Russian war crimes in Ukraine
Since the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine, international human rights bodies, intelligence communities, competent Ukrainian bodies, and many volunteers have been collecting evidence of possible war crimes by Russia. Human rights abuses and other violations of international law by Russia will also be investigated, including by the U.S.
“We are appalled by Russia’s brutal tactics and the rising number of innocent civilians who have been killed in Russian strikes, which have reportedly hit schools, hospitals, kindergartens, an orphanage, residential buildings and those fleeing through humanitarian corridors,” a National Security Council spokesperson said [CNBC].
45 OSCE states have already invoked the Moscow Mechanism, a fact-finding mission on human rights concerns. Since 1991, it has been used only 9 times, e.g., concerning attacks on civilians in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992) and human rights in Belarus following presidential elections in December 2010. So, it`s not a trivial step.
As a result, all collected evidence will be provided to national, regional, or international courts or tribunals, as well as other appropriate accountability mechanisms. The International Court of Justice in the Hague and the International Criminal Court will investigate Russia’s war against Ukraine, with the latter focusing on “whether the Russian President or other leading figures in the Kremlin are responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity”.
Let me give you some examples of barbaric acts of the Russian army in Ukraine along with the main types of war crimes, as defined by Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities
A Russian BTR has attacked a civilian car without any warning, and an old couple died. As you can see, the shooting started right after the visual contact — i.e., without any threat assessment — while there were no signs of hostility. What makes it even more disgusting is the final shot, which was unnecessary. So, they not just blindly shoot everything that moves but maybe even enjoy it.
Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects
After the Russian blitzkrieg failed, Kremlin started attacking/bombarding residential areas and critical infrastructure, to spread panic and cause humanitarian crises in Ukrainian cities. Just two weeks ago it was an ordinary school in Kharkiv, now it`s a monument of the Kremlin`s cruelty and cynicism.
Russia deliberately strikes civilian targets to force civilians to flee and distract Ukrainian soldiers from counterattacking, making them as busy as possible with securing evacuations and humanitarian supplies.
Unfortunately, the shelling of residential areas often continues despite planned evacuation attempts.
“For several hours on March 6, 2022, Russian forces bombarded an intersection on a road that hundreds of civilians were using to flee the Russian army’s advance in northern Ukraine to Kyiv, Human Rights Watch said today. The repeated nature of the attacks, which according to the government killed at least eight civilians [including two children], suggests that Russian forces violated their obligations under international humanitarian law not to conduct indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks that harm civilians, and failed to take all feasible measures to avoid civilian casualties.” [HRW]
While I was thinking about how to finish this article, Kremling conducted an airstrike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine …
Please #StandwithUkraine #StopRussianAggression
More videos on Russian attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine are collected on this YouTube channel.
