Russia-Ukraine conflict: Ukraine Prosecutor-General files eight more war crime cases to court

Investigations by legal groups have been launched in the past months surrounding the alleged war crimes that Russian forces have committed in its war with Ukraine. Ukraine’s prosecutor-general recently filed eight additional war crime cases to the court.

Ukraine’s prosecutor-general, Iryna Venediktova, said Wednesday that Kyiv had filed eight additional war crime cases to court, adding to the three sentences that were given to Russian soldiers who were tried and convicted.

Ukrainian officials have launched over 16,000 probes into possible war crimes committed by Russian forces since the invasion in February.

Venediktova said there are 104 suspects, nine of whom were linked to war crimes in a school basement in Yahidne in the northeastern area of Chernihiv. Russian troops kept hundreds of Ukrainians in the area when it occupied the city from March 3 to 30. 10 people died from the confinement in the basement; among those were a small baby and a 93-year-old.

16 people were taken from the basement and shot, according to Venediktova. While Venediktova did not disclose what her evidence was to back up the allegations, she expressed disappointment that the nine suspects are not in Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, these people are not located here physically and we are going for an in-absentia trial, but it is very important for us, for Ukrainian justice, for the victims and their relatives to have this legal process,” said Venediktova.

“Every day, we see an increase,” Venediktova went on to say, referring to the probes. “We are talking about people who didn’t just come as military combatants…but also came to rape, kill civilians, loot, humiliate, and so on.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the battle for the city of Severodonetsk is “brutal” and will determine the fate of the Donbas region as Moscow focuses its offensive on the area. Moscow’s focus on the Donbas region follows its failure to capture Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.

The Kremlin claims it is seeking to “liberate” the Donbas region, where many pro-Russian separatists are located, having broken away from the Ukrainian government when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Ukrainian troops pulled back to the outskirts Wednesday but vowed to keep fighting in the area as long as possible.