 21,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russian forces since the start of the invasion in February. And in May, the first war crimes trial since the invasion began took place in Ukraine, where a court jailed a Russian tank commander for life for killing a civilian. The International Criminal Court (ICC), which has described Ukraine as a “crime scene”, has also sent a team of investigators and forensics experts to Ukraine.(BBC)…[+]