Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said on Friday that his country has launched an investigation into over 122,000 suspected cases of war crimes since the beginning of Russia’s invasion on Feb 24, 2022.
Prosecutor General Kostin said “We have identified already 511 perpetrators. And we have already 80 convictions in Ukrainian courts.”
Kostin said that the number of suspected war crimes is expected to continue rising. He urged help from the international community in documenting, investigating, and prosecuting war crimes. However, the prosecutor general pointed out that “99-plus % of all cases will be investigated and prosecuted in Ukraine.”
Kostin’s remarks came as Ukraine will mark the second anniversary of the Russian offensive on Saturday.
United States President Joe Biden announced sanctions on over 500 targets in Russia on Friday, vowing sustained pressure to stop President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine.”
The sanctions also seek to impose a cost for the death last week in a Siberian prison of Putin critic Alexei Navalny, with measures taken against three officials. The latest sanctions will notably target the Mir credit card system, set up by Russia to avoid reliance on US-based networks.
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