On Monday, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor in The Hague said that he would launch an investigation into war crimes and other crimes against humanity in Ukraine that might have occurred during the conflict.
Karim Khan, the ICC Prosecutor, made an official statement announcing the opening of the investigation as soon as possible despite Ukraine being a party to the court.
“Last Friday, my growing concern over Ukraine’s events was shared by world leaders as well citizens. Today, I want to declare that I have made the decision to open an investigation into the Situation Ukraine as soon as possible.,” he stated on the official ICC website.
According to the prosecutor, Ukraine was not an official member of the court but had the power to consent for the courts jurisdiction over any crimes that were committed within its borders.
Earlier that day, Lithuania appealed to the ICC to open an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russian and Belarusian forces amid the military conflict in Ukraine.
On Sunday, Ukraine also filed a lawsuit against Russia at the International Court of Justice for launching an “Illegal” attack under the “Baseless and absurd” pretext of alleged crimes of genocide committed in the DPR and LPR.
Last Thursday, Russia launched a military operation against Ukraine, claiming it was necessary to “demilitarize” Ukraine to protect the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Russian security interests. On Thursday morning President Vladimir Putin spoke to the nation about the urgent need to prevent genocide by Ukrainian nationalists targeting citizens in the LPR/DPR.
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