Russian authorities on Tuesday rejected the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), guaranteeing that this will be the country’s position if a case is brought against the country for war crimes in Ukraine.
Russia “does not recognize this court,” said the spokesman for the Russian presidency (Kremlin), Dimitri Peskov, adding that “this is how Moscow will address the matter” in a possible trial in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
Quoted by the Russian news agency Tass, Peskov also stressed that the ICC ignored the deaths of civilians “at the hands of Ukrainian nationalists” before the invasion and after the outbreak of armed conflict in 2014 in the Dombass region of eastern Russia. Ukraine.
“For years, no international tribunal, not even those not recognized by Russia, nor other members of the international community, bothered to pay attention to the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the death of civilians at the hands of Ukrainian nationalists in Dombass.” , critical. Kremlin spokesman.
The American newspaper The New York Times reported today that the ICC will initiate two cases for alleged war crimes against Russia in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, issuing several arrest warrants.
According to the newspaper, the cases are specifically related to the alleged “kidnapping of Ukrainian children” and the “deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure” in Ukraine.
The New York Times cites ICC sources related to “the latest decisions”, which it does not identify because they are prevented from commenting publicly on the matter.
These are the first international accusations since February 24, 2022, the date of the new invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and, according to the newspaper, they are the result of the work of war crimes investigation teams.
The investigations lasted several months and focused mainly on “the kidnapping of Ukrainian children and adolescents” and their being sent to “Russian re-education” camps, as well as deliberate attacks on civilian equipment.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan must first present the case to the investigating judges and investigators are still working on collecting evidence so that, if they gather the alleged evidence, arrest warrants will then be issued.
The Kremlin denies the war crimes accusations but, according to the news published today, international and Ukrainian investigators “collected solid evidence of a series of atrocities from the first day of the invasion”, February 24, 2022.
Source: TSF
