Prosecutor General Kravchenko: in absentia verdicts are a strategic tool for ensuring accountability in wartime
Kyiv • UNN
Prosecutor General Kravchenko stated that in absentia verdicts are a strategic tool for ensuring accountability in wartime. They allow for the completion of investigations and the obtaining of a conviction in the absence of the accused.
In absentia verdicts are not symbolic decisions, but a legal foundation for future arrests, confiscations, international prosecution, and the actual execution of punishment when a person becomes available to justice. This was stated by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Ruslan Kravchenko, as reported by UNN.
I am often asked what practical significance in absentia investigations and verdicts have if suspects and convicts are hiding in temporarily occupied territories or outside Ukraine, particularly in Russia. The answer is unequivocal: they do. This is not a formality, but a strategic tool for ensuring accountability in wartime.
Principle of Inevitability of Punishment
According to the Prosecutor General, war crimes, treason, collaboration, and financing aggression are categories of crimes in which the physical unavailability of a person cannot stop justice.
The in absentia procedure allows for the completion of an investigation, the referral of a case to court, and the obtaining of a guilty verdict in the absence of the accused. This is a legal fixation of guilt with long-term legal consequences.
As of February 2026, 240 people have been convicted in absentia for war crimes in Ukraine. In total, more than 1,100 people have been notified of suspicion, and indictments against 800 people have already been sent to court.
Tool for International Prosecution
A national verdict is a basis for international search, initiation of extradition procedures, restriction of a person's movement, and blocking of their financial operations. For partner states, the existence of a court decision significantly strengthens Ukraine's position, the Prosecutor General emphasized.
According to him, international mechanisms are operating in parallel. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for six representatives of Russia's top military and political leadership. A multi-level system of responsibility is being formed - national and international.
Evidentiary and Historical Function
In absentia proceedings, as the Prosecutor General noted, record facts of aggression, specific episodes of crimes, and the role of officials and military command. Of more than 1,100 people prosecuted for war crimes, every seventh is a commander of senior or higher officer rank. Indictments have been sent to court against 73 representatives of the Russian military command, and 22 have already received guilty verdicts. This is an evidentiary base for potential international tribunals, compensation mechanisms, and future reparations.
Basis for Future Asset Recovery
Guilty verdicts create legal grounds for special confiscation, asset recovery, appeals to foreign jurisdictions for asset freezing, and enforcement of court decisions. Without such a decision, the possibilities of international legal cooperation are significantly limited, Kravchenko added.
According to the Prosecutor General, an in absentia verdict is a procedural act recognized by international partners when considering requests for legal assistance, search, and blocking of assets. It legally fixes the economic component of the crime and creates grounds for returning the assets of convicted persons to the state's income. As a result, "frozen" property can become a resource for the country's recovery and compensation for damages.
Signal for Society and International Partners
In wartime, the state demonstrates that even without control over part of the territory, the legal system works, crimes are documented, and responsibility is personalized. This strengthens trust in institutions and forms the basis for post-war justice, the Prosecutor General added.
Thus, in absentia verdicts are not symbolic decisions, but a legal foundation for future arrests, confiscations, international prosecution, and the actual execution of punishment when a person becomes available to justice.