The Ukrainian authorities place great hopes on the creation of a Special Tribunal for Russia's crime of aggression. Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko stated in an interview with Le Monde that the Special Tribunal will receive every piece of evidence from criminal proceedings investigating war crimes committed by Russians, UNN reports.
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In an interview with Le Monde, Ruslan Kravchenko emphasized: Kyiv places "great hopes" on the creation of a Special Tribunal for Russia's crime of aggression. The foundation for this institution has already been laid in The Hague, where the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) operates.
This tribunal is our top priority. Every piece of evidence from these 211,000 cases (criminal proceedings registered to date, investigating war crimes committed by Russians - ed.) will be made available to it.
The publication indicates that for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian diplomacy, this issue has become strategic. The logic is simple: holding the Russian leadership accountable for the very fact of aggression is legally much more realistic than proving in the International Criminal Court Putin's personal involvement in each individual crime committed by his soldiers "on the ground."
Prosecutor General Kravchenko also stated that he was "satisfied with the level of cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague," which has the authority to consider war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide. To date, the ICC has already issued six arrest warrants for representatives of the Russian leadership, including Vladimir Putin. They are accused of two categories of war crimes: the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children and systematic attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Le Monde reminds that the current Prosecutor General has experience in investigating war crimes, which he gained even before his appointment to a high position.
Although Ruslan Kravchenko took over the Prosecutor General's Office only in 2025, his experience in investigating war crimes is not just long-standing, but deeply personal. During the most difficult weeks of 2022, he led the Bucha district prosecutor's office, becoming one of the first to document the atrocities of the Russian military. Bucha, located in the suburbs of Kyiv, spent five weeks under occupation. After its liberation on April 2, 2022, the world shuddered: the city, which became a symbol of ruthless brutality, left behind a terrible legacy. The bodies of 358 civilians were found on its streets alone.
The Prosecutor General is convinced: everyone behind these atrocities must be held accountable.
My psychological turning point is Bucha. When you see hundreds of bodies on the streets, mass graves... When you realize that these people lived ordinary lives, had families, went to work, and were cold-bloodedly killed just because someone decided to attack your country...
The list of war criminals is growing daily - both due to continuous shelling of free cities and terror in the occupied territories, which cover a fifth of the country.
Recall
According to information released by Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko, more than 1,100 people have already received suspicions, every seventh is a military commander of senior or higher officer rank of the Russian Federation. More than 240 criminals have received sentences handed down by Ukrainian courts.
In addition, active work is currently underway with international partners and the International Criminal Court: three joint working groups have been created with representatives from 10 countries around the world, who together are forming an evidence base to bring those responsible to justice.