News Feed

Zelensky meets with International Criminal Court prosector in Kyiv

2 min read
Zelensky meets with International Criminal Court prosector in Kyiv
President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan in Kyiv on Feb. 28. (Photo: President's Office)

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan in Kyiv on Feb. 28, the President's office reported.

During their meeting, Zelensky stressed that the Russian crimes committed in Ukraine must not be overlooked, and those responsible for them must face legal consequences.

"We have heard signals from you about your support and the importance of justice. It was important for us to hear this because it meant that we are not alone in our desire to achieve justice for Ukraine," said Zelensky.

According to the press release, Zelensky said Ukraine is prepared to assist the ICC in establishing a prosecutor's office in the country to investigate Russian war crimes.

He also expressed the importance of reuniting Ukrainian children who were forcibly taken by Russian soldiers and that he would be "very grateful" to the ICC for ideas on how to facilitate this more quickly.

"With your help, we will be able to restore justice for Europe and the world." Zelensky added.

Khan said the ICC is ready for full cooperation with Ukraine's Prosecutor General to investigate Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Currently, it is impossible to establish accurate casualty numbers due to the temporarily-occupied territories and areas under intense fighting.

"We are ready to speed up the work so that Ukrainians and people around the world see justice as soon as possible, and the guilty receive punishment," Khan concluded.

A long road lays ahead of war crimes prosecutors. On Feb. 27, the Prosecutor General's Office reported they had recorded 71,649 alleged Russian war crimes and crimes of aggression in Ukraine in the first year of Russia’s all-out war.

Ukrainian law enforcement agencies also said that Russia’s war against Ukraine has killed at least 461 children and injured at least 927 since Feb. 24.

Avatar
The Kyiv Independent

The Kyiv Independent is an award-winning English-language media outlet that offers on-the-ground reporting from Ukraine. The publication has received international recognition for its coverage of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Read more
News Feed

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Jan. 10 condemned Iran's crackdown on anti-government protests and called on the international community to increase pressure on Tehran, drawing parallels between its domestic repression and its conduct on the global stage.

Video

Russia’s takeover of Crimea did not begin in 2014. In the first part of a new documentary, The Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigation Unit looks at how Russia began moving to seize the peninsula immediately after Ukraine gained independence in 1991.

"We are surging investment into our preparations (...) ensuring that Britain’s Armed Forces are ready to deploy, and lead, the multinational force (in) Ukraine, because a secure Ukraine means a secure U.K.," U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said.

Show More