War crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

This article is about war crimes during the Russian invasion. For investigation and prosecution of the war crimes, see International Criminal Court investigation in Ukraine. For the legality of the invasion itself in international law, see Legality of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For the case brought by Ukraine before the International Court of Justice, see Ukraine v. Russian Federation (2022).

Bodies of civilians shot by Russian soldiers lie on a street in Bucha, 3 April 2022. The hands of one victim are tied behind his back.
Civilians killed and cars destroyed in Russian missile strikes on Kyiv, 10 October 2022

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian military and authorities have committed war crimes, such as deliberate attacks against civilian targets, including on hospitals, medical facilities and on the energy grid;[1][2][3] indiscriminate attacks on densely-populated areas; the abduction, torture and murder of civilians; forced deportations; sexual violence; destruction of cultural heritage; and the killing and torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war.[4][5][6][7]

On 2 March 2023, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a full investigation into past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide committed in Ukraine by any person from 21 November 2013 onwards, set up an online method for people with evidence to initiate contact with investigators, and sent a team of investigators, lawyers, and other professionals to Ukraine to begin collecting evidence.[8][9] Two other independent international agencies are also investigating violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law in the area: the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council on 4 March 2022, and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, deployed by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The latter started monitoring human rights violations by all parties in 2014 and employs nearly 60 UN human rights monitors. On 7 April 2022, the United Nations suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.[10] By late October, the Ukrainian Prosecutor's office had documented 39,347 alleged Russian war crimes, identified more than 600 suspects, and initiated proceedings against approximately 80 of them.[11]

On 17 March 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova over allegations of involvement in the war crime of child abductions during the invasion of Ukraine.[12][13]

Allegations against the Armed Forces of Ukraine included mistreatment and executions of Russian POWs.[14]: para. 105 [15]

  1. ^ Goodman, Jack; Devlin, Kayleen; Korenyuk, Maria; Cheetham, Joshua; Tauschinski, Jana (9 April 2022). "Chernihiv: Are these Russia's weapons of war?". BBC News. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  2. ^ Gall, Carlotta; Kramer, Andrew E. (3 April 2022). "In a Kyiv Suburb,'They Shot Everyone They Saw'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 12 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference HRW_Vehicles was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cumming-Bruce, Nick (23 September 2022). "U.N. Experts find that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference AI_RU_military_indiscriminate_attacks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference HRW_Deadly Attacks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference HRMMU_Statement_March was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "ICC prosecutor: Team leaves to investigate war crimes in Ukraine". Reuters. 3 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC, on the Situation in Ukraine: "I have decided to proceed with opening an investigation."". www.icc-cpi.int. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nichols-2022-04-07 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Egan, Lauren (31 May 2022). "She was sure her son's death was a war crime. But the investigation is more painful than she expected". NBC News.
  12. ^ Radford, Antoinette (17 March 2023). "Putin arrest warrant issued over war crime allegations". BBC News. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova". International Criminal Court. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Report_OHCHR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-Russian-POW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).