"For the sake of international justice, it is worth lifting to the ICC": Kostin calls for bringing Russia to justice for attack on Okhmatdyt

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin has called for the International Criminal Court to prosecute Russia over a missile strike on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital earlier this week, he said in an interview with Reuters, UNN reports.

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"For the sake of international justice, cases like the intentional attack on the biggest child hospital in Kyiv (are) worth lifting to the ICC," Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin told Reuters late on Thursday in an interview in The Hague, where the ICC is based.

The UN Human Rights Mission stated that there is a "high probability" that the hospital was directly hit by a Russian missile, and the Security Service of Ukraine said it had evidence that the medical facility was hit by a Russian X-101 cruise missile.

Kostin, who is in The Hague for a meeting with lawyers, said that if the ICC prosecutes the hospital attack, it could help establish a pattern of attacks that would show Russia committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

The ICC prosecutor's office said on Tuesday that one of its teams had visited the site of the hospital attack. While the ICC has not publicly commented on what allegations it is investigating, it has warned that anyone found responsible for an attack on civilian objects could be held accountable.

The agency issued six arrest warrants for alleged Russian crimes in Ukraine, including one against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kostin said that the decision to initiate a criminal case is made by the ICC prosecutor, adding that Ukraine is ready to share any material evidence or details of its investigation with the court.

He said that while Ukrainian authorities are investigating all of Monday's attacks, they can only press charges for war crimes, not more serious crimes against humanity, as they are not part of Ukraine's Criminal Code.

According to Kostin, a key element of prosecuting crimes against humanity is demonstrating systematic attacks on civilians.

"It is important to show that Russia itself is now a criminal state," he said.