162,000 war crimes registered in Ukraine
The Prosecutor General’s Office has recorded 162,000 war crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. 164 Russian military personnel have been sentenced, and 872 more have been declared suspects.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, Ukrainian law enforcement officers have recorded more than 162,000 war crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. This was announced on May 7 by Yuriy Belousov, head of the department for combating crimes committed in the context of armed conflict, of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine.
“Today, there are almost 162 thousand war crimes that have been registered. We see, in principle, not only now, but from the first days, signs of a system. These crimes actually demonstrate Russia’s policy towards Ukraine,” he said in Kyiv at the United for Justice conference, which brought together experts in the field of international law, diplomats, Eurojust President Michael Schmidt, Dutch Justice Minister David van Wiel, UK Deputy Justice Minister Sarah Sackman and others. Belousov specified that the most common type of registered war crimes is shelling. “Attacks on a civilian object with all types of weapons, such as missiles, drones, artillery shelling in places close to the front line. After that, in terms of the number of war crimes, there are: cruel treatment, sexual violence against civilians and prisoners of war, kidnapping, keeping them in unsuitable places. And, of course, looting,” he said.
Belousov stressed that 872 people are suspects in registered war crimes cases, of which 623 indictments are pending in courts, and 164 people have been convicted. “But 18 people have actually been convicted, the rest in absentia. At the same time, the official suggests that the number of war crimes committed by the Russian Federation is much higher than what is currently registered by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. “We still do not understand how many people died, for example, in Mariupol. We are talking about tens of thousands of people who died. It is difficult to say exactly how many civilians died in the occupied territories, where we do not have access. How many crimes are being committed against Ukrainian citizens who were forced to move, but who were deported to the territory of the Russian Federation? We do not know. But the figure is definitely many times higher than 160 thousand,” Belousov suggests.
He stressed that according to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, 14,572 civilians have died as a result of the Russian aggression, including 625 children, and more than 30 thousand have been injured. In addition, more than 218 thousand civilian infrastructure facilities have been damaged.
In total, 189,070 crimes related to the Russian aggression have been recorded, Belousov added. “This figure includes crimes against peace, security of humanity and international order, including war crimes, as well as crimes against the foundations of the national security of Ukraine,” he noted.