At the Council of Europe today, 36 countries and the EU announced their intention to join the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which is a step towards the full launch of its work, reported Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, explaining the milestones on the path to creating this tribunal in The Hague, UNN reports.
The full launch of the Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine is drawing closer. Today, 36 countries and the European Union officially announced their intention to join the Enlarged Partial Agreement on its establishment,
He indicated that the statements were made during the annual meeting of the Council of Europe foreign ministers in Chisinau.
"This is evidence that Russia's international crimes against Ukraine, which have specific names and dates, will also have verdicts at the level of the highest military and political leadership of the aggressor country," Kravchenko emphasized.
Practical work, according to him, began back in 2023, when the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) started operating at Eurojust in The Hague. This was the first real step towards creating the Tribunal. "An evidence base is already being formed there, coordination between prosecutors is underway, and materials are being prepared for the future Office of the Prosecutor of the Tribunal," he added.
The next step is legal formalization. On June 25, 2025, the President of Ukraine and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Prosecutor General noted, signed the agreement on the establishment of the Tribunal. On July 15, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada ratified it.
Currently, there is a broad international coalition. The countries that have announced their accession must complete national ratification procedures. After that, the Tribunal will acquire a fully authorized international basis. The Netherlands will host the initial stage of its work – in The Hague, the world capital of international justice,
"Further actions are even more practical – the formation of a steering committee, the work of a preparatory team, the identification of premises, the selection of judges, prosecutors, and staff, the approval of procedures, and the securing of funding. The Tribunal is moving from the plane of a political decision – to the plane of a real launch," the Prosecutor General emphasized.
According to the Prosecutor General, it will investigate and try those who bore personal responsibility for the decision to commit aggression against Ukraine. "Positions, immunities, borders are not an obstacle. Consideration of cases is possible in absentia," the Prosecutor General noted.
"The Office of the Prosecutor General, together with law enforcement officers, documents and investigates all international crimes committed by Russia against Ukraine. As of today, there are over 256,000 of them. This is more than 44 terabytes of digital evidence and already over 1,100 suspects," Kravchenko noted.
He indicated that "part of these materials, in particular evidence related to the planning, preparation, and conduct of the war of aggression against Ukraine, will form the basis of the work of the Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression."
Every missile that hit Ukrainian cities. Every civilian life taken. Every child taken out of Ukraine. All of this is material for the Tribunal. Not one forgotten. Not one unpunished. We continue to work,
Addendum
On May 15, the Council of Europe approved the decision regarding the Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
At the ongoing annual meeting of the foreign ministers of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, as reported by the CoE, "36 countries and the European Union expressed their intention to join the new Enlarged Partial Agreement on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the investigation of the crime of aggression against Ukraine."