Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, says that Russia has charged 92 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with “crimes against the peace and security of humanity”, with a further 96 people being wanted. There are also 1,300 ongoing criminal investigations.

The Russo-Ukrainian War is an ongoing war between Russia (together with pro-Russian separatist forces) and Ukraine. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian authorities and armed forces have committed war crimes by carrying out both deliberate attacks against civilian targets and indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas. The Russian military exposed the civilian population to unnecessary and disproportionate harm by using cluster munitions and by firing other explosive weapons with wide-area effects such as bombs, missiles, heavy artillery shells and multiple launch rockets. The result of the Russian forces’ attacks has been damage and destruction to civilian buildings including houses, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, nuclear power plants, historic buildings, and churches. As of the beginning of July, the attacks had resulted in the death of nearly 5,000 civilians including 335 children. After Russian withdrawal from areas north of Kyiv there was overwhelming evidence of rape, torture and summary killings by Russian forces of Ukrainian civilians.

Moscow has charged 92 members of the Ukrainian armed forces with crimes against humanity, the head of Russia’s investigative committee has said. Alexander Bastrykin told government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta over 1,300 criminal investigations had begun. He also proposed an international tribunal backed by countries including Iran, Syria and Bolivia – traditional allies of Russia. Ukraine is also conducting its own war crimes investigations. As well as the 92 who have already been charged by Russia, some 96 people, including 51 armed forces commanders, are wanted, Mr Bastrykin said. Ukraine said it was examining more than 21,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russian forces since the start of the invasion in February.