92 members of the Ukrainian armed forces have been charged with crimes against humanity by Moscow. Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s investigative committee has stated that over 1,300 investigations have begun into war crimes committed by Ukrainian troops. Bastrykin proposed an international tribunal that is supported by Iran, Syria and Bolivia.
In addition to the 92 members of the armed forces that have been charged, 96 Ukrainian people are wanted by Moscow. Earlier in July, Ukraine had announced it is investigating over 21,000 possible war crimes and crimes of aggression committed by Russian forces since February. Ukraine held the first war crimes trial in May and sentenced a Russian tank commander for life for killing a civilian. The Kremlin denies all war crimes and that is has been targeting civilians. Moscow has accused Ukraine of shelling its own infrastructure and killian its own citizens, something international leaders dismiss. Mr Bastrykin proposed that rather than a UN-backed trial for Ukraine’s alleged war crimes, an international tribunal of countries in an independent position on the Ukrainian war should be set up. He accused the UN and other western countries of supporting Ukrainian nationalism and stated that the UN holding a trial for Ukraine’s crimes was not likely.
