“How many graves of innocent Ukrainians are yet to be found?”: Ukraine wants “Nuremberg trial” for Russian war crimes | War Ukraine and Russia

With the war in Ukraine set to dominate work at the UN meeting and new evidence of mass killings has emerged in recent days, Volodymyr Zelensky’s government sees an opportunity to redirect global diplomatic opinion. They want support for the establishment of a Nuremberg-style trial to investigate the atrocities committed by Russian troops.

The discovery of a mass grave in Izyum in the east of the country last week has confirmed the need, according to Ukraine. Zelensky has said there is evidence of torture and calls Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism”. Oleg Synegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said the bodies were found with their hands tied behind their backs. Several news agencies confirmed the reports during a visit to the site organized by Ukrainian authorities on Friday.

World leaders, meeting in New York this week, were quick to condemn the events. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was likely more evidence that Russia committed war crimes: “There can be no reason for what happened there. At best it was random, at worst it was intentional.” French President Emmanuel Macron said he condemned the atrocities in the strongest terms.

But despite widespread criticism of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, it is not clear how the international community intends to hold Moscow accountable for war crimes. In an interview with Politico, Andriy Smyrnov, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said the killings in Izyum are the latest evidence that an independent war crimes tribunal is needed.

“We want to make sure that those responsible for these crimes against Ukraine are held accountable, and that means top political and military leaders should be held accountable,” Smyrnov said. “How many graves of innocent Ukrainians have yet to be found to wake up the whole world and try to do something? Numerous graves of murdered civilians have been found in Butsha. Isn’t this enough?”

After the withdrawal of Russian troops from Butya, a city northwest of Kiev, in April, Ukrainian and international observers found evidence of murders of civilians and other crimes. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the killings as “fake”.

So far, however, Ukrainian allies have been lukewarm. Instead of a special tribunal, many countries see existing bodies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the best forum to prosecute a case against Russia. But that is not enough for Ukrainian officials, who fear that the ICC will only hold accountable those who directly committed the crimes, rather than senior positions in the Putin administration. In addition, the ICC will not be able to prosecute Russia for the violations, as Russia has not ratified the Rome Statute – the international agreement that established the court in 2002.

Smyrnov emphasizes that a special international court would not hinder the work of the ICC and would be located outside Ukraine. “We see the Nuremberg trial as a model,” he said, referring to the Nazi trial after World War II. “We want to make sure that those responsible for these crimes against Ukraine are held accountable. That also means the highest political and military leadership.”