Ukraine: The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) paid a visit to Bucha, a Ukrainian city near the capital Kyiv, on Wednesday.
During his tour to Ukraine, Karim Khan met with Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova in Kyiv, where he praised the “strong cooperation of Ukrainian authorities for independent ICC investigations,” according to the ICC’s Twitter account.
Moreover, while discussing in the meeting, Khan and Venediktova agreed that it is necessary to deepen engagement and strengthen cooperation in order to hold those responsible for international crimes perpetrated in Ukraine accountable.
Khan told reporters during his visit to Bucha: “Ukraine is a crime scene. We are here because we have valid grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC are being committed. We’ve to pierce the fog of war to bring the truth.”
The ICC Prosecutor’s Office initiated an inquiry in this nation on March 2 and began gathering evidence. Although neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the international tribunal, Kyiv has accepted its authority twice, in November 2013 and February 2014.
On March 16, Khan paid his first official visit to Ukraine and spoke via videoconference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to UN estimates, at least 1,892 people have died, and 2,558 have been injured in Ukraine since Russia began a war on its western neighbour on February 24, with the actual amount considered significantly higher.
According to the UN refugee agency, over 4.24 million Ukrainians have fled to neighbouring countries, with millions more internally displaced.
